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 America is an amusement park in Woodmore,Maryland,United States,near Upper Marlboro,adjacent to the Washington,DC metropolitan area.
A roller coaster inversion is a roller coaster element in which the track turns riders upside-down and then returns them to an upright position. Early forms of inversions were circular in nature and date back to 1848 on the Centrifugal railway in Paris. These vertical loops produced massive g-force that was often dangerous to riders. As a result,the element eventually became non-existent with the last rides to feature the looping inversions being dismantled during the Great Depression. In 1975,designers from Arrow Development created the corkscrew,reviving interest in the inversion during the modern age of steel roller coasters. Elements have since evolved from simple corkscrews and vertical loops to more complex inversions such as Immelmann loops and cobra rolls. The Smiler at Alton Towers holds the world record for the number of inversions on a roller coaster with 14.
An inverted roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. Riders are seated in open cars,letting their feet swing freely. The inverted coaster was pioneered by Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger &Mabillard in the early 1990s with the development of Batman:The Ride,which opened at Six Flags Great America on May 9,1992.
Six Flags Great America is a 304-acre (123 ha) themed 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.
A shuttle roller coaster is any roller coaster that ultimately does not make a complete circuit,but rather reverses at some point throughout its course and traverses the same track backwards. These are sometimes referred to as boomerang roller coasters,due to the ubiquity of Vekoma's Boomerang coaster model.
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 and at least one outside the US. 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.
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.
El Toro is a wooden roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township,New Jersey. Designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Intamin,the ride opened to the public on June 11,2006. Intamin subcontracted Rocky Mountain Construction to build the ride,and the coaster's track was prefabricated,allowing for quicker installation and lower construction costs. El Toro is the main attraction of the Mexican-themed section of the park,Plaza Del Carnaval. It replaced another roller coaster,Viper,which closed following the 2004 season.
Batman &Robin:The Chiller was a dual-tracked,launched roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township,New Jersey. Designed by Premier Rides,the ride was themed to the 1997 film Batman &Robin.
Dominator is a floorless roller coaster located at Kings Dominion amusement park in Doswell,Virginia. Built by Bolliger &Mabillard,it originally opened in 2000 as Batman:Knight Flight at Six Flags Ohio,in Aurora,Ohio. It was given its current name when Cedar Fair purchased the Ohio park in 2004. However,following Six Flags Ohio ’s eventual permanent closure in 2007,the coaster was relocated to Kings Dominion,where it reopened on May 24,2008. Dominator is located fairly close to the park’s main entry plaza,in the area known as International Street.
Alpine Bobsled was a steel bobsled roller coaster located at the Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor amusement park in Queensbury,New York. Manufactured by Intamin,the coaster first opened to the public in 1984 at Six Flags Great Adventure. It was relocated to Six Flags Great America in 1989,and then to Six Flags Great Escape in 1998. The Alpine Bobsled closed permanently on September 4,2023 and was dismantled to make room for Bobcat.
Orient Express was a steel roller coaster located at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City,Missouri. Introduced in 1980,the ride was manufactured by Arrow Huss and designed by Ron Toomer. It was replaced in 2004 by Spinning Dragons,a Gerstlauer spinning roller coaster. The red-orange track was located between the two entrances of the park. The station house was retained for use with a haunted attraction during the park's annual Halloween event.
Ultra Twister was a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure from 1986 to 1988 and then at Six Flags AstroWorld from 1990 until that park was closed and demolished by Six Flags in 2005. The ultratwister-design is that of a pipeline roller coaster,created by Japanese company TOGO.
Batman The Escape was a stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston,Texas,United States. Manufactured by Intamin,the ride featured one inversion and originally opened as Shockwave at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 1986. After briefly operating at Six Flags Great Adventure,it was moved a second time to AstroWorld,where it reopened in 1993 as Batman The Escape. The coaster operated there until the park's permanent closure in 2005. The track was eventually moved to Six Flags Darien Lake,placed into storage,and never reassembled.
Shuttle Loop is a type of steel launched shuttle roller coaster designed by Reinhold Spieldiener of Intamin and manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf. A total of 12 installations were produced between 1977 and 1982. These 12 installations have been located in a total of 22 different amusement parks.
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.
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.
A Launched Loop is a type of steel launched shuttle roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics. With 8 different installations,7 of them being relocated at least once,the ride was introduced in 1977,with the last one opening in 1993.
