I saw New Order in 93 and the Nelsons in 92 (I believe) there. I'll miss this place!! I had season passes in 87 and 93 when 93Q rocked. I think we are getting friends to go in a few weeks. I was hoping to take my kids there one day but I guess it'll never be.
Wow lots of memories there. I hate to see it close, but if it is inevitable, I hope the move some of the rides up here to Dallas. It will make my season pass that much more enjoyable. Growing up in Humble, I remember they were going to build a Disney park off of 59 back in the 80's. Only to see Deerbrook Mall go up shortly after. I would not put any stock in Astroworld closing as proof that Disney is coming. If anything the opposite would probably be true. Look at Orlando, the amusement parks did not move away from Disney, they moved right next to them. Disney brings them to the city. Meeting a different market brings them to your park. Oh and Peppermint Park rocked!
Holy cow, this is sad news. I mean, my inital reaction was that hey, I don't go there anymore, so I don't really care. Then I read the entire thread and took that trip down memory lane- I remember that there was a dolphin show that my parents took me to on my birthday in the late 70's, and the dolphins sung me happy birthday. It was always a magical, huge, fun place with tons of stuff to do, and you literally couldn't do it all in one day. When I was a teenager, the concerts and girls were great! Even then it was just fun to go. And Waterworld- it was my favorite place to go after it was built, well worth the price of admission. I really regret not going for years now, because I will never get the chance again. On the flip side, and especially since I live in Galveston now, Schlitterbahn is going to rock- here is the link to their site: Shlitterbahn. As for concerns that it won't have room to grow, check this illustration out; as you can see, they left about 40% of the land for future development. Hearing that they are using used parts to expand Splashtown is kind of scary to me. I'm sure they will make sure everything works, and this stuff is made to last, but still..yikes ! I love the idea of Disney coming here, or at least close by. Having a bullet train in Texas is one of my fantasies. J
The Schlitterbahn park will be on the 'West' end of the island (if you take a right on 61st and Seawall, that's West, if you take a left, that's East) next to the Airport and close to Moody Gardens. One of the big concerns is traffic- it gets stacked up on 61st St. as it is in the Summer, and that will be the main route to the new water park.
I remember Hanna-Barbera land where Splashtown is now. I think it lasted about 2 years...if that long.
this sucks the hairriest donkey balls in the world. even though it was my first job sweeping up cigarette butts and cleaning shat off of toilet seats, i did enjoy the place when i wasn't working on before i started working there. i still have my old "grounds quality" id that i was supposed to turn in once i quit. sigh.
This sucks royally! A nice chunk of my childhood down the drain. Back when I was a kid, our annual family visits to Houston were the highlight of my year. Out of small-town East Texas hell, into what I thought must be the biggest, most exciting city in the world. Trips to the Dome for an Astros game and Astroworld were always the cornerstones of the trip. I never saw the park in its pre-Six Flags heyday, but I loved it all the same. I remember being scared out of my pants as an 8-year-old that XLR-8 was going to slam into one of its support posts at any second. By the time I was a teen, I'd become a roller coaster junkie, and Batman: The Escape and Texas Cyclone became two of my all-time favorites. Things actually looked pretty promising in the 90s when new rides like the Texas Tornado (which didn't last long) and the Dungeon Drop were put in. I haven't been to the place in about 4-5 years, but the stoppage of new rides and attractions coming to the park seemed to signal that its end was near. For whatever reason, the place wasn't a priority for Six Flags. The place had long been landlocked and the parking situation with Reliant and the city made things more difficult. Sucks to see Astroworld turned into a temporary stock jump. I'm going to be really sad to see it go; I'd strongly considered getting a season pass this summer just so I could ride the Cyclone a couple times after work each day. Oh well. I'll certainly go next month for Fright Fest and give the place a decent goodbye.
I havent been there since it became splashtown. Can someone tell me what six flags did to the place? (i.e. did they make it better)
Woot!! GQ (ground quality) was the best. I worked in GQ as my first job too. The best thing about it was that you were not confined to a store, a ride, or working in food service. You got to walk around the park and interact with anyone. I even remember having contest's with my fellow GQ crew members and we would try to see who could get the most girls phone numbers in one shift. I remember I used to work in "area 3" which covered the "mexicana area" and the "XLR-8 area." Well the TIDAL WAVE was in the mexicana section and I was literally standing in front of the ride, and this man came up to me and was frantically asking me where to find the TIDAL WAVE ride. When he asked me this I was looking him in the eyes. After he asked the question, I turned my head to look at the tidal wave (which as I mentioned we were standing right next to - AND there were loud screams and sounds of splashing water from the direction of the ride) and I then give him the head nod as to where it is. Then he gets like 6 inches from my face and screams, "WHERE THE HELL IS THE GODDAMNED TIDAL WAVE!" I took a step back, paused, and looked him right in the eyes and proceeded to point in him in the direction he had just came from. Giving him detailed directions that would send him in a complete circle around the park that would lead right back to our exact same spot. And then he took off with the information I had just given him. I shook my head and laughed. Moments later a group of Nuns with a childrens group approached me and began asking for directions to the Coney Island section of the park. At that moment I felt like I would go to hell if I gave the Nuns the wrong directions. So I asked if I could show them directions on the map they were carrying. I then used their map to show them the quickest route to Coney Island. And after the Nuns and the children walked off, I looked to the sky and mumbled to myself that I wouldn't give anyone else false directions, no matter who they were or how obnoxious they were.
Six Flags is in a world-o-hurt. Six Flags to field final takeover offers Tuesday November 8, 5:37 PM EST PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Amusement park operator Six Flags Inc. (PKS) said on Tuesday it expects to receive final takeover offers from financial and strategic suitors by early December, with a final decision made by year-end. Six Flags said pared the list of potential buyers after receiving initial buyout offers earlier this month. So far, the bidders have submitted individual offers rather than forming bidding groups as seen in other buyout deals this year. Six Flags declined to name its bidders or discuss whether the auction included any international companies. Some analysts have said Dubai International Capital, an investment firm backed by the government of Dubai, may bid to build on its recent $1.5 billion purchase of Tussauds Group, known for its Madame Tussauds wax museums. Smaller amusement park rival Cedar Fair LP (FUN), which has 12 parks, previously said it would be interested in looking at Six Flags. Cedar Fair could not be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday. The auction of Six Flags has been complicated by an effort by dissident shareholder Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins football team, to replace the company's top executives with his own nominees and raise his stake to 34.9 percent from 11.7 percent. Six Flags also boasts $2.1 billion in debt and faces shrinking growth in park attendance and revenues. "While we do not believe that Six Flags, awash in red ink, will generate an attractive sale price ... our nominees, if elected, have pledged to review and evaluate any proposed sale transaction," Snyder's investment firm, Red Zone LLC, said in a statement. Red Zone contended that over the past six years Six Flags' current board and management have allowed the company to lose more than $2.6 billion in shareholder value. The price of Six Flags stock has dropped from more than $40 in May 1999 to less than $4 in May of 2005. Last week, another Six Flags investor, Diaco Investments LP, said it would reject the theme park operator's plan to put itself up for sale and would side with Snyder's proposal to replace top officials. Diaco holds a 9.8 percent stake in Six Flags. Six Flags put itself up for sale at a time when growth in park attendance and revenues is slipping. For the full-year 2005, the company expects park attendance to grow 4.75 percent and revenues to increase 8.5 percent. Cash flow, including its Houston park that recently closed, will total $300 million. "We'll have very strong revenue growth consistent with our expectations," Burke said. "Potential buyers looking at the performance can recognize what is going on and can extrapolate that going into the future." But for 2006, Six Flags projected shrinking growth. It said it expects park attendance to rise by about 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent, with revenues growing 6.5 percent to 7.0 percent. Cash flow will total about $340 million. Shares of Six Flags shed 13 cents, or 1.76 percent, to close at $7.26 on the New York Stock Exchange. ©2005 Reuters Limited.
