Frontier City

Frontier City, operated by Six Flags theme parks is a popular tourist attraction for families visiting Oklahoma City. There are many rides to choose from, including high-thrill and kiddie rides. The park also has a Wild West theme. Children and their parents can see a “gunfight”, and get a behind-the scenes look at how they do their stunts. All ages can also test their drawing skills at the electronic “shooting gallery.”

There are many thrill rides, including two steel courses, a classic wooden coaster and the Gunslinger, along with several other roller coasters. The Ferris Wheel, a carousel and flume ride are all family favorites.

 

Another family-friendly attraction in Oklahoma City is Hurricane Harbor, which is located on Frontier City’s grounds. There are many refreshing options at the water park, including the Castaway Creek lazy stream. Wild West Waterworks and Renegade Rapids are other rides. There are also several waterslides that lead to a free-fall of 64 feet into the pool below.

Frontier City, an Oklahoma City amusement park with western themes, is located in Oklahoma City. It is owned and operated by Six Flags by EPR. It was opened as a park in 1958. Frontier City is one the three Six Flags parks not currently designated as Six Flags parks. The other two are Great Escape in Queensbury (New York) and La Ronde Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Six Flags New England is the oldest Six Flags park, while Frontier City is second. Burge/Williams era (1958-1981)

The park was established along Route 66 in 1958. It is now Interstate 35. The park featured a haunted farm and mine train, as well as robberies, jails, and robberies. In the beginning, visitors could enter for free, but they had to pay a quarter to see the gunfight shows. Boomtown was originally built to commemorate Oklahoma’s semicentennial celebrations in 1957 at the Oklahoma State Fair grounds. Jimmy Burge, the leader of the committee responsible for building it, decided that an amusement park would be built with the same theme. [1] Instead of a traditional ribbon cutting it was to be a six-shooter shot at the stockade’s entrance. This is the same method used for its opening today. In the 1960s and 1970s, it added roller coasters, spinning rides, and a log flume ride.

 

Oklahoma City businessmen Jack Williams and James Burge originally owned the park. For twenty years, he had worked as a publicist in Hollywood, working for Robert Taylor and Joan Crawford. He was impressed by the business of theme parks and visited Disneyland in 1955. He knew that Oklahoma City would be the perfect location for a western-themed theme park. He was appointed to lead the 1957 Oklahoma Semi-Centennial Celebration. He negotiated with fair board members to buy many of the props and buildings at the “Boom Town” exhibit. Jack Williams was his partner and they created the park to recreate a Western town in 1880s Western. There were four blocks of streets that contained a Marshall’s Office, saloon and bank, a post office, fire station, bank and many storefronts. The park featured a train ride by Arrow Dynamics, an authentic stagecoach, donkey, and indoor dark rides designed by Russell Pearson. Pearson was a former Disney designer and went on to create Silver Dollar City in Branson and Ghost Town in the Sky in Maggie Valley.

 

It was an extremely popular park that saw over one million visitors in its first six seasons. However, Burge, who rode on the train and counted all heads each hour, was believed to have recorded attendance. This likely meant that the same people were counting multiple times daily. It was known for its saloon shows and train robberies, gunfights, Indian dancing, and saloon shows.

 

Management change (1981-1987).

A local real estate firm bought the park in the fall 1981 with plans to demolish it and develop the land. The oil crisis slowed the local real estate boom, and the company was left with a struggling amusement park to run. Although the president realized that Oklahoma City needed an amusement park, he also knew that a few million dollars would not be enough to fix its problems. The owners hired a management firm to manage the park in 1983.

 

Tierco Group/Premier Parks/Six Flags era (1987-2006)

The contract with the management company was terminated in 1987. Instead, the management staff moved to Frontier City Properties, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tierco Group, Inc.

 

The Tierco Group, Inc. changed its title to Premier Parks in 1995. They announced on February 9, 1998 that they would buy the Six Flags chain of parks from Time Warner.

 

Six Flags listed Frontier City and White Water Bay as well as Six Flags Magic Mountain and Elitch Gardens, Darien Lake and a few other water parks and Wild Waves/Enchanted village for sale on January 27, 2006. They also announced that they would close their corporate offices in Oklahoma City, and relocate to New York City or Grand Prairie, Texas. Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro stated that he expected the parks would continue to operate after the sale. Rumours circulated that some parks could be closed. There was a lot confusion in Oklahoma City. Many people mistakenly believed that Frontier City was closing down and would be moving to New York. [4]

 

CNL Properties and PARC Management era, 2007-2010

Six Flags decided to keep Magic Mountain on January 11, 2007. However, it announced that it would be selling Frontier City and White Water Bay along with Elitch Gardens and Darien Lake, Splashtown (near Houston), and Wild Waves/Enchanted Village, to PARC 7F Operations. [5] Six Flags’ prefix was removed at Darien Lake and Elitch Gardens as part of the deal. White Water Bay and Frontier City were not branded Six Flags parks. PARC sold them on to CNL Income Properties, Inc., and the two companies negotiated a long-term lease agreement under which CNL would lease them to PARC, who would then operate them. [6]

 

To celebrate the park’s 50th birthday, Steel Lasso was built in 2008.

 

CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. announced on November 24, 2010 that it had reached an arrangement to end PARC’s lease at the park. This was due to PARC not paying its contractual lease or loan obligations. According to 2010 SEC filings PARC had defaulted on its lease obligations. [8] The lease termination also involves five of the six original Six Flags parks.

 

Premier Parks, LLC era (2011-2016)

It was announced in 2011 that former Six Flags executives Gary Story and Kieran Burke would manage the properties under Premier Parks, LLC, following an agreement with CNL Lifestyle Properties. [9]

 

A former parking lot was transformed into a multi-million dollar water play area in 2012. Wild West Water Works is the name of the area. It features seven slides, a 1,000-gallon tipping water bucket, and hundreds more water gadgets. [10]

 

The park partnered with Plainview, Texas-based Larson International in 2014 for the Winged Warrior ride. In 2015, it teamed up again with Larson International to create the Brain Drain, a seven-story, looping thrill ride. [11]

 

A new attraction, The Gunslinger was added to the park in 2016. It is a spinning thrill ride that measures 60 feet tall and was created by Zamperla, an Italian ride manufacturer. It was moved from Magic Spring, Arkansas, which is also owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. 2016. 2016 marked the 25th anniversary for the Wildcat. To make the ride smoother, a lot of the track was retracked in 2016.

 

EPR Properties/Premier Parks era (2016-2018)

The park was sold again after the 2016 season to EPR Properties[12], which operated it under Frontier City Holdings LLC. Premier Parks remained the park’s management company with Stephen Ball acting as its general manager. [13]

 

The Wildcat was given a complete train overhaul in 2017. This included new lap bars and a change of color from the previous red. The Wild West Waterworks added a new water ride called the Gully Washer[14] that consists of three water slides. It is approximately 66 feet high and will begin from a tower. The Opera House will host “Shake, Rattle, and Roll”, a new show that replaces “Industrial Movement”. It revisits the music from the 1950s and 60s. [15]

 

EPR Properties/Six Flags era (2018-present)

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced on May 22, 2018 that they had entered into an agreement with Premier Parks to purchase the rights to operate the park. The lease rights would remain under EPR Properties’ ownership. [16]

 

Six Flags had to suspend all operations on all of their properties before the 2020 season began due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Frontier City, which had been closed for over two months, reopened on June 5, following new safety and health protocols. Frontier City operations are now open again as of June 2020.

 

Events

Every summer, the park hosts many concerts at the Starlight Amphitheater. All concerts are included in the park admission

 

Fright Fest

Frontier City’s 2018 “Fright Fest” was a new event. This had been an annual festival at the park since 2007. Six Flags purchased the park in 2007 and the event was renamed “FrightFest”. This is to avoid any legal problems.

 

Holiday in the Park

Frontier City’s 2018 Christmas event, “Holiday in the Park”, featured lights and entertainment in the park. This event was the first to be held in Frontier City. It added 27 days of operation between November and January. The event was originally called “A Frontier Christmas” prior to Six Flags’ acquisition of the park in May 2018.

Address: 11501 N I-35 Service Road, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma