Reservations to visit a theme park? Six Flags announces new system for reopening

Six Flags is angling to reopen and it’s putting a new measure in place to protect visitors from the coronavirus when it does — a reservation system.

The theme park company announced the new required guest reservation process Wednesday, saying it is meant to help “manage daily attendance levels” and “avoid overcrowding.”

“The health and safety of our guests and team members is always our highest priority and in the current environment, we certainly want to take extra precautions to create a safe experience for everyone,” Six Flags President and CEO Mike Spanos said in a company release. “We are excited about reopening our parks and getting back to the business of fun; however, we want to do so in the safest possible manner.”

Ticket holders will have to punch their info into the reservation page on Six Flag’s website, pick a day to visit and an expected time of arrival, and watch a video explaining new safety and sanitation procedures at the parks.

The whole process should take users between 5 to 7 minutes, according to the company.

The system hasn’t been activated yet, but reserving a time will be the only way to visit Six Flag’s parks when they reopen.

“People used to be able to just buy a ticket and show up. Now it’s going to require a little more advanced planning and effort,” Mark Kupferman, Six Flag’s VP of insights and interactive marketing, told USA Today. “It’s not optimal, but it is absolutely going to be worth it for the guest. It’s about helping people feel good when they come to the parks so they can enjoy their day and not spend it worrying.”

In March, the company said it would be shutting down its parks until mid-May. A more specific time frame for reopening has not been announced yet.

Six Flags, headquartered in Grand Prairie, Texas, operates 26 parks in the U.S, — in California, Georgia, Texas and elsewhere — Mexico and Canada.