Six Flags Over Texas’ age limit gets stricter, no minors allowed without a chaperone

DALLAS — A year after implementing a chaperone policy for guests under 15 years of age, Six Flags Over Texas is getting stricter.

A banner on the Arlington theme park’s website alerts customers to a new policy: guests 17 years of age and younger will need a chaperone 21 or older at all times.

A valid government-issued ID is required for all chaperones, and one chaperone can accompany up to five guests. Chaperones must enter with their group and remain at the park during the entire visit.

Any guest younger than 18 found without a chaperone will be subject to immediate removal from the park, and entire groups may be removed if a chaperone is not adequately fulfilling their duties.

This policy is significantly stricter than the one implemented last year. In addition to a wider range of ages requiring a chaperone, the new policy mandates a chaperone from the time the park opens till it closes, when before a chaperone was only required after 4 p.m. The number of minors a chaperone can accompany also dropped from 10 to five.

The same applies to Six Flags’ Hurricane Harbor waterpark in Arlington.

“The safety of our guests and associates has always been a top priority at Six Flags Over Texas,” the park’s website reads. “In response to increasing incidents of disruptive behavior across the industry and at other entertainment venues, we are implementing enhanced policies to maintain a safe, family-friendly environment.”

Explaining the change in policy, Six Flags wrote in a statement, “To support our commitment to providing a safe environment for our guests and employees, we have updated our chaperone policy.”

Other Six Flags Entertainment Corporation properties in the state do not have age policies that are as strict.

At Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, chaperones are required for guests 15 or younger after 6 p.m., with chaperones able to accompany up to 10 underage guests, similar to Six Flags Over Texas’ old policy. At Schlitterbahn, a popular Six Flags-owned waterpark in New Braunfels, there is no official chaperone policy at all. The park’s code of conduct simply reads:

“Parents or guardians are responsible for the behavior of their minor children. Appropriate behavior and supervision are the responsibility of the parent/guardian and are always expected. We strongly recommend that minors (under 18) be accompanied by an adult.”