A Six Flags game of musical chairs will leave many former park presidents sitting in the same seat they had before along with a few of familiar faces moving to new locations after the amusement park chain eliminated the roles last year in a cost-cutting move.
Six Flags announced on Wednesday, April 22 the names of the park presidents who will be reintroduced in 10 key markets — including Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain.
“These changes are about putting leadership, expertise and accountability as close to our guests and team members as possible,” Six Flags CEO John Reilly said in a statement. “We’re empowering our teams to move faster, innovate locally and deliver exceptional experiences every day.”
ALSO SEE: Six Flags reverses course and brings back park presidents
Six Flags eliminated park president positions at all 27 amusement parks in the chain in May 2025 and moved to a geographic operating model with senior vice presidents overseeing four regions: Northeast, West, Midwest and Texas.
The strategic shift sought to centralize certain functions and responsibilities at the corporate level following the $8 billion merger that combined Six Flags and Cedar Fair into a North American amusement park juggernaut.
Here are the 10 new Six Flags park presidents:
Knott’s Berry Farm park president Raffi Kaprelyan. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Knott’s Berry Farm
Buena Park
Raffi Kaprelyan most recently served as Six Flags West Coast Regional VP. The former Knott’s GM returns as park president.
Six Flags Magic Mountain park president Brian Oerding. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Valencia
Brian Oerding moves to Magic Mountain from a similar role as park manager and VP at Carowinds outside Charlotte, North Carolina.
Cedar Point park president Colleen Brady (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Cedar Point
Ohio
Colleen Brady moves up to Cedar Point park president after serving as assistant GM and park manager at the Ohio theme park.
Kings Island park president Tony Carovillano. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Kings Island
Ohio
Tony Carovillano basically stays in the same position at Kings Island — exchanging his GM/VP title for park president.
Canada’s Wonderland park president Christopher Mortensen. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Canada’s Wonderland
Ontario
Christopher Mortensen returns home to Canada’s Wonderland after a decade of amusement park leadership roles elsewhere — most recently as GM of Noah’s Ark water park in Wisconsin. He was a manager in ride operations and maintenance when he left Canada’s Wonderland in 2014.
Six Flags Great America park president John Krajnak. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Six Flags Great America
Illinois
John Krajnak most recently served as Six Flags Midwest Regional VP. The former Six Flags Great America park president returns to the role again.
Six Flags Great Adventure park president Mike Fehnel. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Six Flags Great Adventure
New Jersey
Mike Fehnel basically stays in the same position at Great Adventure — exchanging his park manager title for park president.
Six Flags Over Georgia park president Richard Pretlow. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Six Flags Over Georgia
Richard Pretlow takes the role of park president of Six Flags Over Georgia after serving as Six Flags Director of Operations at the corporate level. He was the former park president of the now-closed Six Flags America in Maryland.
Six Flags Over Texas park president Pete Carmichael. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Six Flags Over Texas
Pete Carmichael most recently served as Six Flags Northeast Regional VP. He becomes park president of Six Flags Over Texas after holding similar roles at Six Flags New England and Six Flags St. Louis.
Carowinds park president Bridgette Bywater. (Courtesy of Six Flags)
Carowinds
North Carolina
Bridgette Bywater takes over as Carowinds park president after serving as Kings Dominion GM.
The leadership announcement leaves nine smaller Six Flags locations that will be led by local park managers and senior vice presidents:
California’s Great America (Santa Clara)
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo)
Kings Dominion (Virginia)
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Dorney Park (Pennsylvania)
Six Flags New England (Massachusetts)
Frontier City (Oklahoma)
Six Flags Darien Lake (New York)
Six Flags Mexico
California’s Great America is expected to close in the next few years as the lease for the 112 acres the park sits on comes to an end.
Frontier City and Darien Lake are owned by the parent company of Enchanted Parks and managed by Six Flags, according to Screamscape.
Six Flags sold six of its smallest parks in March that were combined into the new Enchanted Parks regional amusement park chain.