Theme Park News

Popular Texas theme park whirls out new kid-friendly rides for summer

Six Flags' new Daffy Duck Bucket Blasters.

Photo courtesy of Six Flags

Wheee, there are two new rides at Six Flags Over Texas, the perennial summer destination theme park in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. According to a release, the Arlington park has opened two new family-friendly rides this summer, both with a cartoon theme: Daffy Duck Bucket Blasters and Sylvester and Tweety Pounce and Bounce.

The rides opened to the public on July 4.

Daffy Duck Bucket Blasters is a wet one. It's family water ride featuring teacup-style circular buckets, which spin around in both directions. They're mounted with water blasters, which means "the entire family can engage in a fun water battle."

"Hold on tight because you'll spin round and round in a giant water bucket, fully equipped with water guns!" the ride boasts. "The fun doesn't stop there, as riders are able to splash anyone within reach as they go on their twisting adventure. There's so much twisting and turning in these buckets, you'll never know where the water will spray next!"

They rotate around a raised central bucket occupied by Daffy Duck himself, which also has water cascading down.

This actually represents a return: According to a spokesperson, the Bucket Blasters were previously at the park from 2014-2021, but were put on hold during construction of the park's Aquaman pool, which opened in 2023. Now the buckets are back.

Sylvester and Tweety Pounce and Bounce is a drop tower that features a sequence of drops and rises from 41-foot tower.

"Take a seat and pounce with silly Sylvester," the ride says. "But look out, Tweety's waiting up there to konk Sylvester on the head and send the whole gang bouncing down in a wobby, jiggly, bounchy ride. You'll jounce and flounce in fits and starts, drop down, then glide back up, then back down. You may not purr but you'll definitely have a laugh attack!"

The Pounce and Bounce ride is already at some other locations including Magic Mountain in California. However, the Texas version is nearly twice as high.

The rides are located within the Bugs Bunny Boomtown section of the theme park, part of the Warner Bros. Discovery Global Themed Entertainment-themed offerings, and join recent additions to Six Flags Over Texas like the new-and-improved El Rio Leno log flume ride and Aquaman Power Wave.

Six Flags Over Texas is the company’s flagship park and is home to more than 100 rides, shows, and attractions, including 14 world-class roller coasters like New Texas Giant and Titan. Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, the largest water park in North Texas, features more than 40 rides and attractions like Typhoon Twister and Tsunami Surge.

entertainment families familyfriendly kids rides six flags theme park

Love the Land

New PBS docuseries spotlights conservation efforts across Texas

Photo courtesy of Hogaboom Road, Inc.

Making of a Million: Daytripping with The Nature Conservancy in Texas is free to watch online.

Thanks to a new three-part PBS docuseries, you don't need to go to all of Texas' protected lands and waters to appreciate their breadth. Making of a Million: Daytripping with The Nature Conservancy in Texas follows The Daytripper host Chet Garner from West Texas to the coast, discussing conservation efforts by the conservancy (TNC) along the way.

"Making of a Million" refers to the one million acres in Texas that fall under TNC's protection. The one million figure is a milestone TNC is celebrating with the series, but it's not the full extent of its work; actually, according to the 2025 annual report, its total impact is 1.6 million acres. TNC also works in Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region, and more specific smaller regions within those.

The Daytripping project has been rolled out slowly in 2026, from YouTube previews, to an official release on PBS in April, to an Austin event in May that formally introduced the works. The Contemporary Austin hosted an outdoor screening on behalf of TNC's Board of Trustees, specifically focusing on the episode that explores West Texas.

The 26-minute video shows off striking aerial images of mountains, close ups of plants and wildlife, and even a quick feature of an archeological find. Water, of course, is a big topic in the desert and it's a large topic across the series. Fresh water even has its own dedicated episode.

Although conservation experts are consulted throughout the series, viewers can do more than passively watch other people solve environmental problems. One story, toward the end of the West Texas episode, highlights how a rancher directed researchers to a habitat for an endangered species of fish on his property, simply because he overheard a scientist at a café claim they were extinct.

On a larger and perhaps less direct scale, producing video series like this can kick off similar effects. The more civilians know about conservation efforts in their neck of the woods, the more they might know their place in helping out.

Garner spoke on a panel after the Austin screening with TNC director of land protection Jeff Francell, spatial analyst Jacqueline Ferrato, and director of land protection/stewardship Dan Snodgrass. They discussed the series and the broader conservation topics it connects to.

“This new series really captures the spirit of our efforts and collaborations to protect Texas lands and water,” said Snodgrass in a recap for press. “Chet’s storytelling skills spotlight our partners and projects in a unique, engaging way — we’re excited for more Texans to see why conservation matters and learn how they can get involved.”

“Daytripping with The Nature Conservancy in Texas allowed us to visit some of the most amazing places in Texas and to meet people who are making a real difference for conservation,” said Garner. “Folks will love traveling with us across wildly diverse landscapes and learning the solutions shaping the future of our state’s biggest environmental challenges.”

Viewers can watch the series for free on the Nature Conservancy's website or on YouTube.

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