Six Flags Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Six Flags Wiki

Template:Infobox theme park

Six Flags New England (SFNE), formerly Riverside Amusement Park, is a Six Flags theme park, named for the New England region, in which it is located. Located off of Massachusetts State Route 159, Six Flags New England is located less than three miles from the major City of Springfield, Massachusetts, in the nearby town of Agawam, Massachusetts. Six Flags New England is less than a mile from the Connecticut border, making it very popular with Connecticut residents as well as Massachusetts residents.[1][2] Like most Six Flags parks, Six Flags New England consists of a theme park and a water park.  Although it did not originally open as such, it is the oldest of the Six Flags parks.

History

Riverside Park (late 1800s)

Throughout most of the 20th century, the park was known as Riverside Park. It started out as a picnic grove called Gallup's Grove in 1870, and was eventually renamed to Riverside Grove, then Riverside Park. Prior to 1900, most of the park's patrons arrived via steamship. The Springfield Street Railway extended its line to the park in 1900 and, although Riverside was at the end of the Springfield Street Railway, it was not owned by the railway and is, therefore, not considered a trolley park, contrary to published reports.[3]

Amusement park (early 1900s)

In the early 1900s, a few mechanical rides and a carousel were added. The park was purchased in 1911 by Henry J. Perkins who transformed the park from a picnic grove to an amusement park. He built the park's first roller coaster, The Giant Dip, in 1912, which proved to be so popular that another coaster, The Greyhound, was added in 1915.[4] Under Perkins' ownership, the park continued to prosper and additional amusements were added, including a 300-foot-diameter pool that became known as Lake Takadip.[5] The original Giant Dip coaster was replaced in 1920 by a new, more thrilling coaster that was twice the size of the Giant and was eventually named Lightning.[6] A third coaster, Whirlwind Racer, was added in 1928.

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 took its toll on the park, and by 1931 it had gone into foreclosure. For the 1932 season, the park operated only Wednesday through Sunday, and in 1933 it closed. Several attempts to reopen the park failed and it remained closed through 1939, although the grounds were occasionally used for company picnics.[7] A drive-in movie theater operated in the parking lot from 1937 to 1939.

Expansion (1940s-1990s)

Edward Carroll Sr. purchased the abandoned park in 1939 and after making improvements, reopened Riverside Park on May 29, 1940.[8] Carroll is credited with rescuing Riverside and turning it into the largest theme park in New England.[9] He purchased the plans and cars of the 1939 New York World's Fair Cyclone Roller Coaster and opened a new coaster in 1941.[10] That coaster, now known as Thunderbolt, is currently operating at the park, and is the oldest coaster within the Six Flags Chain of theme parks.[11]

Carroll took a liking to auto racing, a sport that was gaining popularity in the Northeast after World War II, and added it to his slate of attractions at Riverside, building the Riverside Park Speedway in 1948, replacing 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 1960s was 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.Template:Citation needed

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.[12] The plan died after Agawam voters rejected a non-binding referendum in support of casino gambling in November.[13]

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. 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.[14]

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.

Gallery

Rides

Main Street Plaza

Name Type Opened Status Notes Flash Pass Ride
1909 Illion's Carousel Carousel 1940 Open minimum height=3.5 ft No
Flying Aces Biplane 2001 Open [Note 1] Yes
New England Express Train 2007 Open [Note 2] No
Scream Freefall Tower 1998 Open minimum height=4.33 ft Yes
Thunderbolt Wooden Coaster 1941 Open minimum height=4 ft[Note 3] Yes

Crackaxle Canyon

Name Type Opened Status Notes Flash Pass Ride
Goliath Giant Inverted Boomerang 2012 Open minimum height=4 ft, maximum height=6.25 ft[Note 4] Yes (platinum only)
Houdini - The Great Escape Madhouse 1999 Open minimum height=4 ft[Note 5] No
Stampede Bumper Cars Bumper Cars 1997 Open minimum height=4 ft No
Tomahawk Frisbee 1999 Open minimum height=4.5 ft maximum height=6.25 ft[Note 6] No

Loony Tunes Movie Town

Name Type Opened Status Notes Flash Pass Ride
Animation Department Zamperla kiddie swings ride 1998 Open minimum height=3 ft
maximum height=4.5 ft
No
Daffy's Hollywood Tours Zamperla crazy bus 1998 Open minimum height=3.5 ft No
Taz Prop Delivery Company Zamperla Big foot 1998 Open minimum height=3 ft No
The Great Chase E & F Miller Industries 1998 Open minimum height=3.5 ft[Note 7] No
Tweety's Clubhouse Zamperla jumpin' star/Kiddie drop ride 1999 Open minimum height=3 ft<br>maximum height=4.5 ft No

References

  1. USGS map centered on Six Flags New England (Riverside Park)
  2. MassGIS Census Browser
  3. Cecchi, David. "Images of America Riverside Park". Arcadia Publishing, 2011, pg.7
  4. Cecchi, pg. 22–24.
  5. Cecchi, pg. 51–54.
  6. Cecchi, pg. 25.
  7. Cecchi, pg. 8–9.
  8. Cecchi, p. 9
  9. Cecchi, p. 70
  10. Cecchi, David. "Images of America Riverside Park". Arcadia Publishing, 2011, p. 81
  11. Commemorative plaque at park from American Coaster Enthusiasts
  12. Turner, Ford. "Weld approves WMass casino", via NewsBank, August 24, 1994. Retrieved on June 24, 2012.  Template:Subscription required
  13. Turner, Ford. "Casinos vote final, Weld says", via NewsBank, November 10, 1994. Retrieved on June 24, 2012.  Template:Subscription required
  14. http://www.coastergallery.com/sf/sfne.html

Notes

  1. Originally located in Tiny Timber Town, put in storage when Wiggles World was added
  2. Originally named Thomas the Tank Engine from 2007-2010. Standed but did not operate from 2011-2012.
  3. Oldest coaster at the park.
  4. Originally Déjà Vu at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
  5. Used at Fright Fest.
  6. Reaches heights of 78 feet. During August 2013, Tomahwak was shut down and closed for the remainder of the 2013 season.
  7. Originally named Rolling Thunder.
Advertisement