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Six Flags Over Texas History Q & A


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I have a few questions.....

 

In what year was "Big Bend" first opened? What ride occupied the area prior to "Big Bend"'s construction? In what year was "Spindle Top" removed? What type of ride was "Spindle Top"? "Spinniker" was added in what year? Which celebrity was used to promote it? Why was it removed? In which park is it currently located.

 

How long was the old "Tree Slide" in operation at the park. The park was used to film scenes for 2 Saturday morning kids shows during the late 60's- name them. What type of ride was "Roto-Disco", why was it removed? What was the name of the parks 70's mascot? What catch phrase was used in park promotions during the 70's ?

..

I'll ask more once you've answered these.

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I have a few questions.....

 

In what year was "Big Bend" first opened? What ride occupied the area prior to "Big Bend"'s construction? In what year was "Spindle Top" removed? What type of ride was "Spindle Top"? "Spinniker" was added in what year? Which celebrity was used to promote it? Why was it removed? In which park is it currently located.

 

How long was the old "Tree Slide" in operation at the park. The park was used to film scenes for 2 Saturday morning kids shows during the late 60's- name them. What type of ride was "Roto-Disco", why was it removed? What was the name of the parks 70's mascot? What catch phrase was used in park promotions during the 70's ?

..

 

1) Big Bend first opened in 1971.

 

2) Big Bend did not replace any ride prior to its construction. The Happy Motoring Freeway co-existed with Big Bend during the coaster's tenure. The closest example of this that I know of would be the Chaparral Cars and the Texas Giant. The HMF had two tracks, the first of which was shortened for the creation of Boomtown. The first track of HMF was removed in 1980, which was later replaced in 1982 by the Texas Cliffhanger. The second was removed in 1986 to make way for Splashwater Falls.

 

3) Spindletop was removed in 1989.

 

4) Spindletop was a rotor ride. It was built by Chance Industries. The rotor ride was invented in 1949 by German engineer Ernst Hoffmeister and first introduced at the annual Oktoberfest.

 

5) The Spinnaker was added in 1977.

 

6) Linda Carter was the one promoting the attraction. The event occurred on March 26th. She was there to sign autographs from 2pm - 4pm.

 

7) Spinnaker was removed to make room for Runaway Mountain.

 

8) It's now located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas as the Wagon Wheel. How much is up for debate. I've heard from some that the whole Spinnaker is there at Fiesta while others say that the main frame is still in one of the back areas. They contend that only the cars were sent to Fiesta as a loan for its new ride. When the Air Racer was removed, there was a lot of talk between employees that the Spinnaker would be returned to SFOT. It was obviously not the case.

 

9) The Tree Slide was one of the park's first attractions, available to visitors in 1961. It was removed at the end of 1978 along with Skull Rock. This pretty much marked the end of Skull Island.

 

10) The shows which had scenes filmed at SFOT were the Banana Splits and Lidsville. Both of them were shows produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. The two brothers had a contract with the Six Flags parks. They parted with Six Flags to create their own theme park, which was called The World Of Sid And Marty Krofft and located at Atlanta, Georgia. The ending of the Krofft contract was the main force behind the creation of Cyrus Cosmo.

 

11) The Roto Disco, originally called the Rotoriculous, was a Himalaya ride.

 

12) The Roto Disco was removed to make way for the Flashback.

 

13) The SFOT mascot, who was exclusive to the park, was called Cyrus Cosmo. Cyrus was the creation of Paul Osbourne, a local entertainer and magician. He was created for the 1975 season.

 

14) The SFOT promotion was ""Six Flags is what you wish the world could be!" It started in 1975. I don't know when it ended, but it was probably in 1977 or 1978 when the Cyrus character was removed.

Edited by cleusk
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Very good!!

 

Cyrus Cosmo, I remember him well. As for Big Bend, I believe there was a ride called Jet Set that had to be removed to make way for BB's queue. I was sadened when they removed Spinnaker, however, I have ridden the Wagon Wheel at SFFT and I'm convinced it's the same ride.

 

I'm all for getting rid of Flashback and bringing back Roto Disco. Not only was it a better ride, but it was indoors and air conditioned. I remember being scared to go on the Tree Slide for fear that I would get stuck! I'm clausterphobic!

 

Now for my next question....

 

How many deaths have occured at SFOT? On which rides? This one should be easy.

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Very good!!

 

Cyrus Cosmo, I remember him well. As for Big Bend, I believe there was a ride called Jet Set that had to be removed to make way for BB's queue.

 

You're right. I completely forgot about the Jet Set. Considering that it was installed in 1967, that ride sure didn't last long.

 

 

Regarding the number of SFOT deaths, there have been three.

 

1) August 5, 1963 - Carl Wynne Jones, a recent high school graduate from Grand Prairie who worked at the park, stepped between a work truck and its trailer in the parking lot. Jones lost his balance and fell onto the hard concrete. Before he could raise himself up, he got run over. An ambulance took him to Arlington Memorial Hospital, where physicians declared him dead on arrival. They sent his body back to Grand Prairie and funeral services were held the following day.

 

2) August 8, 1968 - John Raymond Nelson, a high school senior from Fort Worth, operated El Sombrero that fateful Thursday night. He approached the ride before it stopped so he could quickly unload the passengers. Unfortunately, Nelson lost his balance and fell into the pit beneath the ride. An ambulance later arrived and carried him to Arlington Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

 

3) March 21, 1999 - Valeria Cartwright, a 28-year-old woman from Arkansas, died from drowning while riding the Roaring Rapids. The boat capsized near the end of the ride. The passengers were trapped underwater because of the seat belts. Everyone but Valeria escaped.

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The Dallas Morning News archives, the Fort Worth Star Telegram archives, Newsbank, Infotrac, online magazine articles, library collections, maps, photos, documents, handbooks, former employees, and web sites. I've self-published a book about SFOT, created a documentary about the park's origins, and about to embark on another endeavor soon. Those are my credentials.

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10) The shows which had scenes filmed at SFOT were the Banana Splits and Lidsville. Both of them were shows produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. The two brothers had a contract with the Six Flags parks. They parted with Six Flags to create their own theme park, which was called The World Of Sid And Marty Krofft and located at Atlanta, Georgia. The ending of the Krofft contract was the main force behind the creation of Cyrus Cosmo.

 

 

Actually- this is incomplete and erronius information.

 

Sid and Marty Kroft's participation in this was actually very minimal-

 

The Banana Splits was shot as part of a stage show by Hanna Barbera productions, out of Cincinatti, Ohio, from 1968-1970. For the first year, a handful of shots (Mainly the musical scenes) were shot at SFOT- but the remainder of the shots were done at Coney Island. After that, the show was produced in conjumtion with another Taft enterprise- Coney Island, Cincinatti, Oh. Sid and Marty Kroft's only participation in the production was that of creating the costumes- which were in turn based upon Hanna Barbera characters. The show itself was a foray into the animated-live television format for HB productions.

 

The reason that they were 'evivted' from SixFlags parks? Well... In 1969, it was made clear that Taft was planning a new 'theme park' of sorts for Cincinatti, OH... one to be called Kings Island.

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The Dallas Morning News archives, the Fort Worth Star Telegram archives, Newsbank, Infotrac, online magazine articles, library collections, maps, photos, documents, handbooks, former employees, and web sites. I've self-published a book about SFOT, created a documentary about the park's origins, and about to embark on another endeavor soon. Those are my credentials.

 

 

In that case you really do know a lot about SFOT. Don't suppose you have any info on plans the park has for the future?

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Actually- this is incomplete and erronius information.

 

Sid and Marty Kroft's participation in this was actually very minimal- Sid and Marty Kroft's only participation in the production was that of creating the costumes- which were in turn based upon Hanna Barbera characters. The show itself was a foray into the animated-live television format for HB productions.

 

Guilty as charged. I guess that's what happens when you try to focus on the Mavs battling against the Heat.

 

 

The reason that they were 'evicted' from SixFlags parks? Well... In 1969, it was made clear that Taft was planning a new 'theme park' of sorts for Cincinatti, OH... one to be called Kings Island.

 

The Krofft productions at the Six Flags parks were strong and popular at the time King's Island was created. The last season of the SFOT Krofft Theater was 1975 - the same year that Cyrus Cosmo was introduced. It was also the same year that the Krofft brothers entered an agreement with a company called Alpert and Cousins to build The World of Sid and Marty Krofft. It was located in Downtown Atlanta. At a cost of 14 million dollars, it was the world's first indoor theme park. It opened on May 26, 1976 and closed on November 7, 1976. In 1987, the building which housed the theme park became the home of CNN.

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^ Right- but the Hanna Barbera portions that were noted for the Banana Splits were actually removed in 1969- and moved to the Coney Island park for filming. Taft was working very hard to make the Kings Island project a reality- and at the same time, Six Flags didn't like the indirect competition!

 

R.D.

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. Don't suppose you have any info on plans the park has for the future?

 

Unfortunately, I don't know a thing. The executives at the park keep their future plans close to their chests.

 

Fortunately, I do know that Casa Magnetica will be open from June 18th to August 7th.

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^ Right- but the Hanna Barbera portions that were noted for the Banana Splits were actually removed in 1969- and moved to the Coney Island park for filming. Taft was working very hard to make the Kings Island project a reality- and at the same time, Six Flags didn't like the indirect competition!

 

R.D.

The only Six Flags parks around in 1969 were SFOT and SFOG. Both parks were NOT owned by Six Flags Incorporated. They were separately owned by a limited partnership. SFI only operated the two parks and that was it. All the power was in the hands of Angus Wynne Jr. and the limited partnerships, who could have cared less about film crews or whatever was going on in Ohio.

 

In 1969, the Kroffts had a strong, warm relationship with Six Flags and continued to do so. If it weren't for the contract with Six Flags, the television career of Sid and Marty Krofft would have crashed and the two brothers would have been in deep trouble. They said so themselves in a video interview with the Archive of American Television. It was a great arrangement between Krofft and the Great Southwest Corporation, and there was no animosity whatsoever. The relationship continued to be strong after the Penn Central replaced the GSC in 1971 because the Krofft TV shows were so popular and continued to attract crowds to Six Flags. Likewise, the Kroffts were still financially struggling. At any rate, the Kroffts left in 1975 because they were offered their own theme park in Atlanta, which would be in direct competition with Six Flags Over Georgia. It had absolutely nothing to do with location shooting at King's Island.

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The Dallas Morning News archives, the Fort Worth Star Telegram archives, Newsbank, Infotrac, online magazine articles, library collections, maps, photos, documents, handbooks, former employees, and web sites. I've self-published a book about SFOT, created a documentary about the park's origins, and about to embark on another endeavor soon. Those are my credentials.

 

Is the book available for purchase?

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I've heard rumors that SFOT is not 100% corporate owned. Is there any remote truth to that?

 

That's true. It's actually a pretty interesting agreement:

 

Six Flags over Texas is not actually owned by Six Flags Theme Parks Inc. (Six Flags over Georgia has a similar arrangement). Instead, it is owned by over 120 limited partners, some of which are Wynne's heirs. Six Flags Inc. simply manages the park with a "nonvoting, beneficial interest in 52 percent of the theme park and the underlying land."

 

Also, Clint is the real deal with it comes to SFoT history. He has posted thousands of historical pictures of the park over at SFoT Former Employee Forums, not to mention his book and this documentary he made about the park's early years. Here's a link to his book: http://www.lulu.com/product/file-download/the-golden-age-of-six-flags-over-texas/10279086

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I've heard rumors that SFOT is not 100% corporate owned. Is there any remote truth to that?

 

It's not owned by any corporation. It's owned by a limited partnership with Jack Knox at the helm. He's been in charge since the day Angus Wynne Jr, the creator of Six Flags Over Texas, formed the limited partnership in 1969.

 

As it stands now, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation owns all the Six Flags parks except SFOT and SFOG. In these two cases, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation can only operate the two parks through a contract with each limited partnership. In exchange for operating the park, SFEC must share a certain percentage of its profit. I can't remember what that percentage is. At any rate, the contract has to be renewed from time to time. The members of each limited partner can choose not to renew the contract through a majority vote. If the majority chooses not to renew the contract, then the current operator, which is now Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, would no longer have the right to operate the park. The limited partnership, in turn, would shop around for another corporation to take the place of SFEC. Because SFEC holds the rights to the Six Flags name, however, the new operator might not be able to call the park SFOT or SFOG. Likewise, if SFEC were to completely collapse, the limited partnership would try to find a replacement to operate the park. Whether or not the new operator would be able to use the Six Flags name, I don't know for sure. At any rate, that's the situation with Six Flags Over Texas.

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^ So how come SFStL isn't included in the limited partnerships like the other two original SF parks?

 

The limited partnerships were the idea of Angus Wynne Jr. At the time, there were only SFOT and SFOG. He probably did it, and this is just speculation on my part, because he saw the writing on the wall and didn't want his parks destroyed. By the time SFStL opened in 1971, Angus had left the scene, the Great Southwest Corporation was no longer in control, and the new owner was Penn Central, a corporation still going through reorganization bankruptcy. They weren't about to give away ownership of a brand-new park

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