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Six Flags Atlantis was a water park occupying several prime acres of real estate at the intersection of I-95 and Stirling Road in Hollywood, Florida.

It was born "Atlantis, the Water Kingdom", designed and built by a local developer who ran out of funds before the park could open. For several years it remained in a state of partial completion.

Bally's, then the parent company of Six Flags, purchased at least part of the park and it finally opened in (about) 1982 as "Six Flags Atlantis".

The park facilities included a seven-story slide tower, a lake with water-skiing shows, a wave pool, video arcades, a small midway, and dozens of other shows and activites.

Atlantis did have some inherent problems. First, it was located just a couple of miles from Dania Beach, and minutes away from the world-famous beaches in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.

Second, its operating schedule was subject to the whims of the weather.

Thunderstorms, all too common during the hazy South Florida afternoons, could close the park for hours.

In the off-seasons, unpredictable cold fronts might reduce attendance at a fully-staffed park to a couple hundred guests, and unexpected warm days often found the closed park turning away potential customers.

Six Flags sold the park in the summer of 1988, and it was reopened by the new owners with the original name "Atlantis, The Water Kingdom". The new parent company strove to reinvent Atlantis as a smaller, more efficient park and, freed from the burden of Six Flags' insurance costs, Atlantis began to operate in the black.

But in the end it was damage from 1992's Hurricane Andrew which closed the park's gates forever.

There was even an effort to relocate the park, but no site far enough east to avoid the daily thunderstorms could be found.

The functional, brightly-painted submarine that graced the park's northwest corner was moved a couple of miles down the road, to the Gran Prix Race-O-Rama. Little else remains of the park except a few memories...

...and this site.