Thurman returns to Six Flags as president
New leader of Magic Mountain served as director of operations for seven years before leaving to helm Texas location
There’s a new boss at Six Flags Magic Mountain – and he’s a familiar face.
Three and a half years after leaving the Valencia amusement park, which is also home to Hurricane Harbor, Neal Thurman has returned as president, succeeding Bonnie Sherman Weber, who has joined the company’s corporate leadership team in Texas.
The leadership change was announced Thursday in a news release on the Magic Mountain website.
“I am very excited about rejoining one of the leading theme park properties in the world,” Thurman said in the release. “Having worked at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor previously, I look forward to ‘coming home’ and contributing to the park’s exciting future.”
Thurman served as Magic Mountain’s director of operations for seven years before leaving in September 2014 to become park president at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. In 2016, Thurman moved again, this time to New Jersey to become park president of Six Flags Great Adventure.
His career with Six Flags spans more than two decades, beginning in 1995 at Six Flags over Georgia.
“Neal is one of the best and brightest minds in the theme park industry. He is an outstanding leader, whose knowledge of park operations is unmatched,” Six Flags Senior Vice President of U.S. Park Operations Thomas Iven said in the release. “He is already very familiar with Magic Mountain — the employees, and the culture, so he is very well-suited to lead this park.”
Weber, who had served as Magic Mountain president since August 2010, is now working as senior vice president of in-park services for Six Flags, a position that leaves her in charge of the company’s in-park revenue generating departments, including culinary services, retail, games, attractions, rentals and parking.