The Unofficial History of Six Flags Over Texas
Harley Quinn Spinsanity was installed in 2018. Although the park had previously hosted a ride with the same name, that ride was unrelated to the newer ride using the same name.
(Avalanche Bobsled)
For the celebration of Six Flags Over Texas’ 25th Anniversary, the Avalanche Bobsled Ride was introduced. Located in the area of the park that had formally held the Fiesta train, the Bobslide’s new feature was that it did not ride on a track. Instead, the cars rode in a curve structure, more similar to the log ride’s flume or chute than a roller coaster track. The result of this configuration was that not every ride was exactly the same as the one before it.
It also created the illusion that the cars could leave the flume area, creating an apprehension of danger. With a lift height of sixty feet, and a track length of 1,490 feet, the ride travels at up to 32 MPH for a ride of approximately 1 and one half minutes to ride.
While the ride was new to Six Flags over Texas, it was not new to the Six Flags’ park system, having operated at Magic Mountain from 1984 to 1987. Built by Intamin, the ride is an AG Bobsled style ride.
Originally painted blue, the structure was repainted in red and yellow sections to resemble the strips of a snake. It was renamed the La Vibora, Spanish for the “Viper”, brining it more closely into the theming of the Mexican section where it resides. Counting the AR as a roller coaster increased Six Flags Roller Coaster to five, the highest it had been to date. The ride was moved from Six flags Magic Mountain where it was installed in 1984.
The Crazy Horse is show saloon, complete with a small stage for western singing and can-can dancing, as well as a bar. In keeping with the park’s family friendly atmosphere, park promotional materials make it very clear that “although it is a saloon, only soft-drinks are sold there.”
The theater is rather small, with room for a small stage, a piano, and several tables for the guests. Four or five performers in saloon costumes sang period songs, danced on the stage and mingled with the guests.
In keeping with the park’s historical emphasis, the entire back bar is an actual antique bar from an 1890 vintage saloon. Carpenters crafted a new front bar to conform to the original. Antique tables and chairs were acquired from a saloon in Little Rock, Arkansas.
While there are shows and performers in all of the sections of the park, the Crazy Horse is unique in that is the park’s first indoor show. It continued as the park’s only indoor show for the first seven years of operation, until the much larger Southern Palace replaced the amphitheater in 1968. It is also the longest running theater in the park, operating continuously since the first season. Inside, the singing and dancing showgirls still entertain visitors.
Being the only indoor theater, the Crazy Horse also served as an employee auditorium, being used for orientation sessions, training, and other meetings
The Crazy Horse Saloon opened with the Park in 1961 and is the oldest theater in the park.
The Titan was built for Six Flag’s fortieth anniversary season. Construction of the Titan was one of the Six Flags over Texas’ largest capital expenses. The ride, a” mega-coaster”, is located in the southwest corner of the park, west of the Texas section, in an area that had previously been outside the park. Much of the ride extends out over one of the park’s parking lots.
The ride starts with a 245 foot high hill. The lift leads to a 255 foot 65 degree drop into a 120 foot long below ground tunnel. After topping the first hill, the ride reaches speeds of up to 85 mph. The ride track is 5,312 feet in length. The three thirty rider trains can carry up to1600 guests per hour. During the three minute ride, guests can experience up to 4.5 Gs.
The Titan is an extended version of the Goliath built at Six Flags Magic Mountain. When built, the two rides tied for the third tallest roller coaster in the world. Since then they have dropped to fifth tallest. The pair are currently the sixth fastest steel coasters in the world. Both rides were built by Giovanola of Switzerland.
Section: Texas
Year installed: 1961
The Gunfighter Shows have been held in the Texas section since the park opened in 1961. The shows recreate the good-guy/bad-guy shoot-outs of the wild west. They are designed to be entertaining more than historically accurate. Typically they take place on the street in front of the Courthouse in the Texas Section. Over the years, however, shows have been held in various locations around the park. In some shows, outlaws rob the Train while it is running, leading to a shoot-out in front of the Texas train station. Shoot-outs have also been held in front of the Jersey Lilly, around the corner from the Courthouse.
Starting in 1994, the Texas section hosted the Texas Backlot Stunt Show, an outdoor action-comedy stunt-show featured in the Texas section. Additional sets were built next to the Jersey Lilly for this show. The first show, the O.K Corral Shootout Backlot show,was tied to the release of the Warner Brother’s movie Wyatt Earp. The stunt shows continued through the 1990s.
At this time, the Gunfights continue in front of the Courthouse.
Railroad Spiel as Given
SFOT – 1974
(written in dialect)
Great Southwest Texas Depot
(Leaving for Good Times Square)
We-e-e-ll, howdy there folks. This here is yore corn-ductor speakin’ at cha’ll frum th’ very tail end of this here brand spankin’, spiffy new, luxurious, stre-e-e-m lined, an’ air corn-ditioned 1897 (for General Sam Houston,)/ 1901 (for Maribeau B. Lamar) narry-gauge railroad train.
Yessiree, you folks is in fer th’ time of yore life. But just so as it won’t be th’ last time, there are a few important company policies you to be abidin’ by. First off, don’t you go to a standin’ up, jumpin’ up and down, playin’ tag, flyin’ kites out the winders, runnin’ up an’ down th’ runnin’ boards, er a playing musical chairs. Second of all, I don’t want to see none of y’all throwin’ off you paper cups, ice cream sticks, brothers, sisters, or mother-in-laws, causin’ ifin’ you don’t want them, well neither do we. And I don’t want to see no smoking of any sort aboard this here train, cause the engine up front will be doing enough for the all of us, I ga-a-a-ranteee.
Now in just a second that corn-ducter down there on the platform is goin’ to be givin’ the signal an’ we’re going be pullin’ outa here. Y’all see that there corn-ductor? Well, she’s mighty fine at givin’ that there signal. Yessireee, she went to school for three week learnin’ ta signal thata way. Ain’t that somethin’? Well, don’t you be too impressed, ’cause it was only a two day course.
Well there was the signal, and here we go, [engine usually makes one big pull before] and there we went [and then comes to a near stop.] [While the train is barely moving]. Why if you don’t believe that were a really movin’, just look behind us. See?, we are a leavin’ tracks.
[Train leaves the station heading south, towards the flume.]
As well pull out of the station, I want you to look to your immediate left. There you will see the Six Flags Watermelon patch. If you ever go a get a whole in your watermelon, that’s were you can take it to get a patch.
Also off to yore left is the original, genuine, first in the country, Six Flags Over Texas Log Flume Ride. Yessiree, those folks have the time of their life floating around in that there giant horse trough. An’ if you think that Horse trough is big, wait’ll you see the size of the horse that a drinks out of it.
[Flume ride to the left in the trees.]
Yessireee, I hear that is one might fine ride, ‘cept at the end. They tell me it’s a real let down.
Off to yore left is a long green building. That’s our En-jun house. That is where we put our engines to bed at night. But don’t ch’all corn-fuse the Engine House with a teepee or a wigwam, ya hear?
Next stop is Me-e-e-x-i-i-can Junction! Here’s where ya’ll can join in the singin’ and the dancin’ an’ th’ wild Bull-fightin’. If ya’ll cast yore peppers up there to yer left an way up in th’ sky ya’ll see a real live volcano. An’ I bet if we was ta stay here long enough we’d get ta see a mighty molten mass move down th’ mountain hotter than the sun!
The weather forecast for this here junction is “chilly today’ and “hot tomalle”.
[On the right and left are dancing tamales, and Mexican men riding very small horses. All left over animations from the Mexican hat train.]
These here are our Dogwood trees. Do ya know why we calls ’em Dogwoods? ’cause of their bark.
All you ladies best look off to th’ right, ’cause on yore left my friend Zeke is goin’ be out takin’ his monthly showery bath. I’m shore he’d be a might embarrassed if you was to watch ‘im. Well for shame for shame own you, lady!
[Hillbilly in a shower barrel taking his shower.]
Every year we get hundreds of thousan’s of letters complimenting us on our beautiful landscaping. You may be a wondering whats we call these beautiful plants a growing to your left and your right. We calls ’em weeds.
An’ now look up there ta your right. To the sky, to your right, Do ya see it? Do ya see it? Of course ya don’t see it. There’s nuthin’ up there to see.
[Nothing to see in the sky.]
Cover up ya noses now, ’cause shoe-oe-oe-oe-weeeee we’re coming to a tunnel. Don’t that smell sweet as fried bacon on a Sunday mornin” at th’ farm. That smell so sweet, we wus thinkin’ of bottlin’ it up an’ selling’ it as a fancy perfume. We wus gonna call it “Tun-nel” number five.
Now everyone, look to your left and to your right, you see that there thing swerving around that track, that’s there is the big bend roller coaster.
Yes sireee, those there trains go around that there a swevin’ a curvin’ track faster than Ewell Gibbons chasin’ after a wild hickory nut!
(If the B.B. is broken down: Do ya see them trains runnin’ up and down the’ swervin” an’ curvin’ track? Do ya see ’em? Of course ya don’t, ’cause them trains move so fast they can’t be seen!)
[Big Bend cue house to the left of the train. Track to the left and around the train. Ewell Gibbons was a popular health food/nature sponsor of the time.]
Now looky off to yore left, seem them things sputterin’ around th’ road bed? Thems called automobiles. But don’t you go and learn that fuelish word, cause those thangs won’t never replace the horse an’ buggy. Why, there built so fast and so low to th’ ground, you’d burn th’ seat of your britches off if ya ever did tried to stop one.
[Happy Motoring off to the left.]
Off to the right is a Great Big Ol’ Yella Buildin’. Do ya know what we call that there Great big ol’ yella Buildin’. That’s right – we calls it the Great Big Ol’ Yella Buildin’! Actually, that there’s the Sid an’ Marty Krofft Puppet Show. And we have a real fine show there, no strings attached.
[Puppet show off to the right.]
In just a minute we’ll pull into the Good Time Square Station an’ all of ya’ll’ that wants to get off kin get off when we get ta a complete stop an’ after I tell you to. You folks that wanta stay on are more than welcome to do that to.
Like I said, now, wait a minute, just a second! Hold it now… just a cotton pickin’, finger licken’, ever lovin’ ever lastin’. I say “1”, (“pause”) I say “2” … I say “2”, I say “2”. Well I done said to three times now, so Get Off.
Good Times Square Station
Howdy folks. (pause) I sed “Howdy” (pause) Howdy! (pause) I gives ya’ll a great big Texas Howdy and all I get back is a little ole Rhode Island “hi”. I sed “Howdy”. Well, ain’t ya’ll a trainful of Minnie Pearlz.
Th’ Six Flags Over Texas Narry Gage Railroad Company is proud ta announce th’ imminite departure of th’ General Sam Houston/Mirabeau B. Lamar on track #1, which is th’ only track we got, non-stop for the Great Southwest Texas Depot.
Soasta we kin get from here ta yonder just like we got frum yonder ta here, I’m gonna give y’all a few important compuny policies. First off, don’t ya be standin’ up, er jumpin’ up an’ down, er be actin’ wild, wolley, weird, wicker er way-out. An’ don’t nobody be smokin’ nuthin’, ’cause the engine up front just might get excited, an’ just might get ignited. Don’t ya be a throwin off your ice ream sticks, an’ paper cups. An’ last of all, don’t ya be danglin’ yer arms and legs off the train, “cause if ya stick out off fer a little too long, you may bring ’em back in a little too short.
Of course, th’ most important rule is that nobody is ta be turnin’ around an looking at yer handsome, good-lookin’, swave, debonair, personable, modest, intelligent, resourceful, charmin’ cornuductor at th’ very tail end of this train. (pause) What’s th’ matter Lady, ain’t you never seen a corn-ductor before?
Well, now just as soon as that there corn-ductor down on th’ platform gives th’ engineers th’ signal, we’ll be pullin’ outa here.
(Signal) Well there’s th’ signal. Here we go, an’ there we went. Did you feel that blinding burst of speed? Yessireee, why, we’re a moving faster than a whole heard of man-eating mud turtles, a slipping and a sliding down to the creek on a salty Saturday in September.
As we leave, I want you to be sure and waive good-bye to that there conductor on the platform, cause if you don’t waive goodbye, he won’t a know that were a leavin’.
Lookee of there ta your left an’ y’all see th’ Six Flags over Texas Carousel Ride. That’s a fancy name for a merry-go-round. There’s one identical to this one at th’ Smithsonian Institute.
[Passing the Merry-go-Round on the left.]
That there track yore a seeing now is th’ Six Flags Mini-mine train. We built it ‘specially fer all ya little folks an’ all you big chicken’s whats to scare to be a ridin’ on th’ Six Flags Over Texas Runaway Mine Train. It’s guaranteed ta jar, jive, jump an’ jolt you socks off with its mighty trestle, mighty track, and might mine trains.
To your right is th’ Ghost Town Saloon. Y’all can see my friends are still playing’ the poker game they started last Thursday. You may be a thinkin’ that they is on a crash diet. That’s not it at all, its just that the bartender has been forgettin’ ta put the olives in there drinks.
Iffin’ everyone will lookee ta yer left, y’all see th’ Caddo Indians in their canoes. Little is it known that them canoes are faster than th’ U.S. Mail. That’s cause not only do they have an injun in th’ front, they had an injun in the rear. By th’ way I’ll bet cha’ll don’t know why th’ Indians were th’ first folks on th’ American Continent? It’s cause they had reservations!
Iffin y’all will cast yer peepers to yore right, you’ll see th’ scariest ride at Six Flags Over Texas. We call it th’ Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike. (Now we call it I-30).
Now if you’ll look there ta yer left, you’ll see a cement pond where we corral our dolphins. Yessirree, we was gonna have George C. Scott teach us a dolphin how to talk, but Larry Zonka couldn’t make it.
[At the time, George C. Scott had released a movie about teaching a dolphin to talk and Larry Zonka played for the Miami Dolphins.]
That great big ol’ orange thang next to th’ dolphin pool is th’ worlds tallest land-based oil derrick. Yessireee, we got elevators there that’ll take ya 300 feet into the sky, an’ bring ya back down 320. Course, if ya don’t want to go all the way to th’ top, ya kin walk up them steps an’ slide down on one of th’ longest slides in this part of th’ country.
Inside that funny locking building there to yer left is where ya kin see the Chevy Show. The Chevy Show is a real fine show. You had better see it before you leave the park tonight, ’cause it’s awfully hard ta see it after ya leave.
Off to your right is our Music Meal Theater.
To your left is the horseless carriages produced by the Chaparral Motor Car Company of Cleburne, Texas. In 1911 them thangs was selling better than buttered biscuits at th’ State Fair, but Henry Ford came along and put ’em out of business, cause Ford had “a better idea”.
In just another minute were gonna pull into th’ Great Southwest Texas Depot an’ when we do you folks that want ta get off can get off, and you people that want to stay on can stay on. But ya can’t do both, an’ ya can’t do neither either, so you best make up your mind.
It’ll be just another second, just another minute, hold it, wait, wait till I give you the word. Hey there Mister, will you pleas pull your big, fat, hairy leg back into th’ train? Oh! Sorry about that Lady!
Now hold it, wait… Let me give you th’ word, hold it, wait…. Word. I sed, “WORD”. “WORD” Well, I done said the word three times, what are you a waitin’ fer? Get off. This here train don’t go no slower.
Runaway Mountain Rollercoaster, Six Flags’ eighth roller coaster, was added for the 1996 season. Runaway Mountain is located in the Old South (Confederacy) section between the Southern Palace and Nalar’s Plantation house. The area had once been occupied by the Skull Island River Raft queue house and the more recently removed Spinnaker.
Runaway Mountain utilizes single unit cars rather than the trains common with the other roller coasters. Runaway Mountains key feature is that the entire ride is inside. The darkness of the interior prevents the riders from knowing whether they are going up, down, left or right. This lack of knowledge makes the ride more thrilling, even though it is not as tall or fast as the other major coasters.
The four seat cars reach speeds of up to 40 mph and g-forces of up to 3.6.This is actually faster than the 39 mph estimated at the time for the Texas Giant, and the 2.7 g’s pulled on the Giant. The ride includes drops of nearly 90 degrees, banked turns at 82 degrees, and two high speed horizontal spirals.
The ride lasts one and a half minutes and can entertain a thousand guests an hour.
The publicity for the ride resembled the story line for the original skull island. As with the Skull island, which was located at the same spot, the mountain was said to contain gold left there by the famous pirate Jean LaFitte. The riders search for the gold as they explore the mysteries of the mountain. The ride’s tagline is the “Coaster that dares the Darkness.”
The ride was designed using the most current computer aided design techniques and was a “heart-line design”, meaning that the riders heart was used as the center of gravity. The ride also employed state of the art computer controls as well as a chainless lift that provided much quieter operation.
The ride was built by Premier Rides of Maryland and was originally based on three twelve passenger trains.
In order to avoid confusion of the names, “runaway” was removed from the Runaway Mine Train’s name, which was shortened to simply the “Mine Train”
For the park’s twenty-fifth anniversary, the Conquistador, the Flying Ship of Spain was introduced. While technically themed as a Spanish attraction, and situated near the exit to Flume II, the ride was physically located within what had before always been the Mexican section. This placement created a blurring of the sections to the extent that they are sometimes referred to as if they were one section. The ride is a traditional swinging ship ride in which the riders sit facing the center of the boat. The ride is suspended from a structure so that it can swing back and forth like a pendulum. The ride slowly starts to rock back and forth, until it reaches the point where it seems as if it will go completely upside down. As that point, each time the ride reaches the top of either point, the riders experience a moment of weightlessness while the ride changes directions.
“El Aserradero”, or the sawmill in English, was the official name for the Flume Ride when it first opened in 1963. The name refers to the building housing the first lift, which is designed to replicate a log saw mill. Employees generally refer to the ride as the “Flume Ride” and guest simply call it the “Log Ride”.
The Log Flume Ride is tied with the Carousel Ride as the fourth oldest attraction in the park. They are surpassed only by the Railroad, the Chaparral cars and Casa Magnetica. It is actually been operated more seasons than either the Carousel or Casa Magentica, in that both have been closed at various times for more than one season.
The ride is simple in concept. Guest float around a large “flume” in small fiberglass boats designed to look like wooden logs. The ride starts with a trip up the “low lift”or “lift 1”. A pump under the lift raises the water to the height of the flume at the bottom of the lift. The logs are carried up the lift on a conveyor belt, then drop down the slide into the flume, which at the bottom of the “low lift” is higher than the rest of the ride.
The “logs” then float around the curving flume, carried forward by the the water, which is actually traveling slightly downhill. The ride reaches the bottom of “the high lift” or “lift 2”. The water at the base of this lift is the lowest level of the ride. The logs travel up another conveyor belt and then drop down a much higher slide to the end of the ride. The final drop creates the splashing effect for which the ride is famous.
Flume rides are now an amusement park staple and are common at amusement parks across the nation. The Log Flume ride is, however, a unique Six Flags’ creation. The Six Flags Log ride is the first log ride in the world. It was also the first ride in the park that did not have a Disney counterpart.
The ride was constructed by Arrow Development, which originally built rides for Disneyland. Six Flags over Texas was the first park to receive Arrow rides outside of Disneyland. Arrow also built the Happy Motoring and Chaparral Cars and would later build the Runway Mine Train.
The ride replaced the burro ride, which had been located in the same location. The flume, as with the burro ride before it, together with Casa are all that consisted of the Spanish section.
The ride is reminiscent of older “shoot the chute” rides at parks and fairs. In this rides, small boats floated down a large slide onto a large pond or pool.
Luna Park – Coney Island – Shoot the Chutes
Flume II
The Log Ride proved so popular that Six Flags added a second flume in 1968, five years after the first. The second flume, Flume II, is essentially the same as Flume I, and is generally operated only on high capacity days.
The ride has changed little over the years. During the 70s, the ride was enhanced by several animations. Lumberjacks could be seen in the woods sawing logs. A large villain character stood on top of the Flume One Mill house sawing on a large log. The log created the appearance that any minute it would break off and fall on any riders beneath it. He had a constant repetitive laugh that got very old for the employees working the ride.
His counter-part was a large “Paul Bunyon” type lumber jack that stood atop of the low lift of Flume II. He swung a large axe back and forth at the logs as the rode underneath of him.
Also for a time, the drop on Flume II was covered, creating a tunnel through which the riders dropped.
At one time billed by the park as “the most popular and exciting ride ever devised.” The ride is now overshadowed by the larger water rides, such as Splash Down Falls and LaSalle’s Rapid Adventure.
Ride capacity at each flume is approximately 1,000 per hour.
Pre-opening pictures of the Joker, to open in 2017.
