Category: Status

     America’s Bicentennial year was a year of major celebration throughout the Country. It was also the year that Six Flags celebrated its 15th anniversary. New for the Bicentennial year was the “Texas Chute Out”, the world’s first “modern” parachute drop ride. The ride was built by Intamin AG, in Berne, Switzerland, at a cost of $1.5 million.

    The ride was located to the east of the Good Times Theater. The 200 foot tall tube structure had twelve forty foot arms extending from the top of the structure in an 85 foot diameter. Cables on each arm pulled a small bench seat up to 175 feet above the ground. The ride then stoped for a brief moment, long enough to give the rider a bird eye’s view of the surrounding areas. The ride then released the bench, allowing the ride to follow free fall thirty-five feet towards the ground below.

     In seconds, however, the ride’s thirteen and a half foot diameter parachute engages above the rider, allowing the rider to “float” down another one hundred and forty feet to the surface. The ride was driven by twelve motors and winches located at the top of the ride. These controlled the 2 and ½ miles of steel cable used by the ride. Access to the motors was through a two man elevator located inside the eight foot tube structure. Each ride lasted 28 seconds.

     The design capacity for the ride was 1,500 riders per hour. Two to three rides could ride at a time. Built by Intamin AG, the ride was known as the “first modern” parachute ride due to the fact that it was based on similar earlier rides. The most famous of the earlier rides include one built for the 1939 New York’s World’s Fair and moved to Coney Island in 1941, where it operated until 1968.

     A similar ride, the Great Gasp was constructed at Six Flags Over Georgia in 1976. It closed and was demolished in 2005. A third sister ride, the, Sky Chuter opened at Six Flags Over Mid-America in 1978 and closed a mere four years later, in 1982. 

      The Texas Chute-out operated for thirty-seven seasons. It was closed in 2012. It operated in the park for more seasons than any other ride which has been removed. 

     The Rotoriculous was built at the back of Good Times Square between the Bumper Cars and the Crazy Legs. The Rodoriculous was designed from a typical “Himalaya” style ride, with a chain of seats strung together to form a circle around the edge of the ride.

     The Rotoriculous differed from other “Himalaya” style rides, however, in that it was completely indoors. It was housed in a small building with just enough room for the ride and control station. In addition to the ride, the room was equipped with special audio and visual effects, including the symbol of the seventies, a large disco mirror ball.

     As the ride started, the cars moved up and down and they circled the track. As the ride slowly started forward, a recorded narration began, telling the story of the invention (the ride) and its intended purpose.

     Within a few moments, however, the narrator announced that something had gone wrong, as which time the ride began to rotate backwards at much greater speed. Simultaneously with the ride changing directions, the sound became more chaotic, random slides were flashed at high speeds on the sides of the building, and other flashing lights went off.

      Eventually, things were brought back to “normal”, the ride slowed down and the bizarre lights and sounds terminated. As the years past, the narrator was removed and the slides and lights became more random. Eventually, the ride was renamed the Roto-disco and the disco ball became the centerpiece effect.