Amusement Park News

Six Flags theme parks will be offering a whole new cadre of rides from coasters to family attractions. According to Six Flags CEO Selim Bassoul, the attractions will offer new ways to “ramp up the joy of our parks” and encourage multiple visits from visitors eager to try  them all.

From coast to coast, here are some highlights:

At Six Flags Hurricane Harbor New Jersey, it's all about the water, with the introduction of an elaborate new Splash Island for young visitors, including elements such as curtain waterfalls, 14 new water slides, and a tree house playhouse. There's also a mammoth water bucket element.



Overall, the area will have 50-plus interactive features for kids. The park's interim president Randy Wilke says that the park is focusing on “increasing value for families and elevating the guest experience,” especially for kids smaller than 42 inches in height. Meanwhile, new cabanas will be relaxing for adults.

In more waterpark news, Six Flags White Water, located in Marietta, Georgia, is opening Caribbean Cove, a waterplay complex featuring over 25 interactive features and four waterslides.

At Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags Over Georgia, guests will see the opening of the Kid Flash Cosmic Coaster attraction, dubbed as the first single-racing roller coaster in the world. The ride will feature tracks that cross over and under each other at many different points during the experience.

And Six Flags Fiesta Texas is also opening a 5,000-square-foot esports arena, Esix Gaming. The attraction will feature 50 PC gaming stations, five console stations, plus a live esports stage for tournaments.

Elsewhere in Texas, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor San Antonio is opening a new expansion of its waterparks, again focusing on younger guests with 11 new waterslides and raft rides.



Also in the Lone Star State, Six Flags Over Texas will be offering the Aquaman Power Wave coaster themed to the DC-comics character. It will be the park's 14th coaster. Originally planned for 2022, construction delays moved the new Mack attraction forward to 2023. While the ride may look like a flume attraction, in motion it's pure coaster adrenaline, with forward and backward LSM launches, and cars that only reach the water for a final splashdown. It will be the first Mack Rides Power Splash attraction in North America. The ride includes a 2,000-foot track, two 150-foot towers, and, following a 90° face-down hold, a rapid dive downward clocked at 63 miles per hour before that final wave-of-water plunge.  

In Northern California, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is opening the new Rainforest Trail, a lush tropical environment with butterflies, fish, and exotic wildlife. Also at that park location, a newly enhanced Shark Experience is coming this spring, featuring a variety of cutting-edge interactive opportunities accelerating the excitement of the walkthrough underwater shark tunnel as well as the ceiling to floor viewing windows which have been an ongoing attraction at the park.

At Six Flags New England, dinosaurs are coming to the Dino Off Road Adventure, with animatronic technology, life-size dinosaurs, and full-on immersive environments, including audio components. The animatronic dinos are a retheming of the park's Wild Wheelz, a long-time Arrow driving cars attraction.

And, at Six Flags St. Louis, the park will welcome the debut of the Rookie Racer, a racing coaster with a Formula-1 type of track. A giant loop, twists and turns, and thrilling but still family-friendly drops are the key elements of the new attraction. It's a 843-foot Vekoma Junior Coaster and can reach a top speed of 27 miles-per-hour.

Also new for Six Flags is an extension of its partnership with Coca-Cola, which will include a variety of eGaming experiences. Stephanie Borges, Global Vice President of Marketing and Partnerships at Six Flags Entertainment asserts that “This renewed partnership will deliver new areas of opportunity and allow us to engage with our multi-generational guests in a more authentic way.”

Starting this summer, Six Flags and Coca-Cola will launch eGaming, as well as long-term guest enhancements including VIP lounges, specialty beverages, and a variety of tentpole events at the parks. One example of these types of events occurred on February 11th at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix, which was among the parks celebrating the renewed partnership with a Pre-Game Tailgate Party. Live music, gaming and interactive tailgating activities including inflatable attractions that were geared to family visitors were all a part of the event. A portion of each ticket sold benefitted a local nonprofit, Special Olympics Arizona. At Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita, Calif., tailgating events also included college game events.

The extension of the partnership with Coca-Cola is of course featuring the manufacturer as the exclusive beverage provider at Six Flags including Coke, Sprite, Dasani, Powerade, Smartwater, Simply juices, Gold Peak tea, Monster Energy drinks, and Minute Maid lemonade.

But wait, there's more. Spring Break is now Scream Break! at Six Flags parks, offering an after-hours event replete with haunted houses, fun frights, and what are described as reduced wait times for thrill rides and coasters.  “Flavors of the World,” “Viva La Fiesta” and “Blues, Brews, and BBQ” celebrations will also take place at participating Six Flags venues this year. 2023 will also bring the 2nd annual Oktoberfest, and a new Halloween daytime event for families, the Kids Boo Fest. Decorations, trick or treat trails, and pumpkin decorating will be part of the mix. In the fall evening hours, the parks' annual Fright Fest will also return with mazes, haunted houses, and entertainment; winter months will mark the return of Six Flags' annual Holiday in the Park event with plenty of seasonal lights and entertainment.

All in all it will be a busy year with the growth of many new attractions at Six Flags parks nationwide.