The Troubled History of Six Flags Power Plant Indoor Theme Park

[@vimes1003]

There's actually a reference to this in Disneyland Paris. Eddie Sotto was one of the lead designers in this project, he went on to become an Imagineer and was show producer for Main Street USA at Disneyland Paris. There's a poster in the Discovery Arcade depicting a retro-futuristic Baltimore, featuring the Power Plant. You can find the poster on Google, they're all amazing.

[@jesseyules]

Visited when I was 4 and had dreams of it my whole life. Finally figured out it was a real place at 42!

[@SHIMSHAMRECORDS]

I went to the Power Plant once when I was a kid. Even though there were no rides it was still a lot of fun; however, I could never remember the name of the place. I thought it might be called "the Factory", or something like that. Thanks for helping me revisit that fun day at the Power Plant.

[@fifthrider]

Every time I see one of these videos about a park that failed, or a concept that never got built, I always seem to see ideas ahead of their time that got used by others, elsewhere. Call it "theft" or "inspiration" but I always seem to see some well thought out idea keep surfacing. I love that. It means someone's hard work was eventually used and enjoyed somewhere else, in some capacity, not forgotten. That ship in a bottle feels like things I've seen in Trader Sam's and Club 33.

[@SemiShweet]

Nice, this is one of the coolest obscure defunct "amusement centers". Very nice pictures, too. I feel like this park could've been a success had they marketed it competently and maybe included just a few small rides. I want a Six Flags Autoworld video next!

[@dtj9923]

This is a blast from the past. I think as a kid I visited this attraction one time. I remember it being expensive and a bit sparse for the price of admission. It was definitely steampunk before steampunk was cool. Very Jules Vern + HG Wells as you indicated. Also felt a bit like a Ripley's Believe it or Not in some areas. I definitely remember walking away from the experience thinking "that's it?".

[@rj9955hi]

I loved going to that Barnes and Noble when visiting the Inner Harbor! I never knew it was related to Six Flags

[@terrancegrady699]

sorry to be offtopic but does any of you know a way to get back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb forgot my account password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me.

[@zevdraven1658]

@Terrance Grady Instablaster ;)

[@terrancegrady699]

@Zev Draven Thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.

[@terrancegrady699]

@Zev Draven It did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy:D Thank you so much you really help me out!

[@zevdraven1658]

@Terrance Grady happy to help :)

[@christophermichael.w.7577]

I am happy that someone made a proper video about the power plant. It was a pretty amazing experience for a kid. People tend to think about it the wrong way because they hear six flags and they compare it to theme parks.It was not a theme park in that sense. It did not have rides.People who got to experience it still remember it because it was so different. The attractions were the effects. For the time they were absolutely amazing. You also have to keep in mind that it was surrounded with places like the Disney store and other shops that were a novelty at the time and targeted tourists.

[@skyachtone8702]

Please post your video!! Would love to see it.

[@ryanfrieman733]

When you walked in, there was a big white mountain that had a face on it. You could talk to it and it would respond.

[@themikeygshow1271]

I feel like I’m the only person who actually thinks the Six Flags PP looks awesome

[@christophermichael.w.7577]

It was really cool. People who went there really loved the animatronics and effects. The company that made them is called Technifex and they have videos showing some of their pieces.

[@dinocas420]

This is amazing, I love these obscure history videos. I had no idea this ever existed, thank you for sharing!

[@chriswheeler6092]

It was amazing to see because no one had ever seen holograms before. Around the time there was an arcade game at pizza hut that looked very similar to the leprechaun figure. I think that someone should have stayed with it and made the technology better. Imagine what video games would have looked like.

[@AmusementLabs]

Not only did that "NOT an amusement park" campaign tell guests what it wasn't it likely just plain turned people off. Probably people thought it was a joke only to find that they were serious. $40M wasted on what looks to be a mediocre museum at best.

[@carminecdinoproductions]

Amusement Labs I agree! I want Six Flags to do better and do their own revitalized version of the Six Flags Power Plant but with a huge variety of rides that’ll be located on a boardwalk in Baltimore, Maryland to compliment the Six Flags America theme park as well as another indoor theme park but in Ocean City, Maryland!

[@rybock]

I don't recall going there when it was "Six Flags", but I used to go there, at 17-18 years old when it was converted into a dance club, and I think it was Sunday nights was "Under 21" night... They converted different sections to different clubs, so you could wander from a techno area to an 80s Brit Manchester type scene to Pop music to heavy rock. It only lasted a year or two, but as a HS student, having a place like that was great.

[@emersonswinburne5180]

This is actually crazy to me that this was here and even though I wasn't alive in the 80s most people that I know that I've lived here forever have never heard of this. I had to ask my teacher who grew up in Baltimore in the 80s about it and she was one of the few people who remembered it.

[@shaybraxton7861]

Facts

[@marymoore356]

Monster Plantation at SFOG would make an interesting video. Especially with it's history beng connected to Splash Mountain @Disney.

[@zappy4252]

These videos are so killer man you're gonna go big this year. Keep up the good stuff

[@thetraceyfarrar9791]

@reviewtyme I went there as a child! Thanks for the memories! I was having a hard time explaining to my husband what the Power Plant was! I just knew I had fun. I'm going to show him this video. There was a commercial for the Power Plant too! I wish I could find it!

[@timogul]

Huh. I've been buy there dozens of times, and had never even known there was some sort of a themed attraction there at one point.

[@Joypyf]

Enjoyed this so much that I subbed! 👍🏼😊 Will be binge watching your other videos too!

[@Jordantmori]

Absolutely loved this one! Such an interesting video. I had never heard anything about this!

[@Yukendoit]

I was going to say the only place I’ve ever heard about this was on theme park university. I really like their tidbit about how they made a really low-quality Mr. Proto without asking anybody and that was the face of this park for some people. Interesting concept!Looked like a good place to go for a day trip while in the city!

[@ReviewTyme]

That little part about the terrible Mr Proto walkaround character was something I so badly wanted to put into the video, I just wish there was a photo floating around of him! I was super grateful for Josh at Theme Park University for allowing me to use his article to help make this video! - Luke

[@Yukendoit]

@@ReviewTyme I got to give it up to him he wrote an article about my channel like 2 years ago saying how I show a unique side of Japan. I was amazed that they would do that!

[@carminecdinoproductions]

I’d like to see Six Flags build some huge indoor theme parks from the ground up in several cities across America like Baltimore to compliment Six Flags America which is close to Baltimore, Asbury Park on the boardwalk with an adjacent family resort hotel to compliment Six Flags Great Adventure and the Atlantic City Six Flags park, Atlantic City on the boardwalk also with an adjacent resort hotel, Orlando to compliment other Six Flags parks in Florida, Miami also to compliment other Six Flags parks in Florida, New Orleans as a slight revival of the defunct and abandoned Six Flags New Orleans, St. Louis to complement Six Flags St. Louis, Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, etc. with lots of pretty cool rides and attractions littered throughout the place including some dark rides, some roller coasters, some flat rides, etc.! I’d like to see a Six Flags Las Vegas which is a hybrid of outdoor and indoor theme park with a family resort hotel adjacent to the new park and I think a Six Flags Dubailand would be revived and would be an indoor and outdoor hybrid just like the aforementioned new Six Flags Las Vegas!

[@Onederland2319]

I remember getting in free because of some deal between the Baltimore Gas and Electric company and Six Flags. My dad was a BGE employee. I think we went 2 or 3 times. After it closed it turned into a night club (PT Flaggs) and on Sunday nights it was an under 21 club. I would dance the night away in that magic lantern theater. Went snooping one night and found that electric tower thing. It was crazy how much stuff was still in there.

[@nicholasrichard647]

Me too, I loved dancing there.

[@gregbowman422]

This is so sad. I'm 46 and I remember the "Pandoras Box" exhibit very well..this place was awesome as a kid.

[@yarbafett]

I never got to actually go to it when it was just the Power Plant. i did go to the nightclub PT Flaggs often and it was one of my favorite places to go. There was a main dance floor in the main entrance and then at least one other more techno room on the second floor. it had lots of lil dark areas to fool around in. Man I miss it.

[@StevenSmith-pr7gw]

I remember this well. It was a really fun attraction but rather expensive for only having 4 attractions. I sure do miss the great family atmosphere of the harbor back in the 80’s!

[@SemiShweet]

ARRGH I wanna see The Magic Lantern Theatre! What lovely animatronics.

[@skyachtone8702]

I worked on that project and there really was not enough money to build the shows properly. nothing worked reliably. It all looked great and the best thing I can say is that it got me my next job. The premise that it needed rides is true, but in reality the available square footage, given the smokestacks bisecting the #2 building, need for loading etc. was too limiting to really do anything of substance. Perhaps a dropping elevator ride which was proposed or motion based simulator in place of the theater. the Sensorium was the most popular attraction and ahead of it's time. Everyone worked their brains out but it taught me that you are only as good as your operator.

[@vortex_1336]

I went there as a kid. The thing I remember is the Incredible Sensorium. It had a song and holograms. The entire problem with that place was that you went once, saw all the little shows and there was no reason to ever go back.

[@redryan305]

I remember going to power plant a few years ago. Just a bunch of bars and restaurants and some stores.

[@alandecker2886]

I remember the Power Plant, but I never got to go to it on any of my family trips to Baltimore. Based on this, I don't think I missed much, but thank you for this look at what was actually inside.

[@matthewrinehart2367]

Currently all the pavilions in the Inner Harbor are slated for demolition as well as Old Town Mall. The Atrium has been closed down for at least three years. "A good citizen is a good consumer.!" "Don't let the enemy win, get out there and buy, buy, buy!"

[@nrdythugg4102]

Wow, your best Video yet! Great Work and I didnt know anything about it.

[@NYMetsNo1]

I went there as a kid with my family otw to DC. I clearly remember the leprechaun on the chair. Wonderful effects.

[@mattk.3645]

I notice that the "Bally" brand name was used below "Six Flags." Bally Manufacturing was a maker of pinball games and slot machines that eventually owned and operated casinos, hotels, gyms, video arcades, amusement parks, and a record label and abandoned manufacturing altogether. The company owned Six Flags at the time the the Power Plant was created.

[@simking01]

I went there a few times the full scale natulas and pandora's box was cool the powerplant was also one of the few buildings to survive the great fire in the 1900's

[@josephschroeder7778]

I was around 9 when my mom took my brother and I. I remember bits and pieces of it.

[@kamalporter706]

Born and raised in Baltimore had no clue it was a Six Flags at one point grown up knowing it as a Barnes and Noble and ESPN Zone 😂

[@MattMcIrvin]

I remember being curious about this thing, but somehow never getting around to visiting it during the short time it was open. The big draw in the area was the aquarium.

[@LindsayTVFilm]

I ate at the Hard Rock in the Power Plant. I'd heard of Power Plant before, but didn't know that used the same site.

[@ReviewTyme]

It would be interesting to see if any of the Six Flags Power Plant remains hidden inside the Hard Rock nowadays! - Luke

[@LindsayTVFilm]

They also had another one in Detroit or Flint (Michigan) called Auto World that I think came first and fared worse

[@carminecdinoproductions]

ReviewTyme Wow... I’d like to see a Hard Rock Cafe come to the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, New Jersey, as well as The Mills at Jersey Gardens, the Cherry Hill Mall, and the Menlo Park Mall!

[@carminecdinoproductions]

Lindsay Yale Entertainment I’d like to see a Hard Rock Cafe come to the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, New Jersey, as well as The Mills at Jersey Gardens, the Cherry Hill Mall, and the Menlo Park Mall!

[@ryanfrieman733]

OMG....I went there all the time when I was a kid!!

[@thetraceyfarrar9791]

😀 I remember going there once. I was trying to explain what it was to my husband the other day. Lol! It definitely was quite an unusual concept.

[@3452te]

Interesting concept of this. But love the steampunk style of it.

[@ReviewTyme]

It was definitely ahead of its time with its Steampunk Style! - Luke

[@3452te]

@@ReviewTyme it would've been extremely fascinating. I would love to see this concept back to another park.

[@christophermichael.w.7577]

You should have shown one of the effects like the flying Dutchman from the beginning until the end so that people could understand what the atractions were.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Baltimore, last time I was in the area it was for an eighth grade trip. We were supposed to eat at the Hard Rock Café there at the Power Plant but it was cancelled because of the protests. That area has fascinating history

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Great video. Thanks for posting this. Have a nice day.

[@AmusementInsider]

Incredible

[@brycevo]

Maybe, just maybe, add rides to your park. Even small ones are really good

[@PopnPlayerJazine]

I was so glad someone talked about this. I knew about it, but I can't remember who told me about it. I am from the Baltimore area though.

[@DennisMarion]

Great video -- Who knew!

[@hudson19]

I clicked on this video thinking it would be the hard rock and barns and noble. I never knew that there was a six flags in the inner harbor I’ve been in there sooo many times (from Maryland)

[@carminecdinoproductions]

Hudson Barnes and Noble I’m trying to help

[@christainmarks106]

And I live in Baltimore… I also drive by the power plant five days a week on my way to work. But I have never known it to be a Six Flags. Wow … the things you think you know.

[@sharkyfish3492]

used to go alot, it was a fun place

[@gretchenhartley109]

Hey could you do the natinoal aquarium because it is right next to the power plant btw i like barnes and nobel more because i love to read

[@jerrynelson6308]

A overall new developer owner could come in to redevelop the Harbor place , Power Plant and Power Plant Live into one overall major indoor entertainment mall attraction . reply

[@TN-wv6ok]

Interesting video! You should cover the park I almost consider to be the sister park of this, Six Flags AutoWorld

[@carminecdinoproductions]

Cross Crease Hockey Same! I want Six Flags Autoworld to be revived and reimagined for modern audiences with lots of rides and attractions!

[@jonathanrolf7602]

It was a 3 park deal. Powerplant in Baltimore, Autoworld in Detroit, and Admiral in St. Louis. Admiral later turned into a casino. The Admiral conversion included removing the engines permanently docking and putting in an animatronic theater and restaurant. It was too expensive and not well received. Would love to see pictures and video of Admiral and Autoworld. I moved to Baltimore from St. Louis in 88. I attended PT Flags dance club several times. (awesome club!!) Just didn't make enough money to stay around. Also explored some of the back areas. Pretty cool!

[@letsgoOs1002]

Grew up in Baltimore around this time, and I do not remember this at all.

[@bronxbearbud272]

Was this building used in the movie "Avalon", to portray the discount appliance warehouse store that burned down on opening day? It looks very familiar.

[@Onederland2319]

bronxbearbud no that building was in Fells Point. One of my favorite movies!

[@bronxbearbud272]

@@Onederland2319 Thank you, and yes, it is such a terrific movie, filled with such wonderful characters -- except of course for the idiot who cut the toikey! You don't cut the toikey!

[@Clay3613]

This is my biggest tragedy in theme park lore.

[@PizzaShrimp]

i've been going to that building for years, and had no idea six flags had plans.

[@carminecdinoproductions]

Carl the fan Same! I want Six Flags to do an indoor theme park with a DC Universe theme with various rides and attractions themed to the DC Universe as a whole!

[@katherinealvarez9216]

Okay, some of those ride concept arts looks really good. It is a disappointment when you can’t take what you got on paper and make it a reality. Why Six Flags sue these guys when they didn’t want rides to begin with or give them a budget?

[@PIlotrcm]

I went...it was neat

[@thetraceyfarrar9791]

It was!😀

[@JustinCoasters]

It's not a park, But is it a Zoo?

[@yotsubafanfan]

Makes me kinda glad it failed. 5hey would've eventually hit St. Louis and probably would've resided in an old shoe factory. If thrh did that we wouldn't have our beloved City Museum. The greatest and only true Proof that you don't need rides to entertain. You just need 7 story slides and make everything climb able. If you ever end up in St. Louis you HAVE to go!

[@michaeltaylor1603]

I have a "press kit" for this park. I started working @ Six Flag AstroWorld in 1985. A logo of the 6 flags parks graced a map of America. AutoWorld was another one. I never got to see any video of the "AA" show, but the characters looked pretty cool. It was even suggested that a pair of Intamin free falls be used in the smoke stacks and visitors outside waiting to come in would see the riders at the top of the stack only to disappear suddenly!

[@jakekuhl1]

If this went through do you think six flags would still be seen as the trashy low end theme parks it's known for today

[@ReviewTyme]

If it was a good park and allowed to have rides it could have completely redefined Six Flags image, however that didn't happen and now Six Flags reputation may be even worse than when they tried this! - Luke

[@ZontarDow]

Honestly Six Flags has always had problems with expansion. They pay big money on new acquisitions, only to sell them off within a few years because the return on investment was too low to pay the loans they took out to buy them (or they're an outright loss). While there's some financial security with their current projects, this year, next year, and 2023 have 4 new theme parks set to open as joint ventures in China and Saudi Arabia, and I'm somewhat worried that this could harm the company yet again given they can't even afford to keep the current parks as a whole up to date. This new expansion with two new parks purchased in 2018 and 4 new parks being built seems like a repetition of the 90s.

[@carminecdinoproductions]

Zontar I want Six Flags to do a revived Six Flags Dubai as well as a Six Flags Abu Dhabi, a Six Flags Singapore, and some more big Six Flags parks in the USA like a Six Flags Myrtle Beach one in Myrtle Beach SC, a Six Flags Las Vegas one in Las Vegas, some in Florida like Six Flags Paradise Kingdom, some in Pennsylvania, a big one in Hawaii, one in New Mexico, some more in Texas, etc. as well as some big indoor theme parks in different cities across America!

[@okay4793]

Whenever I go on a ride, I feel like someone is pulling pants down on the drop

[@UndeadNerdT800]

Huh that use to be universal Hollywood

[@dr666demento]

The other problem with this attraction is that it was in Baltimore - a city with more total murders each year than NYC, despite having 1/12th the population.