Great Escape - Queensbury, New York - large family theme park

The Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom is a Six Flags Theme Park located in Queensbury, NY. Originally opened as Storyville USA in 1954, the park began as a fairy tale themed park with rides for children. In 1957, the park opened the first of its themed areas, Ghosttown. In 1984, Storyville USA became The Great Escape, and added the first of its seven roller coasters, the Steamin' Demon. The Great Escape added its first water ride, the Raging River, in 1986, and in 1994, owner Charles Wood acquired the Comet, acknowledged one of the best wooden roller coasters in the world by coaster enthusiasts. In 1995, the park added Splashwater Park, a themed water park, and in 1996, it was bought by Premier Entertainment, which later became Six Flags.

Since acquiring the park in 1996, Six Flags has added numerous rides and areas to The Great Escape. Its most ambitious area may be The Six Flags Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Water Park, New York states first indoor water park which is reserved exclusively for lodge guests. As of 2009, The Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom features 38 rides including seven roller coasters, and a water theme park with a 500,000 gallon wave pool and nearly a dozen other themed water park areas.

The rides at The Great Escape range from kiddie rides to thrill rides designed for maximum thrill seekers. The rides in the park are divided among several areas, each of them with a specific theme. Many of the most popular rides are located in the Fest Area, an Alpine-themed area that features modern rides like the Skycoaster and the Alpine Bobsled. The Fest Area is also the location of the Comet, the historic roller coaster rescued from a defunct theme park in 1994. The International Village and Storytown still retains many of the rides and d,cor of the original Storyville USA, as well as the Boomerang roller coaster.

The park's first themed area, Ghosttown, is also still in existence. The Wild West themed village houses three of the park's seven roller coasters, including The Great Escape's first roller coaster, the Steamin' Demon. Looney Tunes National Park, opened in 2005, is the park's kiddie area. It features eight new children's rides, a restaurant and a cartoon walk through attraction featuring Looney Tunes characters. For even younger children, the park offers Wiggles World, with three kiddie rides and the Get Ready to Wiggle live show.

Splashwater Kingdom is the park's water theme park. It includes the Lumberjack Wave Pool, a 25,000 square foot wave pool with six wave patterns, and Cap'n Hook's Adventure River, an 850 foot river that features falls, rapids and geysers. Water slides in Splashwater Kingdom include the Banshee Plunge, the Blue Typhoon and the Mega Wedgie, a water bowl ride. The Noah's Sprayground is a multilevel water play area for children that includes water slides, fountains and pools.

The Great Escape is open seven days a week in July and August, and for varying hours in May, June, September and October. The park is also open for varying hours during school vacations the rest of the year. Summer hours are 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. weekdays, closing at 8:00 p.m. on weekends. The park offers a number of admission tickets at varying prices. For more information on ticket pricing, group rates and scheduled hours of operation, visit the official web site or call The Great Escape at 518-792-3500.