The Abandoned Six Flags America - “The Worst Theme Park”

In 2024, a huge change came to the theme park industry. Cedar Fair completed a merger of its company with Six Flags. As soon as it was announced, hopes were high for what it meant to some of the most popular theme parks in the United States. It had to be all good, right? No longer would parks need to compete to try and offer better than their competition. [music] Annual passes could give you access to more parks, and the companies would combine and run at smoother operating costs to free up money to invest back into those parks. It seemed like all would be good, right?

All right. Well, following is some breaking news right now. The parent company of Six Flags just announced plans to close Six Flags America.

Oh. Uh, Six Flags America would shortly after be closed forever and abandoned. And it wouldn't even be the park's first time.

[music] [music] [music] Throughout the 1960s, many famous circus families had worked throughout the UK to create the first safari parks. The concept was incredibly popular in the early days, and thousands came to see the animals. It would inspire brothers William and Frank Steverson to take the idea overseas. By 1972, the US had four operating safari parks.

In June 1971, the two brothers would approach chairman and majority stockholder of Electronic Data Systems, millionaire H. Ross Perot, with the idea of creating a [music] brand new safari park. Perot loved the idea and the passion for the project. He had no idea who the brothers were before the meeting, but appreciated how they had searched for support for their company, just like he had done over a decade earlier. He said that he was convinced they have the ability to do this well,

and he was the guy standing there with a grease gun able to lubricate their ideas with financial encouragement. Not the way I would have said it, but still, his words, not mine. Together, they would form CT Industries and purchase 280 acres of land just 8 miles east of the DC state line with hopes to create the brand new park. With a goal of keeping the area in its natural state and introducing animals to it, the original plan was to place 450 African animals on the land and allow guests to drive through and view them on a 4-mile road surrounded by 14-ft [music] tall fences. And as long as zoning change plans were approved, they hoped to have it open by 1973.

The new team had no doubt of the attraction's success, even if competition was heating up.

The zoning for the African Safari Park would be approved. Immediately after though, it was announced that ABC had taken over the project. During construction, Jim Fowler, former host of Wild Kingdom, was a consultant for the new project. He would be in charge of not only design and maintenance of the new park, but finding the animals for it. He was said to be looking for animals that were overpopulated or in danger of not surviving in the wild. He put a big aspect on finding animals in zoos from small cages that would be able to roam around at the new park. Around the time ABC were planning their wildlife park, one of ABC's vice presidents was a good friend of SeaWorld and Wet 'n Wild creator George Millay.

They were looking for a designer who could improve what was already planned and built, and asked George Millay for his advice. He suggested the man who had helped him design Wet 'n Wild, former Disney designer Rolly Crump. Crump redesigned all of the buildings that had no theme in the park, [music] added beautiful murals, and made sure everything adhered to its African theme.

After a brief delay, the wildlife preserve would open on July 15th, 1974, costing $13 million.

The park would feature 350 animals [music] that visitors could drive past as they freely roamed the park. The 2.5-mile drive would have a speed limit of 5 mph, and windows would have to be rolled up at all times. To keep guests safe, the preserve would be patrolled by five rangers on horseback and five in jeeps. The ones on horseback would wear cowboy costumes. There would be areas throughout the park to stop and get out with entertainment such as a birds of prey show and wildlife movies teaching about conservation. The experience would end with a small restaurant and gift shop, and would be open daily from April 1st to October 21st, costing $3.75 per adult and $2.50 per child. During its first week of operation, around 3,500 people visited. The park had projected an attendance for the year of around 850,000 people. The wildlife preserve's attendance would never reach anywhere near those lofty expectations. 100 miles away, the first phase of Kings Entertainment's new giant amusement complex would open, and it was the first phase of what would be a huge, sprawling amusement park complex, Kings Dominion.

A place that would affect the life of the wildlife and later amusement park for all of its existence.

Do you like excitement? Then come on with us. No matter where you turn, Kings Dominion has [music] excitement made just for us kids. Here you can zoom into the sky on Scooby-Doo's coaster, or shoot [music] down rapids on a wild log flume, or even face some wild and funny animals nose to nose. Because Kings Dominion has something for everyone.

Kings Dominion's [music] for everyone. Now, that's excitement. Kings Dominion's for you. To try and compete, they began to switch things up right away. For the park's second year, they expanded with a new Australian section of the park and a major change to operations. Visitors would no longer drive through the park's four areas in their own car, but would now take a tram through on a roughly 30-minute trip through the animals. The reason given for the change was to make it safer for those visiting and more comfortable. The admission price would also rise to $4.25, [music] but that covered all attractions and the tram ride. From day one though, Kings Dominion just offered more. It had roller coasters, monorails, the IPs of Hanna-Barbera, and was just close enough to overshadow ABC's wildlife preserve. Already, things would have to change.

And ABC Scenic and Wildlife applied to rezone the land to build a $30 million amusement park at the site. The wildlife preserve was losing money, and they [music] wanted it to become something similar to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, which had just opened in 1975, offering even more competition, [music] and finally, maybe top what was on offer at Kings Dominion. ABC now owned about 405 acres of land, and it wasn't long until the zoning change was approved. The park's general manager, William Natter, [music] said that planning and design could begin, and they were hoping for final approvals to turn into a full theme park by early 1976.

The new park was set to include a South American town, a colonial square, a mining and logging frontier-esque area, and a North American lake area. They would build a simulated mountain, which would house [music] a giant theater and some of the planned eight major rides. Construction was hoped to start in summer 1976 and be open by 1978, hoping for a projected attendance of around [music] 14,000 people per day. By February 1976, the plans were abandoned, and the park was closed forever due to unacceptable attendance and revenues in 1974 and 1975. The park's management blamed ABC and the fact they wouldn't provide the money to convert it into a real theme park. ABC hoped to reclaim as much as $70 million on their investment as soon as possible with the sale of the land. During 1976, it was said that most of the park's animals had been sold off, and ABC would sell the park. The wildlife preserve would remain closed for 2 years and essentially sat abandoned until it managed to be sold. It was finally his time to shine. [music] No, not him. Jim Fowler, host of Wild Kingdom and consultant for the park.

The park would be purchased by a group of four investors, including Jim Fowler, who would redesign the park, Jürgen Schulz, one of the world's largest wild animal dealers, and Ola Lar

redesigned all of the buildings that had no theme in the park, [music] added beautiful murals, and made sure everything adhered to its African theme.

After a brief delay, the wildlife preserve would open on July 15th, 1974, costing $13 million.

The park would feature 350 animals [music] that visitors could drive past as they freely roamed the park. The 2.5-mile drive would have a speed limit of 5 mph, and windows would have to be rolled up at all times. To keep guests

safe, the preserve would be patrolled by five rangers on horseback and five in jeeps. The ones on horseback would wear cowboy costumes. There would be areas throughout the park to stop and get out with entertainment such as a birds of

prey show and wildlife movies teaching about conservation. The experience would end with a small restaurant and gift shop, and would be open daily from April 1st to October 21st, costing $3.75 per adult and $2.50 per child. During its

first week of operation, around 3,500 people visited. The park had projected an attendance for the year of around 850,000 people. The wildlife preserve's attendance would never reach anywhere near those lofty expectations. 100 miles away, the first phase of Kings

Entertainment's new giant amusement complex would open, and it was the first phase of what would be a huge, sprawling amusement park complex, Kings Dominion.

A place that would affect the life of the wildlife and later amusement park for all of its existence.

Do you like excitement? Then come on with us. No matter where you turn, Kings Dominion has [music] excitement made just for us kids. Here you can zoom into the sky on Scooby-Doo's coaster, or shoot [music] down rapids on a wild log flume, or even

face some wild and funny animals nose to nose. Because Kings Dominion has something for everyone.

Kings Dominion's [music] for everyone. Now, that's excitement. Kings Dominion's for you. To try and compete, they began to switch things up right away. For the park's second year, they expanded with a new Australian section of the park and a

major change to operations. Visitors would no longer drive through the park's four areas in their own car, but would now take a tram through on a roughly 30-minute trip through the animals. The reason given for the change was to make

it safer for those visiting and more comfortable. The admission price would also rise to $4.25, [music] but that covered all attractions and the tram ride. From day one though, Kings Dominion just offered more. It had roller coasters, monorails, the IPs of

Hanna-Barbera, and was just close enough to overshadow ABC's wildlife preserve. Already, things would have to change.

And ABC Scenic and Wildlife applied to rezone the land to build a $30 million amusement park at the site. The wildlife preserve was losing money, and they [music] wanted it to become something similar to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, which had just opened in 1975, offering

even more competition, [music] and finally, maybe top what was on offer at Kings Dominion. ABC now owned about 405 acres of land, and it wasn't long until the zoning change was approved. The park's general manager, William Natter, [music] said that planning and design

could begin, and they were hoping for final approvals to turn into a full theme park by early 1976.

The new park was set to include a South American town, a colonial square, a mining and logging frontier-esque area, and a North American lake area. They would build a simulated mountain, which would house [music] a giant theater and

some of the planned eight major rides. Construction was hoped to start in summer 1976 and be open by 1978, hoping for a projected attendance of around [music] 14,000 people per day. By February 1976, the plans were abandoned, and the park was closed forever due to

unacceptable attendance and revenues in 1974 and 1975. The park's management blamed ABC and the fact they wouldn't provide the money to convert it into a real theme park. ABC hoped to reclaim as much as $70 million on their investment

as soon as possible with the sale of the land. During 1976, it was said that most of the park's animals had been sold off, and ABC would sell the park. The wildlife preserve would remain closed for 2 years and essentially sat

abandoned until it managed to be sold. It was finally his time to shine. [music] No, not him. Jim Fowler, host of Wild Kingdom and consultant for the park.

The park would be purchased by a group of four investors, including Jim Fowler, who would redesign the park, Jürgen Schulz, one of the world's largest wild animal dealers, and Ola Larsen, who would construct Fowler's designs. The group bought the land for $2 million,

way less than the hoped-for $10 million by ABC, and planned right away to spend $3 million on renovations that included new walking areas and optional safari rides in jeeps into the predator sections. The park did not open during

1980, though Jim Fowler kept rescuing and obtaining new animals for the planned park. Jim Fowler's Wild Country was now planned to open in April 1981.

During the closure, the park did open for some private events and [music] select groups to see the animals under his name. After more delays to open, in 1981, [music] a new group of seven investors purchased the barely open park. This new group

would invest between $11 and $15 million and take the park again in a new direction. Since the land was already zoned for an amusement park, in early 1982, construction began on a family entertainment and recreational complex for the Baltimore-Washington area. This

new investors company, Recreational Wildlife Park Associates, would bring in an experienced management team and essentially rebuild the park with this new direction in just 3 months. Looks like you're ready for a good time.

You bet. I can see it now. Basking in the sun, cooling in the water, riding on the waves, checking out the scenery.

Yeah. Hey, you better get going. [music] The beach is 3 hours away. Who wants to spend a day on the bridge?

I'm at Wild World. It's just around the corner. So, now I have more time for fun.

[music] Called Wild World, the company had a philosophy based on three premises: family participation, community involvement, and natural preservation.

Gary Bennett, the park's general manager, said families were drifting apart. Their new park was designed to draw them back together. The park would reopen after 6 years in June 1982.

Unlike other parks where the family would split up on entering, Wild World was said to be designed to keep them together. The park on opening offered water slides such as the Rainbow Zoom, a steam train through the animal kingdom,

animal feeding experiences, magic or animal acts, and a carousel. It had completely changed from the 45-minute drive-through safari that had been designed by Roly Crump to something completely different. 1983 saw the water park expand and further flat rides were added such as a pirate

ship. The biggest investment came in the Wild Wave wave pool at $2 million. Just a few months after opening though, a 9-year-old boy died in the wave pool which hurt attendance and forced the park to change all of its safety

measures. Less than 2 years after opening the park in 1983, they were sued for not paying half a million dollars in advertising bills. Wild World had laid off its general manager, a number of employees, and it had announced the

closure of the safari park portion of the facility and had sold all its animals in an auction excluding the elephants which were on loan from the Ringling Brothers Circus. The highlight of the new park that most people were

coming for was the water slides. And it was said that the animal portion which originally started the whole thing was not a draw and expensive to maintain.

Wild World would now emphasize just its rides and attractions. The new park though was not making money and the following season after the animals were removed, most of the park's adult aim rides were removed and placed into storage. Now with a focus on being only

a water park, which in turn made the park only popular on hot sunny days. The park had a bit of a mixed message with some turning up to visit without bathing suits and not being able to do much

unless they purchased one. A new management team had been brought in who thought the park was trying to do too many different things with too little money. They also wanted to focus on bringing people back by offering cheap

season passes. The new addition for that year was Rampage, two 35-ft tall slides. With the removal of the rides, multiple areas, and the animals, and of course the classic theme park excuse of 1984 having poor weather, customers did not

come. For 1985, management decided they wanted rides after all and brought them back out of storage. Roller rides were back on the menu. The park was still struggling to find its identity and to compete with other parks in the area and

was often getting complaints from neighbors about the noise and traffic from the park. You know, that Alton Towers issue. The park decided that with the focus on water, on poor weather days there was nothing to do. So, they had to

do something like Kings Dominion. They wanted to add a roller coaster. The problem was they didn't really have any money to do so.

It's the Wild One, stud. I can beat this coaster. What is the Wild One doing? Wild World, make my day.

Wild One, you. Wild One's tough like stud. You ride it. [music] During 1986, newspapers reported that Wild World had finally found its identity and was now on the fast track with arch rival Kings Dominion. The answer to try to remain competitive was

an over 60-year-old wooden roller coaster. In 1917, the Giant Coaster opened at Paragon Park in Massachusetts, a double out-and-back side friction coaster designed by John Miller and built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. Over the decades, the classic coaster was redesigned multiple times

after being partially destroyed by fire and was returned into an under friction track system. It would later again be partly destroyed by fire and John C.

Allen was hired to rebuild it. With a tight budget, some of the earlier elements were removed and changed to offer an affordable alternative to tearing the coaster down. When Paragon Park was closed in 1984, its rides were auctioned off. It would be here that

Wild World would acquire it in June 1985 and plan to move it to their struggling park. The Dinn Corporation relocated the ride while Curtis D. Summers reworked sections of its layout restoring some of those elements that were previously cut

and the purchase and installation came to a total of $1 million. It was reported that 90% of the roller coaster's woodwork was new and they had brought it back closer to the original layout for the ride. They considered

this a huge win and it was reported that they had outdone even Kings Dominion's 1986 $3 million coaster, Shockwave. On May 3rd, 1986, Wild World reopened the 69-year-old roller coaster with a new name, The Wild One. The park proudly

stated they saved the ride from destruction and it would have been toothpicks if it wasn't for them. Wild World knew they had a long way to go to keep competing and its new roller coaster was to be the first step. They

would now aim to add a new thrill ride every season. When new management had come in in 1984, the park's annual attendance was around 350,000 people losing money and in areas falling apart. Since taking over, they had spent

more than $5 million upgrading the park and was now welcoming around 650,000 people a year, about half what Kings Dominion was attracting. Over the second half of the '80s after the Wild One opened, the park continued to struggle.

Maintenance on rides was extremely poor and the major additions were a lazy river and a log flume. The park's owners in 1990 took over the National Bank of Washington and through a series of bad real estate loans had their investments

and banking careers wiped out. As investigators began looking into the failed bank operations, they found that Wild World owner J. Mason, chairman of the bank, was a delinquent borrower.

Mason had borrowed $9 million from MBW in April 1987 to finance the Wild World Amusement Park which was secured by 96% of the shares in the park. When told to make good on his debt, Mason transferred $5 million in assets into an account in

his wife's name where federal officers could not touch it. The government had sued Mason to try and recover the money.

Much of the park's rides were poorly maintained and not operating. The Wild One was considered extremely rough and no more major additions had come. During 1991, many of the park's rides could not operate including the Wild One as they

could not afford to maintain it. Something had to change and in January 1992, the park was sold. It was finally his time.

[music] No, still not him. The park's new owners would be the Tieco Group and they planned to reopen the park with several changes. Tieco Group had already owned Oklahoma City's Frontier City and White Water Bay. They would spend $500,000

in its first year to get the park's Wild One roller coaster working, fixing the ride, re-profiling the drops, and making it a smoother experience.

In 1982, real estate holding company Tieco Group had purchased [music] Frontier City for $1.2 million.

They had no interest in running a theme park and planned to demolish the run-down park [music] and build a shopping center in its place. Economic issues derailed that plan and they decided to spend some money to improve Frontier City. With its new general

manager Gary Story in charge, they quadrupled the park's attendance [music] and revenue and over the next decade would shift away completely from working in real [music] estate. I can't believe this Frontier City. Seems like every year there's something new and better.

It's improved 100%. enjoyed the shows. The shows were fantastic. I had no idea they were going to be that good. By the early '90s, they had been heavily in debt reporting a $5.8 million loss in 1991. They decided

to shed all of their real estate assets including a Florida hotel and marina to focus on its more successful theme park business and purchased the struggling theme park Wild World. The company would now fully focus on theme parks,

something they originally never planned to do. For the 1993 season, they added another roller coaster called Python.

This was another used coaster that previously was called Lightning Loops at Six Flags Great Adventure from 1978.

There however, they had two interlocking identical tracks but when it was sold, one was sent to Wild World and the other to Frontier City. You can still ride it there today as Diamondback. Seeing success in 1993, they decided to take

the Frontier City approach and upgrade most areas of the park. And to shed its troubled past, they would choose a new name, Adventure World. A newspaper article from 1994 stated that after 20 years of seesaw management, sliding finances, and roller coaster attendance,

Adventure World may finally be getting it right. Adventure World would aim to become a regional, family-friendly attraction instead of mainly a local water park for teens. In the first 2 years, Tierco Group would spend $15 million upgrading it, and they saw an

attendance boost of 40%. They would keep their promise, and Adventure World would continue to add more rides, adding theme and an areas for children, a Wild West Village, entertainment, and more. Though one person reports at the time it was

still no Kings Dominion [music] and never would be, but Adventure World was closer to the major city of Washington D.C. and Baltimore, so it had that going for it. By adding more, the locals came.

Adventure World would become beloved as a home theme park for many, improving year after year, and even called the most improved theme park in the US [music] multiple years in a row. The once failing company would end 1994 with a

revenue of $17.4 million. With its new focus on theme parks, Tierco Group changed its company name to Premier Parks in October 1994.

With Adventure World added and now seen as somewhat of a success, the company was looking to expand further, purchasing Ohio-based Funtime Parks Inc.

in 1995, who were earning actually more than the Tierco Group at the time with $51 million revenue a year. This would expand Premier Parks to also own Darien Lake [music] Geauga Lake. Don't worry, I'm getting there. And Wyandot Lake Park. Adventure

World would continue to expand with a further $8 million investment in 1994 with the addition of the Mind Eraser, a Vekoma SLC, which was boasted as one of only seven of its kind in the world. Not really a brag looking back. 1996 saw the

Tower of Doom added. '97, the Typhoon Sea Coaster. The water park was renovated and children's experiences were added. It also saw Premier Parks go public, and they raised millions of dollars selling shares. Money that the company planned to expand even further.

They started with the Great Escape in New York, Marine World, and Kentucky Kingdom. In 1997, nearly 11 million people were now visiting parks owned by Premier. What began by taking over a struggling safari {slash} water park and a company running it who didn't want to

run a theme park at all was now turning into a major amusement park called Maryland's only family theme park that perhaps maybe was getting closer to rivaling Kings Dominion. Premier Park sites were firmly set on expanding drastically.

[music] [music] [music] In October 1997, the New Jersey-based Six Flags Theme Parks, who had operated the original Six Flags, were shocked to learn that they would not manage its flagship property, Six Flags Over Texas, anymore. The company had found out from

news broadcasters that the park's owners had cut a deal with another theme park operator to take over management on January 1st, 1998. The park's owners and Six Flags, whose 27-year operating contract expired at the end of '97, had

failed to come to terms to continue. The original Six Flags, the oldest of the 12 Six Flags parks, was operated by Six Flags, a Time Warner company, but was funded and owned by a limited partnership of 224 investors called the

Six Flags Over Texas Fund. With this change, Six Flags Over Texas would lose access to any of the Time Warner rights, such as Bugs Bunny or Batman. The parent company who owned the park were frustrated with the direction that the

Time Warner company's operations had gone and how they had removed the park's heritage and it had been lost to cartoons and comic book characters. The operation of the park's contract was that the Six Flags Group, which ran the

park, got 70% of the park's net cash flow each year, while the ownership group received 30%. And surprisingly, Six Flags were not happy and looked towards legal routes to stop this. That new management team who had been brought

in to replace them would be Premier Parks. Premier Parks were not bothered and extremely happy with the deal and promised to invest $30 million in rides over the next two seasons. They also signed an agreement stating that after

30 years, they would be able to buy it. The whole thing got extremely messy with both sides suing the other. Six Flags Over Texas Fund and Premier Parks were asking the courts to rule that the Six Flags Theme Park company had no rights

to the Arlington park, who in turn were arguing that they had invested much of their own money over the last 30 years to improve the park. Premier Parks would be set to take over operating Six Flags Over Texas from January 1st, 1998, and

they insisted they were bringing back the focus on Texas history and heritage. But it wasn't like they really had a choice because they would not be able to use the Time Warner rights anyway.

Either way, it didn't matter and the dispute didn't last. In February 1998, Premier Parks would just buy Six Flags from Time Warner, making them the nation's second biggest theme park operator behind Walt Disney Company, up from the fifth with a total now of 25

parks in 14 states. The issue of not using the rights also would go away because the purchase included the rights to Time Warner characters at the Premier Parks. To complete the deal, they would pay $765 million in cash and the rest in

stock while assuming about $890 million in debt, making the total deal worth around $1.8 billion in what would be the industry's biggest deal ever.

For now. As the deal closed, Premier Parks had to look out for changes at their other parks. Not all would take the Six Flags names, but quite a few would. With the deal complete, parks began to change name and branding.

Adventure World would change once again. While most would keep a portion of the park's original name with Six Flags, Adventure World would be rebranded completely as Six Flags America.

With the new name came more changes. In was Bugs Bunny and a $30 million makeover for the park. Now in charge, they didn't care anymore about the heritage they promised. Bugs Bunny and Batman would be everywhere. New rides,

shows, and restaurants were promised, and Adventure World would reopen as Six Flags America [music] on May 1st, 1999.

It was finally time. Just kidding. I've been setting that up for ages. You got to get the payoff.

[music] There's a time for work and there's a time for play. [music] Six Flags, it's playtime. Now before we go deeper into the Six Flags era, can I just talk for a moment about the Six Flags name of parks being some of the

most confusing to ever exist. I mean, there's America, Great America, Mid-America, Great Adventure. I can't be the only person who has been confused by a Six Flags name before. First, we start with Six Flags Over Texas. Okay, fine.

It's the six different nations that govern Texas, literally Six Flags Over Texas. Six Flags Over Georgia already makes no sense. But hey, at least it tells you where the park is. It's in Georgia. So you would think they would

continue to use the Over location name. But no, no, no. Why use Marriott's Great America as a Six Flags name and then have another park called America? I guess because it was close to D.C., but it is just weird. Six Flags Astro World

is cool, come on. But there is Six Flags Over Mid-America, which is perhaps maybe the worst one. Not only is Mid-America not a state like the other two names, it could be anywhere. I guess that is why they renamed it. The name even suggests

that Six Flags Great America is better than Six Flags America. Are they all in the same place? Are they all the same park? Which park is where? Am I going crazy thinking about this? I guess if I think logically, back in the day, you

only really knew the regional park near you, so it didn't matter. But it matters to me. I never knew which one is which and where it was, and I still barely do.

And I just wrote around 6,495 words about one of them. ONE FLAG. SIX FLAGS, MORE FLAGS, MORE FUN. ANYWAY, back to Six Flags America.

Psych, that's actually Six Flags Great America. Months and months of work, it's a whole new adventure now, and it opens May 1st. Tony Dorsey tells us what to look forward to.

We learned that Batman was dropping in at last October's big announcement, and he wasn't alone.

From Batman to Bugs, big changes were ahead for what used to be called Adventure World.

[music] Six Flags America with new owners in charge. A brand new name and a promising future opened with its new branding on May 1st, 1999. That would 100% definitely, for reals this time, complete with Paramount's Kings Dominion. It would

totally be better now, they promised. Uh they were about to create one of our finest Six Flags parks in the country.

During 1999, Premier Parks would also fully rebrand the company under the Six Flags name. To celebrate the park's name change, they held a big gala where carrot cake was served in honor of Bugs Bunny. Big additions came with Gotham

City, Two-Face the Flip Side, The Joker's Jinx, and Great Chase. In 2000, the biggest addition yet, a hypercoaster called Superman Ride of Steel, a mirror image of Superman Ride of Steel at Dorney Lake. Now, let's just talk about

Six Flags ride naming for a moment. Actually, let's not. Let it go, Sam. Let it go. We all know it's horrible.

Smaller flat rides, kiddie rides, and water rides were added in the 2000s, including Tony Hawk's Halfpipe water slide at the water park. All right, you got that name right. Well, at least until they had to remove the branding.

We can't talk about rides of Six Flags America without talking about the park's reputation. Many perceive Six Flags America as one of the worst parks in the chain, and that was mostly from the fact very little that was unique, very little

you would choose to go just to see. The park was full of rides relocated from elsewhere or clones that existed elsewhere. When the Wild One was moved to the park in 1986, it was considered the ride that had saved the park. And

for the decades that followed, the Wild One surprisingly became the most unique and special roller coaster in the park, despite all the promise that was often said would come. The last non-clone or used major roller coaster specifically built to the park until the day it

closed. Spoilers. Would be the 1998 wooden coaster Roar. Everything that followed was not unique, really. From Batwing, a unique experience but one you could find elsewhere, Firebird Apocalypse, which was the original stand-up coaster from B&M relocated to the park from Great America, along with

so many other relocated and cloned attractions. While it was known as the thrill capital of DC, it never really offered anything to go out of your way for unless you live nearby. In the years following its rebrand as a Six Flags

park, by the mid-2000s, Six Flags, the former Premier Parks, was struggling under the weight of its insane expansion acquisition speed and were facing mounting debt. The promise of a park that would rival Kings Dominion never came. The company began selling

properties to reduce the debt, one of which was Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. We will get there, I promise. Investors were demanding change, and a proxy battle for control of the board of directors began. Six Flags New Orleans

was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, AstroWorld was closed and demolished, and internal strife continued. It was not a good time for the company. The only good part was that Mr. Six debuted in 2004, so you got to give him some

credit for that. What had so much promise just 5 years earlier was now falling apart. Mark Shapiro was now in charge of the board, along with Jack Kemp, Michael Kassan, and Harvey Weinstein. Yes, sadly, that one. The new

board made things even worse. By 2006, sales would continue, including Frontier City, the park where it all began. The place that had been purchased to close but had changed the whole company into the one we know today. More sales and

closures followed during the Shapiro years, and the company's cash flow was decreased by millions, and it wasn't long before they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. While Six Flags America continued to endure for its troubled period, it didn't improve and

attendance dropped. Six Flags post-bankruptcy was a different place to the promise and hope of that acquisition only a few years before, and Six Flags America never again got the investment that it deserved. The following years saw rethemes and smaller additions, but

nothing that would bring people back. The park's reputation became somewhat of a joke in the chain about how bad it was and it was not worth visiting. For a park so close to the capital of the United States, this has always seemed

somewhat odd to me as you would think they would want it to be a highlight of the chain. But you know, Thorpe Park is close to London, and that barely gets anything except extremely short coasters and horrible, horrible [music]

ghost trains. My ghost train. The new one's even worse. Sorry, Thorpe. I love you, really.

[music] In 1992, Wild World was a lackluster water park with one inactive roller coaster and annual [music] attendance of only 350,000.

Today, the transformation [music] is well underway, and where Wild World once stood is Six Flags [music] America with six coasters, elaborate themed areas, the region's biggest water park, and much more. In 1999 alone, the park introduced [music] two new Batman-themed

coasters, a Batman stunt show, Looney Tunes [music] Movie Town with Bugs Bunny and his pals, along with a spectacular entrance plaza and Main Street, plus [music] many other improvements that say Six Flags has arrived, and the market has responded with attendance tracking

to 2 [music] million people, double the 1998 total. Six Flags America was often seen as forgotten about by the company, received a lack of investment, and never really got the attention or funding it deserved with poor operations, rehashed rides,

and just not much out of the ordinary. If you asked anyone who visited Six Flags America what they thought of the park, you would normally get one of two responses. One, it was the worst park in the United States, a mess of a park that

was poorly run and had nothing to do. Two, it was a park I grew up with and I made many memories there, and those that were extremely sad to see its closure. I could easily go on in this video about

how this was the worst theme park or how it deserved to be shut forever for being so bad, and you hear that more often than you should when people talk about this park. I could make this video talking about all of its downfalls and

failures and how it was the worst day out or the worst park around, but I don't think it deserves that at all and it would be unfair. Instead, I would like to focus on that second response, highlighting the millions of people who

grew up living near the park from its Wildlife Preserve days with Rolly Crump, Wild World, Adventure World, and finally Six Flags America. [music] To those people, this park was important. It was their home park and a place full of

happy memories. Back before the internet connected everyone everywhere and travel was more difficult, this park was like so many other regional parks. They were not the best of the best, but it didn't matter. These parks meant a lot to the

people who visited, just like Thorpe Park was to me. And let's be real, compared to elsewhere, that park isn't the best park, but that didn't matter to me. And any amusement park can mean something to those who grew up visiting

them from tiny, tiny regional parks to those lucky enough to live next to some that are considered the best. And especially before the digital, always-online age we live in today.

These small parks, mid-parks, regional parks, whatever you want to call them, they matter and are a place full of memories, joy, and excitement [music] that didn't need the biggest or best rides to be special. Sometimes it's important [music] to step back and enjoy

what you have because you never know when you will no longer have it. For many of those people, it was devastating when it was announced that the park that they had grown up with, a place that some people were saying deserved to be

closed, would now be closed to them forever. And I think it's important to remember that no matter how big or small the park is for those who spent time there, those places are still special.

Not only did those people who loved the park deserve better, but Six Flags America itself deserved better throughout its whole existence. On July 1st, 2024, the park's parent company, Six Flags, merged with park operator Cedar Fair. The newly formed Six Flags

Entertainment Corporation outlined its future plans, which they said may or may not include closing or selling some of its locations. A day later, they clarified saying that the company had no plans to close any theme parks. As the

combined company's new debt and finances were analyzed, just 10 months later, on May 1st, 2025, Six Flags announced that it would be closing Six Flags America as part of its ongoing portfolio optimization program. A park that had its whole existence been trying to

compete with Kings Dominion was now being shut fully, in part because they saw Kings Dominion as more viable. Six Flags America had spent its whole life trying to compete with it, and sadly, in the end, it never could.

The park's water park closed on September 6th, [music] 2025 with the theme park closing permanently on November 2nd, 2025. The park had struggled most of its existence due to competition and lack of cash, opened and closed multiple times, and went through

many different existences, and now it would close forever to sit abandoned. The 500-acre property was earmarked for redevelopment and listed through CBRE with suggestions for a mixed-use development. After the theme park closed, it mostly sat abandoned with certain rides being disassembled and

used for parts. A train from the original B&M stand-up coaster, I a Wolf, was recently refurbished and will be part of the National Roller Coaster Museum collection. It is not often a major theme park closes forever and never comes back in a different form.

But for now, it seems unlikely that Six Flags America will ever return. Other ride parts have been seen shipping to other Six Flags parks, even the benches.

There have been very little mention as of now of what the future property will become as we wait for the buyer to be announced. And much of what once was Six Flags America still sits abandoned.

Months later, Six Flags would decide to sell a further seven parks to EPR Properties in partnership with Enchanted Parks to continue these parks' operation. Six Flags America was never mentioned at all and remains the only park so far to fully close. Enchanted

[snorts] Parks plans to rename one of their purchased parks to America by Enchanted Parks, bringing it full circle with an even worse name than when the Six Flags version and somehow making it even more confusing. Six Flags America's

history was troubled, but the ending of its story was incredibly sad. A place that should and could have been a jewel of the Six Flags chain that suffered poor investment, [music] worse operations, and just not very unique, exciting rides. It survived multiple

times after failing to compete to be closed by the very same people it had been trying so hard for so many, many years to compete with. Sadly, the Wild One that saved the park multiple times and dates back over 100 years seems

unlikely to ever operate again. It may now finally become just toothpicks. I mean, if anyone still uses toothpicks.

While many will say it was the worst park in the Six Flags chain, for others, it was beloved as the park they grew up with. Losing any amusement park, big or small, that has so much history and meant so much to so many people is

always the worst outcome. An outcome that we may all see far too often as the industry continues to change forever and competition between companies becomes rarer and [music] rarer.

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