Six Flags Entertainment (SIX -0.84%) just announced that Six Flags Over Texas will reopen on June 18, slightly more than two weeks after it reopened its Great Adventure Safari in New Jersey on May 30. Its Oklahoma City theme park, Frontier City, opened June 5 with limited-capacity access.
Only unlimited season pass holders who are part of the company's loyalty program will be admitted into the Six Flags Over Texas park, located in Arlington, for the first four days. In order to control the number of people in the parks, advance reservations are needed, with visitors specifying both a date and time for their visit.
Image source: Getty Images.
The waterpark attached to Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor, is set to reopen on June 19. Water slides at Hurricane Harbor will be open to only one party at a time as a social distancing measure, while roller coasters will see every other row left vacant to create greater physical separation. Employees will be kept busy during the day, repeatedly cleaning high-contact surfaces such as handrails. Additional parks will open in the coming days.
The news comes after an address by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott regarding the state's reopening protocols, announced on June 3. Abbot stated theme parks and amusement parks can reopen immediately, at 50% capacity, if they're located in counties with less than 1,000 COVID-19 cases. Those in counties with more than 1,000 coronavirus cases need to wait until June 19.
Abbott also said the "people of Texas continue to prove that we can safely and responsibly open our state for business while containing COVID-19 and keeping our state safe."
