Frontier City

Frontier City is a western-themed amusement park in Oklahoma City's Adventure District. It is currently owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties and operated by former Six Flags executives Kieran Burke and Gary Story. The park is the subject of the song "Frontier City" by the Nashville band Kings of Leon, as drummer Nathan Followill once worked there. Currently Frontier City is the only theme park in Oklahoma after the 2006 closing of Bell's Amusement Park.

History

Frontier City was originally opened in 1958 as a Western "town" theme-park. It originally opened up at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, but moved to its current location a few years later to become a "boom town," since it sprung-up quickly. The park added spinning rides as well as several roller coasters and a log flume ride starting in the 1960s and 1970s.

Frontier City was originally owned and operated by Premier Parks. It was the company's first and flagship park. Premier Parks' corporate offices were located at the southeast corner of the Frontier City property, and continued to be located there until 2006, when the company's offices were moved to New York. Premier Parks would purchase Six Flags Inc. in 1998. It was thought that Frontier City, Wild Waves/Enchanted Village, and Great Escape would eventually be re-branded as Six Flags parks, but they never were. The other two parks would still sell Six Flags season passes good at all Six Flags parks except for Frontier City and White Water Bay. The Frontier City passes would only be good there and not at other Six Flags parks. But in some years, Six Flags passes were also available for purchase at a higher price. Six Flags corporate offices remained in Oklahoma City, but left in 2006, despite Oklahoma City's now booming economy.

On January 27, 2006, Six Flags put Frontier City and White Water Bay, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Elitch Gardens, Darien Lake, a couple of waterparks, and Wild Waves/Enchanted Village for sale. At the same time, Six Flags also announced its plan to close corporate offices in Oklahoma City and move to New York City. Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro had said he expected the parks to continue operation after the sale. But rumors surfaced that some of them could close.

On January 11, 2007, Six Flags opted to keep Magic Mountain, but then announced that it would sell Frontier City and White Water Bay, along with Elitch Gardens, Darien Lake, Splashtown (near Houston), and Wild Waves/Enchanted Village to PARC 7F-Operations. [1] As a part of the deal, the Six Flags prefix was removed from the names of Elitch Gardens and Darien Lake. Frontier City and White Water Bay were never branded as Six Flags parks.

Since the management was changed from Six Flags to PARC Management, Frontier City has been granted the largest capital investment that the park has seen in its 50 years. The new ownership allowed for the addition of the Steel Lasso, as well as a few minor changes within the park.

On November 24 2010, CNL announced that it had reached an agreement to terminate PARC's lease of Elitch Gardens and up to 17 other locations.^[1] The move came after, according to their 2010 SEC filings, PARC defaulted on their lease obligations on the properties.^[2] Five of the original six parks originally purchased from Six Flags are also involved in the lease termination.

CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc., owners of Frontier City; Frontier City theme park and White Water Bay water park again will be getting the Six Flags management touch when former Six Flags executives Kieran Burke and Gary Story begin managing the properties.^[3]

Rides and attractions

Roller coasters

Currently operating

Frontier City currently has four major operating roller coasters and one children's coaster.

• Steel Lasso, a Vekoma family coaster that opened July 17, 2008 in celebration of Frontier City's 50th Anniversary. The Steel Lasso is the first, and currently the only, suspended roller coaster in Oklahoma. It has a top speed of 29.2 MPH and maximum height of 49 feet (15 m).
• The Wildcat is a wood hybrid "out and back" coaster consisting of a wooden track with structural steel supports. Originally built in 1968, it was designed by Aurel Vaszin and Edward Leis of the National Amusement Device Company for Fairyland Park in Kansas City, MO. It was relocated to Frontier City in 1991 and was one of the first complete relocations of a wooden coaster. The original coaster was modified to fit the terrain of the current site. In 1999, the original NAD trains were replaced by new Philadelphia Toboggan Company trains. The Wildcat is 75 feet (23 m) in height and has a first drop of 65 feet (20 m). Its track length is 2,653 feet (809 m) and maximum speed reached is 46 MPH.
• The Silver Bullet is a steel coaster designed by Anton Schwarzkopf. The Silver Bullet was originally built to be a completely portable coaster. There are no concrete footings holding the coaster down like permanent structures. Instead, water-filled ballasts hold the weight of the coaster down. Operating since 1979, it had a brief position at the Texas State Fair from 1980-1983. It was relocated to Frontier City in 1986. Since being at Frontier City, it has gone through many color schemes, including blue/black, and teal/pink, but is currently black/silver. The Silver Bullet is Oklahoma's tallest coaster, at some 83 feet (25 m) high. The Silver Bullet has a top speed of 45 MPH.
• The Diamondback, originally built in 1978, is a "shuttle loop" roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics. Originally named the "Lightning Loops," it was relocated from Six Flags Great Adventure to Frontier City in 1994. In 2007 it was painted yellow and blue.
• The Wild Kitty is a small children's coaster made by the Allan Herschell Company.

Defunct

• The Nightmare Mine was a "Galaxi" style coaster built as an indoor attraction at Frontier City in 1989. Prior to that, it had been an outdoor roller coaster known as the Orange Blossom Special which was manufactured in 1974 by S.D.C. It has been SBNO since 2003. The roller coaster inside the building has been removed.
• Excalibur was an Arrow Dynamics "Runaway Mine Train" meant to be installed at Frontier City after being relocated from Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, TX. It was carelessly dismantled at AstroWorld, and, upon arrival at Frontier City, was deemed in too poor of shape to be rebuilt. It sat in the storage lot behind the park until 2006 when it was scrapped.
• Terrible Twister, a Chance Rotor.
• Treasure Mountain an indoor dark ride that was first named the 89'er ghost mine, featured scary anamatronics. In June 2007, the ride was modified to become the "Quick Draw".
• Tomahawk, a Zamperla Hawk 48. It was removed for the 2007 season and replaced by the Steel Lasso in 2008.
• Swingin' Six Guns was removed in 2008 so the Steel Lasso could be built.
• Bumper Boats, a kiddie ride, removed at the end of 2008.

Other thrill rides

• Quick Draw is a family interactive dark ride designed and manufactured by the Sally Corporation with an old west concept. Riders use pistols equipped with infrared LEDs/readers that count up a score based on targets hit. The ride uses an old building that once housed a previous dark ride, Treasure Mountain. The old ride was completely dismantled, and walls deconstructed, so that Quick Draw's hardware could be installed.
• Eruption, an S&S Power Sky Sling built in 2003. Currently the tallest attraction in Oklahoma with towers reaching 250 feet (76 m).
• Tornado, a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl attraction.
• The Hangman, a Chance tower/drop ride in which riders sit around a square tower in a ring of seats harnessed to a cable system which launches them into the air, where they "hang" for several moments before plummeting back down to the ground.
• Geronimo Sky Coaster, a free-falling attraction manufactured by Skycoaster.
• Sidewinder, a Eli Scrambler ride.
• Rodeo Round-up, a Huss Enterprise.
• Mindbender, a Chance Inverter.
• Casino, a Chance Trabant.
• The Prairie Schooner, a swinging pirate ship ride manufactured by Intamin.

Water rides

• Mystery River Log Flume, formerly "The Ozarka Splash" (once being sponsored by Ozarka). Riders travel in a log-themed boat through a concrete canal filled with water. The Log Flume is characteristic of older-style flumes by the fact that 90% of the ride is at ground level, as opposed to newer versions where the ride is a fiberglass canal suspended over the ground.
• Renegade Rapids is a large raft-style attraction which carries riders through simulated white water rapids.

References

External links

• Frontier City Official Website
• Frontier City on Rollercoaster Database
• Frontier City on Oklahoma Tourism Website
• Frontier City Photo Gallery
• A Fan Site
• A Fan Site