Six Flags over Texas History

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Six Flags over Texas has a rich history, spanning over 60 years while innovating countless industry firsts. Although the park’s history could easily fill a book (and it has), a highly-condensed overview can be found here.

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 millionAbout $105 million in 2024 dollars.

The park had a “soft” test opening from August 1-4 and an official public grand opening on Saturday, August 5, 1961. 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 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. 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 apparent that the park would have to remain a permanent fixture of Arlington, Texas.

The Name and Themed Areas

Story has it that 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 six nations that have governed Texas during its history. 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 flag. 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” (since absorbed by Gotham City) for a total of 7 themed areas.

In August 2017, in the wake of violent protests in Virginia, Six Flags stopped flying the Confederate States of America flag. All flags were changed to the USA flag at the park entrance and throughout the park. Some questioned the removal, noting the park had been using the first flag of the CSA (the “Stars and Bars”) and not the later “rebel” battle flag that is often associated with racists.

Ownership Changes

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

An early aerial view of Six Flags over Texas showing the adjacent. barren land

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 managing 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, Oklahoma-based Premier Parks 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 maintains an unusual ownership arrangement. Unlike other Six Flags parks, Six Flags over Texas is not actually fully owned by the corporate Six Flags (Six Flags over Georgia has a similar arrangement). Instead, it is owned by Texas Flags, Ltd., the successor to the original fund (still led by Jack Knox), comprised of over 120 limited partners. Six Flags corporate 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 financial problems. In 2009, parent company Six Flags Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection 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.

The company emerged bankruptcy protection in 2010 with a new name – Six Flags Entertainment Corp, and Six Flags moving its corporate headquarters from New York to Grand Prairie, Texas. As the economy recovered, both Six Flags over Texas and Six Flags Inc. have continued to improve in attendance and profitability, ensuring the park will continue to thrill guests well into the future.

Covid-19

Like most businesses, Six Flags over Texas was greatly impacted by 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic. Following Disney and Universal announcing park closures, Six Flags parks announced on March 13, 2020 that they would be suspending operations and reevaluating the situation at the end of March. It wouldn’t be until mid-June that the Arlington park reopened with limited capacity and requiring guests to make advance reservations.

The pandemic slowed and eventually halted construction on Aquaman: Power Wave, which was originally scheduled to open in 2020.

Merging with Cedar Fair

Six Flags dropped a bombshell announcement in October 2023 by announcing a planned merger with rival park chain Cedar Fair. The merger finalized on July 1, 2024, creating a new combined company—Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. While they retained the Six Flags name, the company still trades under Cedar Fair’s FUN stock ticker.

Despite taking on the Six Flags name, the new company heavily favored retaining Cedar Fair executives for its combined leadership team, including the CEO, CFO, and COO. Former Six Flags CEO Selim Bassoul, who oversaw the implementation of controversial price-raising measures around 2022, remains part of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation’ Board of Directors as the Executive Chairman.

The merge with Cedar Fair opens up all sorts of opportunities for Six Flags parks, such as the Peanuts intellectual property, and incorporating new management teams that have operated thrill-ride centric parks such as Cedar Point. The future of Six Flags and Six Flags over Texas in particular will surely become an interesting situation in 2024 and beyond.

The Future

As Six Flags over Texas has grown over the years, the same can be said for Arlington and the area surrounding the park. Today the park is landlocked by highways I-30 and 360 to the north and east, and by sports stadiums and businesses to the south and west. Future attractions will either have to replace existing ones or expand in to the parking lot, which seems massive but can easily get close to capacity on busy days.

Only time will tell of the full impact of the chain’s merging with Cedar Fair, but Six Flags fans are optimistic that the new leadership team can improve the park’s operations and invest in new attractions.

And 2028 is set to be a big year for Six Flags over Texas, with Six Flags corporate being offered an opportunity to buy out the remaining shares of park ownership, potentially eliminating the current, and at times complicated, ownership/management arrangement. For a park whose investments have not kept pace with other corporate-owned Six Flags parks, such a deal could have major implications.