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Six Flags New Orleans Redevelopment: General Discussion

Matt N

TS Member
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Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Decided to make a thread on this as we don’t currently have one. Anyway, for those of you who don’t know about Six Flags New Orleans and its turbulent history, here’s a brief summary of what has happened over the course of the park’s short life:
  • The park was originally opened in 2000 by AlphaSmart Parks (the American division of Parques Reunidos now known as Palace Entertainment) and was named Jazzland.
  • Jazzland had a Mardi Gras theme and a variety of attractions, including the Sally dark ride known as Jocco’s Mardi Gras Madness and the CCI wooden roller coaster known as Mega Zeph to name just a few.
  • In 2001, AlphaSmart put the park’s lease up for sale due to the park not being profitable for the company. In March 2002, the lease was purchased by Six Flags.
  • Following Six Flags’ purchase of the Jazzland lease, they majorly overhauled the park for the 2003 season. This overhaul included a park rename to Six Flags New Orleans and the addition of multiple new rides, including a Batman: The Ride clone (relocated from Thrill Valley in Japan where it was formerly known as Gambit) and a Vekoma Hurricane named the Jester (relocated from Six Flags Fiesta Texas where it was formerly known as Joker’s Revenge).
  • The park operated as normal until August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Due to the park’s lakeside location, it was severely flooded, and was under 6 or 7 feet of corrosive water for weeks after the Hurricane. Six Flags inspectors deemed the rides and buildings “80% demolished”, the flat rides were all destroyed due to water immersion and Mega Zeph was said to be damaged beyond repair. Batman: The Ride, however, escaped the Hurricane relatively unscathed due to its elevated station platform and corrosion-resistant support structure (good old B&M!). As such, it was one of the first things to be removed from the park, being shipped off to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in December 2006, where it now operates as Goliath. Other rides that were removed include the S&S shot towers; these were sent to Great Escape where they are now known as Sasquatch and the Vekoma kiddie coaster; this was relocated to Six Flags Magic Mountain where it now operates as Road Runner Express. Following these removals, Six Flags exited their lease on the park.
  • Over the years since Katrina, the park has had multiple redevelopment proposals from multiple companies, including one to turn the park into a Nickelodeon themed park and one to turn the park into an outlet mall. The site has also been used to film movies like the Nicolas Cage film Stolen, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Jurassic World and Deepwater Horizon.
If my recap wasn’t good enough for you, then search “Six Flags New Orleans: Killed By Katrina” into YouTube. It’s a really interesting watch and I’d personally recommend it. The same YouTuber has also made documentaries on Geauga Lake and Six Flags AstroWorld, which are also excellent watches.

Anyway, I didn’t create this thread just to recap the history of Six Flags New Orleans. I made it because I wanted to tell you guys about an interesting redevelopment proposal from the Paidia Company that really caught my eye. Basically, this plan first came about in 2014, when the City of New Orleans was requesting redevelopment plans for the SFNO site. The Paidia Company submitted a plan that would involve the park being renamed to its original name of Jazzland, and would see many great improvements, including:
  • The complete refurbishment and revival of Mega Zeph by the Gravity Group.
  • A new water park named Baritone Beach.
  • An on-site hotel.
  • A new wild mouse coaster to replace the old one that was destroyed during Katrina.
  • A retheme of the park’s log flume to the Louisiana sugar industry.
  • A retheme of the Jester to Driskill Mountain, including turning the ride’s trains forwards.
  • Many new themed areas, including The Beach and Sportsman’s Paradise.
  • And much more!
Even though this development was first filed for in 2014, it is still gaining steam. The development has a Facebook page that I can’t currently link to, but if you want to find it, search Jazzland Park into Facebook. The Paidia Company are currently hoping to get approval in late 2017 for a 2019 opening.

So, what do you guys think of this plan? I personally think it will be great if it comes true.

P.S. Apologies for the long post.
 
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Would be great to see it happen, it would be quite a big investment though which makes me wonder wether or not it will happen :)
 
This scheme seems to have a bit more weight to it opposed to the others. Problem I see is the 12 years of rot and neglect, the standing structures are going to need a hell of a lot of money thrown at them before even starting to build new supporting infrastructure.
Good luck to them and I hope they get the financial backing needed, as this would be a great story if the park reopens and becomes a success.

It would be a huge two fingers up to Six Flags who couldn't wait for an excuse to bleed the park of its assets for there other parks, due to the park not performing how they expected.
 
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Has anyone bought or rented Closed for Storm (trailer above)? It's £6 on Prime. I was going to do it this weekend but didn't get round to it.
 
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