Six Flags New England
Agawam, Massachusetts
This small park near Springfield, Massachusetts started in 1870 as Gallops Grove picnic grove. It later acquired the name Riverside Park in 1912. The park was closed for
six years in the 1930s due to the Great Depression. Edward Carroll Sr. reopened the park in 1940. Premier Parks purchased
it in 1996 and renamed it Riverside: The Great Escape. After Premier Parks purchased the Six Flags chain of parks in 1998, this location was re-branded Six Flags New England in 2000. Also that year, Six Flags closed down the Riverside Park Speedway NASCAR track
adjacent to the property. With its 150 years of history, it is the oldest amusement park in the Six Flags chain. Six Flags New England currently covers 235 acres.
Two coaster have been built since my last visit: Joker opened in May 2017. It is a 4D Free Spin model built by S&S. Quantum Accelerator was built in 2025. It is an
Intamin family launched coaster. It does not have inversions, but it has two launch segments where many tires propel the trains forward. Technical problems delayed the ride's opening until 2026.
Nearly a dozen coasters have left the park:
- Black Widow (1977-1999) was an Arrow Dynamics launched shuttle loop with one inversion. It was moved to Thorntown, Indiana and was in
storage at the Old Indiana Fun-n-Water Park from 2000 to 2003, but never was reassembled. It was scrapped.
- Cyclone (1983-2014) was a wood coaster designed by William Cobb.
For 2015, Rocky Mountain Construction converted it into Wicked Cyclone, a steel coaster with three inversions. (See pictures below for details.)
- Dark Knight (2008) was going to be enclosed Mack Rides Wild Mouse. In early 2008, work had started on the building that was going to cover the coaster, and the pieces of the were sitting at the park, but plans changed for some reason.
The ride was never assembled here, but it was shipped to Six Flags Mexico in Mexico City. It opened in 2009 as Dark Knight.
- Giant Dip (1910s) was a wood coaster.
- Goliath (2012-2019) was Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang. It was demolished in 2019. Before coming here, it was Déjà Vu
at Six Flags Magic Mountain from 2001 to 2011.
- Greyhound (1915-1933) was a wood coaster designed by John A. Miller. It was one of many rides that closed after the park was closed for six years starting in 1933.
- Lightning, (1920-1933) which was also called Giant Coaster, was also a wood coaster designed by John A. Miller .
- Little Rickies Little Twister (?-1999) was Allan Herschell Little Dipper kiddie coaster. The ride operated here in the 1970s, but it may have been built a decade or two earlier. It one of two coasters that moved to
the Old Indiana Fun-n-Water Park in 2000, but was never rebuilt. After sitting in pieces in a field, it was scrapped in 2003.
- Whirlwind Racer (1928-1933) was a racing coaster built by the Traver Engineering Company.
- Wildcat (1968-1983) was a Schwarzkopf "Wildcat 65m" steel coaster. It traveled to many locations after leaving here, but it has been operating at the
North Georgia State Fair since 2011.
