Frontier City
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| Frontier City | |
|---|---|
| Location | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States  |
| Website | www.FrontierCity.com |
| Owner | CNL Income Properties |
| Opened | 1958 |
| Operating season | April to October |
| Area | 55 acres 109 acres (0.44 km²) total |
| Rides | 45 total
|
Frontier City, is an amusement park in northeast Oklahoma City. It is owned by CNL Income Properties and operated by PARC Management. Frontier City is currently the only theme park in Oklahoma.
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[edit] History
Frontier City was originally opened in 1958 as a Western "town" theme-park. It originally opened up at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds but moved to its current location a few years later to become a "boomtown" since it sprung-up quickly. It was created to compliment Oklahoma City's western heritage and provide a new amusement park for the area due to the demise of Delmar Gardens and Springlake Amusement Park. The park added spinning rides as well as several roller coasters and a log flume ride starting in the 1960s and 1970s.
Froniier City was originally operated and owned by Premier Parks. It was the company's first and flagship park. Premier Parks' corporate headquarters were located at the southeast corner of the Frontier City property. Over the years, Premier Parks acquired other properties such as Elitch Gardens in Denver, Adventureworld in Largo (now Six Flags America), Geauga Lake near Cleveland, Kentucky Kingdom, and others. They also acquired Funtime parks which owned Darien Lake near Buffalo, The Great Escape in Lake George, and Riverside Park (now Six Flags New England).
Premier Parks would purchase Six Flags Inc. in 1998. At that point, the company took the Six Flags name. In 1999, Geauga Lake would be renamed Six Flags Ohio and Kentucky Kingdom would be branded a Six Flags park. In 2000, Riverside and Adventureworld would be renamed Six Flags New England and Six Flags America. Elitch Gardens and Darien Lake would also be rebranded that year adding Six Flags to their names. In 2001, Six Flags Ohio would be renamed Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure.
Six Flags would also acquire Jazzland in New Orleans and rename that park Six Flags New Orleans, in 2002. They also bought Wild Waves/Enchanted Village near Seattle. It was thought that Frontier City, Wild Waves/Enchanted Village, and Great Escape would eventually be rebranded Six Flags parks. But they never were. The other two parks would still sell Six Flags season passes good at all Six Flags parks except for Frontier City and White Water Bay. The Frontier City passes would only be good there and not at other Six Flags parks. But in some years, Six Flags passes were also available for purchase at a higher price. Six Flags Corporate offices remained at Frontier City until 2006.
Six Flags suddenly sold Worlds Of Adventure to Cedar Fair in 2004, which reverted to the Geauga Lake name. That park eventually became mostly a waterpark.
On January 27, 2006, Six Flags put Frontier City and White Water Bay, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Elitch Gardens, Darien lake, a couple waterparks, and Wild Waves/Enchanted Village for sale. At the same time, Six Flags also announced its plan to close corporate offices in Oklahoma City and move to New York City. Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro had said he expected the parks to continue operation after the sale. But rumors surfaced that some of them could close.
On January 11, 2007, Six Flags opted to keep Magic Mountain bu then announced that it would sell Frontier City and White Water Bay, along with Elitch Gardens, Darien Lake, Splashtown near Houston, and Wild Waves/Enchanted Village to PARC 7F-Operations. [1] As a part of the deal, the Six Flags prefix was removed from the names of Elitch Gardens and Darien lake. Frontier City and White Water bay were never branded as Six Flags parks.
Both parks opened for the 2007 season.
[edit] Rides and Attractions
[edit] Roller Coasters
[edit] Currently operating
Frontier City currently has four major operating roller coasters and one children's coaster.
- Steel Lasso- a Vekoma family suspended coaster that is currently under construction.
- The Wildcat is a wood hybrid, "out and back" coaster consisting of a wooden track with structural steel supports. Originally built in 1968, it was designed by Aurel Vaszin and Edward Leis for National Amusement Device Company for Fairyland Park in Kansas City, MO. It was relocated to Frontier City in 1991 and was one of the first complete relocations of a wooden coaster. The original coaster was modified to fit the terrain of the current site. In 1999, the original NAD trains were replaced by new Philadelphia Toboggan Company trains. The Wildcat is 75 feet (23 m) in height and has a first drop of 65 feet (20 m). Its track length is 2,653 feet (809 m) and maximum speed reached is 50 MPH.
- The Silver Bullet is a steel coaster designed by Anton Schwarzkopf. The Silver Bullet was originally built to be a completely portable coaster. There are no concrete footings holding the coaster down like permanent structures. Instead, water-filled ballasts hold the weight of the coaster down. Operating since 1979, it had a brief position at the Texas State Fair from 1980-1983. It was relocated to Frontier City in 1986. Since being at Frontier City, it has gone through many color schemes including blue/black, and teal/red. The Silver Bullet is Oklahoma's tallest and fastest coaster, at some 83 feet (25 m) high and 55 mph (89 km/h) speeds attained.
- The Diamondback, originally built in 1978, is a "shuttle loop" rollercoaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics. Originally named the "Lightning Loops," it was relocated from Six Flags Great Adventure to Frontier City in 1994. At Great Adventure, it had been interlocked with an identical launched loop coaster which gave it the name "Lightning Loops" and in 2007 it was painted yellow and blue.
- The Wild Kitty is a small children's coaster made of strap steel.
[edit] Defunct
- The Nightmare Mine was a "Galaxi" style coaster built as an indoor attraction at Frontier City in 1989. Prior to that, it had been an outdoor roller coaster known as the Orange Blossom Special which was manufactured in 1974 by S.D.C. The Nightmare Mine has been standing but not operating since 2003, but is up for sale.
- Excalibur was an Arrow Dynamics "Runaway Mine Train" meant to be installed in Frontier City after being relocated from Six Flags Astroworld in Houston, TX. Excalibur was carelessly dismantled in Astroworld and upon arrival at Frontier City was deemed in too poor of shape to be rebuilt. It sat in the storage lot behind the park until 2006 when it was sold for scrap metal.[citation needed]
[edit] Other thrill rides
- Quick Draw is a family interactive dark ride designed and manufactured by the Sally Corporation with an old west concept. Riders use pistols equipped with infrared LEDs/readers that count up a score based on targets hit. The ride uses an old building that once housed a previous dark ride, Treasure Mountain. The old ride was completely dismantled and walls deconstructed so that Quick Draw's hardware could be installed.
- Eruption- an S&S Power Sky Sling built in 2003
- Tornado - a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl attraction
- The Hangman- a Chance tower/drop ride in which riders sit around a square tower in a ring of seats harnessed to a cable system which lifts them into the air where they "hang" for several moments before plummeting back down to the ground. It is closed and for sale.
- Geronimo Skycoaster
- Terrible Twister-a Chance Rotor.
- Sidewinder-a Huss Frisbee ride.
- Rodeo Round-up-a Huss Enterprise.
- Mind Bender-a Chance Inverter.
- Tomahawk-a Zamperla Hawk 48. It was removed for the 2007 season and rumored to have a replacement for the 50th season.
- Casino--a Chance Trabant.
[edit] Water Rides
- Splash, formerly "Ozarka Splash" once sponsored by Ozarka, is the first Arrow Dynamics built "log flume" style ride. Riders travel in a log themed boat through a concrete canal filled with water. Splash is characteristic of older-style flumes by the fact that 90% of the ride is ground level, as opposed to newer versions where the ride is a fiberglass canal suspended over the ground.
- Renegade Rapids is a large raft-style attraction which carries riders through a simulated white water rapids.
[edit] External links
- Frontier City Official Website
- Frontier City on Rollercoaster Database
- Frontier City Photo Gallery
- A Fan Site
- Frontier City is at coordinates Coordinates:
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