Six Flags
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Six Flags is a chain of amusement parks and theme parks run under the New York Stock Exchange index PKS. Their spokesperson, Mr. Six, is featured in many advertisements. There are 40 parks run by Six Flags, 24 of which carry the Six Flags name. The first Six Flags amusement park was built halfway between the cities of Fort Worth and Dallas at Arlington in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The park took its name from the six flags that have flown over the state of Texas during its history (Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States and the Confederate States of America).
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History
The Six Flags chain began in 1961 with the creation of Six Flags Over Texas by Angus G. Wynne at Arlington in Tarrant County, which featured (in the beginning) a Native American village, a gondola ride, a railroad, some Wild West shows, a stagecoach ride, and "Skull Island", a pirate-themed adventure attraction. There was also an excursion aboard "French" boats through a wilderness full of moving puppets. (Over time, all of those attractions, except for the railroad, would be replaced by other attractions, such as roller coasters, swing rides, log flumes, and shoot-the-chute rides, as well as an observation tower.)
The chain grew with the acquisition of other parks, such as the Great Adventure Park and Safari in Jackson, New Jersey, and Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, which had been founded by the Marriott hotel chain. The chain of parks changed hands several times, being sold to the Penn Central railroad, then to Bally Construction Corporation, and later on to the Time Warner company, among other owners. The chain is well-known in recent times for large and fast roller coasters, although the queue areas are often in the open air without much shading and without as many props as are typical for some queue areas in Walt Disney World.
Six Flags Theme Parks Inc. was purchased in whole on April 1, 1998 from Time Warner by Premier Parks. Premier then began to apply the Six Flags name to a number of smaller parks that had been expanded, including Darien Lake, Elitch Gardens, and Adventure World. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Six Flags is now the largest amusement park operator in the U.S.
List of parks
U.S.
- Six Flags Over Texas (the original park) in Arlington, Texas near Dallas
- Six Flags Over Georgia (the second park) in Austell, Georgia, near Atlanta
- Six Flags America in Mitchellville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. and Baltimore
- Six Flags Astroworld in Houston, Texas
- Six Flags Atlantis in Hollywood, Florida (sold in 1989; destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992)
- Six Flags Autoworld in Flint, Michigan (closed in 1985)
- Six Flags Darien Lake in Darien, New York, near Buffalo
- Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado
- Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, Texas
- Six Flags Frontier City in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, between New York City and Philadelphia
- Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, between Chicago and Milwaukee
- The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom in Lake George, New York
- Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, Texas
- Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky
- Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, near Los Angeles
- Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, California, near San Francisco
- Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts, near Springfield and Hartford
- Six Flags New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Six Flags Power Plant in Baltimore, Maryland (closed in 1989)
- Six Flags Saint Louis in Eureka, Missouri, near Saint Louis (formerly Six Flags Over Mid-America)
- Six Flags White Water in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta
Mexico
Canada
Europe
(Six Flags' European division, excluding Warner Bros. Movie World Madrid, was sold to a group of private investors on March 10, 2004)
External links
- Six Flags chain's official website (http://www.sixflags.com)
- Six Flags México (http://www.sixflags.com.mx)
- Six Flags over Texas Parks History (http://www.parktimes.com)
- Six Flags that actually flew over Texas (http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/sixflags.html)
- Six Flags Magic Mountain Park Guide (http://www.coasterforce.com/parkguides/sixflags_magicmountain/magicmountain.shtml)
- Six Flags Great Adventure Park and Safari information and history (http://www.gadv.com)
- Six Flags' corporate historical timeline (http://timelines.home.insightbb.com/sfcorp_years.htm)
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