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Holiday in the Park 2019

Photograph Gallary from Holiday in the Park Shows 2019

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The Ten Oldest Rides still operating in the park are as listed. Each is profiled with an article at this site. The list also corresponds with all of the rides built in the 60s which are still operational in the park.

1. The Six Flags Railroad – Opened 1961;

2. Chaparral Cars – Opened 1962;

3. The Flume Ride – opened 1963;

4. The Silver Star Carousel – opened 1963 (closed 1986 & 1987 for remodeling);

5. The Cave Ride – open 1964; rethemed 1992;

6. El Sombrero – opened 1965;

7. Runaway Mine Train – opened 1966;

8. Tower – open 1969; closed for renovations 1998
Mini-Mine Train – open 1969; closed for renovations & reconstruction 1997.

10) the Rugged Buggy, now a Loony Tunes land ride was added in 1972, in the petting zoo.The Rugged Buggy is the park’s oldest “kiddie ride”.

The next major ride to be added, which is still in the park, is the Texas Chute-out, added in 1976. The Red Baron, also now a Loony Tunes land ride, was also added in 1975.

The next major ride to still be operating in the park is the Shockwave, which opened in 1978.

NOTES:

The Flume is considered older than the Carrousel, as the Carousel was closed for two full seasons.

The Tower and Mini-mine Train are considered tied for 9th oldest, as both have been closed for a season.

Six Flags over Texas Timeline

	Six Flags over Texas Timeline
Date	Event	Location
1897	The Red Train, known as the Maribeau B. Lamar, and later as the Charles Patton, is manufactured by Porter Locomotives.
1901	The Green Train, known as the Sam Houston, and later as the Larry Cochran, is manufactured by Dickson Locomotives.
1925/6	The Carrousel Ride is produced by the Dentzel Carousel Company of Philadelphia.
1955	Disneyland Opens
1959	Preliminary Planning for Six Flags Begins, by the Great Southwest Corp., real estate developer Angus Wynne of Dallas and New York Investors, owners
August 1960	Construction for Six Flags Begins
1961	Park Opening
August 1, 1961 to August 5, 1961	“Soft test opening” of Six Flags
August 5, 1961	Grand Opening Attendance: 8,374
1961 Season	Ticket Price: $2.75 adult; $2.25 child; Parking: 50cHamburger: 35c; Soft Drink: 10cMinimum Employee age: 21
	Dancing Waters Star Mall Marching Band	Front Gate
	Southwest Life Petting Zoo Missile Chase r Happy Motoring Freeway (One Track) Astro-Lift Sidewinder – Wild Mouse Roller Coaster	Modern
	La Salle’s Riverboat Adventure	France
	Amphitheater (now the site of Southern Palace) Butterfield Stage Coach (que house besides Nalar’s Chicken Plantation.) Little Dixie Carousal (later known as the “Flying Jenny”) in front of Southern Palace. Confederate recruiting station and re-enactment performers Dixieland Band	Confederacy
	Skull Island “Skull Rock” skull slide Raft Ride to Skull Island Tree Slide	Confederacy Skull Island
	Six Flags Railroad Astrolift Terminal Gunfighter Performances	Texas
	Los Conquistadors Coronado Burro Ride	Spain
	Las Cocheses Cabras Goat Cart Ride Indian Village, Indian Dancers Original Ferrocarril Fiesta Train Mexican Band Banderas de Colores (Covered walkway)	Mexico
	Helicopter Rides	Outside the park
End 1961	1st Season: 45 days1st Season Attendance: @550,000Last day: November 25, 1961

1962 Season	Tickets: Adults $2.75,under 12 $2.25Minimum Employee Age: 18Open: April 20, 19621000 employees
	Sidewinder roller coaster moved to Mexico renamed “La Cucaracha“	Mexico
	Red Train Finished and on-line July 5, 1962 Chaparral Cars Added	Texas
	Canoes added (the path to Canoes Q-house next to Amphitheater)
	Skull Island Expanded: Tree House Slide Added Barrel Slide Added Pirate Ship & Cave play area	Skull Island
	Second Happy Motoring Freeway added at site the Sidewinder	Modern
	Casa Magnetica added	Spain
End of 1962	Burro Ride Removed	Spain
	Attendance: @1.2 million

1963 Season	Adults: $3.50, Under 12 $2.50
	BoomTown added Antique Carousel Added Sky-Hook Added Boomtown Station RR Depot Small Puppet Show Wagon	Boomtown
	Happy Motoring Freeway First track shortened to make way for Boomtown.
	El Aserradero Flume I, Log Ride Added at site of Burro Ride	Spain
End of 1963 Season	Park Helicopter Rides Ended
	Goat Cart Ride Removed	Mexico

1964 Season	Spee-Lunker’s Cave Ride Added Stagecoach run shortened and Q-house moved from next to Chicken Plantation to across from Cave.	Confederacy
	Long Suspension Bridge Added Swamp Tree Slides (3) added	Skull Island
	Caddo War Canoes moved to Boomtown	Boomtown
End 1964	Indian Village Removed “La Cucaracha“, Wild Mouse rollercoaster Removed	Mexico
	Pirate Boat Removed	Skull Island

1965 Season	Arena added Circus Show in Arena	Texas
	El Sombrero Hat Ride added at site of “La Cucaracha” rollercoaster	Mexico
end 1965	Circus Show ends at New Arena
	“Star” removed from Frontgate and Replaced with five large circular planters.	Front Gate

1966 Season	Wild West Show in Arena	Texas
	Runaway Mine Train added	Boomtown
	Courthouse Clock-Tower (Ice House) added at Front Gate	Front Gate

1967 Season	Spindletop (Rotor Ride) added at site of Current Puppet Show.
	Jet Set added	Modern
End 1967 Season	Butterfield Stagecoach removed	Confederacy
	Original Fiesta Train (The Mexican Hat Train) removed.
	Attendance: @ 2 million

1968 Season	Fiesta Train II (replaced original Fiesta Train)	Mexico
	Spindletop moved to between Southern Palace and Skull island
	Amphitheater converted to 950 seat Southern Palace theater	Confederacy
	Flume II added	Spain
	Sid and Marty Kroft Puppet Theater added	Outside Modern
End 1968 Season	Sky-Hook removed	Boom-town
	Long Suspension Bridge removed Swamp Tree Slides (3) removed	Skull Island

	Attendance: 1.7 Million; First Attendance Decline

1969	Angus Wynne sells Six Flags (205 acres) to Limited Partnership headed by Jack Knox.
1969 Season	Tower added Tower Slide added Dolphin show added	Tower
	Mini Mine Train added at the site of the SkyHook	Boomtown
	Chevy show added at the Site of the Stagecoach ride.	Confederacy
End of 1969	Wild West Show ended	Arena

1970’s

1970	Arena remodeledLas Voladores Flying Indian Spectacular in Arena	Arena
End 1970 Season	Jet Set removed	Modern

1971	Six Flags Over Mid-America (St Louis) Opens
1971 Season	Penn Central Railroad begins management of Six Flags Over Texas
1971	Big Bend Rollercoaster Added	Modern

1972	Rugged Buggy Added in Petting Zoo	Modern
	Texas Travel Exhibit with Scale Model of Six Flags Park opens.	Boomtown
End 1972	Boomtown RR Depot Removed

1973 Season	Good Time Square added Doc Snooker’s Infernal Electric Bumping Machines (Bumper Cars) added Crazy Legs added Miniature Circus Exhibit added GTS RR Depot Added Small Theater added next to Puppet show (Will Rogers Show)	Good Times Square
May 19, 1973	Attendance Record: 40,742

1974 Season	Music Mill added (4,500 seats)	Music Mill
End of 1974 season	Arena closed Flying Indian Spectacular closed	Texas
	Flying Jenny removed	Confederacy

1975	Six Flags, Inc., buys Astroworld
1975 Season	Open: March 15, 1975 Closed: November 30, 1975 Tickets: $7; Under 12 $6; under 3 free
	Cyrus Comos, the inventor, introduced as new mascot, his Incredible Electric Light Brigade Parade Featured.
	Red Baron added (replaced the Flying Jenny); (Cyrus Comos Invention)	Confederacy
	Rotoriculous (later Roto Disco) added; (Cyrus Comos Invention) Small Theater show changed from Will Rogers to The Fun Guns of Dry Gulch	Good Times Square
End 1975	Small Theater removed – (The Fun Guns of Dry Gulch) Sid & Marty Kraft show removed from Puppet show.
	27 million guests to date Average Daily Attendance: 15,000

1976 Season	Open: March 13, 1976 Close: Nov. 28, 1976 Tickets: $7.50; Under 3 free; Season Pass $25.00
	Texas Chute Out added	Good Times Square
End 1976 season	Skull Island Rafts removed
	Slide removed

1977	Six Flags Inc., buys Great Adventure and Wild Safari Animal Park, Jackson, N.J.
1977 Season	Spinnaker added	Tower Area
	Stand up Baskets added to Chute Out	Good Times Square
	Pirate Puppet Show added	Skull Island
July 3, 1977	Record Breaking Crowd – 45,496 K.C. and the Sunshine Band Concert
End 1977 season	Missile Chaser removed	Modern

1978 Season	Tickets: $8.50; Under 3 free 32 Million Guests to date
	ShockWave added	North of Park
End 1978 Season	Skull removed from Skull Island	Skull Island Confederacy
	Fiesta Train II removed	Mexico
	Record Attendance: 2.78 Million
	Average Yearly Attendance: 2.5 million

1979 Season	Sensational Sense Machine added at site of Missile Chaser	Modern
	People Mover Machine Added
	Six Flags Inc., buys Magic Mountain
End 1979	Big Bend removed	Modern, Texas
	Banderas de Colores (Covered walkway) Removed
	Angus Wynne passed away at the age of 65.

1980s

1980 Season	Judge Roy Scream added	South of Park
August 5, 1980	Twentieth Anniversary 2.7 Million Annual visitors (est.)
	Happy Motoring I Removed (Happy II becomes Happy)	Modern
End 1980 Season	Crazy Legs I removed Miniature Circus Exhibit removed	Good Time Square
	Astro-Lift removed

1981 Season	Conquistador added	Mexico
	Kiddie Ferris Wheel added by Tower	Tower

1982	Penn Central Sells Six Flags Corp., which manages the park to Bally Manufacturing Corporation.
1982 Season	Texas Cliffhanger added	Modern
August 15, 1982	La Salle River Adventure Removed Last ride August 15, 1982	France
End of 1982	Petting Zoo removed	Modern
	Spindetop moved to Texas, site of Texas Lift
	Last of Skull Island Removed Pirate Puppet Show removed	Skull Island

1983 Season	Roaring Rapids added	Tower
	Pac-man Land Opened (site of Zoo) “Soft-play” playground added Red Baron moved to Pac-man land Ferris Wheel moved to Pac-man land (Rugged Buggy from Zoo becomes part of Pac-man land.)	Modern
	Texas Tornado added at site of Crazy Leg s	Good Times Square
	People Mover Machine changed to Pac Man Show
End 1983 Season	Canoes removed	BoomTown
	Dolphins removed	Tower

1984	Six Flags Inc, buys Great America in Chicago
1984 Season	Great Air Racer added US High Diving Show added (at Dolphin pool)	Tower
	Spindletop Moved to Texas	Texas
	First “Spring Break Out”
end 1984 Season	Pac-Man Land removed	Modern
	Attendance: @2.35 million

1985 Season	Tickets: $14.95, under 42″: $7.95
	Looney Tunes Land added Daffy Duck Boats added Red Baron renamed to Tazmanian Devil Flying Ace Rugged Buggy renamed to Road Runner Runaround	Modern
Christmas 1985	“Holiday in the Park” Introduced; 100,000 Guests
End 1985	Merry Go Round removed for rebuilding	Boomtown
	US High Diving Show ends
	Attendance: Over 2.5 million

1986 Season	Tickets: $14.95, under 42″: $7.95
	Avalanche BobSled Ride Added	Mexico
	Dolphins Back in Dolphin Pool
	Music Mill expanded to 10,000 seats
August 5, 1986	25th Anniversary – 52 Million Guest to date (est.)
End 1986 Season	Happy Motoring Freeway removed	Modern

1987	Wesray Capital Corp. buys Six Flags Corp., the parks management co. for $617 million.
1987 Season	Splashwater Falls added at site of Happy Motoring	Modern
	Incredible Acrobats of China perform during the summer.
End 1987

1988 Season	Merry Go Round reopened at the Front Gate as the Silver Star Carousel.	Front Gate
	Gun Fighter Stunt Show added at site of Dolphin show	Tower
Oct. 22, 1988	Third Largest Crowd – Fright Night – 45,000
End 1988 Season	Rotoriculous Removed	Good Times Square
	Stunt Show Closed	Tower

1989 Season	Open: March 4th, 1990 Close: December 31st, 1990 Tickets: $20.50; Children/Seniors $14 (after tax)
	Flashback Roller Coaster Added	Good Times Square
	Texas Tornado Swing Ride moved to old site of Merry Go Ride	Boomtown
	Dolphin Show Starts Second Run	Tower
End 1989	Spindletop Removed

1990s

1990 Season	Open: March 17, 1990 Close: December 31st, 1990
	Texas Giant Roller Coaster Added	Texas
	Over 3 Million Visitors, record season

1991	Time Warner Corp. buys one-half of the Six Flags Corp., which manages the park for the ownership that owns it. The Blackstone Group and Wertheim Schroder buy the second one-half.
End 1991 Season	Spee-lunkers evicted from Cave	Confederacy

1992 season	Yosemite Sam and Gold River added (rethemed cave ride)	Confederacy
	Batman Stunt Show added at site of old Stunt Show (site of older Dolphin Show)	Tower

1993	Tickets: $25.95; $19.95 kids/seniors
1993	Timer Warner Buys the second one-half of the Six Flags Corp., which manages the park.

1994	Tickets: $26.95; $20.95 kids 2,500 Seasonal Employees 225 Full time workers

1995 season	Right Stuff simulator added
	Cliffhanger Name Changed to G-Force
	Splash Down Falls Name Changed	Modern
	Chameleon Virtual Reality added.	Good Times Square
	Music Mill size doubled to over 10,000 seats.
End 1995 season	Spinnaker Removed
1996 Season	Runaway Mountain Opens	Confederacy
	Runaway Mine Train named changed to Mine Train	Boomtown
	Dive Bomber Alley opens	Tower
End 1996 season	Good Times Square Train station removed	Good Times Square

1997 Season	New Boomtown RR Station opens	Boomtown
End 1997	Elmer Fudd Little Ferris Wheel Removed

1998	Premier Parks buys both the Six Flags Corporation which manages the park and the park itself.
1998 Season	Mr. Freeze Roller-coaster Opens	Good Times Square
	Rebuilt Mini-mine train opens
End 1998	Right Stuff Movie and theming removed.

1999 Season	Gotham City Section Opens
	BatMan the Ride Opens	Good Time Square
	Right Stuff Theater rethemed to Dinosaur exhibit	Modern
	Pay as you go Go-Carts added by Shockwave	Tower
End 1999	Air Racer Removed	Tower

2000s

2000 Season	Missile-Chaser Returns to Tower Area	Tower
2001 Season	The Titan Roller Coaster Added
	Wyle E. Coyote’s Grand Canyon Blaster	Modern – Looney Tunes Land
2002	Space Shuttle America in 3d Theater	Modern Section
End of 2002	New Missilechaser removed at end of season	Tower Section
2003	Superman Tower of Power added at sight of Missilechaser and Great Air Racer	Tower Section
	Right Stuff Returns to 3d Theather	Modern
2004	Sponge Bob Added to 3d Theater	Modern
	Casa Magnetica Returns	Spain
2005	New shows: – Chinese Acrobats, Spirit of Dance and Kathy Burk’s World of Puppets	45th Season

2006	1) Acme Rock-n-Rocket built in Modern section	Modern
Ten new rides added parkwide for 45th Anniversary	2) Cloud Bouncer added in Good Times Square 3) Crazy Legs II added in Good Times Square (Different ride from previous ride with the same name.)	Good Times Square
	4) Bat Wings added in Gotham City 5) Gotham City Sprayground addin in Gotham City	Gotham City
	6) Caddo lake Barge added to Tower Section	Tower Section
	7) Rodeo Ride added next to Texas Section by the Cave 8) Sidewinder scramble style ride added next to the titan (Different ride from previous ride with the same name.) 9) Boot Scottin’	Texas Section
	10) La Fiesta De Las Tazas tea cup style ride added at location of El Sombero. El Somberro (Hat Ride) moved close to front gate.	Mexico and Spain
2007	Cirque Dreams Coobrila added at Music Mill Theater	Tower Section Music Mill Theater
2008	Tony Hawk’s Big Spin added
2009
2010		50th Season
2011		Fifty Anniversary

Note of Appreciation: With special thanks to Scott Jordan for proof reading and historical information. Additional corrections by Tracy Henton and Sara Luckow.

This Timeline attempts to list many of the notable events in the History of Six Flags Over Texas.If you have any additions or corrections, please e-mail me using our contact form.Davis McCown
Ride Operations, 1974-1977

Sections

Six Flags History Book

Six Flags Silver Star Carousel at the Frontgate Mall.

Six Flags over Texas, The First Fifty Years – A Pictorial History, traces the history of the Texas park from its conception and construction to its Fiftieth Anniversary. Featured all each of the major attractions which have come and gone over the years.

Opening in 1961 in Arlington, Texas, Six Flags over Texas, was themed on the flags of the six sovereign nations which have flown over the area that is now Texas. A small park, with fourteen rides, the park changed and evolved with each season. Now it is a major park with over forty rides, many designed specifically for younger guests, and several theaters and show venues.

The book covers the planning by local land developer Angus Wynne II and Cornelius Vanderbilt (C.V.) Wood Jr. to build the park. Wood owned Marco Engineering & Design, a company then designing and constructing four major Amusement Parks. Of those four, only Six Flags over Texas survived.

Covered are the original park and rides, such as the Conquistador Burro Ride, LaSalle’s River Adventure and the Butterfield Stagecoach ride. The story continues up through the New Texas Giant, built in connection with the park’s fiftieth anniversary.

The author, an local attorney and former Six Flags’ ride operator, presents over 200 images, including concept drawings, early postcards, public relations photographs, historical photographs, and artifacts representative of the history of the park. These images cover the first fifty years of the park’s history and development. In addition, there is nearly 290 pages of text. Many of the shots were taken personally by the author over the last thirty years.

The book is available in paperwork for $28.00, as well as in a Kindle version for $20.00.

The book is a Kindle “matchbook”. If you purchase the Book first, you can buy the Kindle version at a discount of $2.99.

Link to Paperback version on Amazon.

Link to Kindle Version on Amazon.

Paperback version on Createspace.com.

Hardback versions and versions with color prints will follow.

Check back for updates.

Ten New Rides for 2006

Six Flags over Texas is adding 10 new rides for 2006. This expansion will be the largest in park history. The ten new rides include:

USA Section:

1) ACME Rock-n-Rocket – A ride similar to the Conquistador, only shaped like a firecracker rocket. In addition to the different shape, the Rock-n-Rocket swings you a round to a full 360 degrees. The ride is located next to the Ultimate Adventure Theater, which is currently showing Sponge-Bob Square-Pants.

Goodtimes Square:

2) Cloud Bouncer – This is an up and down ride in which the riders sit in Hot air balloon Baskets. The balloons rise up into the air, go around in a circle and come down. The ride is located by the majestic theater (the Goodtimes Square Theater.)

3) Crazy Legs – A centrifugal force ride with 3 arms that go up and down and spin you around. This ride is located near the exit of the Flashback. This ride Is NOT the same Crazy legs that was added to the park in 1971. It is however basically the same ride, with just a little bit of differences.

Gotham City:

4) Bat wings A ride similar to the Dumbo ride in Disneyworld. The little Bat cars send you up and down and around and around. This ride is located by Mr. Freeze.

5) Gotham City Sprayground – This is basically a playground with water. It is located across from Batman the Ride.

Tower Section:

6) Caddo Lake Barge – Similar to the Conquistador, this ride slides you on a curved track instead of swinging from a support. While it slides you back and forth, it also spins you around. This ride is located on the lake by the superman tower of power.

Texas Section:

7) Rodeo – This ride is similar to the teacup rides, only instead of tea cups you ride in bulls. While the bulls spin you in around they also buck you up and down. Hold on to you hat!!! This ride is located by the Cave Ride.

8) Sidewinder – A classic scrambler ride, the Sidewinder is similar to the Missile Chaser that was in the park. There was also a Scrambler Ride where the superman was. The ride was put in after the Park took down Air racer. It was a filler until they could figure out what to do with the space. They finally decided on the Superman. The new Sidewinder will be located by the Titan. The Sidewinder was also the name of the first roller coaster in the park.

9) Boot Scootin’ – This ride is a merry-go-round with boots. While you spin the boot gently jolt up and down. This ride is located directly across from the Chaparral Antique Cars.

Mexico and Spain:

10) La Fiesta De Las Tazas –This ride is a basic teacup ride.The name roughly translates to: The “Party of the Teacups (cups)”. This ride is located by the La Vibora Bobsled, where the Mexican hat used to be. The Mexican hat was moved in order to build this ride.

These descriptions are taken from the Press releases, computer generated photos and the video on the Six Flags website. The Cloud Bouncer and Batwings name were already changed from the initial press release. The original name was “Up, Up, and Away” for Cloud Bouncer. Batwings first name was “Blackbird”.

By: Katie McCown

Last Update: Wednesday, July 04, 2007