Ride / Six Flags

The thrill is calling!

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, founded in 1961, is a corporate entity overseeing the operation of many theme parks and water parks. The company is based in Arlington, Texas, just down the street from its first namesake park, Six Flags Over Texas.

The first Six Flags parks were built by the Great Southwest Corporation, which was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which would become Penn Central Corporation in a couple of years. Time Warner gradually gained ownership in the corporation by 1993, then sold it to Premier Parks in 1998. Premier then changed its name to Six Flags Theme Parks Inc. in 2000 (converting most of their standalone parks to the Six Flags name in the meantime). Six Flags filed for bankruptcy in June of 2009, but then reorganized and emerged from bankruptcy in May of 2010, selling off many of its parks in the process. Despite no longer being owned by what's now Warner Bros. Discovery, they still license various Warner Bros. properties, including Looney Tunes and DC Comics characters, for use in their parks. In 2023, Six Flags announced that it would combine with Cedar Fair which is scheduled to be completed in 2024.

Current Six Flags-owned parks:

• Six Flags Over Texas — Arlington, Texas, opened 1961
  • With Hurricane Harbor water park
• Six Flags Over Georgia — Austell, Georgia, opened 1967
  • With White Water and Hurricane Harbor water parks
• Six Flags St. Louis — Eureka, Missouri, opened 1971 (originally known as Six Flags Over Mid-America)
• Six Flags Great Adventure — Jackson, New Jersey, opened 1974, acquired by SF in 1977
  • With Hurricane Harbor water park & Wild Safari zoological preserve
• Six Flags Magic Mountain & Hurricane Harbor — Valencia, California, opened 1971, acquired by SF in 1979
• Six Flags Great America — Gurnee, Illinois, opened 1976 as Marriott's Great America, acquired by SF in 1984^note Former sister park of California's Great America in Santa Clara, California, owned by Cedar Fair
  • With Hurricane Harbor water park
• Six Flags America — Mitchellville, Maryland, opened 1974 as The Wildlife Preserve, later known as Wild World and Adventure World, acquired by Premier in 1992
• Six Flags Fiesta Texas — San Antonio, Texas, opened 1992, acquired by SF in 1996
• Great Escape (or Six Flags Great Escape) — Queensbury, New York^note Just on the boundary between the Capital District and the Adirondacks, opened 1954 as Storytown USA, acquired by Premier in 1996
  • With Hurricane Harbor water park & Great Escape Lodge hotel / indoor water park
• Six Flags Discovery Kingdom — Vallejo, California, opened 1968 as Marine World-Africa USA, acquired by Premier in 1997 (previously Six Flags Marine World)
• Six Flags New England — Agawam, Massachusetts, opened 1940 as Riverside Park, acquired by Premier in 1997
• La Ronde — Montreal, Quebec, Canada, opened for the 1967 World's Fair, acquired by SF in 2000
• Six Flags Mexico — Mexico City, Mexico, opened 1982 as Reino Aventura, acquired by SF in 2000
• Frontier City — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, opened in 1958, purchased by Tierco Group in 1987, sold off and stopped being a Six Flags park in 2007, leased back to SF in 2018; note that this park was never branded as a Six Flags park in its history
• Six Flags Darien Lake — Darien, New York, opened 1981 as Darien Lake Fun Country, acquired by Premier in 1995, rebranded to Six Flags Darien Lake in 1999, sold to PARC Management in 2007 who renamed it to Darien Lake Theme Park Resort, changed ownership a few times, leased back to Six Flags in 2018, and finally re-flagged in 2019.

Former Six Flags properties:

• Bellewaerde Park - opened 1964, acquired 1998, sold 2004 and is currently known as simply Bellewaerde
• Six Flags Astroworld (or simply Astroworld) - Opened 1968, acquired 1975. Closed and demolished following the 2005 season.
• Six Flags Atlantis - A water park that sold to new owners in 1989, later closed and demolished after Hurricane Andrew
• Six Flags Belgium - Opened 1975 as Walibi and later renamed to Walibi Wavre, acquired 1998, sold 2004 and is currently known as Walibi Belgium.
• Six Flags Elitch Gardens - Opened 1995, acquired 1998, sold 2007.
• Six Flags Holland - Opened 1971 as Flevohof and later renamed to Walibi Flevo, acquired 1998, sold 2004 and is currently known as Walibi Holland.
• Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom - Opened 1987, closed 1988-1989, reopened 1990, acquired 1998, closed 2010-2013, sold and reopened 2014.
• Six Flags New Orleans - Opened 2000 as Jazzland, acquired 2002. Closed for Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and never reopened due to being flooded. The park has since been left to rot, still bearing the scars of the hurricane, with what few roller coasters that could be saved moved to other parks; it is now a popular destination for urban explorers.^note  Despite being long abandoned, the park is still actively patrolled by security that will arrest any trespassers. The park is also extremely dangerous because of decay and wildlife. Going to explore the ruins of the park is very much discouraged.
• Six Flags Ohio/Worlds of Adventure - Opened 1887 as Geauga Lake, acquired 1995, renamed Six Flags Ohio in 2000, renamed again as Six Flags Worlds of Adventure after acquiring neighboring SeaWorld Ohio in 2001, sold to Cedar Fair Entertainment in 2004 (closed in 2007).
• Warner Bros. Movie World - opened 1996, acquired from Warner Bros. in 1999, sold 2004 and is currently known as Movie Park Germany.
• Warner Bros. Movie World Madrid - opened 2002, sold 2004 and is currently known as Parque Warner Madrid.
• Walibi Aquitaine - opened 1992, acquired 1998, sold 2004 and is currently known as Walygator Sud-Ouest.
• Walibi Lorraine - opened 1989 as Big Bang Schtroumpf, acquired 1998, sold 2004 and is currently known as Walygator Parc.
• Walibi Rhône-Alpes - opened 1979, acquired 1998, sold 2004.

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Tropes associated with Six Flags:

• Abandoned Playground:
  • Six Flags New Orleans. Opened as Jazzland in 2000 and acquired by Six Flags in 2002, the park was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and hasn't been open since. Plans are in the works to turn the park into an outlet mall.
  • For a few years, Kentucky Kingdom, located in Louisville. It was purchased by Premier Parks in 1997, and became a Six Flags property in 1998 when Premier bought SF. It was closed after the 2009 season amid Six Flag's bankruptcy due to a dispute with Kentucky's state government (which owns the site), and stood vacant until Ed Hart and the Kentucky State Fair Board reopened it in 2014. In the course of the closure, Chang, the park's stand-up coaster, was relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure and renamed Green Lantern.
  • The former Geauga Lake/Six Flags Ohio/Six Flags Worlds of Adventure counts, too. After Six Flags sold it to Cedar Fair, the latter company wound up turning it into a waterpark only park (since they already owned Cedar Point, which Premier/Six Flags had unsuccessfully attempted to turn Geauga Lake into a rival to, including buying the nearby SeaWorld Ohio); the rest of the park decayed and the rides were sold off, with the entire land now slated for redevelopment (Cedar Fair having closed the water park in 2016).
• American Eagle: Six Flags Great America has a wooden roller coaster known as the American Eagle. The ride is painted in red, white, and blue and has a bald eagle in its logo.
• Amusement Park of Doom:
  • The Haunted Castle maze attraction at Great Adventure. Thanks to a severe case of No OSHA Compliance, in 1984 an accidental fire that started when a disturbed kid with a lighter ignited a polyurethane bumper pad ^note  The exact same kind of padding that was used in the Station in Rhode Island in 2003 during that fire disaster, which had much bigger ramifications. inside the castle destroyed the attraction and killed eight guests. This resulted in legal cases, but the juries found Jackson Township negligent in inspecting practices and Six Flags virtually escaped, though the fire, along with the rerise of Disney after a management shift later that year, still put a serious dent in Six Flags' business.
    • That's not even considering how 5 years prior, a nigh-identical incident happened on Luna Park Sydney's Ghost Train ride, killing seven guests in the process, meaning that Great Adventure should've been even more aware of the severity of fires and be even more concerned about fire safety.
  • The aforementioned Six Flags New Orleans, which may have served as the inspiration for the Dark Carnival level in Left 4 Dead 2.
  • The original motif and waiting-line soundtrack for The Demon played with this trope, using the premise that an actual demon had possessed the roller coaster and was lurking in wait to prey upon riders as a promotional gimmick.
• The Artifact:
  • At Six Flags Over Texas, the red oil derrick observation tower. It used to have slides attached to it, and up top, there were two levels of observation decks. Now only one is barely open during the entire season (it has to be closed if the wind blows too much), and it's not even the tallest landmark at the park anymore.
  • The compacted layout of the Batman: The Ride inverted coasters is because the original version at Six Flags Great America was built to replace a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop coaster that was landlocked in the middle of the park.
• Artifact Title: The Six Flags brand name originally referred to the six countries that have flown their flags over Texas: Spain, Mexico, France, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America. The countries, or at least theme park versions thereof, each themed a different area of the park (yes, even the Confederates). The idea worked well in Georgia too, with Mexico and Texas replaced by The U.K. and Georgia, but after that, well, how much difference do the flags of Missouri and Illinois make in the history of St. Louis? At any rate, since 2017, they're all the USA flag.
  • At the least, their "More Flags, More Fun" campaign attempted to make it not so much of this trope.
• Blackout Basement: The "Total Darkness" Fright Fest maze has guests wandering through a pitch-black maze.
• Cool Old Guy: "Mr. Six", the bald bespectacled elderly character that was first seen in an oddball ad campaign in 2004, but would then serve as Six Flags' mascot for the next several years after that. Once you see him, you'll practically hear that Vengaboys song in your head.
• Compressed Adaptation: The RMC hybrids are noticeably shorter than the wooden roller coasters they were converted from. Part of the reason for this is that steel coasters don't carry speed as well as woodies. For this reason, you'll notice that most RMC conversions get either a height buff (as Cedar Point did converting Mean Streak into Steel Vengeance), or a shortened length to compensate. Six Flags's RMCs go for the shorter length. New Texas Giant eliminates the helix that wraps around the lift hill, but otherwise retains the original layout. But Iron Rattler eliminates the slow triple helix atop the quarry wall, as well as another helix that followed the dive into the quarry tunnel. Wicked Cyclone at Six Flags New England retains its original layout, but the heights of most of the hills are significantly shortened. Twisted Cyclone at Six Flags Over Georgia is a double out and back, whereas it was a triple out and back when it was the Georgia Cyclone.
• Downer Beginning/Little Dead Riding Hood: The "Red's Revenge" maze at Magic Mountain's Fright Fest begins with the story of how Little Red Riding Hood was eaten by the wolf (as she was in the original tale), and how she came back to life to get her revenge on the townspeople that didn't rescue her. And she also takes her vengeance out on the guests!
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America is one of Bolliger & Mabillard's first two hypercoasters (the other being Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg) and it shows in the fact that it has a signature B&M pre-drop on it, something that hasn't been used on any B&M hypercoasters since then.
  • It's often debatable whether Rocky Mountain Construction's steel/wood hybrid coasters are considered all-new rides or renovations of pre-existing ones, but the New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas comes closest to being the latter. The ride's layout is 90% identical to the original ride and features no inversions, whereas later RMC coasters would semi-drastically change the layouts, add one-to-multiple inversions, and even give them completely different names. Additionally, New Texas Giant and Iron Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas are the only RMC coasters whose trains were made by Gerstlauer, instead of built in-house by RMC.
  • The Six Flags Over Georgia version of Superman: Ultimate Flight has several features that its successor clones at Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Great Adventure don't have: a dual loading station, and a short tunnel during the overbanked turns. The 2003 clones, on the other hand, have longer trains to make up for only having a single track station.
  • Roar at Six Flags America is unique for being the only Great Coasters International woodie to use PTC trains instead of GCI Millennium Flyers, which didn't debut until a year later on Roar's west coast sister at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.^note Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa used PTC trains until 2009; and Wildcat at Hersheypark used PTC trains until 2007
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: La Ronde, SF's only park to be situated in Canada, is located in Montreal, Quebec. Because French is the primary language spoken in that province, all park workers, including many guests, will be heard speaking it.
• Last of His Kind:
  • Whizzer at Six Flags Great America is one of only two Anton Schwarzkopf "Speedracer" coasters still in operation^note  The other operates at the National Coffee Park in Quindío, Colombia. . The ride nearly was demolished in 2002 to make way for Superman Ultimate Flight, but was ultimately saved by fan protests, causing Superman Ultimate Flight to replace Shockwave instead.
  • Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain is the last of a set of three seven-inversion looping coasters Arrow Dynamics built at the end of the late 1980s. Its sister coasters were Shockwave at Six Flags Great America (replaced in 2003 by Superman Ultimate Flight), and Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Great Adventure (replaced by Green Lantern in 2011).
• Let X Be the Unknown: X (now X2) at Magic Mountain.
• Long-Lost Relative: Six Flags Great America is the sister park of California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. The two parks were originally built, owned, and operated by Marriott Hotels.^note Originally there were going to be three parks, with a flagship third park being planned for the Baltimore-Washington DC metropolitan area. Various locations throughout the region were looked at for this park, like Laurel, Maryland and Manassas, Virginia, all of which ran into opposition from locals and were eventually scrapped in 1979 When Marriott sold the parks in 1984, Six Flags got the Illinois park, while Kings Entertainment Company^note at the time, the owners of Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland got the California park, which later was a Paramount Park from 1993 to 2006 before the Paramount parks were bought out by Cedar Fair.
• Mine Cart Madness:
  • The Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags Over Texas. Notable for being the first tubular-steel coaster in the nation, having opened in 1966.
  • Dahlonega Mine Train at Six Flags Over Georgia.
  • Gold Rusher at Six Flags Magic Mountain
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Diabolical from Dr. Diabolical's Cliffhanger at Fiesta Texas. She lures guests with a false claim of finding the key to eternal life, but she instead harvests the fear and adrenaline to raise an army of monsters.
• Nutritional Nightmare: Nearly all of Six Flags' food, but SF being an amusement park chain arguably justifies this.
• On a Scale from One to Ten: The short-lived "More Flags, More Fun!" ad campaign in the late 2000s, where some lame or boring activity would be shown, along with a "flag meter" that would give it "One flag!" or "Two flags!" Meanwhile, of course, riding something at a Six Flags park merits "Six flags!" Later ads featured Mr. Six rating the activities, instead of the Asian man who originally appeared (as people protested the seemingly stereotypical depiction of the Asian man), and still later saw Mr. Six participating in the boring activities alongside "Little Six" (it's unclear as to whether Little Six was a kid or an actual little person).
• Overly Narrow Superlative: When Green Lantern: First Flight opened at Magic Mountain, the park proudly boasted that it was "the first completely vertical-pattern zig-zag roller coaster featuring 360-degree spinning seats in North America". The coaster was a clone of Insane in Sweden.
• Politically Correct History: The original layout of Six Flags Over Texas was based on the six nations that laid claim to all or part of Texas. This included the Confederate States of America, whose area was known as the "Confederacy" until the 1990s, when it was Bowdlerised into "Old South".
  • To their credit, the "Stars & Bars" Confederate flag, and not the more notorious "Rebel flag", were flown much longer, from its 1961 opening to 2017 in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally, when they were replaced with six American flags.
• Put on a Bus: Despite the immense popularity of Mr. Six, he disappeared after 2005 — when new management had come in, and apparently cited focus group research showed that a minority of people hated the character...and went with their opinion. Mr. Six returned in 2009 (replacing the Asian man in the "More Flags, More Fun!" campaign), then vanished again in 2011.
• Retraux: Both the "Good Times" section at Six Flags Over Texas and "Rockville" at Fiesta Texas are themed after The '50s.
• The Rival: Six Flags is perhaps the second-best known theme park chain behind the Disney Theme Parks. During the Time Warner years, they explicitly marketed themselves as a closer, cheaper alternative to Disney. In practice, however, they serve more as rivals to the Cedar Fair chain^note many of the parks owned by them were also bought by an entertainment company — Paramount Pictures in this case — and had rides and attractions based on Paramount/Viacom properties before being sold by CBS to Cedar Fair in 2006 and other regional and local theme parks than to either Disney or Universal Studios.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: The basic premise behind their Flash Pass. Pay upwards of $40 for the privilege of reserving specific times to bypass the long lines and ride the most popular rides.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Hurricane Katrina, Six Flags ran the numbers on the heavily damaged Six Flags New Orleans location^note which had been their least profitable park even before the hurricane, mostly due to being too far from the main tourist areas of the city and decided it simply wasn't worth rebuilding it and abandoned the park despite the best efforts of the New Orleans governing bodies to hold them to their lease. The site is still abandoned as of 2017.
• Shaped Like Itself / The Theme Park Version: The old-fashioned carnival section of Six Flags St. Louis is called "1904 World's Fair". And true to the nature of the latter trope, everything's safer and more sanitized than the original version may well have been.
• Shockingly Expensive Bill: Entering a Six Flags park without getting a Season Pass will generally result in one.
• Suddenly Voiced: Mr. Six upon his return in 2009; he didn't speak at all in his original appearances.
• Toon Town: The little kids' area at most Six Flags parks is named "Looney Tunes Town" or "Looney Tunes USA". Guess which characters are featured.
• Zombie Apocalypse: The "Aftermath" maze at Magic Mountain's Fright Fest takes place in a desolate town plagued by zombie. During this time, there's also a dark pathway elsewhere in the park populated by zombies.

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