Six Flags
Six Flags is a chain of amusement parks and theme parks. There are 40 parks run by Six Flags, 24 of which carry the Six Flags name. The first Six Flags amusement park was built near Dallas, Texas and was named "Six Flags Over Texas" in reference to the six different national flags which have flown over Texas in its history. These are the flags of France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.
History
The Six Flags chain began in 1961 with the creation of Six Flags Over Texas by Angus G. Wynne near Dallas, 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, which had been independently founded. 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 Warner Brothers 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 1st, 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. Premier Parks is now the largest theme park operator in the U.S.
List of parks
- 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 White Water in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta
- Six Flags America in Mitchellville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. and Baltimore
- Six Flags Astroworld in Houston, Texas
- 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 Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, near the Jersey shore
- in Gurnee, Illinois, near 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 Saint Louis in Eureka, Missouri, near Saint Louis
- Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in Aurora, Ohio, near Cleveland (Sold to Cedar Fair on March 10th, 2004; to be re-renamed to Geauga Lake)
(Six Flags' European division, excluding Warner Bros. Movie World Madrid, was sold to a group of private investors on March 10th, 2004)
