Six Flags Over Texas Decade in Review | Grand Opening & the 1960s
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- Опубліковано 21 лис 2023
- The original Six Flags theme park, Six Flags Over Texas, officially opened on August 5, 1961. Themed around the six flags that had flown over Texas, the park's original concept featured first-of-its-kind attractions, heavily-themed areas and a major focus on entertainment and guest experience. Six Flags Over Texas saw tremendous growth in the 1960s. Marquee attractions, such as the El Aserradero log flume, the Runaway Mine Train roller coaster and hundreds of thousands of dollars invested into entertainment, highlighted the decade. Join us for this Decade in Review for a look at the park's planning, construction, grand opening and first decade of operation.
#SixFlagsOverTexas #History #ThemePark
Media Sources:
Six Flags Archives, FT Depot Channel, Texbow Outdoors Channel, Thomas Rogers Channel, Texas State Historical Association, PresleyTV Channel, Six Flags History Channel, Steve Candelari & Texas Archive, UTA Digital Libraries, G William Jones Archives at SMU, Bill Wilson
Dance, Don't Delay by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/... - Розваги
I was used to the State Fair where you had to pay for each ride. The fact that you could ride everything, as many times as you wanted for a single price was the greatest thing ever!
@@philiphill6697 I was a State Fair kid as well. Six Flags blew my mind.
Getting to go once a year to the real six flags it was impossible to sleep the night before. At one point my brother and i had free range, i did not need a map. Also the Pink things were awesome when it was a hot Texas summer .
I went to Six Flags every summer of my childhood from 10 to 18. What great memories I have!
My Dad was an editor at the Star Telegram. My first visit, at about four years old, was a press day just before the public grand opening. I still have a 45 RPM record with their theme that I got that day.
Great times.
What year was it?
@@SallyMander-yz7to 1961. I was four. I remember things like the long gone Skull Island. Magic stuff. The 45 RPM record was in a file folder I found about 6 months ago. Wild how an artifact can lie hidden for decades and then stir up memories.
@@johnnyragadoo2414 That’s so cool. You’re close to my age. I have many happy memories of Six Flags.
@@SallyMander-yz7to It seems to me a lot of adventure these days is what things or games bring to a participant. Back then, the best experiences were more theater of the mind than high definition graphics. Which, of course, didn't exist but we still had fun.
Six Flags over Texas was the first amusement park I ever visited. My parents took me there in 1964 when I was four years old. I actually still remember some of the rides!! That was 60 years ago… I just turned 64 years old last month, and have been to hundreds of amusement parks since then.
Me too
I'm the same age and we were probably there together at some point!
@@AloneInTheVoid same age here , we were convinced that.the run away mine train was the world's fastest and some kids couldn't go into spelunkers cavern for some.churchy reason
@@user-qd6cd1pw1h "The Cave" was the "Tunnel of Love" equivalent for couples... ;-)
Remember the Indian canoes, and the spiral slide down the inside of the tree trunk?
@@igorschmidlapp6987 broke wrist on tree slide ...... who thought that was a good idea. Skull island was my introduction into bad neighborhoods , Indian canoes I am sure had historical context and the cave was a utopian model of air conditioning in texas
As a kid I went twice. 1964 and 1968. My favorite ride was La Salle’s River Adventure. The green water was creepy. Flash forward to 2008 with the grand kids and very disappointed to find it long gone! Other notables Casa Magnetica, (my grandmother had to be escorted out as she became so disorientated.), log ride, run away mine train, and spindle top. Loved the Southern Palace as it looked just like the mansion I got with my Civil War playset. The Spelunkers Cave was a must to escape to on a typical hot, humid summer day.
Thank you! I didn't make it to Six Flags that first decade, but I remember a few of these things from later visits. So many memories! And confirming a few I wasn't sure I really remembered....
I really miss the way this park used to be. Really great video.
Our family went there so many times in the very late '60's and early to mid '70's when I was a child. I loved the sombrero ride, the log ride, spelunkers cave, the cars, tower slide, the tree slide, mini mine train and the Chevy show. Later on, they built a gnarly couple of roller coasters; The Shock Wave and the Judge Roy Scream. Great memories! 🙂👍🏻
MY favorite Six Flags memory was when my uncle took us there and it rained! Families fled like chickens in in hail storm and we stayed! Sure enough it stopped raining and we were able to ride the rides over and over again because the lines were so short!!! 😅
I really enjoyed this! There’s always stuff about Disney parks but not much about Six Flags! I’m looking forward to further decades in review!
Back then,when you entered the parking area there was a sign that said if you wanted a free bumper sticker to lower your sun visor and they would come by and put one on your bumper while you were in the park. my first trip was in 1967 and I was able to ride the stagecoach ride. and the turquoise colored water was so dense that you could not see anything in the water. But Johnson Creek runs through the park and all of that green coloring would go out of the park and contaminate the river so they had to change.
For those that don’t know, The Krofft Brothers were Sid and Marty Krofft, of the HR Pufnstuf fame. They would have characters from the show within the park, and the Banana Splits Show intro and segments would be filmed there as well, in addition to the intro of Lidsville, who’s intro was filmed inside that theater. I use to tell people that the reason the theater was always closed was due to the mysterious disappearance of a boy in the 70s. They never found him. (Referring to what happened in the shows intro)
Wonderful memories. My favorite ride of all time was LaSalle's Boat Ride. It was even better at night. The ride had a feel of mystery and great comedy. I remember it from the 1960's. And Skull Island was a very fond favorite.
@@JohnnyUmphress the tree slide ! A slide Inside a fake metal tree . A great idea for a texas summer . Broke my wrist in it. A metroplex right. of passage .
On Labor Day 1969, Angus Winn Jr funded the Lewisville Pop Festival just two months after Woodstock. That featured many of the same acts from Woodstock. It was located at the Dallas International Speedway when it first opened. Dallas International Speedway was a drag strip holding NHRA drag racing, later changing to AHRA until closing a few years later.
Senior trip 1969 was my first visit to Six Flags. Far less safety conscious in those days. I broke a tooth on the unpadded bar of the Runaway Mine Train.
My folks took my sister and I to 6 Flags in 1961 and every year after that for probably 5 years. It was a blast!
I was 10 years old when Six Flags over Texas opened. I went there every summer for the first 6 years.
This is a great video so great that I was in tears having wonderful memories of my mother who was single and took out all four of us every year she could from the beginning it opened until as long as I could remember. The original theme park was absolutely magical to all of us. ! this video brought back so many wonderful memories!! Thank you so much for posting this. I lived in Fort Worth on the west side… she was a realtor a broke one at that, and I have no idea how she managed to scrape up the money and take us to this magical kingdom! It really really really made me miss her. I will be 72 this summer.🎉
Glad we could bring back some great memories for you!
I remember we used to get half-price tickets with Coke cans and Fritos wrappers, among other annual promotions. We certainly were not rich, but we seemed to manage an annual trip to Six Flags!
Cherish those memories of your mother in those good times until you see her again in Heaven!
I think we all experienced a little Slice of Heaven on these joyful Family Adventures that we shared...
God Bless You and your family!
I worked there for two seasons in 1972 and 73 in the Food & Beverage. I worked across from the Hat, across from Southern Palace, across from the Indian Canoe ride , inside the Jersey Lily and inside the Crazy Horse Saloon. My fav was Crazy Horse. It was dark and cool inside, busy only just before the show and eventually learned all the words to the show from seeing it so much plus got to hang around some beautiful "older" females. I was in high school and they were in college. Heck with that I would have worked for free!
I remember the Crazy Horse Saloon. Yes, it was cool and dark. I wish America could have the fifties, sixties and seventies back.
That was about the time of my first of many visits. My mom always insisted going to the Southern Palace, Crazy Horse Saloon and the Kroft's Puppet Show. Think it was really about breaks and A/C between rides. 🙂
My first trip to Six Flags was in the early sixties then I worked there in the mid-70s it was a lot of fun great memories thank you
Such great memories! I wonder how many of the people commenting who grew up in the Metroplex know each other in real life. Many of us have aliases on UA-cam, so we can’t recognize. It’s fun to read each other’s stories.
I remember the guy dressed in a silver suit who would sit as a statue, then move when unsuspecting guest approached. He also walked around like a robot.
@2:23 that race track over at the left is probably Arlington Downs. The Mfg Plant is probably General Motors…
Broke my wrist on the tree slide , smoke my first cig on skull island and saw a nun throw up on the spindle top. Good times !
Epic!
My cousin had one of those hats with the big feather. I wanted one of those hats so bad!
It's crazy how much of this I recognize. I worked at SFOT for awhile up until 2020, and I'm surprised at how much of this is still at the park. It's wonderful seeing the history of the park and thank you for making this video!
Great historical info on the park and brought back memories from my visits in the 70s and early 80s. Forgot about the pink thing, YUM. Do remember so many of the attractions that are no longer there. Would be curious to know the injury numbers of the Oil Derrick Slide. Fun, but there was absolutely NO safety guidelines on that thing.
The clock tower was often a meeting point for the family.
Great video, I’m sorry the UA-cam algorithm isn’t giving it the love it deserves.
Such a great place growing up
I miss Casa Magnetica.
YES! Been a while since I was there, but the building is there, they just don't open & staff it.
Always a favorite.
Casa Magnetica always gave me vertigo but I still loved it
Omg! I forgot about that! It was my favorite as a kid
Well for my 2 cents, I worked in maintenance as a painter from 81' to 94'. We painted the Casa Magnetica and I'll tell you after that day, coming out and getting vertigo, you didn't want to do anything else for awhile.
Wow! Amazing review! This is amazing good work
Omg!!! Weatherford TX! MY HOME TOWN!
They had view master reels of the park. Strangely, I was born in the city this park happens to be in. I went here in the 1990's.
Why is that strange 😅
I was recently in Tokyo’s fashion district, and there were a couple of thrift shops along Takeshita Dori. The strangest thing about these stores was that it looked like all of our donated clothing ended up there, and overly priced. (The yen is down right now, so typically things are incredibly cheaper, but not used American clothing apparently). Anyway, on display was a SFoTX shirt with the old 60s/70s logo! I thought it was odd to have come all these way and find something so local to me back home.
wow! that's crazy. it kind of reminds me of the king of the hill episode where they go to japan and find hanks doppleganger lol
@@AlexaSmith lol, I recently saw that very episode, for that reason, they were visiting Japan. Two parter, but the first part had a joke where they are at the DFW airport and Peggy tells everyone that if you get lost, they would all meet back there. We left DFW for Tokyo, and naturally, arrived right back. Also, I enjoyed how proud she was of her own personal tour: “First, it’s the Disney Store!” I made my family go to four different Disney Stores. One was on our very first day of arrival.
Thanks! this video documentary brings Great memories
Phenomenal work! I grew up going to Six Flags in the 60's and this brings back so many incredible memories. Where did you get all of this fantastic footage? The flyover at 20:28 is unreal. It's like you took a modern day drone and flew it over the park in 1968. Thank you for this amazing piece of history!
Footage is all around the internet! Just did a lot of deep searching.
@@AmusementSource still an excellent job! you took me back to my childhood. i have very good memories of riding the astrolift with my parents and those attendants catching the cars as they came into the station. your video captured that memory perfectly!
They had thousands of shoot out scenes there and somehow, Mr Baldwin, nobody was injured.
Six Flags was FUN in the sixties when I was a kid! Gun fights acted out, sitting in a saloon for soft drinks, canoe rides, stage coach rides. And the regular carnival type
rides were safe and fun with lots of atmosphere. I took my own kids in the nineties and was terribly disappointed. Why does everything have to go dark???
I remember being there when my family went sometime after’67. I know because Spindle Top was one of the rides I distinctly remember along with Casa de Magnetica and the Runaway Mine Train. I was a bit nervous about it until a pretty girl was seated next to me. She clung onto me for the whole ride. Don’t remember much of the rest. 😜
You could have an hour long video on the cave . Thank you sweet baby Jesus
It’s so weird to know that the buildings that were built back in the 60s are still in use for the most strangest things
This is great!
This is crazy seeing this, I was actually there last year with my ex. It’s a shame seeing how it once was vs. how it is today. To many things where taken away, and it just looks sad now. I hope one day they can reverse to some of the attractions in this video again. I would love to see it happen, especially since I’m not a fan of all the roller coaster 😅
You're right! I worked there in maintenance from 81' to 94' and it changed a lot in that time. They kept laying off full time employees because they said we made too much. When I started there, there were 8 fulltime painters and 8 seasonal painters. When I left there were 4 fulltime painters and 2 seasonal painters. Same goes for most departments except for mechanics. Sad I know! The love of money controls everything!
Mrs Goff was the owner of Goffs Burgers too! The Wynn family are still in Dallas Tx today and while I was just born in 1959, I remember a lot of this early Six Flags. El Chico was a popular local restaurant chain in Dallas owned by the Cuallar family
@@AMarshallCBU ty
So frustrating to see how amazing six flags used to be. I’ve been going to this park my whole life and it used to be so much more fun. It was basically a Wild West Disneyland….with rides and experiences that sparked the imagination. I don’t really know what it’s identity is now. Whoever owns six flags now should definitely take a look at this video to learn how to connect with their customers
I’m sure I visited each year in 1967 - 1969. Mom would collect Green Stamps to pay for admission.
@@user-eo9dc5gs8k green stamps ! That's another interesting story . My mom called them ration stamps in a thick polish accent.
There is a lot of people who can claim a lot of make out time in that Spelunkers Cave during the 60's-80's when they were teenagers.
They had competition in 68 with the Hemisphere Worlds Far in San Antonio.
I remember going to all that The late 60s so many different changes Love this Place memories nearly every decade when did Seven Seas start? And go away!
My family went there in the sixties , then Oklahoma later , I DONT remember anymore family trips .
Your Spanish speaking skills are amazing. Duolingo is your friend . Please use it proton (yes that is a typo spoof )
My first trip to the park was in 1966 and it cost $3.50 for admission.
wowww i just love all the texas history they put into it...i think thats so fun. I haven't been there in forever I wonder how history focused it is now. Did you get any of this footage from texas archive of the moving image? I love their work.
You knew that it was over as a theme park when they put the "Avalanche Bobsled" in "Mexico"...
Yeah, and the French section was reduced to an overlook of the Roaring Rapids and Jacques Treasure's. That's all cause I used to work there.
Awesome video man! Where did you find all this old SFoT media?
You’ll see a lot of the sources listed in the description. Just a lot of deep digging, but others have a lot of cool old content out here.
I would like to see the history of the souvenirs (mold a Rama) and food
SFOT was at its peak in the late 80s early 90s. Prove me wrong
I worked there in maintenance from 81' to 94'. In the 90's some company from Oklahoma owned them and ran a debt of over 2 billion dollars and sold it. Hate those guys.
Any idea what year the water surrounding Mine Train was drained? I’m guessing it was difficult keeping water out of the tunnels.
I was there the summer it opened, when it was a THEME PARK (with the areas for each flag), not the mess of rides/retail it is now... Superman and Looney Toons Over Texas (or, just Warner Brothers Over Texas).
Now, they merged with the Cedar Point people, so, look for it to be a BIGGER mess now...
“Texas Under Six Flags?!?” Texas isn’t under anything!
The jet set ride looks fun 🤩
Notice how few overweight people there were in the 60's?
My folks, grandparents and few cousins and I went to the fairly new opening of Six Flags over Georgia in June, 1967. For several years afterwards, it was always fun to go to that place. As the 80's and '90's and beyond came around...the "quality" and staff changed. Not fun anymore. From good ol' Southern hospitality it became International and less thrilling. The onslaught of technology and art made it like a freakin' Sci-Fi movie set. The surrounding areas changed to more ghettos and unsafe. Not for me...hasn't been in 40 years or more.
And another thing I remember while I watch this film-video of the Six Flags Park: Literally all the people were dressed well! No "circus-clown-rude" looks...especially the females! Those Six Flag gals back then were hired in for the beauty and general poise. I always like their looks.
14:55
I have pictures of my grandad, mom, and me back in the late 60's at Six Flags - thanks for this. On looking back, the lack of diversity in the crowd is staggering.
Whites made up 88% of population according to US Census in 1960.
It's insane how much the park has changed from then to now... I still love going, but this shows just how much people just care about cheap thrills nowadays, and not having a meaningful/educational/cultural experience... The six cultural zones hardly bare any significance anymore... its rather sad because the confederate zone doesn't even exist anymore and the "six flags" are just the USA flag🙄 Like duh we know this is America... but, they don't want us to know history anymore I reckon. I guess it is representative of the experience of the park now. Waiting forever in line for a minute or two of thrills (possibly not even getting to ride if the ride breaks) Not to mention charging everyone whatever they want because "The WB/DC Superheroes" or some opulent excuse.
Disney copied
SF is junk today.
Such a great place growing up