Kings Dominion has new manager after Six Flags layoffs

Kings Dominion has a new head amid a wave of layoffs by parent company Six Flags Entertainment.

Jennifer Schofield started as park manager and vice president of in-park revenue for the Doswell amusement park on May 31, according to Sydney Snow, regional manager of public relations for Kings Dominion and Six Flags New England.

The park’s former head was Bridgette C. Bywater, who had the title vice president and general manager of Kings Dominion. Bywater assumed leadership of the park in January 2021, when former VP and GM Tony Johnson retired. She worked at Cedar Fair Entertainment, the park’s former parent, for 24 years before she came to Hanover County.

Six Flags and Cedar Entertainment completed an $8 billion merger in July 2024. The combined company bills itself as North America’s largest regional amusement-resort operator. It has 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Six Flags President and CEO Richard Zimmerman announced a cost reduction plan that included a workforce reduction in the company’s first quarter earnings call.

“As part of our cost reduction plan,” Zimmerman said on the call, “we are engaged in a corporate restructuring process designed to flatten our organizational structure, streamline decision-making and drive cost efficiencies. … Once this initiative is completed, we will have reduced our full-time headcount by more than 10%.”

The company reported $202 million in net revenues in the first quarter, of which $111 million related to the legacy Six Flags operations added in the merger. It had a net loss of $220 million in the first quarter, which included $134 million of net loss from legacy Six Flags operations added in the merger.

Nevertheless, the company expects to reach $120 million in merger cost synergies by the end of the year, six months earlier than previously expected, according to Zimmerman. Six Flags expects its reorganization plan to deliver an additional $60 million in cost savings.

“Our operating plan anticipated some consumer caution given heightened macroeconomic uncertainty,
Zimmerman said in a statement. “Accordingly, we have been taking proactive steps to mitigate these impacts — including refinements to our operating calendars, targeted cost reductions and more aggressive yield management on tickets and in-park products.”

On the earnings call, Zimmerman said the company’s strategy for 2025 included minimizing lower-value operating days, particularly in the first and fourth quarters, and maximizing operating days in the second and third quarters.

A few days prior to the earnings call, on May 1, Six Flags announced it would close Six Flags America and Hurricane Harbor in Bowie, Maryland, after the 2025 operating season.

“The vice president and general manager position at Kings Dominion was eliminated, along with the general manager and park president positions at all Six Flags Entertainment Corp. parks” as part of the workforce reduction effort, Bywater said in a statement to Virginia Business.

“I was offered the opportunity to continue my employment in a different role but declined,” Bywater said. “I wish nothing but success for the company and look forward to joining the Kings Dominion season passholder community.”

Kristin Fitzgerald, corporate director of public relations for Six Flags, said in a statement: “Six Flags Entertainment recently moved to a new regional operating structure,” which included centralizing corporate functions and making “some changes to the roles and responsibilities of park leaders, sharpening the parks’ focus on execution, the guest experience and associates.

“Some park general managers and presidents had an opportunity to move into different roles, while others left the company to pursue other opportunities or retire. These and other changes underway have created new opportunities for the next generation of leaders within the company,” she continued.

Schofield has 34 years of experience in the theme park industry, according to Fitzgerald.

Schofield was most recently vice president of retail at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before that, she was director of merchandise and games at Kings Dominion. Schofield previously served as director of merchandise and games for Worlds of Fun in Missouri, and prior to that, as merchandise manager at Carowinds, which straddles the state line between the Carolinas.

2025 marks Kings Dominion’s 50th anniversary. In January, the park announced a lineup of events to celebrate the milestone, including new live shows and a street party. “A Golden Summerbration” is running from late May to early August.

Kings Dominion is not holding its annual December-long WinterFest season. The theme park did not include the season in its 50th anniversary events list, released in January.