Hanna–Barbera Land

Hanna–Barbera Land was a theme park based on the cartoons of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio. It was located in the Spring CDP of unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States, north of Houston.[1] It was open in the 1984 and 1985 seasons.

Hanna–Barbera Land
LocationSpring, Texas, USA
ThemeHanna-Barbera
OwnerKings Entertainment Company
General managerJoseph Barbera
Opened1984 (1984)
Closed1985 (1985)
StatusClosed

The park was built by Taft Broadcasting, which became the Kings Entertainment Company as of opening.[2] Kings also owned the Australia's Wonderland, Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, and Kings Island theme parks. Despite increased attendance in 1985, a bad regional economy, competition with the well-established AstroWorld and minimal spending in the park on concessions, gift shop purchases, and souvenirs doomed the park.

The park was sold to private investors and SplashTown USA was built in its place, then again to Bryant Morris, then to Six Flags who purchased it in 1999. After initially not wanting to brand and call it "a member of the Six Flags family," Six Flags eventually decided to re-brand it as Six Flags SplashTown. In 2007 it was sold to PARC Management, The park was later renamed Wet N' Wild Splashtown and in 2019 it was rebranded Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown.[3]

Attractions

The park featured:

  • A carousel
  • Scooby's Ghoster Coaster, a Scooby-Doo roller coaster, now at California's Great America as Woodstock's Express
  • Boulder Bumpers
  • Silly Stix, an enormous jungle gym of sorts that looked like it was constructed out of giant Tinker Toys[4]
  • The Funsonium, a building which housed interactive and educational hands-on games and experiences such as Your Name in Lights and You Are the Star
  • Swan pedal boats
  • Water body slides
  • Puppet shows
  • Papa Smurf's Forest restaurant
  • A live Keystone Cops brass band that performed Hanna Barbera theme songs

References
  1. Gill, Julian (January 3, 2019). "What it looked like to vacation in Houston as a kid in the 1970s and 80s". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  2. Clavé, Salvador Anton (2007). The Global Theme Park Industry. CABI p. 121. ISBN 978-1-8459-3210-7.
  3. Takahashi, Paul (February 12, 2019). "Six Flags to rename, renovate Wet 'n' Wild Splashtown". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  4. Davenport, John C. (1985). Houston: Your Complete Guide to Texas' Largest City. Texas Monthly Press p. 73. ISBN 978-0-9320-1280-7.

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