Hangzhou Bay Sunac Tourism City (Previously known as Six Flags Zhejiang) is a theme park and entertainment complex under construction in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, China, about 45 miles from downtown Shanghai. It was announced by the Six Flags Entertainment Corporation 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 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, and the development held its official groundbreaking 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 waterpark adjacent to Six Flags Zhejiang, and it was later revealed that the waterslides would be supplied by Richmond-based WhiteWater West. 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. to theme the children's areas at Six Flags Zhejiang and Chongqing after the Garfield 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 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 and projection screens. In March 2018, it was confirmed that dark rides based on the Tuzki 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 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.