Six Flags New England

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**Six Flags New England**

Location	Agawam, Massachusetts
Website	Six Flags New England official website
Owner	Six Flags
Opened	1954
Operating season	April through October
Area	approximately 20 acres
Rides	46 (excluding water park) total 9 roller coasters 2 water rides

Six Flags New England, or SFNE, is a theme park in the Six Flags chain of parks, named for the New England region in which it is located. Six Flags New England is located in Agawam, Massachusetts, near Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut. Like most other Six Flags parks, Six Flags New England is divided into two sections: the amusement park, which includes major attractions such as Superman - Ride of Steel, Mind Eraser and Batman: The Dark Knight, and the water park, named Hurricane Harbor.

1 History
2 Rides
3 Shows and entertainment
4 External links

[edit] History

Throughout most of the 20th century, the park was known as Riverside. It started out as a picnic grove called Gallops Grove in 1840. It eventually was renamed to Riverside Grove, then Riverside Park. In the early 1940s, the park acquired its first ride, a wooden roller coaster called the Thunderbolt which still operates today. In 1996, the Carrol family - who had owned Riverside Park for many years - sold the park to Premier Parks. For four years, the park became known as "Riverside, The Great Escape". Riverside became rebranded as "Six Flags New England" when Premier Parks bought Six Flags, Inc. in 2000. The main street running through the park was renamed "Carrol Drive" in honor of the family which had owned it for so long.

For many years, Riverside was home to a NASCAR race track called Riverside Park Speedway. After the 1999 season, during the Six Flags rebranding, the speedway was removed, and the area was made into the DC Comics themed area, which is home to the Superman: The Ride of Steel and the brand new Hall of Justice.

Batman - The Dark Night roller coaster

Six Flags New England offers a "Flash Pass" system, that allows riders to use a "Flash Pass" to wait in one line for them while they wait in another line. Unlike similar systems at parks such as those in Walt Disney World Resort, the FastLane system requires an additional fee beyond that charged to enter the park.

When Six Flags, Inc. rebranded the park in 2000, they added many attractions and generally refurbished the park. The new rides consisted of several clones and the unique, award-winning Superman: Ride of Steel. They added Batman - The Dark Knight in 2002, doubled the size of the water park in and renamed it from Island Kingdom to Hurricane Harbor in 2003 and introduced two new rides for the year 2005 season: the roller coaster Mr. Six's Pandemonium and a water coaster named Typhoon. For the 2006 season, the SWAT flat ride from Six Flags Astroworld now re-named Catapult and Diablo Falls, also from Astroworld now re-named Splash Water Falls have been added.

[edit] Rides

Superman: Ride Of Steel

Six Flags New England contains one of the tallest, fastest coasters in the northeast, Superman: Ride of Steel. It is 208 feet tall and drops 221 feet into a tunnel, reaching a top speed of 77 mph. It is considered the best steel roller coaster in the world according to the trade magazine Amusement Today, which awarded it the prestigious Golden Ticket award in 2006.

On May 1, 2004, a man was thrown from his seat on the Superman roller coaster and killed.

The park also contains:

Batman - the Dark Knight, a B&M floorless
Cyclone, a wooden coaster
Flashback, a Vekoma Boomerang
The Great Chase, a kiddie coaster
Mind Eraser, a Vekoma inverted looping coaster
Pandemonium, a spinning wild mouse
Poison Ivy's Tangled Train, a family coaster
Thunderbolt, another woodie built in 1941
Typhoon water coaster

In addition to these, the park also has many thrill rides such as their newest thrill ride "Catapult", added to Six Flags in 2006, water slides, their newest, called "Splash Water Falls", added in 2006. The park also has two kiddie areas.

[edit] Shows and entertainment

Six Flags New England is home to a number of shows and attractions. During the parks branding as a Six Flags in 2000, the Looney Tunes characters were added to the roster along with Batman and his various allies and foes. Through the years more and more Looney Tunes such as Wile E. Coyote, Speedy Gonzales and Marvin the Martian came to Six Flags New England to join the already entertainment-packed park.

In 2006, the park and all of the Six Flags around underwent a massive boom in its entertainment package when new owner Mark Shapiro took control and challenged to up the ante on not just the rides but the experience. With this Six Flags New England has added The Justice League, wherein The Flash, The Green Lantern and Wonder Woman will be joining Batman and Robin in the new Hall of Justice.

Hall of Justice - The new Hall of Justice.

Scooby Doo joins the team along side his toon counterparts as well with new characters joining all through out the summer season which include Pepé Le Pew, Gossamer and Lola Bunny to name a few.

In addition to these attractions, durring the month of October, the park gets transformed for its annual Halloween festival, Frightfest. This transformation includes the addition of Halloween decorations to its Crackaxle Canyon, Main Street, and Rockville areas, making them Haunt Zones with roaming characters to give the areas the themes of a ghost town, a graveyard and an Area 51 complex, respectively. In addition several shows and attractions are added, including Monster Mash, Dead Legends Live, Dead Man's Party, and its two "haunted houses" (though both are outside walks), Nightmare Island and The Trail of Terror.

[edit] External links

Roller coasters at Six Flags New England
Batman - the Dark Knight - Cyclone - Flashback - The Great Chase - Mind Eraser – Mr. Six's Pandemonium - Poison Ivy's Tangled Train - Superman: Ride of Steel - Thunderbolt