Six Flags Over Maryland

Six Flags Over Maryland (formerly known as Baltimore's Great Acres) is an amusement park located in Annapolis, Maryland (a suburb in Baltimore). It is owned and operated by Six Flags. It was established on May 28, 1963 by Westinghouse as Baltimore's Great Acres. Westinghouse would promptly sell the park to Smith Family Amusement Parks (later Sinclair Theme Parks) in 1983. Sinclair would then merge with Premier Parks in 1995, and it would gain its current name in 1998.

Due to the theme park being 10 miles away from Bowie based Six Flags America, the park is commonly dubbed a "sister park".

Westinghouse era (1963-1982)
Due to rise of Westinghouse and their stations, Westinghouse conceived plans of expanding further by entering the theme park business. They decided to build a new park in Annapolis (a suburb in Baltimore) mainly because WJZ with served that area was one of Westinghouse's best performing ABC affiliate. Development of the park began as early as 1961 and finished in March 1963. The theme park was officially opened on May 28, 1963 as Baltimore's Great Acres. The new theme park was divided into 5 areas, "Greater Baltimore", "Splash Station", "WJZ 13 National Park", "The Kids Corner", and "Classical Maryland". During its first year of operation, it mostly was closer to an entertainment center than a theme park. In 1964, three new attractions were added, a flat ride named "Nature Traveller" in WJZ 13 National Park, a train ride known as the "Westinghouse Express" located at The Kids Corner, and the first roller coaster in the park, "Victory Smasher", which was located at Classical Maryland.

1967 was the first year were the park gained major changes. The Kids Corner was renamed "Westinghouse Funtown" and the park added 6 new attractions. "The Voyage", an Arrow Dynamics log flume ride, was built at the Splash Station section of the park, "Soaring Skies" and "Deer Plains" were two roller coasters built for the WJZ 13 National Park area, the first wooden roller coaster in the park, "Taney" was located at the Greater Baltimore area, and a haunted house/minecart themed dark ride known as "Ghost Trap" was located in the newly named Westinghouse Funtown section of the park.

1972 would see the creation of Chesapeake, a wooden roller coaster known for its large heights and fast speeds - essentially, it was a bigger, taller and faster version of Taney. It was located at the WJZ 13 National Park area and became the main attraction at the park for many years. In 1976, two new attractions were added, Timber, an aerial ride and Driver, a new roller coaster that was the first one of it's kind in the world - a prototype launched coaster built by Schwarzkopf that utilized the weight drop launch that would be used on their future shuttle loop coasters. Both were built for the WJZ 13 National Park era with the latter replacing the former Deer Plains ride.

In 1982, Driver, suffering from multiple technical issues and high maintenance costs, would close at the end of the season and remain Standing But Not Operating for the next season.

Sinclair Theme Parks era (1983-1995)
In 1983, Westinghouse sold the park to up-and-coming theme park chain Sinclair Theme Parks (then named Smith Family Amusement Parks). It would be the very first park that the company would acquire, and the first park in the chain period. Because of this, Westinghouse Funtown was converted back to The Kids Corner, and WJZ 13 National Park became known as Maryland National Park. The "Ghost Trap" ride would also be rethemed and renamed "Wild Wild West", to fit the more kid-friendly theme of the area. Driver would also be removed and scrapped at the end of the season, after remaining Standing But Not Operating for the whole season.

In 1984, an Arrow suspended coaster called Sasquatch was added, replacing Driver in the Maryland National Park area.

In 1985, Victory Smasher, the park's first coaster, was removed following the end of the season and sold off to a traveling fair. Its current fate is unknown. The spot that the ride was sitting on would be used as an expansion of the Classical Maryland area for 1986.

During the 1993 season, Sinclair Theme Parks announced its expansion of the The Kids Corner section of the park. The Sinclair 45 train ride (which previously went under the Westinghouse Express name) was replaced by a new train ride named the Kids Corner Railroad. The park also opened a carousel ride known as the "Cor-A-Round", a small Ferris wheel known as "The Looper", and a music express ride known as "Himalaya". This expansion also included the construction of a sound studio used for the production of the Fox 45 Kids Club program on WBFF-TV (which Sinclair owned).

Premier Parks era (1995-1998)
In 1995, Sinclair Theme Parks merged with Premier Parks, causing its parks as a result to become Premier Parks properties.

In 1998, Boomerang: Coast to Coaster opened. The ride previously made its debut with in fellow Premier Parks properties, Darien Lake and Marine World. This was the first ride from Baltimore's Great Acres to originate from a different theme park.

Six Flags era (1999-present)
In 1999, the park was renamed to Six Flags Over Maryland as a result of Six Flags rebranding the Premier Parks properties. Around the exact same time, a new arena of the park was created known as "Gotham City", using characters from DC Comics. The Kids Corner area of the park was renamed to Looney Tunes Movie Town, with it being rethemed to the Looney Tunes shorts from Warner Bros. (who was once the owner of Six Flags), and the Wild Wild West dark ride would be replaced with Bugs Bunny Fun Factory, an indoor multi-level foam play area.

In 2000, Roaring Timbers opened. It is known notoriously for it's "near-miss" interactions with the nearby Sasquatch coaster.

In 2003, Superman: The Escape opened. It would serve as a "prototype" model for future coasters such as Stealth and Zaturn.

In 2004, the Splash Station section of the park was removed and was replaced by a newly built water park known as "Hurricane Harbor Baltimore". Hurricane Harbor Baltimore is still in operation to this day.

In 2006, The Riddler's Revenge opened.

2008 would saw the addition of a new section of the park known as "Wiggles World", themed after the Australian kids band of the same name.

In 2011, Chesapeake was converted by Rocky Mountain Construction during the 2010-11 offseason into Wicked Chesapeake. That same year, Wiggles World was converted into Kidzopolis following Six Flags' loss of the Wiggles license, and Gotham City was renamed to DC Universe.

In 2014, Maryland National Park was renamed Six Flags National Park.

Areas

 * Classic Maryland
 * DC Universe (formerly known as Gotham City from 1999-2010)
 * Greater Baltimore
 * Kidzopolis (formerly known as Wiggles World from 2008-2010)
 * Looney Tunes Movie Town (formerly known as Westinghouse Funtown from 1967-1982 and The Kids Corner from 1963-1966 and 1983-1998)
 * Six Flags National Park (formerly known as WJZ 13 National Park from 1963-1982 and Maryland National Park from 1983-2013)

Roller coasters

 * Boomerang: Coast to Coaster (1998; A Vekoma Boomerang coaster) [Greater Baltimore]
 * The Riddler's Revenge (2006; A Maurer SkyLoop XT 450) [DC Universe]
 * Roaring Timbers (2000; A CCI Wooden Coaster) [Six Flags National Park]
 * Sasquatch (1984; An Arrow Dynamics suspended coaster) [Six Flags National Park]
 * Superman: The Escape (2003; An Intamin "Mini-Strata" Accelerator coaster that would serve as the prototype for Stealth and Zaturn) [DC Universe]
 * Taney (1967; A PTC Wooden Coaster) [Greater Baltimore]
 * Wicked Chesapeake (2011; An RMC wood/steel hybrid coaster) [Six Flags National Park]

Flat rides

 * Batman vs. The Joker (2001; A Zamperla Hawk 48 ride) [DC Universe]
 * Carousel (1993; A Chance Carousel, formerly known as "Cor-A-Round" [1993-1994]) [Classic Maryland]
 * Giant Wheel (1993; A Chance Ferris Wheel, formerly known as "The Looper" [1993-1994]) [Greater Baltimore]
 * Himalaya (1993; A Reverchon Himalaya ride) [Greater Baltimore]
 * Wagon Wheel (1976; A Huss Enterprise ride, formerly known as "Timber" [1976-1998]) [Six Flags National Park]

Kiddie rides

 * Bugs Bunny Fun Factory (1999; An SCS Interactive Incorporated foam play area) [Looney Tunes Movie Town]
 * Movie Town Studio Tour (1993; A Zamperla Rio Grande kiddie train ride, formerly known as "Kids Corner Railroad" [1993-1998]) [Looney Tunes Movie Town]
 * Taz Tornado (1999; A Zamperla Loli Swing ride) [Looney Tunes Movie Town]

Roller coasters

 * Chesapeake (1972-2010; A PTC Wooden Coaster, converted into Wicked Chesapeake)
 * Deer Plains (1967-1975; An Arrow Dynamics mine train coaster, replaced with Driver)
 * Driver (1976-1983; A Schwarzkopf prototype launched coaster, utilized the same weight drop launch as future Schwarzkopf shuttle loop coasters, closed in 1982 and remained Standing But Not Operating throughout 1983, scrapped and replaced with Sasquatch)
 * Victory Smasher (1964-1985; A Schwarzkopf Wildcat 54m, sold off to a traveling fair, fate currently unknown)

Flat Rides

 * Sinclair 45 (1964-1992; An Arrow Dynamics train ride, formerly known as "Westinghouse Express" [1964-1982], replaced with Kids Corner Railroad)
 * The Voyage (1967-2003; An Arrow Dynamics log flume ride, demolished to make way for Hurricane Harbor, trains were sent to other Six Flags parks for their log flume rides, except for one which is currently being used as a photo op spot in Hurricane Harbor)
 * Wild Wild West (1967-1998; An Arrow Dynamics tracked dark ride themed to the old west, formerly known as "Ghost Trap" [1967-1982], was originally a haunted house/minecart themed dark ride, replaced with Bugs Bunny Fun Factory)

Trivia

 * This park is said to compliment Six Flags America rather than compete.