Six Flags Zhejiang
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Hangzhou Bay Sunac Tourism City (Previously known as Six Flags Zhejiang) is a
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
and entertainment complex under construction in
Jiaxing Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the ...
,
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, about 45 miles from downtown Shanghai. It was announced by the
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any a ...
in 2015 as part of the company's bid to open multiple parks in China. In February 2020, Six Flags dropped out of the project when their partner, Riverside Investment Group, encountered was unable to meet their financial obligations. In June 2020, Sunac China Holdings took over the project and opened the Sunac Water Park in June 2021. The complex is projected to open in stages, with the rebranded Sunac Land theme park to open in late 2022, and the rest of the project to be completed by 2025. However, construction delays may postpone the openings.


History


Development (Six Flags)

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any amu ...
first announced their intention on June 23, 2014 to develop new Chinese theme park projects in a partnership with real estate developer Riverside Investment Group. Their first location was confirmed as Six Flags Zhejiang in September 2015 to open in
Haiyan County, Zhejiang Haiyan County () is a county under the administration of Jiaxing City, in the north of Zhejiang province, China, situated on the north shore of Hangzhou Bay and includes the north end of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. Its area is . Population is 370,00 ...
, and the development held its official
groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...
ceremony on January 4, 2016. The park would be divided into several zones, many themed after various existing Six Flags parks; Thrillseeker Plaza, Magic Mountain, Great Adventure, Fiesta Texas, Waterfront Square, and the later-announced Garfield Beach. At the time, the project's total budget was pegged at an estimate of $4.6 billion USD, with anticipations to open the main Six Flags Zhejiang theme park by 2019. On December 19, 2016, Six Flags and Riverside announced plans to debut a
Hurricane Harbor Hurricane Harbor is a chain of water parks that are part of the Six Flags theme park chain. Although the parks are not identical, common features include a variety of body slides, speed slides, tube slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and shopping ...
waterpark adjacent to Six Flags Zhejiang, and it was later revealed that the waterslides would be supplied by
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
-based
WhiteWater West WhiteWater West is a manufacturing company based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1980 and manufactures a variety of products for water parks including water slides and water play areas. The company also owns FlowRide ...
. Original timeline estimates for the waterpark held it as the first phase of the resort, in which it was projected to open in June 2020. The development held the grand opening of the Zhejiang Riverside Themed Town Exhibition preview centre on August 4, 2017. On October 26, 2017, Six Flags and Riverside confirmed that a second gate children's park – Six Flags Kids World – was being developed next to the Six Flags Zhejiang park. Multiple IP's were contracted to be featured at the parks during development. In May 2017, the partners announced that they had acquired the rights from
Paws, Inc. Paws Incorporated, legally known as Paws, Inc., is an American comic studio and production company founded by American cartoonist Jim Davis in 1981 to support the ''Garfield'' comic strips and its licensing. The company was originally located i ...
to theme the children's areas at Six Flags Zhejiang and Chongqing after the ''
Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...
'' franchise. Speaking about the project, Garfield’s creator Jim Davis iterated, “This is a great opportunity for Garfield to entertain families and children. Six Flags and Riverside have an extraordinary project planned and to have our characters featured is an incredible honor.” At the annual IAAPA Orlando Expo in November 2019,
Sally Dark Rides Sally Corporation is a dark ride and animatronic manufacturing company based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. The company serves amusement parks, attractions, museums, and retail clients worldwide. It offers complete design/build service ...
unveiled the ''Garfield's Underwater Adventure'' dark ride that was planned to debut within a ''Garfield Beach'' area at both parks, which included a mixture of
animatronics Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...
and projection screens. In March 2018, it was confirmed that dark rides based on the
Tuzki Tuzki (; ko, 투즈키; ja, ツヅキ) is a popular illustrated bunny character, created by Momo Wang (animator), when she was an undergraduate at the Communication University of China (CUC). Featured in a variety of emoticons, her character h ...
illustrated character would debut at the Zhejiang and Chongqing parks.


Challenges and cancellation

Six Flags' Chinese projects were hit by numerous delays in their construction and implementation throughout the development period. On February 14, 2019, Six Flags announced delays of its Chinese parks' opening timelines amid a declining real estate economy and a fourth-quarter revenue roughly $15 million lower than anticipated, leading shares to drop significantly. In an earnings call on October 23, 2019, then-CEO
Jim Reid-Anderson James Reid-Anderson (born 12 April 1959) is a British businessman who was formerly the President (corporate title), president, chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. Before working for Six Flags, And ...
stating, "Part of it is our partner, part of it is the economy, part of it is the local government saying this is when we can have everything ready for you in order to be able to open a park". Six Flags also noted a significant decrease in international sponsorship fees. In late 2019, reports surfaced that Six Flags’ partner Riverside Group – known by their Chinese alias ''Shanshui Wenyuan'' – was encountering financial trouble amid a declining real estate market. Local publications discovered that construction on the Six Flags Zhejiang site had been suspended earlier in the year, with no progress having taken place in months. Documents began circulating in December that Riverside would lay off a majority of its employees, aiming to retain only 65 individuals out of their 754-strong headquarters workforce, in which the remaining members would only receive 30% of their salary between January 1 and June 1 of 2020. On December 22, trading was halted on their stock due to a widespread contract dispute. On January 10, 2020, Six Flags disclosed that, “The development of the Six Flags-branded parks in China has encountered continued challenges and has not progressed as expected”, as well as revealing that Riverside had defaulted on its payments to the company. Six Flags warned of a fourth-quarter revenue shortfall and as a result, a possible cancellation of the projects. The announcement led their shares on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
to drop 19% to a five-year low of $35.28 per share –
intraday Day trading is a form of speculation in securities in which a trader buys and sells a financial instrument within the same trading day, so that all positions are closed before the market closes for the trading day to avoid unmanageable risks a ...
levels not seen since October 2014. In February 2020, amid the then-emerging
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Six Flags formally terminated their Chinese projects, leaving the projects in limbo and the Six Flags Zhejiang site abandoned. A
class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
lawsuit was filed against Six Flags by investors on February 12, 2020, alleging that the company had misled investors on the progress of their Chinese properties between April 2018 and their warning in January 2020. The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court in March 2021 on the basis of prejudice.


Project revival (Sunac)

On June 2, 2020, developer
Sunac Sunac China Holdings Limited, or Sunac (), is a major property developer headquartered in Tianjin, China. The company focuses on large-scale, medium to high-end property developments. It does not only focus on its home market of Tianjin, but also ...
China signed an agreement with the government of Haiyan County to take over the suspended Six Flags Zhejiang project, with the intention of constructing four theme park/waterpark gates, a business quarter, and a hotel. Work on the mostly-constructed waterpark was completed, and the rebranded Sunac Water Park held its official grand opening on June 26, 2021. Construction resumed in 2020 on the Sunac Land theme park following modifications to the Six Flags/Riverside plans. As of 2023, construction was delayed for unknown reasons and it is unknown if the park will open in the future. A third development, the Sunac Snow World
indoor ski slope Indoor skiing is done in a climate-controlled environment with artificially produced snow. This enables skiing and snowboarding to take place regardless of outdoor temperatures. Facilities for both alpine skiing and nordic skiing are availabl ...
, officially broke ground on October 18, 2021, and is anticipated to open in 2024. However, the park's construction is halted, and the opening is postponed.


Sunac Land

Originally known as Six Flags Zhejiang, the project was first announced in 2015, with an original opening date set for June 2019. Although groundbreaking on the resort had occurred in January 2016, construction of the actual theme park formally began on May 1, 2017. Upon Sunac's takeover of the project, the park was rebranded as Sunac Land, and resumed construction. The park was originally set to open in late 2022. However, due to construction delays and an uncertainty of the park's future, it is unknown if the park will continue construction and/or open.


Roller coasters


Rides


Sunac Water Park

Originally known as Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Zhejiang, the waterpark was formally announced on December 19, 2016. Construction formally began in a ceremony on June 23, 2018, and waterslide pieces began arriving soon after. After the project was taken over by Sunac, the newly-rebranded Sunac Water Park held its official grand opening on June 26, 2021. The waterpark spans an area of and features more than 27 waterslides (18 unique attractions). All of the park's waterslides were provided by
WhiteWater West WhiteWater West is a manufacturing company based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1980 and manufactures a variety of products for water parks including water slides and water play areas. The company also owns FlowRide ...
.


Water slides

*Sea Dragon (Chinese: 海上飞龙) - A master blaster waterslide that blasts riders up six uphill sections, stands tall, and has a length of . The slide is ridden with inner tubes seating up to two riders. *Express Typhoon (Chinese: 极速大喇叭) - A pair of six-passenger raft slides. One sends riders through a nearly tall funnel element, while the other navigates a combination of Whitewater's Constrictor and Python elements. *Skyrocket (Chinese: 冲天回旋) - A waterslide complex composing of four slides, two of which are ridden with inner tubes. The inner tube pair is modeled after waterslides at the Island H2O Live! waterpark in
Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...
, and feature a Master Blaster/Boomerango combo and a Constrictor/Rattler blend of elements. The second pair is ridden in harder boats and utilize the "Slideboarding" experience; players must score points by hitting buttons on their vehicle to match upcoming lights. *Time Travel (Chinese: 时光穿梭) - A waterslide complex with six tube slides, one of which packs in three "Rattler" funnel elements and another of which sends riders through a bowl element. The set of slides is an exact clone of the ''Slither’s Slides'' complex at Yas Waterworld in
Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...
. *Rainbow Slideway (Chinese: 彩虹竞技) - A six-lane racing slide with an advertised length of per lane and a pair of uphill sections. The slides are ridden head-first with matts. *12 Seconds (Chinese: 极速12秒) - A body slide complex that is identical to the ''Dueling' Daltons'' at
Typhoon Texas Typhoon Texas is a series of water parks in Texas. The company currently operates two locations in Austin and in Katy. Typhoon Texas Houston ''Typhoon Texas Houston'' is a 25 acre water park was located next to Katy Mills in Katy, Texas. Constr ...
in
Katy, Texas Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Katy area, itself forming the western part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Homes and businesses may have Katy postal addresses without being in the City of Katy. The city of ...
. Three of the slides utilize trap door starts - one plummets down a drop, another through the helix, and the final navigating an Aqualoop element - while the other two are lower-level, less thrilling body slides. *Lost Lagoon (Chinese: 缤纷水城) - A large water play structure featuring multiple tube and body slides, including a body bowl slide and a half pipe. The attraction is a copy of the ''Lost City of Atlantis'' at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park in
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Wisconsin Dells is a city in Wisconsin, straddling four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. A popular Midwestern tourist destination, the city forms an area known as "The Dells" with the nearby village of Lake Delton. The Dells is ho ...
. *Langhua Kindergarten (Chinese: 浪花幼儿园) - A series of children's body and tube slides, one of them of which navigates a miniature funnel element. *Kid's Slideway (Chinese: 儿童滑道) - A children's trio of body slides surrounded by a toddler pool and spray area. *Waterslide - A mild body slide located in the park's SPA area.


Water rides

*Jet Ski (Chinese: 水上摩托艇) - A pair of
Zierer Zierer Karussell- und Spezialmaschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG (Short name: Zierer ) is a German company located close to Deggendorf. Zierer manufactures Tivoli and Force line of roller coasters, as well as panoramic wheels, wave swingers, flying car ...
''Jet Ski'' spinning rides. *Naval Battle (Chinese: 秘境水战) - A long
Zamperla Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. is an Italian design and manufacturing company founded in 1966. It is best known for creating family rides, thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin-operated rides commonly found in ...
''Water Fight'' where riders - aboard boats - are able to splash other boats with water guns as they pass in close proximity to each other. *Water Carnival (Chinese: 水上狂欢) - A
Teacups Teacups is an amusement ride characterized by cup-shaped spinning vehicles atop a turntable-like floor. Typically, each set of six teacups has a center bearing mounted underneath, similar to a car wheel bearing mounted on a circular floor capab ...
-esque attraction where riders are equipped with water guns to spray at other riders. The ride is a six-boat ''Watermania'' manufactured by Zamperla. *Sailor Training Camp (Chinese: 水手训练营) - A suspended aerial obstacle course.


Other attractions

*Adventure Harbor (Chinese: 冒险港湾) - An activity area. *Brave Surfing (Chinese: 乘风破浪) - A FlowRider attraction where riders surf on an artificial wave – a constant sheet of water being propelled up an incline. *Double Outlet Wave Pool (Chinese: 海啸巨浪) - A 7,000 m2 (75,347 sq ft) double
wave pool A wave pool is a swimming pool in which there are artificially generated, large waves, similar to those of the ocean. Wave pools are often a major feature of water parks, both indoors and outdoors, as well as some leisure centres. History T ...
that produces a variety of waves. The pool is equipped with a large LED stage, which is utilized to host light shows and play music. *Drifting (Chinese: 悠悠飘流) - A long lazy river that encompasses the center of the park. In addition to the above attractions, a pair of 4-person raft slides were also purchased from WhiteWater West, but ultimately not constructed.


References


External links


Official website
{{Six Flags Amusement parks in China Proposed Six Flags amusement parks