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.
Six Flags America is a theme park located in the Woodmore CDP of Prince George's County,Maryland,near Upper Marlboro,and in 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.
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.
Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides,especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield,Utah,the company was the successor to Arrow Development (1946–1981) and Arrow Huss (1981–1986),which were responsible for several influential advancements in the amusement and theme park industries. Among the most significant was tubular steel track,which provided a smoother ride than the railroad style rails commonly used prior to the 1960s on wooden roller coasters. The Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland,built in 1959,was Arrow's first roller coaster project.
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. 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 (RMC) 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 Batman &Robin movie. It opened to the public on June 7,1997,but after a series of setbacks shortly after its debut,the roller coaster closed for much of its inaugural season and didn't reopen until 1998. When it did,ride operation was changed to launch only one side at a time as a result of the amount of power required by the ride's linear induction motor (LIM) launch system. Although modifications were made over the years to improve the ride experience and limit the amount of downtime,the park decided to remove the attraction following the 2007 season.
Alpine Bobsled is 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.
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.
The Joker Free-Fly Coaster is the name of four spinning roller coasters currently operating at four Six Flags amusement parks in the United States,those being Six Flags Great Adventure,Six Flags Great America,Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags New England. Built by S&S –Sansei Technologies,an American ride manufacturer,each of these steel coasters are versions of their "Free Spin" model. Since 2016,Six Flags has installed The Joker in four parks.
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.
