A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns,steep slopes,and other elements designed to produce a thrilling experience. Trains consist of open cars connected in a single line,and the rides are often found in theme parks around the world. Roller coasters first appeared in the 17th century,and LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885,based on the Switchback Railway which opened a year earlier at Coney Island.
Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located approximately 20 miles southeast of Trenton in Jackson,New Jersey. Owned and operated by Six Flags,the park complex is situated between New York City and Philadelphia and includes a water park named Hurricane Harbor. It first opened to the public as simply Great Adventure in 1974 under the direction of restaurateur Warner LeRoy. Six Flags acquired the park in 1977. The park is located right off of Interstate 195 and is along Monmouth Road.
Six Flags New England,formerly known as Gallup's Grove(1870–1886),Riverside Grove (1887–1911),Riverside Park (1912–1995) and Riverside:The Great Escape (1996–2000),is an amusement park located in Agawam,Massachusetts. Opening in the late 19th century,it is the oldest amusement park in the Six Flags chain,acquired by Premier Parks in 1996 and rebranded Six Flags New England in 2000. Superman The Ride is among the park's most notable rides,having appeared as a highly ranked roller coaster in the annual Golden Ticket Awards from Amusement Today since the ride opened in 2000.
Six Flags Magic Mountain,formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain,is a 209-acre (85 ha) amusement park located in Valencia,California,35 miles (56 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29,1971,as a development of the Newhall Land and Farming Company and Sea World Inc. In 1979,Six Flags purchased the park and added "Six Flags" to the park's name.
Kingda Ka is a hydraulically-launched steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson,New Jersey,United States. Manufactured by Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel,Kingda Ka opened as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world on May 21,2005,surpassing Top Thrill Dragster. It is the second strata coaster ever built,exceeding 400 feet (120 m) in height. Both were made with similar designs,although Kingda Ka's layout adds an airtime hill on the return portion of the track.
Six Flags Great America is a 304-acre (123 ha) amusement park located in Gurnee,Illinois,within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29,1976,as one of two theme parks built by the Marriott Corporation. Six Flags acquired the amusement park in 1984 after the theme park division was an earnings disappointment for Marriott. The sale gave Six Flags rights to the Looney Tunes intellectual properties.
Matterhorn Bobsleds are a pair of intertwined steel roller coasters at Disneyland in Anaheim,California. It is modeled after the Matterhorn,a mountain in the Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is the first known tubular steel track roller coaster. Located on the border between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland,it employs forced perspective to seem larger.
Batman:The Ride is an inverted roller coaster based on the DC Comics character Batman and found at seven Six Flags theme parks in the United States. Built by consulting engineers Bolliger &Mabillard,it rises to a height of between 100 and 105 feet and reaches top speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h). The original roller coaster at Six Flags Great America was partially devised by the park's general manager Jim Wintrode. Batman:The Ride was the world's first inverted roller coaster when it opened in 1992,and has since been awarded Coaster Landmark status by the American Coaster Enthusiasts. Clones of the ride exist at amusement parks around the world.
Superman:Escape from Krypton,originally known as Superman:The Escape,is a steel shuttle roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia,California. When it opened in 1997,it was the tallest roller coaster in the world,and its maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) was tied for the fastest with Tower of Terror II,a similar roller coaster which opened two months earlier at Dreamworld in Australia. Both were the first to utilize Linear Synchronous Motor (LSM) launch technology to propel vehicles,although the intended opening date in 1996 at Magic Mountain was postponed due to issues with the launch system.
Green Lantern,formerly known as Chang,is a stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township,New Jersey. Green Lantern stands 155 feet (47 m) tall and features a top speed of 63 miles per hour (101 km/h). The 4,155-foot-long (1,266 m) ride features five inversions and a duration of approximately 21⁄2 minutes. This steel coaster was designed and built by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger &Mabillard.
Flashback was a steel roller coaster made by Intamin of Switzerland. The coaster was located in the Six Flags Plaza area of Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia,California. The model of the ride,a Space Diver coaster,was intended to be mass-produced,however,Flashback was the only installation.
A bobsled roller coaster is a roller coaster that uses a track design that is essentially a "pipe" with the top half removed and has cars that are sent down this pipe in a freewheeling mode. The name derives from the great similarity to the track design used for the winter sport of bobsleigh.
La Vibora is a steel bobsled roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington,Texas,United States.
Swiss Bob was a Bobsled roller coaster in amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands.
Lightnin' Loops was a pair of Shuttle Loop roller coasters that were originally installed at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson,New Jersey. The ride consisted of two identical tracks,both of which were later relocated and renamed:the still-extant Diamond Back at Frontier City in Oklahoma City and the defunct Python at Six Flags America in Largo,Maryland.
Roller coaster amusement rides have origins back to ice slides constructed in 18th-century Russia. Early technology featured sleds or wheeled carts that were sent down hills of snow reinforced by wooden supports. The technology evolved in the 19th century to feature railroad track using wheeled cars that were securely locked to the track. Newer innovations emerged in the early 20th century with side friction and underfriction technologies to allow for greater speeds and sharper turns. By the mid-to-late 20th century,these elements intensified with the introduction of steel roller coaster designs and the ability to invert riders.
Avalanche is a steel bobsled roller coaster at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool,England. It is the first and,as of 2022,the only bobsled roller coaster in the United Kingdom. It was designed for the park by Mack of Germany in 1988.
The Illusion is a fully enclosed tubular steel roller coaster,manufactured by Vekoma. It runs on Vekoma's narrow MK-700 track system. Two were built,both in 1989,Chaos in Opryland USA (Tennessee),and Revolution / Mount Mara in Bobbejaanland (Belgium). Only the one in Bobbejaanland is still active.
The Dark Knight Coaster is the name of three enclosed steel roller coasters located at Six Flags Great Adventure,Six Flags Great America,and Six Flags México. They opened in 2008 and 2009,timed closely to the theatrical release of The Dark Knight. All three installations were manufactured by Mack Rides.
Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor is an amusement and water park owned and operated by Six Flags. It is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) north of Albany,in Queensbury,New York. It was one of three Six Flags parks not to be officially branded with the "Six Flags" name until 2022,with La Ronde in Montreal,Quebec,Canada,and Frontier City in Oklahoma City,Oklahoma,being the last two without the Six Flags branding.
