Six Flags 1965

[Sbbruin 22,144]

I had my 10th bday at Six Flags Magic Mountain.  They had just opened the Revolution, which was the first vertical loop roller coaster.  We rode it like 9 times in a row.  Also famously in this scene.

[RPM 26,628]

Big Bend was the big roller coaster when Lil' RPM first went. Obviously, I was relegated to the Mini Mine Train (MOTHERFUCKERS!!!) but there was soooo much to take in. Loved The Confederacy, The Southern Palace was an a/c haven plus the shooting gallery. Coronado's Cabin (?) with the magnetic balls that defied gravity. The river barge ride with fake alligators. The Mobil Mini Cars that ran on a rail and had suction cup brakes (they would fuck you up if you stopped fast). Pink Things!

Someone earlier mentioned the big splash ride with the walkover that was installed in the 80's. That always looked so cool in the commercial. Went there once in the 80's and got soaked within 5 min of walking in. Wet Wranglers are not the preferred clothing for a day at SF.

Edited August 25, 2020 by RPM

[Chad Fuck 18,135]

We used to make a big loop of the park.  Enter, head west into "Mexico" and on around.  In the USA section, just off the main plaza there was a gift shop strategically placed to get your last dollar just before you left the park.  I recall it had a huge bowl out front with a plastic scuba guy swimming in it which drew me right in.  The 'rents would give me like $5 to get a souvenir.  Often this was the maps discussed above.  But one year, I felt changes.  So I bought this poster, but no questions were asked.  I already had a wall full of posters.  The '77 Cowboys, cars, planes, that sort of thing.  My mom did not appreciate it.  My Dad, wisely, shared no opinion. It didn't stay up very long.  But it is etched into my memory.

[troph 25,227]

Spinnaker was the best non-rollercoaster ride there. Loved six flags growing up - one of the first places to roam all day without adult supervision.

[SimonBolivar 11,064]

[BigDHornfan 6,630]

Got a job at SFOT when I was 16. Worked in the fried chicken restaurant right outside the spinnaker.
Worked 2 days and then quit. Didn’t turn in my employee ID and got in free all summer.
It was awesome.

Oh,
The reason I quit,
On my 2nd day, we walked in to start the day and a rat had fallen into one of the chicken fryers and the manager scooped it out, and started cooking chicken.

Don’t eat at Six Flags.

[Knoxtnhorn 6,307]

13 minutes ago, BigDHornfan said:

Got a job at SFOT when I was 16. Worked in the fried chicken restaurant right outside the spinnaker.
Worked 2 days and then quit. Didn’t turn in my employee ID and got in free all summer.
It was awesome.

Oh,
The reason I quit,
On my 2nd day, we walked in to start the day and a rat had fallen into one of the chicken fryers and the manager scooped it out, and started cooking chicken.

Don’t eat at Six Flags.

Dammit.  My wife buys the meal plan each year to go with the season passes.

 

[Pato del Muerto 53,502]

I only ever ate at the burger place near the main entrance and, iirc, close to looney tunes land. 

[SimonBolivar 11,064]

There was a place near Runaway Mountain that I used to always eat at because I liked the theme. Speaking of Runaway Mountain, its an underrated little coaster or it was the last time I rode it 12 years ago.

[Ignatius 4,142]

Loved the Chevy Show, with the video of the rollercoaster that was every bit as realistic as the Shock Wave.

They used to have the big ass slides in the middle of the big tower that you’d slide down on burlap sacks. Word back in the day was that they took them down because some kid sliced his leg to shit on the lane separators. That might have been an urban legend though, spread at the same time as Rod Stewart’s unfortunate stomach pump incident....

[Zepol87 9,341]

There was a place near Runaway Mountain that I used to always eat at because I liked the theme. Speaking of Runaway Mountain, its an underrated little coaster or it was the last time I rode it 12 years ago.

I always like runaway mountain but the shit is never open.
Never saw a concert or anything there but I remember they had some batman show going on for awhile. I caught that once

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[AbeFroman 3,113]

On 8/24/2020 at 6:46 PM, BillyBadAss said:

Six Flags used to do concerts too.. My memory is hazy so could be mis-remembering, but I think I saw Duran Duran out there, and some band like Foreigner or Journey or something. 

I seem to remember Joan Jett playing out there too, but don't think I stayed for that one. 

I'm also now remembering for a while in the early 80s a bunch of the gift shops specialized in heavy metal posters and tshirts.. I particularly remember seeing lots of Ozzy Osbourne stuff for some reason. 

That Joan Jett show was my first ever concert.  We snuck in through some open side gate.  Must have been my freshman or sophomore year of high school. We thought we were super cool fools after that.

[SimonBolivar 11,064]

Every Good Friday they'd have Christian concerts and the church would take us. The best time was when the concert started and there was no line for the Texas Giant. You didn't even have to get off most of the time.

[CycleTex87 3,037]

Saw Pure Prairie League at SFoT, late ‘70’s/early ‘80’s.  Shock Wave, Judge Roy Scream, Big Bend (Ben?) all faves.  Rode ShockWave the first week it opened.  Like 2 hour wait for that 2 minute ride.  I grew up 2 hours NW of the DFW area, so SFoT was a regular church youth group summer Saturday outing. 

[Whitewater Horn 973]

1 hour ago, Ignatius said:

Loved the Chevy Show, with the video of the rollercoaster that was every bit as realistic as the Shock Wave.

They used to have the big ass slides in the middle of the big tower that you’d slide down on burlap sacks. Word back in the day was that they took them down because some kid sliced his leg to shit on the lane separators. That might have been an urban legend though, spread at the same time as Rod Stewart’s unfortunate stomach pump incident....

The Chevy Show was another great “get out of the heat” attraction, but it was a fun show, too. 
 

I was starting to wonder if I had imagined riding down a slide in a burlap sack on the lower part of the tower in the early or mid 70s.  
 

I remember the Shock Wave had just opened before my fifth grade field trip to SFoT.  It was my first ride on a looped coaster. The social standing was not kind to the dudes didn’t nut up and ride the Shock Wave that day. I remember the bus ride back and seeing the way the girls looked at those of us who rode all of the big rides, and sat by us to listen to our bullshit, and made a mental note to always be in the group that does the fun stuff - you got a sneak peek at the social hierarchy and cliques that would we would fall into in middle school the following year. 

[MissingInAction 25,556]

Used to go on Halloween every year. Old west train ride was creepy af at night.

[El Diablo 4,232]

13 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

There was a place near Runaway Mountain that I used to always eat at because I liked the theme. Speaking of Runaway Mountain, its an underrated little coaster or it was the last time I rode it 12 years ago.

It's a fantastic little coaster. Indoors and cool, the "dip" where you go to the bottom of the mountain was awesome. 

[TrashMaster G 18,091]

18 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

Pink things!!!  Do they still have those?

[nnm 37,906]

On 8/24/2020 at 1:31 AM, BillyBadAss said:

The summer after 7th grade me and my best friend had season passes. Once or twice a week.my mom would drop us at Six Flags on her way to work and his mom would pick us up on her way home. That was a fun ass summer.

The summer after 7th grade, I took a trip with a bunch of NM kids.  We went to Six Flags.  We were favorably impressed by the Texas girls.  I had a go-to move.  I'd walk up to one, ask what time it was, and then nothing.  I had no game plan after that.  

[TrashMaster G 18,091]

1 minute ago, nnm said:

The summer after 7th grade, I took a trip with a bunch of NM kids.  We went to Six Flags.  We were favorably impressed by the Texas girls.  I had a go-to move.  I'd walk up to one, ask what time it was, and then nothing.  I had no game plan after that.  

[SimonBolivar 11,064]

22 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Pink things!!!  Do they still have those?

Apparently not and instead Blue Bell makes a Pink Thing flavor...travesty, imo.

[Bash Riprock 1,695]

Loved the Cliff Hanger, Flashback and Shockwave.

[TrashMaster G 18,091]

2 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

Apparently not and instead Blue Bell makes a Pink Thing flavor...travesty, imo.

Progress is not always progress.

[RexWilson 1,502]

I was about 5 the first time I went to SFOT (in the 80s). I was in the front part of the log on the log ride. When we came down the last hill and hit the water, my head went flying forward and hit the front part. Busted open my lip and bit my tongue. Blood all over my face and crying as I got off the ride. I always wondered if it scared off any other kids seeing me exit like that.

[futureman 22,700]

On 8/25/2020 at 2:14 PM, SimonBolivar said:

I remember being worried the entire ride as a kid for that last drop through the saloon on the Mine Train. 

 

[Knoxtnhorn 6,307]

The Flashback opened my soph year of high school.  W/o considering the ramifications of being a puss about heights, I jumped at the opportunity to get Six Flags season passes with a group of my newfound friends.  (We had just moved to Garland.)  Get there and I'm hearing about this Flashback ride.  Having not been to Six Flags for several years prior, I didn't really think through what I was getting myself into.  As soon as I saw it, I  was all, "F that".  One of the guys asked me what I was going to do all summer if I never got on any of the "big boy" rides.  F it.  Let's roll.

All I recall was how wobbly my legs were after the ride.  You know what?  I freakin' loved it.  This led to my aforementioned (Page 1) adventure on The Cliffhanger about a week later.

Btw, they removed The Flashback some time ago; however, they have one at Six Flags in San Antonio.  I got really excited last year when I got to relive that memory.

[nivek3 83]

When I was small I remember riding the giant slide at the base of the tower with the burlap sacks they gave you. If you ever came off that thing before you got to the bottom you would burn your skin off on the way down. And just as bad, if you ever touched any of the slide that was in the sun, same results. We would always buy a season pass and milk the summer away. When the day got too hot we'd go ride the Roto Disco a few times to cool off. I also remember riding in those canoes when I was really young. Can you imagine them having a ride like that today?

[nnm 37,906]

On 8/25/2020 at 2:24 PM, Chad Fuck said:

We used to make a big loop of the park.  Enter, head west into "Mexico" and on around.  In the USA section, just off the main plaza there was a gift shop strategically placed to get your last dollar just before you left the park.  I recall it had a huge bowl out front with a plastic scuba guy swimming in it which drew me right in.  The 'rents would give me like $5 to get a souvenir.  Often this was the maps discussed above.  But one year, I felt changes.  So I bought this poster, but no questions were asked.  I already had a wall full of posters.  The '77 Cowboys, cars, planes, that sort of thing.  My mom did not appreciate it.  My Dad, wisely, shared no opinion. It didn't stay up very long.  But it is etched into my memory.

In the matter of the Heathers, I was team Locklear all the way. 

[Chad Fuck 18,135]

In the matter of the Heathers, I was team Locklear all the way. 

I got nothing against her. Though I wish I did.

Maybe they didn’t have that poster? It’s been a while.

[Fuck Tim Beck 3,904]

1 hour ago, nivek3 said:

 I also remember riding in those canoes when I was really young. Can you imagine them having a ride like that today?

Those canoes were my first memory of six flags circa 1977 or 78 I think. 

[Jerry Callo 8,960]

What rides did they have in the Confederate zone? I don't remember anything about it.

[DalTxHornFan 3,130]

14 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

What rides did they have in the Confederate zone? I don't remember anything about it.

All I remember is the fried chicken emporium.  That's probably racist.  I apologize in advance for that memory.

[Surly Bevo 25,748]

What rides did they have in the Confederate zone? I don't remember anything about it.

Spinnaker. Also Spelunkers and Roaring Rapids sort of on the fringes.

[Hank Scorpio 17,924]

Loved going to Six Flags as a kid in the 70s, but my parents always called it One Flags and we only went to Confederacy Land. That place had the best rides like the Wild Rapids of Northern Aggression and the South Will Rise Again Supercoaster. I heard there were other parks there and they were separate but equal. 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Hank Scorpio

[Zepol87 9,341]

I honestly can't remember ever hearing about confederate land.

[Surly Bevo 25,748]

I honestly can't remember ever hearing about confederate land.

I’m guessing you are young enough it might have been gone


Six different flags that have flown over Texas
The Confederacy section was a name of a theme area until the mid-1990s, which showcased Confederate Battle Flags and a Civil War re-enactment. The area was rethemed to "Old South" and all Confederate Battle Flags were removed. The land drew little attention as there wasn't any high-profile rides in the themed land

[Jerry Callo 8,960]

11 hours ago, Surly Bevo said:

I’m guessing you are young enough it might have been gone


Six different flags that have flown over Texas
The Confederacy section was a name of a theme area until the mid-1990s, which showcased Confederate Battle Flags and a Civil War re-enactment. The area was rethemed to "Old South" and all Confederate Battle Flags were removed. The land drew little attention as there wasn't any high-profile rides in the themed land

Yeah, I remember a bank robbery or jail break or something similar, oldtime photos, shooting gallery, and the aforementioned chicken place.  

[Felix 644]

First roller coaster I ever rode was Judge Roy Scream when I went to Dallas to visit my best friend after he moved there in 5th grade around 1979 or 1980..  I just remember click-clacking up that first climb thinking "I want to get off, I want to get off, I want do get off" and then laughing out loud at the sign at the top that said "Appeal Denied!"  It was a random Tuesday in the summer and I think we rode that thing about 10 times. 

Caught a Rangers game that night across the street.  Gaylord Perry on the mound.  Ah to be young again.

[RPM 26,628]

28 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

Yeah, I remember a bank robbery or jail break or something similar, oldtime photos, shooting gallery, and the aforementioned chicken place.  

The Southern Palace Theater was there, too. Excellent a/c.

[Chad Fuck 18,135]

1 minute ago, RPM said:

The Southern Palace Theater was there, too. Excellent a/c.

This.  To me Confederacy = Cool, cool a/c.

Did not care what was showing.

[Whitewater Horn 973]

11 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Loved going to Six Flags as a kid in the 70s, but my parents always called it One Flags and we only went to Confederacy Land. That place had the best rides like the Wild Rapids of Northern Aggression and the South Will Rise Again Supercoaster. I heard there were other parks there and they were separate but equal. 

I always enjoyed “General Lee’s Shootin’ Gallery” and the “Runaway Slave Adventure.” 
 

Seriously though, I’m glad the attractions in that part of the park weren’t too bad. I never took Professor Cyrus Cosmo as a bigot. 

[MissingInAction 25,556]

4 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

Yeah, I remember a bank robbery or jail break or something similar, oldtime photos, shooting gallery, and the aforementioned chicken place.  

My folks still have a steel plate pic of us in costume. Me in a Davy Crockett outfit at age 10 I think, mom and sis in antebellum dresses, and pops in a Confederate officer's uniform in front of the battle flag.

Shame.

Edited August 27, 2020 by MissingInAction

[Zepol87 9,341]

4 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

Yeah, I remember a bank robbery or jail break or something similar, oldtime photos, shooting gallery, and the aforementioned chicken place.  

Ok I remember that area. They used to do the little western shootout play every few hours or so. Didn't know it had that name. I would have just called it Old Timey land

[washparkhorn 9,973]

On 8/26/2020 at 9:39 AM, nnm said:

The summer after 7th grade, I took a trip with a bunch of NM kids.  We went to Six Flags.  We were favorably impressed by the Texas girls.  I had a go-to move.  I'd walk up to one, ask what time it was, and then nothing.  I had no game plan after that.  

Simple - "Wanna ride the Cave ride?"  

 

[High Plains Drifter 11,188]

On 8/26/2020 at 1:30 AM, MissingInAction said:

Used to go on Halloween every year. Old west train ride was creepy af at night.

 

I think it was SF that once on Halloween, just about sundown, employees dressed as zombies started wandering around in the crowds. At first it was just one or two, then more and more starting showing up.

 

Out of all the roller coasters i ever rode, I think The Rattler in San Antonio was the best. What was the name of the park?

 

[Tom 2,960]

On 8/23/2020 at 11:34 AM, mdmost said:

Spelunkers Cave is still there but a shell of what it used to be. 

 

I'm assuming this was the cave ride before it became Looney Tunes themed with Bugs Bunny hunting Yosemite Sam?  If so, you're older than I took you for from your posts.  It's been Looney Tunes themed as long as I can remember, and I'm close to 40.

[mdmost 44,045]

I haven't been to Six Flags since 2003. Before that I hadn't been since 1994.  

[Tom 2,960]

My Six Flags experiences were mainly from 1992-ish through 1998ish, elementary through high school.  I've only been a couple of times since.  I would ride anything as a kid and loved hitting up the newest and wildest rides, but I've developed somewhat of a fear of heights as an adult. That and reading about that one woman who fell out of the Texas Giant and died whose arm bar didn't lock, I've been much more reluctant to ride those types of rides regardless of how irrational statistically the fear may be.  

[nnm 37,906]

40 minutes ago, Tom said:

 

I'm assuming this was the cave ride before it became Looney Tunes themed with Bugs Bunny hunting Yosemite Sam?  If so, you're older than I took you for from your posts.  It's been Looney Tunes themed as long as I can remember, and I'm close to 40.

Soon you’ll be a man. 

[Tom 2,960]

6 minutes ago, nnm said:

Soon you’ll be a man.