The Beginning

Six Flags over Texas was the brainchild of Texas real estate developer Angus G. Wynne, Jr. After visiting the newly-opened Disneyland in California, Wynne decided his home state needed a similar attraction with a healthy dose of Texas history mixed in. Plans for such a park were developed in 1959 by Wynne, the Great Southwest Corporation, and investors from New York. Construction began in August, 1960 with plans of opening the park a year later in 1961. The final price tag of the 205-acre park was $10 million.

The park had a "soft" test opening from August 1-4, 1961 and an official public grand opening on August 5. Opening day attendance was 8,374. Park tickets for the inaugural season cost just $2.75 for adults and $2.25 for children, with parking priced at $.50. Six Flags over Texas was also unique in the fact that it pioneered the "Pay-One-Price" model, requiring a simpler single admission price that included all rides and attractions. Even Disneyland, which Wynne had taken much inspiration from, still featured the pay-as-you-go pricing model until it quietly changed over to SFoT's popular "POP" model.

Interestingly enough, Six Flags over Texas was never intended to last beyond a few years. Instead, the park's original purpose was to be a temporary money-maker for the Great Southwest Industrial District to fund other projects. Everyone, including Wynne, was surprised when attendance shattered expectations during the first 45-day season, making it obvious that the park would have to remain a permanent fixture of Arlington, Texas.

 

The Name and Themed Areas

Wynne initially planned to call the park "Texas under Six Flags," until his wife reminded him that 'Texas wasn't under anything.' The "six flags" comes from the fact that six nations' flags have flown over Texas at one point or another. These flags include Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America.

When the park opened in 1961, it had themed areas for each of these flags. Today the park has combined the Spain and Mexico sections into one area, while referring to the France and Confederacy sections as the "Old South and France." The Texas and United States areas still remain, while additional sections have been added as the park expanded over the years, including "Tower," "Boomtown," "Gotham City," and "Goodtimes Square" for a total of 8 themed areas.

 

Ownership Changes

Six Flags over Texas has undergone a number of ownership changes throughout its years. The following is a brief, incomplete history of the significant ownership changes.

Angus G. Wynne expanded the Six Flags concept to the south with Six Flags over Georgia, but later sold the park to Six Flags Over Texas Fund Ltd, a limited partnership with Jack Knox. The Penn Central Corporation began management of the park in the 1971 season.

Following further park acquisitions, Time Warner eventually gained control of the company through stock buyouts in 1993, bringing with it a new era and the licensing of Warner Brothers and DC Comics characters throughout the park. Their influence is felt most in the kid's Looney Tunes section of the park, and later in Gotham City with the introduction of Mr. Freeze and Batman the Ride.

In 1998, the Oklahoma-based Premier Parks company purchased the Six Flags corporation from Time Warner for an estimated $1.86 billion. Through licensing agreements, Premier Parks continued to carry Warner Bros. character themes and attraction names. Premier Parks renamed itself to Six Flags Theme Parks Inc. in 2000.

Today, the park has a unique ownership arrangement. Unlike other Six Flags parks, 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." This arrangement has occasionally caused conflict between the partners and Six Flags Inc., due to claims of mismanagement and continuing financial problems. In the most recent example, parent company Six Flags Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 after amassing $2.7 billion in debt. Due to the ownership arrangement of Six Flags over Texas and Six Flags Inc., however, the park was not affected by the bankruptcy filing. As the economy recovers, both Six Flags over Texas and Six Flags Inc. have positive outlooks for attendance to return to higher levels.

 

Theme Park Firsts

Six Flags over Texas introduced several theme park firsts to the world, including:

• First Six Flags park (opened in 1961)
• First modern "Pay-One-Price" model (rides were included with park admission versus costing extra)
• First log flume ride (El Aserradero, introduced in 1963)
• First mine train roller coaster¹ (Runaway Mine Train, introduced in 1966)
• First freefall ride (Texas Cliffhanger², introduced in 1982; removed in 2007)

In the past, the park has also claimed a few firsts despite them not being accurate, including the Mine Train being the first tubular steel roller coaster (see note 1) and Shock Wave being the first coaster with consecutive vertical loops (note 3).

A little-known fact is that Six Flags over Texas pioneered the "pay one price" model where admission included all rides and attractions — something that not even Disneyland offered at the time, but is now ubiquitous throughout the industry.

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Footnotes

1. In the past, Six Flags has also claimed that the Runaway Mine Train was the first tubular steel roller coaster (that is, the first coaster with tubular steel rails). However, Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds opened four years earlier in 1959 and feature tubular steel rails as well. Still, the Runaway Mine Train was the first tubular steel coaster to feature traditional-style roller coaster trains rather than the toboggan cars Matterhorn used.
2. "Texas Cliffhanger" was the name of the ride when first introduced. The ride was renamed twice, first to "G-Force," and then to "Wildcatter" before being demolished in 2007 to make way for Pandemonium.
3. The roller coaster Double Loop (built by Arrow) opened in 1977 at Geauga Lake and featured consecutive vertical loops. Shockwave was, however, the tallest coaster with consecutive double loops.

References

• "Parktimes.com - Parkwide - Timeline." Parktimes.com - Modern Section. Ed. Davis McCown. Web. 16 May 2010. http://www.parktimes.com/articles/timeline.php.
• "Six Flags over Texas." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 16 May 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_flags_over_Texas.
• "Six Flags Over Texas." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 16 May 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Flags_Over_Texas.
• Cox, Claude. "Handbook of Texas Online - SIX FLAGS OVER TEXAS." Texas State Historical Association - Home - Digital Gateway to Texas History. Web. 16 May 2010. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/lls1.html.
• Robinson-Jacobs, Karen. "Six Flags Rides Away from Bankruptcy, into a Key Summer." The Dallas Morning News. 12 May 2010. Web. 16 May 2010. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/051210dnbus6flags.39b10a9.html.