Six Flags Over Texas

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This article is about the Six Flags theme park. For the historical "six flags" that flew over Texas, see Six flags over Texas.

Six Flags Over Texas is a major amusement park located in Arlington, Texas, about 15 miles away from Dallas. It was the oldest park of the Six Flags chain. The park opened on August 1, 1961 following just a year of construction and an initial investment of $10 million by real estate developer and oil baron Angus G. Wynne, Jr.

Since its opening, Six Flags Over Texas has consistently performed well in terms of attendance and revenue, despite its history of ever-changing owners and expansions. The park currently has several amusement rides and attractions, bringing in thousands of visitors daily.

[edit] History

Following a visit to the recently opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, wealthy oil tycoon and real estate developer Angus G. Wynne, Jr. decided that his home state of Texas should have a local park for entertainment. Planning for such a place began in 1959, under the leadership of Wynne and the Great Southwest Corporation, along with the backing of various New York investors. Construction on the park began in August, 1960.

[edit] Origin of the name

The park's name "Six Flags Over Texas" stands for the six different nations' flags which have governed Texas, including: France, Spain, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The Confederate States of America, and the United States of America. The story goes that Wynne originally intended to name the park "Texas under Six Flags," until his wife objected stating that "Texas isn’t under anything." The original park was (and still is) split into separate regions, such as the Spain and Mexico section which featured Spanish-themed rides, attractions and buildings.

[edit] Silver Star Carousel

The Silver Star Carousel is the last carousel built by William Dentzel of the Dentzel Carousel Company in Philadelphia. It was originally erected near the municipal boardwalk at Rockaway’s Playland Amusement Park in Long Island, NY in 1928. Dentzel owned the ride and a good friend of his operated it as a concession when it was first built. When Dentzel died in March 1928, Rockaway’s Playland purchased the carousel from his estate, and operated it until 1937. In that year the carousel was put into storage until 1945. It was then put back into operation at Rockaway’s until it was purchased for $25,000 by Six Flags in late 1962.

The Silver Star Carousel at Six Flags Over Texas opened in 1963. Because of the ride’s historical background, the Texas Historical Commission declared the ride an official historical site in 1966. In 1988, the Silver Star Carousel reopened after a three-year renovation period at the front gate.

[edit] Six Flags Over Texas Railroad

The Six Flags Over Texas Railroad is the only attraction still operating from the park's inaugural 1961 season. Two engines transport guests on a one mile journey around the park, with stops at two stations located on opposite sides of the park. Both train engines were originally built at the turn of the century for a sugar cane plantation in Louisiana. Engine #1, known as the "Green Train" (due to its color scheme) or the "Mary Ann," was built in 1901 by the American Locomotive Company. The smaller engine #2, known as the "Red Train" or "Lydia," was created for the plantation in 1897 by the Porter Company.

The engines were later rebuilt for $50,000, and renamed the "General Sam Houston" (originally the 'Mary Ann') and the "Mirabeau B. Lamar" (originally the 'Lydia') in honor of these Texan heroes. The rebuilding also involved several minor changes, including the conversion of the wood-burning steam engines to oil-burning steam engines. Photos of the original engines can be found at the train station in the 'Texas' section of the park. As of the park opening 2006 Six Flags closed one of the engines (prior to it breaking down) & named the last train to the "Charles Jefferson Patton"

The railroad continues to run at the park daily, operating much the same as it did more than 40 years ago when the attraction first opened. Six Flags maintains the trains as close as possible to their original specifications. In fact, despite a popular movement to transform theme park railroad engines from steam-powered to the newer diesel-powered trains for lower maintenance and operating costs, Six Flags Over Texas has resisted, to favor a more authentic experience.

[edit] Firsts

Six Flags Over Texas has also been home to many theme park "firsts" including:

• First mine train roller coaster – The Runaway Mine Train (1966)
• First log flume – El Aserradero (1963)
• First roller coaster with consecutive loops* – Shockwave (1978)
• Worlds first freefall ride - The Wildcatter

*This is often disputed with Geauga Lake’s Double Loop[1] roller coaster, despite Six Flags claiming it publicly on their website[2].

[edit] Accidents

Main article: Incidents at Six Flags parks

• A 28-year-old Arkansas woman drowned on the Roaring Rapids water ride.

• In March 2006, Texas Tornado malfunctioned and its operators brought it to an emergency stop, causing five swing chairs to collide at high speeds. Several riders suffered minor injuries.

[edit] Events

Six Flags over Texas hosts several seasonal events throughout the year including:

• Spring Break Out – Taking place in the month of March, the Spring Break Out event welcomes the warm Texas weather with plenty of outdoor attractions, events, games, and concert performances. The event usually takes place over a couple of weeks, allowing various local schools’ differing spring break holidays to coincide with one of the event’s weeks.
• Best of Texas Festival – Texas heritage is celebrated during this event in September. The park is decorated with pumpkins, hay bales, and scarecrows and filled with skilled artisans and Texas souvenirs such as woodcarvings, homemade soaps, and hand-crafted leather boots. Several authentic Texas foods are also popular at the event, including homemade breads, kettle corn, skillet potatoes, and fried green tomatoes. Originally called the Texas Heritage Festival, it was renamed the 'Best of Texas' festival for the 2006 season and the parks 45th anniversary.
• Fright Fest – The annual Halloween festival at Six Flags Over Texas, Fright Fest, takes place throughout the month of October and features several specialized additions to the park. Haunted houses, decorated pathways, patrolling ghouls, and spooky music all contribute to the park’s transformation into a giant “haunted” attraction.
• Holiday in the Park – A tradition started in 1985, Holiday in the Park is now one of the park’s most popular seasonal events as the park’s season winds down towards the end of November and throughout December. Hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights are strung around the park buildings and rides, and an authentic snow hill is available for visitors to sled down (made possible in the usually mild Texas winter by a specialized refrigeration machine under the attraction).

Aerial view of "Gotham City"-themed section of the park. Highways SH 360 and I-30 intersect in the immediate background which show the proximity of the park to local roadways.

[edit] Major attractions

Superman - Tower of Power – Superman - Tower of Power was introduced to the park in 2003 as a combination freefall/launch tower created by S&S Power with a Superman theme. At 325 feet, it is the tallest ride at Six Flags Over Texas. It is also the tallest S&S Power Combo Tower in the world.

Titan – Titan is a massive, orange, 85mph, 245-foot tall steel roller coaster which combines a 255-foot drop (the ride goes 10-feet underground) with tight helixes, and a 120 ft. tunnel. The ride was designed and built by Giovanola.

Batman the Ride at Six Flags Over Texas.

Texas Giant – The world-renowned Texas Giant wooden roller coaster has consistently ranked at the top of wooden coaster ranking lists such as Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards[3]. Towering more than fourteen stories in the air, the Texas Giant was added to the Texas Section of the park for the 1990 season and is one of the tallest and fastest wooden roller coasters in the world. The Texas Giant has ten tons of nails, 81,370 bolts, and about 900,000 board feet (2000 m³) of lumber, enough wood to build the frames of 30 homes.

The Texas Giant.

Mr. Freeze – Themed to Batman's foe, Mr. Freeze launches riders at 70 mph into a top hat inversion and overbanked turn before rising up a 242-foot tall vertical tower, subsequently repelling the train back down and through the course in reverse. It's dubbed "the Coolest Coaster on the Planet." There is a sister Mr. Freeze in Six Flags St. Louis.

Batman - The Ride – One of the cloned (same layout) Batman the Ride inverted roller coasters, the Bolliger & Mabillard-designed roller coaster sends riders through 5 inversions with nothing but air beneath the train and riders’ legs.

Shock Wave – Shock Wave is a Schwarzkopf-designed steel roller coaster, often considered to be one of the few rides in the world to successfully combine inversions (it is the first ride ever to have two consecutive vertical loops) and airtime (the sensation caused by negative G's), with only a lap bar used as a restraining device.

Runaway Mountain – Billed as "the coaster that dares the darkness", Runaway Mountain sends passengers on a ride course filled with tight turns, helixes, drops, and hills within an enclosed "mountain", in complete darkness.

Judge Roy Scream – A smaller wooden roller coaster catering mostly to the family, Judge Roy Scream is offset from the rest of the park and resides next to the park's large entry lake.

The Oil Derrick observation tower.

[edit] Minor attractions

Mine Train – Originally called the Runaway Mine Train, and was the world's first tubular-steel roller coaster, which takes riders both old and young on a ride through a themed mining town, complete with a surprising finale.

Mini Mine Train – A miniature version of the Mine Train takes children, still too small to experience its bigger brother’s thrills, on a smaller roller coaster ride.

Flashback – A shuttle coaster, built by Vekoma, which takes riders through three inversions, up a steep incline, and then through the same three inversions in reverse, for a total of six inversions.

La Vibora – A bobsled roller coaster located in the Spain & Mexico section of the park that takes riders on a trackless adventure through a trough. Formerly called the Avalanche Bobsled.

Texas Chute-Out - A parachute-drop ride, nearly 200 feet high. Located across from Judge Roy Scream, it is one of the first attractions visible as one drives toward the park's entry plaza.

Roaring Rapids - Whitewater rafting simulation in which 12-person rafts navigate a man-made river.

Yosemite Sam's Gold River Adventure - Boat ride through a series of scenes featuring animatronic Looney Tunes characters. Prior to 1991, the ride was known as The Cave and featured the Spee-Lunkers, animated figures with large eyes and long, pointy noses and ears.

Oil Derrick – The Oil Derrick observation tower opened in 1969, providing a view of both the downtown Dallas and Fort Worth skylines at 300 feet above the park. It is considered one of Arlington's major landmarks.

Wildcatter - Formerly known as The Cliffhanger, then as G-Force, The Wildcatter elevates riders in a car (similar to an elevator in which the riders sit) 10 stories up. Then, upon reaching the top, the car rolls forward, over the edge of a tubular "slide", and races downward in complete freefall.

Splashwater Falls - Water ride traveling up a single slope, around a corner, then back down for a huge "splashdown".

Texas Tornado - Set of swings which rotate simultaneously in a large circle, suspended in the air.

Looney Tunes USA - The Looney Tunes USA section of the park features several rides and attractions designed for kids under the height of 54 inches. Several Looney Tunes cartoon characters can also be spotted patrolling the area regularly, greeting the kids and providing photo opportunities.

Crazy Horse Saloon - The Crazy Horse Saloon has provided live entertainment for over 40 years, featuring cowboys and saloon girls.

David Blackburn Southern Palace - The oldest theater at Six Flags Over Texas. This venue houses all types of musical and dance shows.

[edit] Future outlook

Six Flags over Texas continues to add new attractions and additions on a competitive basis, in order to increase guest attendance and remain profitable. Some speculation has led to the belief that the park will have increasing difficulty with future projects due to the park's location where it is literally "boxed-in" by local roads and businesses surrounding the park, and lack of free land. Park management continues to deny this, claiming that space is available not only within the park (by removal of older rides or in various other free areas) but also in other locations, such as the park's large parking lot (which was expanded into to build the roller coaster Titan).

Park president Steve Calloway has repeatedly expressed his desire at various events to implement past favorites of the park to bring back some nostalgia. His goal was partially completed with the reopening of the long-defunct Casa Magnetica [4] funhouse in 2004.

For the 2006 season, the park's 45th anniversary, 10 new rides (one actually being an interactive fountain) opened in the first half of the year. A few of these rides were actually from the now-defunct Six Flags Astroworld park in Houston.

[edit] References

• Jordan, Scott L. MousePlanet - This Old Park. Retrieved Sep. 21, 2004.
• McCown, Davis. ParkTimes. Retrieved Sep. 21, 2004.
• Rogers, Joel A. CoasterGallery.com. Retrieved Sep. 21, 2004.
• Six Flags - Media Info. Retrieved Sep. 21, 2004.

[edit] See also

• Six Flags (theme park chain)
• Amusement Parks
• Arlington, Texas

[edit] External links

• Six Flags Over Texas official website
• Parktimes - Six Flags Over Texas History
• sfot.net - Six Flags Over Texas Former Employee pages
• Lone Star Thrills
• SFOT Source - Your Ultimate Guide To Six Flags Over Texas
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 32.755° -97.070°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA