Aerial Antics: The Remains of Six Flags New Orleans

It has been seven years since Hurricane Katrina's devastation took the fun out of Six Flags New Orleans, and all this time later the park is still sitting much as it was the day the storm arrived.

Well, at least many of the items at the park are still standing as they were, but the park is by no means in the same condition it once was.  After the water receded what remained of the park was then left to rot, much as it is still doing today.  The most recent plan would see an outlet mall built on top of the park's remains, but even that seems to be struggling along.

Google is continuing to add 45 degree angle views of many cities around the globe, and one of the recent additions was the greater New Orleans area.  That's where these images - such as the one of the creepy looking children's area above - are from.  I don't think that many kids would have much fun in the former Looney Tunes Adventures area these days.

From the air it actually looks like they could move the Jester's train off that maintenance track and send it around the course, but we know better.  The Vekoma designed ride had a former life at Six Flags Fiesta Texas as the Joker's Revenge, where the trains ran backwards.  I can't say I'm surprised that Six Flags didn't move the ride once more after the park closed. 

Six Flags New Orleans' star coaster was the Mega Zeph, a Custom Coasters wooden ride that featured a 110 foot lift hill and 4,000 feet of track.  While the ride appears to look pretty good these days from our high vantage point, most of that is due to the ride's steel structure.  As far as the ride's track and its ability to operate, that's another story entirely.  The ride looked like a lot of fun in its early years at the park, especially when it was Jazzland.

One of the last developments at the park before it closed was the addition of the DC Comics Super Hero Adventures area.  The area was home to a B&M inverted Batman clone coaster, which was known as Batman while at the park.  It has been long since operating at Six Flags Fiesta Texas as Goliath.

The coaster and the area's other flat rides were purchased from a closed Japanese amusement park, named Thrill Valley.  Only Batman was saved and moved, the other rides continue to sit on site.

The park's Ozarka Splash log flume could trick you into thinking it is open in this shot with the sun shining on the splash pool, but the large pile of rubble at the base of the main drop would say otherwise.  It is rather creepy that the ride's logs are still sitting on the lifts, as if they were waiting for the park to reopen the next day.

To check out the park in Google's images, click here.