page_title: Six Flags New England
section_title: Purchase by Premier Parks
hierarchical_section_title: Six Flags New England / History / Purchase by Premier Parks
caption_attribution_description: English: A panoramic shot of the free water park in Six Flags New England.
context_page_description: Six Flags New England, formerly known as Riverside Park and Riverside: The Great Escape, is an amusement park located in Agawam, Massachusetts, a western suburb of Springfield, Massachusetts. Opening in the late 1800s, it is the oldest amusement park in the Six Flags chain, acquired by Premier Parks in 1996 and rebranded Six Flags New England in 2000. Superman the Ride is among the park's most notable rides, having appeared as a highly-ranked roller coaster in the annual Golden Ticket Awards from Amusement Today since the ride opened in 2000.
context_section_description: During the 1996 season, the track on the Musik Express was damaged and the attraction remained closed for a portion of the year. A Chance Chaos was ordered and was scheduled to open for the 1997 season. During the winter of 1996, the Carroll family was approached by Premier Parks of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which subsequently purchased the park. Premier Parks renamed the park as Riverside: The Great Escape.
  Under Premier Parks, various changes were made to the park. For the 1997 season, the new owners invested more than $20 million on general improvements and several new attractions. Attractions included the Island Kingdom Waterpark, which featured a children's water play area, various slides and a wave pool. Other attractions included Mind Eraser (later renamed to The Riddler Revenge) and Shipwreck Falls. In the process of renovation, some older rides such as the Bayern Kurve were removed. Main Street U.S.A. was substantially redesigned, and the Southern Center midway was themed to a 1950s city and renamed Rockville. Other improvements included a new entrance plaza and the carousel being renovated and relocated to the front gate.
  In 1998, the park added several attractions including a lazy river, another children's play structure named Hook's Lagoon, a speed slide tower called Cannonball, a family raft slide named Swiss Family Tobaggan and a multi-slide tower called Big Kahuna. The water park expansion was added to the south end of the park next to the park's log flume. The park also added The Hellevator, an S&S Worldwide Turbo Drop tower measuring 21 stories tall, which was originally painted red.
caption: The water park at Six Flags New England
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