Six Flags New England is a Six Flags theme park in Agawam, Massachusetts. Originally opened in 1870 as Riverside Park, the park was acquired by Six Flags Theme Parks in 1998 as part of the Time Warner/Premier Parks deal.
With ten distinctly themed areas featuring various attractions, restaurants, shops, and entertainment as well as the adjacent Hurricane Harbor water park, Six Flags New England is one of the most popular theme parks in the Northeastern United States as well as the most historic. Six Flags pays homage to the property's long history with many references to it throughout the park.
History[]
1870-1999: Riverside Park[]
1870-1911: Early years[]
During the late 19th and early 20th century, the park that would many years later become Six Flags New England was known as Riverside Park. The park originated as a picnic grove named "Gallup's Grove" in 1870, but was eventually renamed to Riverside Grove. Before 1900, most guests came via steamship.
In 1900, the Springfield Street Railway extended its railroad line to the park, but the grove wasn't considered a trolley park because the Springfield Street Railway didn't own it.[1]
In the early 1900's, a few rides and a carousel were added. The park was bought by Henry J. Perkins in 1911, and he turned the Riverside Grove into the amusement park that we know today.
In 1912, Riverside built its very first coaster, The Giant Dip. They added another coaster, The Greyhound, in 1915 due to the success of the first coaster.[2] The park continued to prosper under Perkins's ownership, and they added more attractions. One of these new attractions was the 300-foot diameter pool called Lake Takadip.[3] The Giant Dip was replaced by a coaster twice its size in 1920, Lightning.[4] Whirlwind Racer, the park's third coaster, was added in 1928.
1929-1939: Post-Great Depression closure[]
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 hit Riverside hard and forced the park into foreclosure. In 1932, it was only open Wednesdays through Sundays, and it then permanently closed in 1933. Attempts to reopen Riverside failed, and the park remained closed through 1939. The grounds, however, were used for company picnics.[5] A drive-in movie theater operated in Riverside's parking lot from 1937 to 1939.
1939-1996: Carroll family era[]
The park, in 1939, was purchased by Edward Caroll Sr. and he reopened it on May 29, 1940.[6]Carroll is given the credit of rescuing the park and turning it into the largest amusement park in New England.[7]He bought plans and cars for the 1939 New York World's Fair Cyclone Roller Coaster and opened it in 1941.[8] That coaster, Thunderbolt, is still standing and operating today. It is currently the oldest coaster within the Six Flags chain of parks.[9]
Carroll started to like auto racing, a sport that gained popularity after World War II, and built the Riverside Park Speedway in 1948 which replaced an open air bandstand.
The park continued to add new rides and removed some older ones. The theater and bowling alley were removed in the late 1950s, making Riverside Park a seasonal attraction. The 1960's were a popular period for stock car racing at Riverside Park. NASCAR began to hold events at Riverside Park Speedway in 1976. The winner of the first NASCAR-organized event at Riverside was Bob Polverari.
In 1977, Riverside Park added its first looping roller coaster, The Loop Coaster, later known as Black Widow. The park continued to be successful throughout the 1970s, and a log flume ride was added in that period. By the 1980s, the park stopped selling individual ride tickets and began charging a "pay one price" admission.
In 1983, Riverside Park added its third roller coaster, which was also the park's second wooden coaster. The owners originally wanted a coaster exactly like the Coney Island Cyclone, but space was limited, so the coaster would need to take up less space and would have sharper twists and turns. It became known as the Riverside Cyclone.
In 1987, Riverside attempted to build a white-water rafting ride called the Lost River Water Ride. Plagued with problems, the attraction never opened and was subsequently abandoned. A majority of the ride was demolished in 1989 to make way for Wild River Falls, a waterslide complex consisting of three sets of slides: Riptide, Blue Lightning, and Pipeline. A popular attraction, Wild River Falls remained in operation until the opening of the Island Kingdom Waterpark in 1997.
In 1994, Riverside partnered with Lady Luck Gaming in a proposal to build a hotel and dockside casino complex at the park, one of several competing casino proposals in the state.[10] The plan died after Agawam voters rejected a non-binding referendum in support of casino gambling in November.[11]
During the 1996 season, the track on the Musik Express was damaged and the attraction remained closed for a portion of the year. A Chance Chaos was ordered and was scheduled to open for the 1997 season.
1996-1999: Premier Parks era[]
During the winter of 1996, the Carroll family was approached by Premier Parks of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which subsequently purchased the park. Premier Parks renamed the park as Riverside: The Great Escape.[12]
For the 1997 season, the new owners invested upward of $20 million on general improvements and several new attractions. Attractions included the Island Kingdom Waterpark, which featured children's water play area, several tube slides, a couple of body slides, and a wave pool. Other attractions included a Mind Eraser (a Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster), Shipwreck Falls (a Shoot the Chute ride), Time Warp (a Vekoma Air Jumper), and Chaos, which was quickly replaced by Twister, (a HUSS Park Attractions TopSpin).
The children's area, Kiddlie Land North, was re-themed and renovated as Startoon Studios. In the process, some older rides such as the Bayern Kurve were removed, leaving only the Bumper Buggies (kiddie bumper cars) in what was Kiddie Land South and the Flying Elephants, Kiddie Himilaya and Rickie's Little Twister coaster in Startoon Studies, which then added several rides from Zamperla; Speedtrap, Rio Grande train, Bigfoot Trucks, Crazy Bus, and Kiddie Swings.
In addition to new attractions, many parts of the park were renovated and themed: Main Street U.S.A. was given a makeover, and the Southern Center midway was themed to a 1950s city called Rockville. In the north section of the park, a Balloon Race attraction was installed, replacing the Wave Swinger, which was relocated to the center of the park in the former location of the park offices. Other improvements were a children's play structure called Paul Bunyan's Buzzsaw Company, which included kiddie rides, a new entrance plaza, and the Carousel being relocated to the front gate, also receiving a new building covering the ride.
In 1998, the park added several more attractions, improving the water park with new features that included Lazy River, another children's play structure named Hook's Lagoon, a speed slide tower called Cannonball, a family raft slide named Swiss Family Tobaggan, and a multi-slide tower called Big Kahuna. The water park expansion was added to the south end of the park next to the park's log flume, replacing two rides, Tri Star and Swiss Bobs. In addition, the park relocated the Spider next to Mind Eraser, and relocated the Mind Scrambler (which was enclosed) to the north end under the park's Sky Ride, where it sits now. With The Spider being moved next to Mind Eraser, the park's Sea Dragon was moved next to the Antique Cars.
In 1998, the park also added The Hellevator, an S&S Worldwide Turbo Drop tower that is 21 stories tall, which was originally painted red. The park also brought back Chaos and located it next to Mind Eraser, and installed a (HUSS Breakdance) named Barrels of Fun next to the kiddie bumper cars and the entrance to the waterpark. A new food court was added to the north end, located partially in Startoon Studios.
On April 1, 1998, Premier Parks acquired the larger Six Flags chain of parks from Time Warner. The park continued to be known as "Riverside" until the end of the 1999 season.
In 1999, Premier made a 50% expansion to the water park, adding a new slide tower named Shark Attack and a second wave pool named Hurricane Bay. For the main park, they added a river rafting ride named Blizzard River ride to the North End, replacing a set of dry slides and the old Bumper Cars. A new western area was added on a hill behind Shipwreck Falls named Crack Axle Canyon. Crack Axle Canyon included 4 rides, three of which new to the park. Barrels of Fun was moved and renamed Rodeo, which resided on the top of the hill next to Tomahawk and Houdini's Great Escape. The fourth ride to the area was a new bumper cars attraction. The park added new additional rides to the South End of the park. The first was Double Trouble, a Chance Double Invertor, located next to the newly placed Chaos, and the Tea Cups, which replaced Slingshot in front of the Colossus Ferris Wheel. Kontiki replaced Barrels of Fun.
At the end of the 1999 season, the Riverside Speedway was demolished for a major expansion in the very near future.
2000-present: Six Flags New England[]
In late 1999, Six Flags announced that Riverside Park would be rebranded Six Flags New England, which would reopen in 2000. Six Flags spent over $120 million on additions, renovations, and more as the park was transformed into a Six Flags park.
After the Riverside Park Speedway was removed in 1999, a brand-new land was added, DC Super Hero Adventures. Themed to DC Comics, the new land featured Superman: Ride of Steel, a hyper roller coaster designed by Intamin. Other attractions included a second coaster named Poison Ivy's Tangled Train, and two flat rides; Nightwing and The Joker's Wildcard.
Besides the DC Comics area the park added a third Coaster called Flashback (Vekoma Boomerang), which replaced the Black Widow and Rotor in the North End. Flashback was actually built on the site of the kiddie coaster Rolling Thunder. Rolling Thunder, now named Great Chase, replaced the aging Rickie's Little Twister coaster in the renamed/rethemed Startoon Studios, which had been giving the name and theme of Looney Tunes Movie Town. The Flying Elephants were replaced by a similar ride themed to Marvin the Martian and a live stage show replaced the Kiddie Himilaya. Other additions were an expansion to the Hellevator adding two additional towers that were capable of a three-mode operating mode, which included the Turbo Drop, Space Shot, and Double-Shot modes. The original Hellevator tower can only operate in Turbo Drop mode. The parks Slingshot was brought back with a new paint job, theme, and name of Buzzsaw.
In 2001, the parking lot was moved across the road, and a bridge was built to allow access to the entrance of the park. There were a few changes with the Paul Bunyan's play structure becoming a small kiddie area called Tiny Timber Town with the addition of three new kiddie rides; a kiddie ferris wheel and helicopter built within the play area and a third (Zamperla LoliSwing) replacing the Sea Dragon. Buzzsaw's theme helped to blend in the theme of Tiny Timber Town, which had a logger theme.
For the 2002 season, Batman: The Dark Knight, a floorless roller coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, was added.
In 2003, the water park was doubled in size and was renamed Hurricane Harbor.
In 2005, two new attractions were introduced; the spinning coaster Mr. Six's Pandemonium (now just Pandemonium) in the North End section of the main park, and a water coaster named Typhoon in Hurricane Harbor.
Shapiro era (2006-2010)[]
For the 2006 season, the SWAT flat ride from the now-defunct Six Flags AstroWorld (now renamed Catapult) and Diablo Falls, also from Astroworld (now renamed Splash Water Falls) were added to the park's ride lineup.
In 2007, two new kids areas were added, Wiggles World, and Thomas Town. Wiggles World took over the Tiny Timber Town area, retheming some of the existing rides and removing the play structure. Wiggles World also added new rides, wet and dry play elements, and a live stage show. Thomas Town was added next to the main entrance and included a train ride on Thomas and two new kiddie rides. The Hall of Justice was also built into the vacant building of the Joker's Wildcard near the Bizarro coaster. The space is now occupied by Cyborg: Hyper Drive
In 2008, Six Flags New England was to add The Dark Knight Coaster, an indoor MACK Wild Mouse coaster based on the 2008 film The Dark Knight. The ride had also been announced for Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Great Adventure, which both ultimately opened.
To prepare for it's addition, the park's Batman-themed roller coaster, Batman: The Dark Knight, had its name changed to "Batman: The Ride" to avoid confusion with park guests. However, after construction had already started, the ride was cancelled and dismantled due to permit issues. The ride would have cost the park $7.5 million in exchange for bringing $280,000 in taxes for the state of Massachusetts. Thus the cancellation angered the city of Agawam, which stated the issues with the ride were not present.[13] Instead, the park announced the new Glow in the Park Parade.
On November 8, 2008 the city of Agawam approved the rights to build roller coasters up to 200 feet in the air.[14]
On September 15, 2008, Six Flags announced a makeover to the Superman roller coaster, adding an in-ride soundtrack and special effects, a makeover also undergoing with Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure and similar to what was done with X in its conversion to X² in 2008 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The ride is now called Bizarro, named after the Bizarro World counterpart of Superman. The makeover has included a re-paint of the track, which it is now purple. It is the same high-tech qualities of the old ride, just upgraded with pyrotechnics and special effects.
Post-bankruptcy era (2010-present)[]
In February 2010, it was announced that there would be a kiddie water park section added. It is called Mr. Six's Splash Island, which includes drenching thrills and relaxation for the entire family. It features a 30,000-gallon shaded wave pool designed specifically for little ones, and an interactive lazy river with dumping coconuts, rain curtains, and squirting water to keep the whole family cool. It also includes ten private cabanas. However, at the end of 2010, Six Flags dropped Mr. Six from rides in parks again and Mr. Six's Splash Island, just became Splash Island.
On September 1, 2010, the park announced that they would be receiving a new roller coaster to be added to the DC Comics section of the park. It was a standard wild mouse coaster that had previously resided at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, similar to what The Dark Knight Coaster would have been. On February 7, 2011, Six Flags officially announced "Gotham City Gauntlet: Escape from Arkham Asylum".
In late 2010, Six Flags began the process of removing "unnecessary" licensed theming from attractions from the Shapiro era. They terminated several licenses including their licenses with The Wiggles Pty Ltd. for The Wiggles and HIT Entertainment for Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas Town was replaced with Whistlestop Park, and Wiggles World was replaced with Kidzopolis.[15][16]
In August 2011, several media sources reported that the park is going on building Déja Vu from Six Flags Magic Mountain, a Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang for the park's 2012 season.[17][18][19] Then on September 1, 2011, Six Flags New England officially announced Goliath for the 2012 season, a Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang roller coaster, that will be located where the former Shipwreck Falls was.[20][21]
In July 2012, Six Flags New England began seeking to build the world's largest swing set. The park proposed to build a tall Funtime Star Flyer ride, similar to the SkyScreamer found at other Six Flags parks. The new swing ride was approved by the city of Agawam on July 30, 2012. The city also announced that the park can also build onto to keep it the worlds tallest. The Star Flyer is expected to replace the Taz's Dare Devil Dive skycoaster.[22][23]
Six Flags announced on August 30, 2012, that Six Flags New England will be adding Bonzai Pipelines a SplashTacular DownUnder water slide at their water park Hurricane Harbor.[24] Bonzai Pipelines will feature six different slides on one complex tower with each of theme going different directions.[25]
In February 2013, Six Flags New England announced that they would be removing the SWAT ride, Catapult, from the park's ride lineup and bringing back the former Thomas Town that operated from 2007 to 2010 for the 2013 season as Whistlestop Park.
On August 29, 2013, Six Flags officially announced the addition of New England SkyScreamer for the 2014 season. New England SkyScreamer is dubbed as the world's tallest Swing ride and is manufactured by Funtime. The swing ride was installed in the North End section of the park, replacing Taz's Dare Devil Dive, with the queue going where Catapult was located.[26]
On June 24, 2014, Six Flags New England announced the closure of one of their wooden roller coasters, Cyclone. Cyclone closed on July 20, 2014.[27]
Six Flags officially announced, on August 28, 2014, Wicked Cyclone a steel hybrid coaster manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction.
On September 3, 2015, Six Flags announced they would open Fireball, a Larson Super Loop, and retheme Bizarro back to Superman and rename the coaster: Superman: The Ride. They later announced that Superman would feature Virtual Reality starting in June 2016.
On September 1, 2016, the park announced the addition of The Joker, an S&S 4D free fly coaster.
The park's 2019 addition was Cyborg: Hyper Drive, an indoor spinning dark ride featuring Cyborg and the theme park debut of his arch-nemesis, Grid.
Supergirl Sky Flyer opened in 2021, following the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 1st, 2023, a press release of Dino Off Road Adventure was announced.
Location[]
Areas and attractions[]
Main Street Plaza[]
- Main article: Main Street Plaza
Attractions[]
- Thunderbolt
- Scream
- Whistlestop Water Works
- 1909 Illions Grand Carousel
Dining[]
- Six Below
- Riverboat Café
- Sweet Shoppe
Shopping[]
- Main Street Souvenirs
- Studio 6F
- Six Flags Emporium
Crackaxle Canyon[]
- Main article: Crackaxle Canyon (Six Flags New England)
Attractions[]
Dining[]
- JB's Smokehouse BBQ
- The Watering Hole
- Coaster Creamery
- Good Eats Café
North End[]
- Main article: North End
Attractions[]
- Wicked Cyclone
- Flashback
- Pandemonium
- New England SkyScreamer
- Balloon Race
- Blizzard River
- Scrambler
- Quantum Accelerator
Dining[]
- Chop Six
- Baystate Fries
- Northern Star Brew House
- Sweet Confections
- Baystate Fisheries
Rockville[]
- Main article: Rockville (Six Flags New England)
Attractions[]
- Rockville Arcade
DC Universe[]
- Main article: DC Universe (Six Flags New England)
Attractions[]
- Superman: The Ride
- Gotham City Gauntlet: Escape from Arkham Asylum
- Catwoman's Whip
- Supergirl Sky Flyer
- Cyborg: Hyper Drive
- Lex Corp. Arcade
Dining[]
- Johnny Rockets
Shopping[]
- Daily Planet Gift Shop
Gotham City[]
- Main article: Gotham City (Six Flags New England)
Attractions[]
- Batman: The Dark Knight
- Harley Quinn Spinsanity
- The Riddler Revenge
- The Joker
- Gotham City Crime Wave
- Nightwing
Dining[]
- Wheeler's Wild Hot Dogs
- Carlini's Pizzeria
- Villains Snacks
- Aztek: The Ultimate Nachos
Former attractions[]
Roller coasters[]
Rides[]
- Chaos
- Double Trouble
- Time Warp
- Nightwing
- Splashwater Falls
- Buzzsaw
- Shipwreck Falls
- Twister
- Catapult
- Colossus
- Rodeo
- Poland Springs Plunge
- Taz's Dare Devil Dive
- Fireball
- Kontiki
Management[]
Park Presidents[]
- Tim Black (2000-?)
- Mark Kane (2004-2006)
- John Winkler (2011-2018)
- Pete Carmichael (2018-present)
References[]
- ↑ Cecchi, David. "Images of America Riverside Park". Arcadia Publishing, 2011, pg.7
- ↑ Cecchi, pg. 22–24.
- ↑ Cecchi, pg. 51–54.
- ↑ Cecchi, pg. 25.
- ↑ Cecchi, pg. 8–9.
- ↑ Cecchi, p. 9
- ↑ Cecchi, p. 70
- ↑ Cecchi, David. "Images of America Riverside Park". Arcadia Publishing, 2011, p. 81
- ↑ Commemorative plaque at park from American Coaster Enthusiasts
- ↑ Weld approves WMass casino
- ↑ Casinos vote final, Weld says
- ↑ http://www.coastergallery.com/sf/sfne.html
- ↑ Six Flags' Dark Knight Coaster Goes Dark. Themeparks.about.com (2008-04-18). Retrieved on March 17, 2013.
- ↑ File photo by Michael S. Gordon / The Republican. Agawam OKs new highs for Six Flags roller coasters. masslive.com. Retrieved on March 17, 2013.
- ↑ MacDonald, Brady. "Six Flags amusement parks prepare for thematic makeovers", November 25, 2010. Retrieved on November 27, 2010.
- ↑ Kids' Rides: Six Flags New England. Sixflags.com. Retrieved on March 17, 2013.
- ↑ Constantine, Sandra (August 16, 2011). Six Flags New England working to add new roller coaster ride to its Agawam amusement park. News Article. MassLive.com.
- ↑ Hagist, Jenna (August 18, 2011). Six Flags Adds New Coaster. News Article. Wggb.com.
- ↑ MacDonald, Brady. "Six Flags Magic Mountain to remove Deja Vu coaster", August 19, 2011. Retrieved on August 19, 2011.
- ↑ Six Flags New England (September 1, 2011). Six Flags New England Announces Goliath – A Coaster Of Epic Proportions For The 2012 Season. Press Release. Six Flags. Retrieved on September 3, 2011.
- ↑ Six Flags New England (September 3, 2011). Last Chance to ride.... Facebook. Retrieved on September 4, 2011.
- ↑ Constantine, Sandra (July 23, 2012). Six Flags New England seeks to build world's tallest swing set ride in Agawam. News Article. MassLive.com.
- ↑ Constantine, Sandra (July 30, 2012). Six Flags New England gets Agawam OK to build highest swing set ride in world. News Article. MassLive.com.
- ↑ THE POWER OF SIX HITS THE EAST COAST. SplashTacular. Retrieved on October 8, 2012.
- ↑ Going Big in 2013 — Bonzai Pipelines Coming to Hurricane Harbor. SixFlags.com. Retrieved on August 30, 2013.
- ↑ New for 2014 (August 29, 2013). Retrieved on August 29, 2013.
- ↑ Cyclone at Six Flags ends 31-year ride.
External links[]
- Six Flags New England official page at Six Flags
Six Flags New England at Coasterpedia- Six Flags New England at Logopedia
- Six Flags New England at the Looney Tunes Wiki
- Six Flags New England at the Roller Coaster Wiki
Six Flags New England at the Roller Coaster DataBase
Six Flags New England at Wikipedia
