# WhY is Six Flags Not Six Flags (Truely Pointless) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757 "2003-07-20T16:17:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MonkeyMule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@MonkeyMule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMule)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/1 "2003-07-20T16:17:16Z")
WHy is Six Flags never called six Flags? I mean I live in New York City, which is pretyt close to Six Flags: Great Adventure. But No one calls it that, it’s always called _Great Adventrue"_. I mean all the six flags are no where near each other, so If I went to Texas and said I went to Six Flags, they would know where I was talking about. Same with any of the other ones, but nobody calls them “Six Flags” it’s always by the Subtitle (well maybe in Texas, thats one is Six Flags over Texas) Expain this to one confused Simian/Equine ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/2 "2003-07-20T16:21:15Z")
Six Flags over Georgia is simply known as Six Flags. Was Six Flags Great Adventure not owned by the same company at the others at one time? If it was had an official name that was just “Great Adventure” perhaps people just kept calling it that even after it was bought? That, of course, is just my WAG. I really have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@MonkeyMule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMule)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/3 "2003-07-20T16:31:33Z")
Nope, its always been six Flags. My friend in Chicago says they call Six Flags over there “Great America”. Whats up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Tallayan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Tallayan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tallayan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/4 "2003-07-20T16:32:22Z")
Its six flags in michigan to ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/5 "2003-07-20T16:43:21Z")
In Ohio, (where they sucked up the independent Geauga Lake Park and the adjacent Ohio branch of Sea World and merged them into one), it’s just called Six Flags . Nobody calls it Great Adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/6 "2003-07-20T16:45:01Z")
Because they figured we Yankees would be upset over the symbolism of “Six Flags over Texas”. My WAG. Or maybe Great Adventure is just a better name than Six Flags’ Great Adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/7 "2003-07-20T16:50:24Z")
We call it Six Flags. Maybe people think “Great Adventure” sounds more like an amusement part than “Six Flags” ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/8 "2003-07-20T17:05:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > \*\*Because they figured we Yankees would be upset over the symbolism of “Six Flags over Texas”. My WAG. \*\* When I lived in Houston in the '70s, we did indeed refer to the Texan one as “Six Flags over Texas”. I don’t know if this has changed. ---
**Author:** ![Br\_er\_Lapin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Br\_er\_Lapin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Br_er_Lapin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/9 "2003-07-20T17:24:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\*In Ohio, (where they sucked up the independent Geauga Lake Park and the adjacent Ohio branch of Sea World and merged them into one), it’s just called Six Flags . Nobody calls it Great Adventure. \*\* Isn’t it called “Six Flags: (something else)” in other places? ie, it wouldn’t be called Great Adventure anyway… Not that that’s the point of the OP. Just being picky. I hear it called both Six Flags AND Great Adventure. Depends on your mood, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/10 "2003-07-20T18:04:53Z")
I guess the common usage of the parks’ names comes from how well the names will stand by themselves without “Six Flags” in front of them. Houston has Six Flags Astroworld, but I never hear it called anything but just “Astroworld” among regular people. I’ve never paid attention to how the announcer in the commercials refers to it, though. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/11 "2003-07-20T18:15:04Z")
I clearly remember commercials for the NJ park when I was a kid, they just said “Great Adventure”. The one time I was there (1987, for Senior Week) I don’t recall seeing or hearing the “Six Flags” part of the name once. In fact I was under the impression that it was an independent park before, bought by Six Flags sometime in the last ten years or so. I could be wrong on that, but I _know_ it used to be just plain Great Adventure in park ads as well as in everyday speech. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/12 "2003-07-20T18:21:34Z")
The SoCal one is always called Magic Mountain, never Six Flags Magic Mountain. Except on advertisements. They always use the full name. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/13 "2003-07-20T18:29:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flodnak \* > \*\* In fact I was under the impression that it was an independent park before, bought by Six Flags sometime in the last ten years or so. \*\* Correctamundo. Except that you’re doubtless old, like me, because you’ve compressed time. 😉 Great Adventure opened in 1974. Bally’s bought it in 1979 and folded it into the Six Flags brand. Six Flags itself spent the eighties and nineties bouncing around among owners, including a stint with Time Warner, before ending up a subsidiary of Premier Parks in 1998. And that’s probably why people still call it Great Adventure. Same reason it’s still the Pan Am building and 6th Ave. Old farts like us. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/14 "2003-07-20T18:36:50Z")
The Southern California park was known as Magic Mountain for years before Six Flags acquired it. The emphasis was as much on “attractions” as thrill rides in those days and advertisements featured a cast of customed characters. It was kind of a low-rent Disneyland. Six Flags added more excitement but bulldozed most of the park’s character, in this crotchety old-timer’s opinion. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/15 "2003-07-20T18:38:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neutron star \* > \*\*I guess the common usage of the parks’ names comes from how well the names will stand by themselves without “Six Flags” in front of them. Houston has Six Flags Astroworld, but I never hear it called anything but just “Astroworld” among regular people. I’ve never paid attention to how the announcer in the commercials refers to it, though. \*\* The one I’m referring to is actually called [Six Flags over Texas](http://www.sixflags.com/parks/overtexas/index.asp) (warning - horrible high-bandwidth site) and appears to be in Arlington. Didn’t realise Astroworld was now under that banner too. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/16 "2003-07-20T18:45:35Z")
When I was little in St. Louis, other kids would talk about going to Six Flags. My parents were the type to never bother with it, and we didn’t have a tv, so I had honestly no idea what they were talking about, but that was the name they used. In L.A., Six Flags bought Magic Mountain, but even after ten+ years, they don’t even try to work in the name. Even the advertising announcers just call it Magic Mountain. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/17 "2003-07-20T19:02:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMule \* > \*\*My friend in Chicago says they call Six Flags over there “Great America”. > > Whats up with that? \*\* Holdover from the [Marriott](http://www.geocities.com/ezeiza/mga.html) years. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/18 "2003-07-20T19:12:00Z")
The one near DC is called Six Flags America. Before that it was called Adventure World, and before that it was called Wild World. So you still get people calling it any of those names (though we leave the “America” bit off of Six Flags). What were the six flags anyway? Spain, Mexico, USA, Confederacy, France, … ? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/19 "2003-07-20T19:13:37Z")
Six Flags took over the Jazzland park in New Orleans this year and it’s now called Six Flags: New Orleans, but referred to as Six Flags. Or Jazzland. 😃 When I was 13 and there WAS only one Six Flags, the original one between Dallas and Fort Worth, my grandmother took my sister and I there. Made us wear dresses (couldn’t go out in public without being dressed like a proper little lady!) and wouldn’t let us ride on the ONE decent ride in the WHOLE park, the log flume. Thank heaven times have changed! When Six Flags moved in here this year, they said they own something like 37 or 38 theme parks around the world now. ---
**Author:** ![censored](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757/20 "2003-07-20T19:38:12Z")
Here in SoCal I hear both Six Flags and Magic Mountain used to refer to…Magic Mountain. The usage of Magic Mountain is far more common, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-six-flags-not-six-flags-truely-pointless/189757.md?page=2)