Smaller Park Gets the Six Flags Treatment & a Flying Roller Coaster

Six Flags America
Upper Marlboro, MD
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Tickets & Pricing
Last Visit: October 2006

Anyone that grew up in the Washington D.C. area remembers Wild World, a massive water park just east of D.C. In the 90′s the park changed ownership and Adventure World was born. Mind Eraser, a popular inverted coaster clone and later Roar, a twister wooden coaster joined the lineup. The most expansive growth occurred when Six Flags bought the park in 1998. Aside from bringing those lovable Looney Tunes, the corporation graced the humble park with five brand new state-of-the-art roller coasters in three years. That’s pretty rare in the amusement park industry.

Notable Rides & Attractions
Among Six Flags America’s notable attractions the massive water park stands out the most. It features a large wave pool and a myriad of slides. Another water attraction, Typhoon Sea Coaster, might have been a predecessor of the modern water coaster. It’s basically a flume ride with some tracked sections and even a turntable that will result in your boat taking a plunge backwards. There’s also a rather small drop tower and a Batman stunt show.

Theming & Atmosphere
Unfortunately, the explosion of new coasters didn’t translate into the intangibles like charm and an overall fun amusement park feel. Instead, Six Flags America has a bad layout and while it has trees, it’s not the most beautiful park. The main street and entrance are nice, standard Six Flags fair, but the rest of the park is very unremarkable. Shaky customer service and indifferent ride ops are also very common.

Coaster Breakdown – Two Stars and a So-so Supporting Cast
Batwing and Superman: Ride of Steel are the obvious stars here.


Great Chase – Steel Kiddie Coaster – N/A
Skipped this one, because I don’t have a little kid to ride with.

Mind Eraser – Inverted Coaster – 5.0
Pack the Tylenol this one gives major headbang.

Roar – Twister Wooden Coaster – 5.5
Cool layout, but has aged badly. Too rough.

Wild One – Traditional Wooden Coaster – 6.0
Pretty fun for a relocated old-timer.

Two Face: The Flip Side – Inverted Shuttle Coaster – 6.0
Short, but worth a ride.

Joker’s Jinx – Looping Steel Launch Coaster – 7.0
Great launch, a highlight of the park.

Novices will enjoy it. It’s big to them. Check out my complete review.

Batwing – Steel Flying Coaster – 8.0
May be as close as you’ll get to flying.

Six Flags America Coaster Q.Q.M.
Quality – 6.4/10
Quantity – 8
Mix – Strong

Get There Index – 1 out of 4
(Go If You’re an Enthusiasts & You’re in the Area)
I have to give Six Flags America a ’1′. It’s not a terrible park by any means, but if you’re a coaster enthusiast you can find all but one of these coasters (Wild One) somewhere else and you might have already ridden them. There’s nothing at this park that’s in the can’t miss category.

On the other hand, it’s a good park if you’re a newbie as the there’s a great variety of coasters and pretty good quantity. The average park-goer, will be enticed by the two stars; Superman and Batwing. And rightfully so. If you’re a novice these coasters are pretty thrilling, but if you’ve been around the block a few times they’re closer to adequate.

See the rest of the GTI & How I Rate Theme Parks. Got any questions or comments about Six Flags America? Leave a comment below.