If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t have any idea Six Flags America is operating in June for the final time. There aren’t, as of yet, massive markdowns on merchandise that must be sold. There are no “final season, thanks for the memories” banners adorning the park. And it would be a surprise to see the scores of tweens running from coaster to coaster wearing glum faces as they contemplate their final trip to their local amusement park.
But Six Flags America is closing. Its final operation day will be in early November. This is the end of the road for the regional theme park closest to the capital city of the United States. I visited the park last week for the first time in the hopes of capturing what we’re losing as the much-maligned park closes for good. Six Flags America is nowhere near as bad as I’d heard it described many years ago. The park was clean, the foliage nice and the placemaking about what you’d expect from a regional theme park. It doesn’t stand out in any particular way; its attraction lineup is so-so, its landscape lacking any dynamism and its food scene is virtually nonexistent. But it offers affordable entertainment to the aforementioned tweens, who have long been the lifeblood of regional parks like this.
An unremarkable coaster lineup
Six Flags last built a brand-new roller coaster at Six Flags America in 2001. George W. Bush was president of the United States, the iPhone had not been invented, and Steel Dragon 2000 was the tallest roller coaster in the world.
That coaster, Batwing, is not currently operating. Rumor has it that a motor blew on its lift hill. A cherry picker aimed toward the top of the lift hill seems to support that rumor. I don’t know if they’ll get Batwing back open, but it’s admirable that they’re not just throwing in the towel.
Less admirable is how much downtime I experienced in my one visit to the park. Joker’s Jinx, Ragin Cajun, Firebird and Superman: Ride of Steel all experienced extended downtime. The only coaster running two trains was Wild One. This may suggest Six Flags is attempting to keep parts fresh on coasters it can relocate (Wild One is not expected to survive); though it may simply be minimizing the amount of crew needed to operate its coasters.
Of the coasters I was able to experience, Ride of Steel is certainly the best. It’s no Millennium Force, but the view from the top of the lift hill is excellent and it carries a tremendous amount of speed through the course. Wild One is a lovely throwback and surprisingly smooth given its age.
The same cannot be said for Roar, the Great Coasters International (GCI) build whose best days are long behind it. When I was young, GCI were the “It” kids — building wooden roller coasters with dynamic elements without sacrificing comfort. They were the antidote to Custom Coasters International, whose reputation had been tarnished as its coasters aged.