Six Flags Over Georgia announced this week that its Holiday in the Park will not be happening in 2025 and November 30, 2025 will be the last operating day for the season. In its release simply called “Fall and Winter Update”, Six Flags mentions focusing resources “during the time when the majority of our guests visit the Six Flags Over Georgia” and “weather conditions can more consistently support our goal”. The business translation of that is, “It’s not expected to be busy enough with enough predictable revenue to justify us opening the park in December.” Although this is obviously disappointing, if it furthers the goals of keeping the park economically healthy it could be understandable.

After much research and planning, we’ve made a strategic decision to focus on delivering exceptional guest experiences during our core operating season – spring through fall. This shift allows us to concentrate our efforts and resources during the time when the majority of our guests visit Six Flags Over Georgia, and weather conditions can more consistently support our goal to deliver an enjoyable and memorable visit for all. This means that Holiday in the Park will not return this year and our season will end November 30.

-Six Flags Over Georgia

Holiday in the Park has been a family tradition for us as I’m sure it is for many. This was out go to Santa experience and a place we went annually to see Christmas lights. This article is littered with pictures from our past visits to Holiday in the Park to help pay tribute and commemorate this great event.

Based on our own patterns with Holiday in the Park, I do understand some of what Six Flags is saying. The weather can be unpredictable in Georgia in Winter, but there were some gorgeous December days the last few years which of course were the ones we targeted for a visit. Also, one of the things we always appreciated about Holiday in the Park was that the park seemed less busy, however, a good portion of the rides in the back of the park typically wouldn’t operate that I felt somewhat compensated. Being local we avoided the bad weather days, but I can imagine the park being a ghost town on cold days. Also, many rides can’t operate in cold temperatures leaving the park in awkward position to either close those rides (disappointed guests) or close the park entirely (zero revenue while still incurring costs).

Season pass holders will be one of the largest groups impacted by the early closure as they now have one less month to use their pass than they originally expected when they purchased it. A trip to Holiday in the Park was one of the reasons we always got the passes as we knew it was one of the times we were sure to visit. There’s no word yet on if passholders will be compensated in any way (no doubt there is “operating schedule may change” language in the disclaimer when you buy it). Compared to last year the 2025 season will have considerably less operating dates as the park was open both weekends in December as well as during the school breaks all the way until January 5, 2025.

I’m not sure if it’s a form of compensation, but I did have another free “bring a friend” in my today. In fact it was the thing that tipped me off that there may be something askew because the expiration date on this ticket was strangely November 30, 2025. It’s also been announced that some amazing renewal offers including that include all legacy Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks are on the way in the next couple days. It would also not be shocking to see other curtailments of operating dates at other parks (Kings Dominion already cancelled their Winterfest 2025 and Michigan’s Adventure cancelled their Tricks & Treats this fall) Six Flags Great Adventure has also cancelled their Holiday in the Park and their statement was almost word for word the same as Georgia. The season passholders from Michigan’s Adventure were given a free ticket to Cedar Point in compensation and Great Adventure was given a free “bring a friend” ( both of which were great to see and makes me think my free ticket was not random). Many other parks have also not officially published operating hours online past Labor Day. In light of some other parks. I feel lucky that Six Flags Over Georgia will operate through Thanksgiving rather than ending with Fright Fest on November 2nd.

The cancellation of Holiday in the Park is also on the heels of the cancellation of Coaster Fest in August. Coaster Fest was an awesome event for enthusiasts with “behind the scenes” tours, presentations and lift hill walks the typically was held on or near National Roller Coaster Day. Mentions of both have been removed from the website, but Holiday in the Park was still on the events banner picture as of 7/26/25. Thankfully other Six Flags events like Oktoberfest and the iconic Fright Fest appear good to go. Much of the signage at the park still mention these cancelled events (the pictures below are from 2024), but these special events are often used to help sell season passes, so I’d imagine we’d see the current ones changed relatively soon. I was good to see Six Flags state, “Holiday in the Park will not return this year”, which gives hope for next year and beyond. Some places have called the event “retired”, but that may be too far in my opinion.

Running a theme park profitably is no easy feat. A theme park is a massive asset that can make more money operating more days, but only if revenue on those days exceed costs. These facilities require massive resources and employees to operate. They operate mostly outdoors and do not always know what the next weeks will bring in regard to attendance. They must schedule employees, order food and perform maintenance in such a way as to not lose money if things are slow or frustrate guests if it’s unexpectedly busy and they’re unprepared. The unpredictability of December weather increases this uncertainty further and this coupled with lower attendance in general makes the decision understandable, but disappointing.