Previously known as The Wildlife Preserve (1974–1978) Wild Country (1978–1981) Wild World (1982–1993) The Great Escape: Adventure World (1994–1998) Adventure World: The Thrill Park (1998–2000)
Founded as a wildlife center in 1974 by Ross Perot, ABC television operated the park as a drive-through safari called The Largo Wildlife Preserve, from 1974[5] until its closure, in 1978. The property was bought by Jim Fowler's Wild Kingdom; thereafter, the site was gradually converted from a wildlife preserve into a theme park named Wild World. In 1992, the park was renamed “The Great Escape: Adventure World” after being acquired by Premier Parks, before being edited again to “Adventure World: The Thrill Park”. Ultimately, the park would be rebranded as the tenth Six Flags park, after Premier Parks acquired Six Flags Inc., and adopted its name, in 1999; the name-change to Six Flags America—and all associated IP and theming—was unveiled for the park’s 2000 operating season. The "America" in the park's name was chosen due to the park's close proximity to the U.S. capital; the park’s entry plaza and “promenade” also features colonial-era architecture and related theming of Colonial Maryland.
History
Early years
The Wildlife Preserve logo 1974
In June 1971, Irish brothers Frank and William Stephenson, who were both animal trainers, approached Texas billionaire Ross Perot about financing an animal park they wanted to open “somewhere on the East Coast of the United States”.[6] The Stephensons and Perot formed the company C.T. Industries, Inc. to build and run the park. Ultimately, they narrowed their decision down to the D.C. area, and purchased 280 acres (1.1 km2) of land in Prince George's County, Maryland. On December 22, 1971, they applied to the Prince George's County planning board for a special zoning exception.[6] The park was announced to the public in February 1972, with a projected opening before the end of that year.
It's quite a lot of fun to see these two fellows [Frank and Williams Stephenson] put this together... I didn't know them at all until they walked into my office with their idea... I'm convinced they have the ability to do this well. I'm just a guy standing there with a grease gun. I can lubricate their idea with financial encouragement.[6]
In 1973, plans for the park were taken-over by ABC’s Scenic & Wildlife Attractions division (ABCSWA).[7] On April 28, 1973, John E. Campbell (ABCSWA President) confirmed they were negotiating the purchase of another 125 adjacent acres for the park.[8]
The Wildlife Preserve, a drive-through wildlife park, opened on Monday, July 15, 1974.[9][1] Initially, estimated attendance was approximately 850,000 visitors a year.[10] However, those reasonably ambitious attendance numbers never materialized. In 1975, the park added narrated tours through four-car, 150-person-capacity shuttle trains. However, the park failed to promote itself, effectively enough, to generate public interest or profits. In an effort to save-face, ABCSWA announced a $30m amusement park expansion to the struggling drive-through safari (around $171.6m in 2023).[11]
Plans for the expansion were scrapped, and, in February 1976, it was announced that the park would close permanently. ABCSWA released a statement, claiming that the park had experienced “unacceptable attendance and revenues” in 1974 and 1975; The Wildlife Preserve itself was said to be a $4m liability for ABC, for the year 1975 (approximately $22.8m in 2023).[12]
The park stayed open with a decreased staff in 1977, but was closed altogether for the 1978 season.
Before the year 1978 came to an end, however, the park was sold to Jim Fowler, the host of Wild Kingdom. For the 1979 season, the park reopened with a guided train tour through the safari exhibits, and a smaller park with a children's playground, animal shows, and a petting zoo.[13] Alas, the park continued to flounder in terms of public interest, yet nevertheless remained operational for the summer, through the 1979 season. Fowler's company ultimately bowed out as well. The park again was closed for the 1980 season.
Wild World
Original Wild World Logo from 1988
In the Summer of 1980, the safari was sold to a group of local businessmen, who invested $11 million into expanding the park.[14] The animal drive-through safari remained, and the park added three flat rides, two kid's rides and a carousel. The park was named Wild World and open by June 26, 1982.[15] In addition to the select amusement rides, four tube waterslides were added, along with two body slides and a children's water play area. This brought modest improvements in revenue.
The 1983 season saw the addition of four more flat rides, including the High Seas (a swinging pirate ship attraction) and giant swings. The waterslide area was expanded, at the time, to a full water park; with the addition of more water slides and a large wave pool, a more successful 1983 season was underway. Dubbed the 'Wild Wave', $2 million was spent adding the wave pool and it officially opened May 30 for the 1983 season.[16]
Tragically, a 9-year-old boy named Christie Davis died late that summer[16] while in the wave pool, which resulted in operational safety changes.[17] The park's attendance had improved, but the park was still unable to break-even. During the 1983 season, the safari was closed; instead, a guided train tour would pass through a few of the animal areas, stop at Safari Village, and tour the rest of the animal exhibits, before arriving back at the station. The Safari Village featured elephant, camel and pony rides, a petting zoo, various eateries, arts-and-crafts, and games; the crowd favorite, “Guess Your Age Or Weight” (featuring Regina Williams), proved so popular that it was relocated to the main park. The animals were sold and moved after the 1983 season ended. In 1984, most of the adult rides were removed from the park and held in storage, leaving only three, plus a few of the children's rides. The park opted to move in the direction of being solely a water park. A new stadium was built that year, along with several more water slides. The park would perform very well on hot days, but faltered a bit more in cooler weather, due to the shift in predominantly swimming- and water-based attractions.
In 1985, the rides were therefore brought back out of storage. That year, Wild World's management wanted to build a major wooden rollercoaster for the park in the 1986 season, but the costs were too high. There was widespread opposition to the plan from the surrounding community.[18] In addition to adding a roller coaster, the park intended to add a 3000-seat amphitheater, and an overnight campground for guests.[19]
At the time, Knoebels (amusement park in Pennsylvania) had acquired a used rollercoaster, Phoenix, from a defunct park in Texas; Wild World's management team was inspired and began looking for a used coaster for Wild World. With Massachusetts’ Paragon Park closing at the end of 1984, their “Giant Coaster”, which had operated since 1917, was for-sale; in the spring of 1985, Wild World acquired the old PTC coaster, rebranding it “The Wild One” and placing it in an area of the former animal park. The coaster opened in the spring of 1986 to very positive public reviews, and is still running to this day.[20] A kiddie coaster was added to the park at the same time.[citation needed]
For the 1987 season, Wild World added another water play area and a lazy river. In 1988, the park would see a renovation to its buildings and midways, and a few new flat rides. In 1989, a log flume was added, along with a family raft waterslide in the waterpark. In 1990, the park began to have maintenance issues with many of their carnival-style flat rides, with several unable to be repaired. In 1991, only nine flat rides remained and the park was ultimately put up for sale.
Adventure World
Adventure World logo from a ticket stub
In 1992, Wild World was purchased by Tierco Group Inc., later known as Premier Parks, which renamed the park Adventure World.[21][22] That year several flat rides and a few kiddie rides were added. In 1993, Adventure World added its second adult rollercoaster. Premier Parks had acquired Lightning Loops from Six Flags. This was a dual-track steel single looping shuttle coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure. One of the tracks was sent to Premier Parks' Frontier City located in Oklahoma City (where it still operates today as the Diamondback), while the other track became known as the Python and would be located at Adventure World.[23] Also, a water ride called Shipwreck Falls, in which a 15-person boat would run up a steel track and down a 45-foot (14 m) drop into a splashwater pool, was added. More flat rides were added in 1994. By this time, the new additions were well-received, shown as Inside Track Magazine named Adventure World as the most improved amusement park in the country for a third consecutive year in 1994.[24][25]
Adventure World in 1996
On May 20, 1995, Vekoma's first Mind Eraser, an inverted looping suspended coaster, opened.[26] This was branded a SLC. In 1996, a free-fall drop-tower ride called the Tower of Doom, now known as Voodo Drop, made by Intamin was added. In 1997, the park added a second dry water ride called Typhoon Sea Coaster, which was a log flume/junior rollercoaster hybrid. It was later renamed Skull Mountain and eventually closed in July 2011[27] to make room for a new roller coaster.[28] In 1997, the water park was renovated, eliminating some older slides, adding newer slides and extensively remodeling the children's water play area.
Six Flags ownership
Six Flags America - Upper Marlboro
In 1998, Premier Parks acquired the Six Flags amusement park chain from Time Warner, forming the company Six Flags Incorporated. The same year, a wooden roller coaster called Roar, which was built and designed by Great Coasters International, was added to Adventure World.[29] At the end of 1998 season, Six Flags announced that Adventure World would be branded with the Six Flags theme and renamed Six Flags America for the 1999 season. The park was officially renamed Six Flags America on October 28, 1998, and a large gala was thrown at the park to commemorate the change. Carrot cake was served in honor of Bugs Bunny the new mascot for the park. The name change allowed for the park to utilize the Looney Tunes and DC characters in its marketing.[30]
Six Flags America - ROAR Wooden CoasterSix Flags America - The Mind Eraser
For the 2000 season, a new hypercoaster called Superman: Ride of Steel from Intamin opened.[32] Its layout is a mirror image of Six Flags Darien Lake's Ride of Steel which opened the previous year.[33] The next year on June 16, the park opened Batwing, a Batman-themed Vekoma flying coaster located in the Gotham City area.[34] A bungee ride called Skycoaster also opened in the area in 2001. Several flat rides were added in 2002 and a river rapids ride called Blizzard River was added in 2003. In 2005, the Paradise Island water park was upgraded and retitled Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. The transition from Paradise Island to Hurricane Harbor saw the addition of a new Tornado water slide as well as renovations to existing attractions and buildings. Tony Hawk's Halfpipe water slide was added in 2008.[35]
In 2010, Six Flags America renovated the Hurricane Bay wave pool deck, adding a new stamped, concrete deck and additional shading. Also the same year, the Thomas Town family area opened featuring eight rides and attractions all themed to Thomas the Tank Engine. The 3.5-acre (14,000 m2) area was billed as North America's largest Thomas Town and marked Six Flags America's largest expansion in more than a decade. Several months later, Six Flags would announce the removal of several licensed agreements as a result of restructuring following the company's emergence from bankruptcy. Thomas the Tank Engine, Tony Hawk, The Wiggles and Evel Knievel themes would be removed from all Six Flags parks beginning in 2011. At Six Flags America, Thomas Town was renamed Whistlestop Park and Tony Hawk's Halfpipe slide was renamed Halfpipe.[36][37]
In 2013, the park added the six-slide complex Bonzai Pipelines to Hurricane Harbor.[39][40]
In 2014, Six Flags re-themed a section of the park to feature Mardi Gras. The area would feature a new roller coaster named Ragin' Cajun and a set of Flying Scooters named French Quarter Flyers.[41] Like Apocalypse, Ragin' Cajun was relocated from Six Flags Great America and it was placed in the former location of Two Face: The Flip Side which was removed from the park in 2007. The Mardi Gras section replaced Southwest Territory and the area's existing rides were rethemed to match the new Mardi Gras theme. Tower of Doom, for example, was renamed Voodoo Drop.[42]
In 2015, a flat ride called Bourbon Street Fireball was added.[43] This ride is commonly known as a Super Loop. Similar rides were also added to three other Six Flags parks.
In 2016, Six Flags America added a new family water play structure to Hurricane Harbor named Splashwater Falls, which replaced the former Crocodile Cal's Beach House.[44]
Six Flags America announced on September 1, 2016, that they would be adding a FuntimeStarflyer model, similar to the many SkyScreamer rides at other locations in the chain. At 24 stories (~250 feet), Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth is the tallest ride in the park.[45]
Announced in August 2018, Apocalypse was converted into a floorless coaster and renamed Firebird for the 2019 season.[46]
In 2023, the park announced that the park's Hurricane Harbor water park (now named Hurricane Harbor Maryland) would receive RipQurl Blaster, the DMV's tallest water coaster.[47]
Location
The park is located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland and is situated about 15 miles east of Washington, D.C. and 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Baltimore. The park covers 523 acres (2.12 km2), with 300 available for expansion.
Six Flags America is divided into seven themed areas inspired by the different extremes of the United States, as well as fictional settings like the City of Gotham, and Looney Tunes: Movie Town.
Main Street 1776
Main Street 1776, also known as Liberty Street, or just Main Street, is inspired by Colonial North America set during the American Revolution. The buildings feature colonial design and host stores and restaurants.[48] A replica of the Liberty Bell is featured at the entrance of the street.
Chesapeake
In Chesapeake guests can experience the motifs that surround life on the Chesapeake Bay. It embodies life on the water, featuring Life Savers and fishing nets caught on drift-wood. It is home to Firebird, and Roar. This area was split into two different sections, Skull Island and Olde Boston until Olde Boston was brought back in 2022. Skull Island focused heavily on the inclusion of pirates.
Olde Boston
A colonial themed area.
Looney Tunes Movie Town
Looney Tunes Movie Town is inspired by the Looney Tunes cartoons of the 1930s and 1940s and the aesthetic of the era. It allows guests the chance to visit the homes of the cartoons' stars, such as Bugs Bunny and Granny. The "town" features the Great Chase, a children's coaster that takes guests through the set of the next Looney Tunes cartoon being filmed, starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
Mardi Gras
Formerly South West Territory, Mardi Gras is supposed to be an all year New OrleansMardi Gras celebration. Added to the park in 2014, the new themed land features the Ragin' Cajun, a wild mouse coaster where guests are trying to escape the attack of alligators in the Bayou. This land also features The Wild One, a wooden coaster that turned 100 years old in 2017, as well as the Bourbon Street Fireball, a Larson International a 22M Giant Loop flat ride, themed to Fireball.
Added in the year 2000, Gotham City is a land that allows guests to experience the dark and dirty industrial district of DC Comics' most notorious city. Guests can be held hostage by The Joker and forced to ride his Jinxed carnival coaster. They can soar above the clouds with Superman, on the Superman - Ride of Steel, or hope to stay dry while rushing down the Penguin's Blizzard River.
SteamTown
Recreating the pioneer days of the American frontier, the land drops guests in the frontier town of Coyote Creek. From its opening in 1994,[49] it has offered entertainment and attractions include Renegade Rapids, a white water rafting ride down the dangerous rivers of the west inspired by the Colorado River. Coyote Creek is home to the Crazy Horse Saloon, a nod to the western saloons where cowboys used to drink and relax.
Six Flags America announced in 2023 that Coyote Creek would be shut down and completely replaced into an appropriately named SteamTown. The portion of the park will feature a steampunk-esque theming with complete retheming to rides and shopping, as well as a new stunt show. It is scheduled for June 2024 release in anticipation with SFA's 25th anniversary celebration, as announced via Six Flags Americas' email newsletter directly to passholders. A specific date is unknown at this time.
New rides announced include: Steamwhirler, QuantumCanyon Rapids, Electro Derby, and Professor Screamore's Skywinder.
Relocated Iron Wolf coaster from Six Flags Great America Which Was Opened In 1990. Formerly known as Apocalypse: The Last Stand from 2012 to 2018. The ride has been converted from a stand-up coaster to a floorless coaster.
Relocated Ragin' Cajun coaster from Six Flags Great America on the site of Two-Face and Python.
Flat rides
Name
Opened
Manufacturer/Ride Type
Location
Notes
Capital Railways
1983
General Electric/Train ride
Olde Boston
The 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge[51] train ride originally was opened during the Wild World years and was called Wild World Railroad. Under Premier ownership, it was mostly used for catered picnic customers only, it was opened to everyone in 2009.
The former stripe colors on the Carousel canopy were Yellow & Blue 1988–1998. Now 1999–present Red & White canopy was switched when Six Flags America opened.
Originally called Scrambler. Moved to the former site of Pirate's Flight in 1996. Formerly known as Scrambler (1993-1996), the ride was renamed to Cyclone when it was moved to the area that where French Quarter Flyers currently resides in Mardi Gras. The ride was moved again to Chesapeake in 2011 in the location where The Octopus formerly resided.
Extra-charge attraction. Formerly known as Sahara Speedway (1996–2003) and Sonora Speedway (2004–2013), the ride was renamed Big Easy Speedway due to Southwest Territory being rethemed to Mardi Gras in 2014.
Six Flags America's Kid Section is Looney Tunes Movie Town. [37]
Former Kid's Areas was Thomas Town that only operated during the 2010 season and Whistlestop Park
Hurricane Harbor Maryland[47] is a water park located within Six Flags America and has additional charge for entry. During 2020. It was known as Paradise Island until 2005 when it was rebranded Hurricane Harbor.
Located in Nantucket. On August 3, 2007, a 6-year-old girl was injured on this ride. See Incidents at Six Flags parks for more information.
Skull Mountain
1997
2011
Intamin Reversing Boat Ride 8 water ride
Named Typhoon Sea Coaster, ride was modified and name changed in 2007. The ride took its last voyage on July 10, 2011, and was replaced by Apocalypse: The Last Stand[54]
Crocodile Cal's Caribbean Beach House
1997
2014
Kids' activity area
Named Crocodile Cal's Outback Beach House until 2005 – the "Cal's" portion of the name came from Baltimore Orioles' player Cal Ripken. Located in Hurricane Harbor. Replaced by Splashwater Falls.
Located in Hurricane Harbor. Named Rainbow Falls until 2004, and Hurricane Mountain from 2005 to 2008. Formerly tube slides. Closed 2008–2010. Rethemed to an Amazon rainforest and reopened June 2011. Retired following the 2020 season.
Was located in Mardi Gras. Formerly known as Falling Star, the ride was renamed to Zydeco Zinger due to Southwest Territory being rethemed to Mardi Gras in 2014.
Was located at Whistlestop Park. It was known as Cranky the Crane Tower in 2010 in Thomas Town and rethemed in 2011. The ride was relocated to Six Flags Over Texas in 2024.
Whistlestop Park, Used to be located in Olde Boston as Around the World in 80 Days from 1993 - 2009. Moved in Thomas Town in 2010 as Sodor Carnival Ferris Wheel and rethemed in 2011.
Happy Junction
2010
2022
Kiddie convoy ride
Whistlestop Park, It was known as Diesel Derby in 2010 in Thomas Town and rethemed in 2011.
Splash Zone
2010
2022
Pop jet fountain
Whistlestop Park, It was known as Thomas Town Pop Jet Fountain in 2010 in Thomas Town and rethemed in 2011.
^@RamarSFA (April 19, 2023). "Transformation of Olde Boston" (Tweet) – via Twitter. Our transformation of Olde Boston continues as we have renamed Great Race to Minutemen Motors, check out the new sign!
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