Roller Coasters – Parktimes.com

La Vibora (The Snake)

(Avalanche Bobsled)

Year Installed: 1987
Last Year Operated: Currently Operating
Section: Mexico
Manufacturer: Intamin
Other Names and Nicknames: Avalanche Bobsled, The Bobsled

For the celebration of Six Flags Over Texas’ 25th Anniversary, the Avalanche Bobsled Ride was introduced. Located in the area of the park that had formally held the Fiesta train, the Bobslide’s new feature was that it did not ride on a track. Instead, the cars rode in a curve structure, more similar to the log ride’s flume or chute than a roller coaster track. The result of this configuration was that not every ride was exactly the same as the one before it.

It also created the illusion that the cars could leave the flume area, creating an apprehension of danger. With a lift height of sixty feet, and a track length of 1,490 feet, the ride travels at up to 32 MPH for a ride of approximately 1 and one half minutes to ride.

While the ride was new to Six Flags over Texas, it was not new to the Six Flags’ park system, having operated at Magic Mountain from 1984 to 1987. Built by Intamin, the ride is an AG Bobsled style ride.

Originally painted blue, the structure was repainted in red and yellow sections to resemble the strips of a snake. It was renamed the La Vibora, Spanish for the “Viper”, brining it more closely into the theming of the Mexican section where it resides. Counting the AR as a roller coaster increased Six Flags Roller Coaster to five, the highest it had been to date. The ride was moved from Six flags Magic Mountain where it was installed in 1984.

Big Bend Roller Coaster

Year Installed: 1971
Last Year Operated: 1978
Section: Modern USA
Manufacturer: Schwarzkopf
Other Names and Nicknames:

In 1971, Six Flags introduced the Big Bend Roller Coaster. The name “Big Bend” was a clever play on words, since it refers both to the many “bends” felt by the riders on the curving, “bending”, track, as well as Texas’ rugged Big Bend National park, with its diverse rivers, mountains and deserts.

The ride was installed five years after the introduction of the Mine Train. Six Flags purchased the Big Bend from Schwarzkopf Company of Germany, Beginning in 1974, Schwarzkopf was represented in the United States by the Intamin Company. The name INTAMIN is taken from the phrase INTernational AMusement INstallations.

The Big Bend had many features that stand out, even by today’s standards. The roller coaster was what Schwarzkopf denoted a “Speed Racer” style coaster. Rather than bench style “side-by-side” seating, in which two riders sit next to each other, the Big Bend cars had a “toboggan” style bench seat, in which two riders straddled the seat and sit in front and back of each other, similar to the configuration of the log ride units. .

The seats were deep in the vehicle, with a high side railing. This configuration negated any need for seat belts or other restraints. Restraints were, however, added after a few years of operation.

The ride was also different in that unlike most roller coasters, which have some type of independent lift mechanism which pulls or lifts the units to the top of the lift hills. Instead, the Big Bend cars had their own motors in the units which “drove” the units to the top of the lift hills. The motors were activated by a third rail, in between the two track rails, much like an electric train.

Once over the top of the hill, the third rail ended and the trains were left to roll around the track at speeds of up to 52 mph.

The unique lift arrangements allowed the coaster to have more visually interesting, and suspense building, spiraling style lifts, rather than the straight up hill normally associated with roller coasters.

The Big Bend was built in the modern USA section, in keeping with its futuristic appearance. The dock and queue line were located along the same platform which had previously served as the Jet Set, which was removed for the installation of this ride.

The ride had two of the spiraling lift hills, the first was 81 feet tall, significantly higher than the more established Runaway Mine train. The second was 51 feet tall. The track length was 2,876 feet, slightly shorter than the Mine train track.

The ride was an immediate success and become extremely popular.

The ride was removed at the end of the 1978 season for various reasons.

The Titan

Year Installed: 2001
Last Year Operated: Operating
Section: Texas
Manufacturer: Giovanola
Other Names and Nicknames:

The Titan was built for Six Flag’s fortieth anniversary season. Construction of the Titan was one of the Six Flags over Texas’ largest capital expenses. The ride, a” mega-coaster”, is located in the southwest corner of the park, west of the Texas section, in an area that had previously been outside the park. Much of the ride extends out over one of the park’s parking lots.

The ride starts with a 245 foot high hill. The lift leads to a 255 foot 65 degree drop into a 120 foot long below ground tunnel. After topping the first hill, the ride reaches speeds of up to 85 mph. The ride track is 5,312 feet in length. The three thirty rider trains can carry up to1600 guests per hour. During the three minute ride, guests can experience up to 4.5 Gs.

The Titan is an extended version of the Goliath built at Six Flags Magic Mountain. When built, the two rides tied for the third tallest roller coaster in the world. Since then they have dropped to fifth tallest. The pair are currently the sixth fastest steel coasters in the world. Both rides were built by Giovanola of Switzerland.

Texas Giant Roller Coaster

Year Installed: 1990
Last Year Operated: Currently Operating
Section: Texas
Manufacturer: Dinn Corporation
Other Names and Nicknames: Giant

/sections/texas/giant/txgiant1.jpg (36632 bytes)

On opening day, March 17, 1990, Six Flags opened the Texas Giant Rollercoaster, at the time, the world’s tallest wooden roller coaster. The Giant, Six Flags second wooden roller coaster, is located on 2.9 acres of the park in the Texas section, across the railroad tracks from the Texas Railroad station.

The trains travel up an initial lift of 143 feet, followed by a 53 degree drop of 137 feet. The trains travel the 4,920 feet of track in a little over two minutes. They average speeds of up to 39 mph and the riders feel g-forces of up to 2.7.

/sections/texas/giant/txgiant4.jpg (39448 bytes)

The three trains carry up to 28 guests for a capacity 1,800 riders per hour. The trains were built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The track was designed by Curtis D. Summers and built by the Dinn Corporation.

The ride closed on November 1, 2009, for a yearlong renovation, to reopen in the 2011 season. Being more than just a rebuild, it is anticipated that the new version will have alternate elements.

/sections/texas/giant/giantpr.jpg (88819 bytes)

Runaway Mountain

Year Installed: 1966
Last Year Operated: Currently Operating
Section: Confederacy
Manufacturer: Premier Rides
Other Names and Nicknames:

Runaway Mountain Rollercoaster, Six Flags’ eighth roller coaster, was added for the 1996 season. Runaway Mountain is located in the Old South (Confederacy) section between the Southern Palace and Nalar’s Plantation house. The area had once been occupied by the Skull Island River Raft queue house and the more recently removed Spinnaker.

Runaway Mountain utilizes single unit cars rather than the trains common with the other roller coasters. Runaway Mountains key feature is that the entire ride is inside. The darkness of the interior prevents the riders from knowing whether they are going up, down, left or right. This lack of knowledge makes the ride more thrilling, even though it is not as tall or fast as the other major coasters.

The four seat cars reach speeds of up to 40 mph and g-forces of up to 3.6.This is actually faster than the 39 mph estimated at the time for the Texas Giant, and the 2.7 g’s pulled on the Giant. The ride includes drops of nearly 90 degrees, banked turns at 82 degrees, and two high speed horizontal spirals.

The ride lasts one and a half minutes and can entertain a thousand guests an hour.

The publicity for the ride resembled the story line for the original skull island. As with the Skull island, which was located at the same spot, the mountain was said to contain gold left there by the famous pirate Jean LaFitte. The riders search for the gold as they explore the mysteries of the mountain. The ride’s tagline is the “Coaster that dares the Darkness.”

The ride was designed using the most current computer aided design techniques and was a “heart-line design”, meaning that the riders heart was used as the center of gravity. The ride also employed state of the art computer controls as well as a chainless lift that provided much quieter operation.

The ride was built by Premier Rides of Maryland and was originally based on three twelve passenger trains.

In order to avoid confusion of the names, “runaway” was removed from the Runaway Mine Train’s name, which was shortened to simply the “Mine Train”

The Joker

Year Installed: 2017
Last Year Operated: Currently Operating
Section: Gotham City
Manufacturer:
Other Names and Nicknames:

Pre-opening pictures of the Joker, to open in 2017.

Mr. Freeze the Ride

Year Installed: 1998
Last Year Operated: Currently Operating
Section: Gotham City
Manufacturer: Premier Rides
Other Names and Nicknames: Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast

Mr. Freeze Roller Coaster

The Mr. Freeze Roller Coaster was built in 1997, but did not open until 1998, bringing the Roller Coaster count to eight. Named for the Mr. Freeze villain from the Batman universe, the queue house was built to resemble a decaying factory, with a huge ice cream man head for the entrance.

The Mr. Freeze Roller Coaster varies from traditional roller coasters in that it does not have a lift to pull the trains to a starting point. Instead, the ride uses rare earth magnets located in the station house and alongside the train body, to “push” the train out of the station.

The trains then travel through a series of elements, including an inversion, ending in a section of track which leads straight up. Near the middle of this section, another set of rare earth magnets shots the trains again, until the trains nearly reach the top of the track, giving the riders the impression that it the train will shot straight off the track. As the train travels up the track, it slowly losses power, until it comes to a complete momentary stop. The train the starts to fall backward, at which time, the train repeats the track backwards.

The trains were reversed in 2012, so that the trains leave the station backwards and repeat the track going forward. At that time the ride was renamed “Mr. Freeze, Reverse Blast“.

The ride was built by Premier Rides of Maryland.

—

Batman the Roller Coaster

Year Installed: 1999
Last Year Operated: Currently Operating
Section: Gotham City
Manufacturer: B&M
Other Names and Nicknames:

In 1999 Six Flags continued its DC Comics theming with the introduction of Batman The Ride, the park’s 10th roller coaster. An entire themed area, Gotham City was added to accommodate the ride. Two acres consists of the Gotham City Park. Several games stands, as well as the Mr. Freeze, are located in the new section.

The Batman is the park’s only suspended roller coaster, with the cars riding suspended below the track. In addition to being suspended, the ride is floorless, so that the rider’s legs hangs suspended below the cars, with nothing under them but the grounds.

The ride, built by Bollinger & Mabillard of Switzerland. contains 2,700 feet of track. Featured ride elements include a 77 foot tall vertical loop, a 68 foot tall vertical loop, two 40 feet tall corkscrew spirals, “s” curves, flat spins and a zero gravity heartline spin. The ride features two 52 (32) passenger trains, with riders suspended four across.

The ride reaches 52 mph, with a height of 109 feet. Riders feel up to 4 g’s. Designed capacity is 1,400 riders an hour. The ride is one of eight installed in various Six Flags parks.

Flashback Roller Coaster

Year Installed: 1989
Last Year Operated: 2012
Section: USA Good Times Square
Manufacturer: Vekoma
Other Names and Nicknames:

The Flashback is a boom-a-rang style rollercoaster built by the Vekoma Ride Company of the Netherlands. The boomerang is a standard Vekoma style roller coaster, which are quite popular in amusement parks across the country due to their large number of elements squeezed into a small footprint ride.

The ride starts with the sole train being pulled backwards out of the stationhouse up a steep one hundred and twenty five foot incline. Once at the top, the train is released, where it travels back through the stationhouse, into a loop, through a roll, into a second loop, through a third loop and up another one hundred and twenty-five foot incline of the same size as the first.

The track is designed so that it brings the track back around to a position next to the original track. The train is then pulled to the top of the second lift and released, where the ride repeats the track, this time with the riders traveling backwards.

The train travels up to 50 mph. The ride turns the riders upside down a total of six times in the one minute, fifty second ride. The single train holds up to 28 riders, with seven four person cars, for a capacity of 750 riders an hour.

The ride was removed at the end of the 2012 season to make room for the Texas SkyScreamer.

Judge Roy Scream

Year Installed: 1980
Last Year Operated: Operating
Section: USA Good Times Square
Manufacturer:
Other Names and Nicknames:

For Six Flags twentieth season a traditional wooden roller coaster, the Judge Roy Scream “Awe West of the Pecos”, was installed next to entry Lake on property south of Good Times Square. This property had previously been totally outside of the park proper.

To create the Judge Roy Scream the park hired William “Bill” Cobb, a man who had practically a legend in his own time and his firm William Cobb & Associates.

Since the ride is outside of what had always been the park proper, it is only accessible through a tunnel which travels under the park’s entry driveway. The eight acre ride runs parallel to the large lake located outside the front gate. It was billed as the “biggest addition” in the park’s history.

The ride handles two trains of four cars each, for a total of 24 riders per train. The trains travel up to 53 mph. The ride’s main lift is 65 feet, with a 50 degree, 60 foot drop. The trains travel a total of 2500 feet of track in approximately two minutes. The ride is designed to handle 1,200 passengers an hour.

For a time in 1994, some variety was created by turning the trains around, allowing the riders to ride backwards as they traveled around the track.

While not as large as its sister “scream” coasters at Georgia and Mid-America, the Judge Roy Scream is highly popular and brought the park’s operating coaster count to five.