Defunctland: The Demolition of Six Flags Astroworld 

Hey everyone! I hope you liked the video! Make sure to go check out Marc’s channel on the description. He made the cover for the credits and he is incredibly talented! I will be updating the description with some of my text based sources soon. Have a great week!

I like how the backstory for most of these parks is "a rich guy visited Disneyland and was so impressed he wanted to make his own".

I like how they said “ increasingly rude guests “ was a reason for closing . Everything would be closed if that was a valid reason lol.

Lesson learned: do not name anything "Astroworld" it never ends well

I love how so many of these stories end with "Increasingly profit oriented corporate heads gutted all artistic and creative value while trying to buy more and more before realizing this was unsustainable and have to close." I feel like there's maybe a recurring lesson that could be found here...

"Poor guest-to-monster relations" is my favorite phrase of the whole month, I think.

Who else is here with little-to-no interest in theme parks but got stuck in a RU-vid loop of this guy's videos because he made you genuinely interested in theme parks?

I was there on the last day. I was just a kid. I cried so much that day. I finally had the courage to ride the rides I was scared of because it was my last chance. The Viper was always my favorite.

Came here being just barely aware of what Astroworld was, and now I'm crying over a closed theme park I never even attended??

Cool! I wasn't expecting to be in this video. But yep, there I am at 15:05 (Batman the Escape) the guy in bright colors on the left in the first row. I had to ride the coaster 27 times in a row for different camera shots. I wasn't even one of the paid actors. I was an extra, just like all the people sitting behind me (employees of the park). While I was having to do the extra shots, everyone else were getting their free Batman t-shirts (their payment for participating). BTW, the three sitting next to me in seats 2, 3, and 4 are the actors who got paid whatever for the commercial. In case you're wondering, I worked for Astroworld for 11 years total (86-88, 91-93, 01-05) and was there on September 12th, 2005 when everyone at the park got the news of the closing. A sad day that was. No one knew it was coming....

This really tugged at my heart. The next time a car with a Texas plate cuts me off, or is a jerky driver, I'll blame it on the pain of losing Astroworld. I'd be bitter too.

Tbh that wasn’t very Sicko Mode of Six Flags

Funny how all the cited reasons for closing the park were basically "we stopped reinvesting and the park got bad 😔"

Best theme park trip of my life was when 6 of us paid in advance for a weekend at Astroworld around 1990. As we drove there early in the morning (2 1/2 hour drive), the sky opened up and it rained so hard that we could only drive about 30 mph on the interstate. We got to the motel and our hearts sunk because all of Houston was scheduled for heavy rains the whole weekend. We decided to at least go there and walk around since we had already paid for it. When we arrived about 2 hours after the park opened, we were the 6th car in the parking lot. Apparently all the locals saw the weather report and stayed away. After about an hour or so, the rain stopped and we were able to walk right on the rides. Absolutely no lines! The whole day was like that. Every now and then it would sprinkle, but we needed the break because we were so tired of riding so many attractions in such a short time. The entire day there were absolutely no more than 50 guests in the park. Many times our group would be the only people in a given section. It was wonderful. Eventually we got to know a lot of the other guests by name because we saw them so much. We were so exhausted so we slept in the next morning. The next day it was also forecast for rain, but not as bad as Saturday. We parked in the second row of parking, but still there were no more than 250 people in the whole park. What a memory! I was so upset when they suddenly closed down, because I had been there many times as a kid starting in the 70s.

You forgot to mention the effect of hurricane Katrina. The loss of the New Orleans Six Flags park really hurt the corporation when it was already down. This accelerated their desire to liquidate a park in another hurricane zone.

I was there the last day it was open. I remember everybody stuck around until the very last hour yelling "Hell No! We won't go!" and children and adults alike crying as they had to escorted through the exit gate. To this day, the people of Houston are still sad and bitter about the loss of Astroworld

Another excellent video. It's sad that the name Astroworld is now synonymous with a misguided music festival that took the lives of many fans.

That intro was absolutely incredible.

I love how each episode has a completely unique intro.

This was so sad. Astroworld was so beautiful and it just went out like a light, ayy, yeah, like a light, ayy, yeah, like a light, ayy, slept through the night, ayy, knocked for the flight, ayy

As a Texan and and someone that worked at toys r us, I've learned that corporate greed ruins everything

The Texan Defunctland subscriber dilemma: when you see this notification, you're so excited, but as you watch the video you realize you're still not over the heartbreak...

“Poor guest to monster relations” ...sounds like me visiting the in-laws

i live a few miles from disneyland and knott's berry farm and couldn't imagine either of those places being leveled. it must have come as quite a shock to the people of houston when they lost astroworld to corporate greed. thanks for the great video.

Well, that snapshot of an article on Travis Scott and AstroWorld at the 22:46 mark certainly hasn't aged well. Anyways, great video as always.

Your vids make me feel nostalgic for eras I was never apart of

shout out to travis scott for demolishing astroworld a second time in 2021

No one told me that Astroworld closed when I got out of the military in 2006. I told my dad when I got home that I’m gonna go there that weekend. It was not a good weekend, and I’m still bitter about Astroworld closing down.

watched this one with my mom who went to Astroworld as a kid in the 70s/80s, she pointed to the Cyclone and said, "That's the one I almost died on!"

This was probably the most depressing episode of the Defunctland series. Nicely done!!

its lit straight up

Stop making me cry over places I've never been

I remember riding the sled and it breaking down in the cold room, we nearly froze to death but the abdominal snowman kept us entertained.

God forbid there should be anything left in Houston to attract visitors.

Ugh, the feelings. As a native Houstonian, it broke my heart when Astroworld shut down. My dad actually called to give me the news. It was such a part of childhood; simply driving through Houston and seeing those coasters. It was cool because Astroworld wasn't in some outer-ring suburb, but right there in the heart of the city so its skyline was as much a part of Houston as any of the other buildings.

Short story: I remember when I was 5 or 6, Astroworld was still open, and I had always dreamed of going there. I found out eventually that my aunt had a season pass and she had planned to take my sister and I one day during the summer to the park! So the night before, my parents wanted to relax since they would finally have a day to themselves, so we went out to grab some fast food for dinner so they wouldn't have to cook. We grabbed a bunch of McNuggets and brought them home, and I snacked on them here and there between playing my N64, eventually getting a stomach ache from having a bit too many and not being able to sleep from excitement. Towards the end of the night, I went to my parents room and told them I didn't feel good, and ended up throwing up in the bathroom, but only once. My Mom felt picked me up and we slept in the living room, a bowl next to the couch just in case. Next thing I knew, the sun was shining through the window, I felt amazing, and I was ready to go to Six Flags! I knew I had probably just eaten too many nuggets! But upon going into my sister's room, I discovered she was gone. I looked at the time, and it was 10 AM. My aunt was supposed to come pick us up at 7 AM (we live about and hour and a half from Houston). My Mom came in, gave me a hug and apologized. My aunt had come and gone, and fearing I was sick, she didn't want me going. Astroworld closed down a couple of months after that happened. I had missed my chance to go. Forever. I was heartbroken, and I cried for the rest of the day, never throwing up a second time. All over some chicken McNuggets.

As a vendor for another Six Flags park, I saw the Premiere Parks takeover from a slightly different point of view. It's absolutely disgusting what they did to the original chain. I avoid them like the plague they are, now.

I'm a native Houstonian and my family has lived there for ages (so much so that my middle name is Houston) and some of my happiest memories of my childhood are at Astroworld. Specifically, Greased Lighting. It was me and my dad's favorite ride. We're both avid rollercoaster riders and we never got tired of that ride. One time, in particular, was the best. It was in October when the park would turn Holloween-themed, and my dad and I stayed until the park was closed. We went to ride Greased Lighting one more time before we left, finding that there were only 2 or 3 other people in line with us. We got in the back (our favorite seats) and rode the coaster, but when we returned, the operator said to sit tight before we got off and hit the button to go again. We ended up riding it, like, 4 or 5 times, switching seats each time. It was a blast. I really wish I could have had the chance to share the same experiences with my future children. But I sure am happy I have those memories.

Travis probably crying watching this

I've never even heard of this place, but that ending is super depressing, especially punctuated by that shot of the empty lot where it once stood. As a Southern California native, I can't even imagine the emotions that I would feel if they ever simply CLOSED Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm. I never had any personal connection to Magic Mountain, but even that would come as a bit of a shock.

R.I.P. AstroWorld….you gave my friends and I some great memories from 85’ to 88’. My first roller coasters….Excalibur and Texas Cyclone. And my first concert… Depeche Mode 88’!! If only I could be a teen again…I’d do it all over! Thank you

Closed, citing reasons: - "Decrease in quality of staff." - "Increasingly rude guests." - "Poor attendance." I love the CEO spin put on that. Your company is so far in debt you can't fund innovation or quality staff (better pay/benefits get that), so guests are naturally disappointed/pissed off. Hence, attendance drops. But we'll blame everyone else for this one.

I wasn't expecting this video to be so sad. ):

This made me super sad. RIP Astroworld. We'll always have the memories.

Houston Native here: yeah it was just really disappointing. We all loved it, and we want it too return, but we all saw the writing on the walls. Like you said it was clear the company had abandoned it to disrepair. 😭

I never went to Astroworld and somehow I have nostalgia watching this video and feel as if I was really there wow

Blaming their closure on "rude guests"...?

Houston native here. Grew up going to AstroWorld in the 90's and 2000's. It is still so sad to drive buy there and see an empty field. So many memories of hot sweaty days spent running around there w/ my bff every summer. I never had a bad time. RIP Astroworld. :(

I was telling my family about how I've been watching these videos and mentioned Astroworld, and apparently we've been to Astroworld. It makes sense, as we lived nearby when I was a small child, but to think I got to go to this park but can't remember and can never go again has left me feeling a ways. I may not remember it, but there's an Astroworld-sized hole in my heart now.

How can you make me nostalgic for a park I never went to in a state I've never been to? What kind of sorcery is this?

ASTROWORLD drops this friday !!

“.....scorching climate of coastal Texas” is not a joke, once me and my neighbor cooked an egg on her driveway and it worked

A lot of comments talk about how Astroworld is just the Travis Scott festival now and those are actually connected. Travis Scott’s Astroworld album was called that because he visited six flags astroworld as a kid often and was really fond of it. Also, correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure the infamous event was held at the defunct Astroworld Edit: I was wrong. 💀

Hi, Texas native here. Astroworld deserved better, especially since the "replacement" is Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. Not that Fiesta is bad, but Astroworld looks way better than what Fiesta is today.

When I was growing up in San Antonio, our family of 6 would pile in the car and drive 3 hours to Houston every summer just to visit AstroWorld. I experienced some of the happiest memories of my childhood & young adulthood there, and then it was gone. I used to beg my parents to move us to Houston just so I could get a season pass and go all summer lol. By 2005 we had Six Flags Fiesta Texas, which has turned into a fantastic park, but back then it was different. Astroworld inspired my lifelong obsession with Roller Coasters and theme parks. It really had a special charm and magic that you don’t always find in amusement parks. This video gave me all the feels, and made me mourn this beloved place all over again. Thank you for making this video ❤️

This one hits too close to home. Even though it didn't have the greatest rides, it held many great memories.

That ending eulogy made me feel sad about AstroWorld and I never even went there

I grew up going to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio but I remember taking a trip to Houston to go to AstroWorld with my parents and aunt and uncle who lived there at the time in about 2004 after they announced it's closing. The walk over the bridge was such a magical experience, especially as a kid. You felt like you were leaving the real world and entering this magical place. You would not even know how salty people still are over AstroWorld closing. I just passed the empty lot where it used to sit a few weeks ago and it's SO weird to see. It's so messed up what Premier did to such an amazing park that could have survived for decades more. Houston is too populated to NOT have an amusement park. So many people I know from there travel to San Antonio or Dallas just to go to the parks there. It's really quite depressing.

"This was also the time that Six Flags acquired the rights to the Looney Tunes characters from Warner Brothers"... thus causing the Mandela effect where a lot people swore they saw Bugs Bunny at Disneyland?

The production quality of this show has really gone up and it really shows.

I went there a few times as a kid; and when my sister moved to Houston she lived in an apartment complex near the edge of the property, looking over it and seeing it completely empty was always surreal. Like being in a parallel universe where it had just never been.

Yesssss! Hahaha. Loved the title sequence and the song cover at the end! Great episode. Even better teaser.

I must admit: watching the care and dedication you put into these videos is inspiring. Watching this episode not only makes me feel horrible to see such a beloved park have such a neglected ending, but it also makes me miss my Whalem Park, which is kind of a Massachusetts version of AstroWorld in many respects. Also...that ending teaser...I am so confused and curious at the same time.

Man, I was SO hoping you teased an ‘Astroworld’ video when you did ‘Big Bad Wolf’ and remarked “What ever happened to XLR8 at Astroworld?”. As a native Houstonian, this episode really hits home and it almost brings a sense of closure as to why this awesome place closed. I’ve been clamoring for an original theme park to come back to the Houston area and hope we get to experience that same feeling again as the first Astroworld guests experienced once upon a time. Thank you, sir. Your vids truly are treasure. :)

It is very unfortunate this park closed due to corporate greed, it was one of the top six flags parks. Hopefully houston gets a new theme park soon

My folks split when I was young, and my dad moved to Houston. Since he was so far away I'd just spend a full month with him during the summers, and the two big things we did was go to either Galveston or Astroworld. Most of my best memories with my father growing up were at that theme park; I was winded when I was talking to some online friends, found out they lived in Houston, and asked if people still went to Astroworld only to be told it'd been torn down years earlier. I hadn't been there for a long time obviously, but in a way it was like losing something deeply personal, I don't know. Sad it's gone.

A lot of the rides that were put into storage purgatory were eventually sold off. In 2004, a mammoth skeleton (now named Asiel) was unearthed in a landfill in Lake Jackson/Clute, TX prompting the end of digging. Instead, they filled it in with water, named it "Mammoth Lake" and opened a diving school for scuba instruction. The city bought several of the pieces of the Mayan Mindbender and the ship from the Looping Spaceship and sunk them into the lake for divers to explore.

THANK YOU. I grew up in Houston in the 70's and AstroWorld was a HUGE part of every summer. This video is brilliantly filmed and narrated and I got lost in memories I had forgotten for decades until now. Again, thank you.

Always a shame when a perfectly nice theme park gets screwed over by a new, incompetent company.

My dad worked some of the rides there in the 70s, he's got great stories about the place. He took me all the time in the 90s and early 2000s, and we were there on the very last day.

The treatment of the theme park was horrible. Astroworld contributed so much culture to Houston, that the fact they removed it was unthinkable. There were rumors forever that the area had been bought by Disney for another park, but now it's just...nothing. It's awful. A majority of my childhood was spent in that park. It's where I rode my first rollercoaster. It's where I had my first kiss. My memories of it are nothing but happy, and they took it away because of poor management and stupidity. The funny thing is, they could have prevented it. Now, we're the fourth largest city in the United States and we don't even have a theme park. It's ridiculous. Thank God they still haven't torn down the Astrodome, even if it is just abandoned.

so the theme was ... air conditioning

I know I’m a little late to the party, but can we please get a video on Six Flags New Orleans. This Hass to be one of the few parks that I have a vague memory of, and I specifically remember going a few times when I was a kid. I want to say it’s still abandoned, and it has been since Katrina. Please consider this as a possibility for one of your videos?

Why am I crying?! I had never even known this park existed until I watched this video... P.S. Thanks for making quality content like this!

The opening animations this season are exquisite, props to your production team.

"No theme park was safe from the 80s". Such a great line.

I used to go to a watering hole in the boonies of Houston, and when Astroworld closed the landowner of the watering hole bought Bamboo Chute and actually intended to rebuild it so it would go into his watering hole. The last time I went out there the ride was in pieces on the road leading into his property. Totally insane.

The intros youve been doing add a nuanced touch to the overall high production value and quality of your videos, makes it feel as though im watching a professionally made docu-series. Love your videos!

I’m from Houston and I miss this place bro , La Flame brought back Astroworld 🔥🔥🔥

At one point, the theme park closest to where I live in Utah was being considered for purchase by a corporate acquisition company (I seem to remember the company being Six Flags related, so it might very well have been Premier). Thank goodness the family that owns the place told them to pound sand. The park is still going strong and is a favorite of locals. I would hate to see it go the way of AstroWorld.

I remember visiting Astroworld when I went on vacation to Houston way back in 2003 (or so). The lack of a major amusement park in the Houston area left a major void that has not yet been filled (at least to my understanding). It is sad to see a huge empty lot where Astroworld used to reside; the last remaining piece is the pedestrian bridge that allowed people to walk over I-610 from the parking lots (north of the freeway) to the park entrance (south of the freeway). Walking over a massive freeway definitely made the Astroworld entrance quite unique. That said, Grand Texas, near New Caney, could fill the Houston-area theme park void in the coming years. While it would be even cooler to see the Astroworld name attached to a theme park again, I doubt anyone wants to touch that name now (sadly, after what happened at the Travis Scott concert that was part of a music festival that adopted the "Astroworld" name apparently in a homage to the former theme park).

Holy shit dude you’ve been working so hard this month! First a headfirst 40 minute dive into the failure and resurrection of EuroDisneyland, then the exploration of a classic coaster, and now another twenty minute video of another failed park! AND you had time to write a book, too!

I feel like you could put Astro in front of a lot of things and just make it sound cooler. Astrodome, Astrohall, you name it.

I worked there for three seasons in the late 70s. The pay, as you might imagine, was dismal, but to this day, it's still by far the most fun I ever had getting paid.

I miss when Six Flags was more Looney Tunes than superheroes:(

I love that Spaghetti Western vibe that intro gave. I just know this is going to be great

As a native Houstonian, I remember going to Astroworld as a kid for girl scout field trips. It was sad to see it closed down and then torn down. The space nowadays is just overflow parking for the rodeo and the occasional Texan game. I believe the Landry's group (or whomever owns the Kemah Boardwalk) took the idea of the Texas Cyclone and ran with it for the Boardwalk Bullet. I do hope that planned theme park up on the northeast side of the metroplex comes to decent fruition. It won't be Astroworld, but it'll at least be something more than what Pleasure Pier is.

You are killing it with these intros Kevin!

I've visited Houston many times a year because most of my relatives live there. one thing that all my relatives have in common was their love for astroworld and I never really knew why, but now I do.

Thanks for covering Astroworld. As a houstonian I’m sad that I never got a chance to go there as I had moved here when I was 9 in 2002. Always saw it when I would go to events in reliant arena. It sucks it closed because for being the 4th largest city in the US we really have no attractions to go to.

Well done, Mr. Perjurer! I could not have asked for a more respectful and well written tribute to something that I remember. So many memories came flooding back to me as you listed off rides, even though I was only there for the very end of it all. At last I have an answer, too! The facts were obscured so thoroughly over the years, everyone in Houston was baffled as to what happened and we all accepted its closure as just dumb business. I had no idea they were so desperately indebted! Thank you for this!

this blunt got me fucked up im cryin over the 2005 closing of a theme park ive never been to

CRACK MY HEART IN HALF, WHY DON'T YOU, PERJURER?! Oh man the memories. Thanks, though. It felt like a balm to have what I remembered put to video, and know the history behind a park I nearly grew up in. Seeing the Alpine ride turn into the Batcave made so much sense...

This is the best series on youtube, no contest

This ones just kinda sad. There was no real problem with the park, it was just a super dumb company.

I am still mad about the closure. Still waiting for Houston to get another theme park.

Angus Wynne is the most Texan name possible.

I drive by the unoccupied land all the time knowing what it once was and how much it meant to us Houstonians. Thanks for the upload.

This broke my heart all over again. I spent many days and evenings at Astroworld as a kid, and then later with my own kids. I remember all those rides well. Very well done video.

I have such great memories of going there as a kid all the way to high school...makes me sad it is gone :-(