Six Flags has turned into a real Wild One
Once upon a time the land that is Six Flags America, just outside Bowie in Largo, was a wildlife preserve. Today it is home to an amusement park filled with roller coasters, amphitheaters, kids attractions and a water park.
For those who may not have been to Six Flags in a while, the Wave Pool is no longer the main attraction in the park. It's grown - immensely.
As a 33-year-old who has lived in Maryland his entire life (sans six months in Maine, and that entire state truly is a wildlife preserve) never before had I stepped foot inside Six Flags until recently. Roller coasters were never my thing, I more preferred something like the Tilt-A-Whirl or the car ride home.
I just don't handle fear very well.
A few of the Blade-News staff - myself, editor David Emanuel and editorial assistant Sandy Stewart (complete with daughter and grandchildren) - decided to take a day trip to the park and see what all the fuss was about.
Six Flags is literally right in our backyard. The "Welcome to Bowie" sign was not even a mile up the road from the park as we left.
Who knew?
"It is a best kept secret," said Six Flags public relations manager Karin Korpowski. "So many people still don't know the park is here and think the closest Six Flags is in New Jersey."
Korpowski met us just inside the front gates. She immediately escorted our group to one of the park's newest attractions, Tony Hawk's Halfpipe. Those readers who may have an allergy to things that induce lengthy periods of crying, perhaps the halfpipe is not for you (OK, not for us!).
Tony Hawk's Halfpipe is shaped, conveniently, like a skateboard halfpipe. There are small water outlets that lubricate the slide and then a collection of water at the bottom of the contraption provides a splash of fun as the fear sets in.
The ride is not ridiculously high, but it is that kind of steep. It appears as if the ride reaches about three stories above onlookers, who stared in amazement that people of all different ages and sizes found it within themselves to brave the halfpipe. Tony Hawk would be impressed to see the aquatic equivalent of the very sport he has ridden to fame and wealth.
Once riders have tackled Tony Hawk's Halfpipe and paid an obligatory visit to the Wave Pool, a Six Flags (and Wild World and Adventure World) staple for decades, they generally make their way to The Tornado. This thing just is not right - or at least it's the riders who are not right in the brain to tackle this.
As a side note, let it again be known that I am not a fan of anything that elevates my heart rate.
The Tornado begins a bit higher in the air - it seems- than the halfpipe. Generally ridden by groups of four, all on the same tube, the riders travel through what appears to be approximately 30 feet of dark tunnel. The ride then spits the tube of riders down a two-story drop into a wide open cylinder. The tubes fall with enough speed and force from the raging water that it carries the riders (hopefully still in the tube) about 20 feet up the side of the cylinder and then gradually down a shoot into a 3-foot pool.
No need for high definition to enjoy the look on the unsuspecting faces!
"The water park is so cool," said Six Flags season pass holder Brittany Pometto, who also is a 2008 graduate of Bowie High School. She cited exciting rides all over the park, such as Superman Ride of Steel (because "the drop is really cool"), as the reason why she decided to purchase a season pass. Making it even that much more fun is enjoying the park with friends.
But what happens when half want to ride coasters and the other half would rather cool off in the water park? "We actually stay together," said Pometto. "We don't split up at all."
Whether visitors to Six Flags are up for water park attractions or not, the roller coasters will undoubtedly provide enough sweaty riders to fill the Wave Pool.
The Wild One - also from the ol' Wild World days - is a rickety (and I say that lovingly) wooden coaster that thrashes riders around and, in certain instances, can leave a "rite of passage" bruise on the left arm of anyone who may have been on the left side of the car and clutching the outside of it with his (or her!) left arm.
Wooden coasters are the granddaddies of the ride. Places like Coney Island and King's Dominion have featured wooden coasters for decades, but the Wild One was my first wooden coaster and the thrill of conquering a fear and enjoying a rush of adrenaline was certainly worth the 33 years of anxiety I suffered each time I thought of the excruciatingly long trek up the initial hill. Certainly the first drop would send my heart up into that racing brain of mine. I will admit that the actual ride challenged my manhood a few times, but once it was over, it was a fantastic feeling.
Six Flags also boasts coasters that are a step above The Wild One, at least from the standpoint of the fear factor. Wooden coasters generally are a bumpier ride, so the more modern of coasters such as Superman and The Joker's Jinx - and the awesomely enjoyable-to-watch Mind Eraser - provide smoother rides for participants, albeit not necessarily easier on the ol' ticker.
There are several family-oriented shows in addition to the aforementioned test of one's mettle. The kids can also have fun in the Looney Tunes Movie Town, complete with appearances by Bugs Bunny and all his friends.
Six Flags America is a really strangely unique attraction. The park is convenient to two major cities - Baltimore and D.C. - and many of the Six Flags rides make it into the annual Travel Channel shows that rate the best amusement park and water park rides in the country.
There must be many more folks in this area who have yet to visit Six Flags. The park is phenomenal and the staff are just as neat. It's not just the interns who brave the summer heat inside a Daffy Duck suit who are the characters, and that is just one of the many reasons Six Flags is a great destination to take advantage of, especially since it is just beyond Bowie.
But Korpowski said it best: "People who know Six Flags love it and know it well."
