Six Flags' The Flash: Vertical Velocity roller coaster opens this weekend. Here's what it's like to ride.
Six Flags Great Adventure is days away from opening, and many thrill seekers will be headed for The Flash: Vertical Velocity coaster, the first "super boomerang" roller coaster in North America.
The brand new roller coaster will be ready when the park opens for the season on Saturday, March 29. On Thursday, CBS News Philadelphia got a sneak peek — a chance to ride it multiple times.
"Boomerang" coasters
are so named because they take you through sections of the track forwards, and then go in reverse. So you'll get to experience the same loops, barrell rolls and vertical spikes forwards and backwards!
A super boomerang coaster
takes that same boomerang concept and uses a launch system instead of lifts, and has a longer layout, according to roller coaster designer Vekoma.
Ryan Eldredge, regional manager of public relations for Six Flags, tells us the coaster reaches 172 feet (or 17 stories) high and has a top speed of 59 mph.
Somehow, Ryan was able to get all those words out while riding the coaster — a true pro.
"We're going to get a lot of air time," Eldredge said. "You nervous?"
The coaster starts by taking riders out of the station forwards before launching them backwards. Then it's back through the start point, much faster this time, before going upside-down. From there, there's a camelback, a barrel roll and a sharp turn upward — before going backward through it all over again.
Check out the video above for a look at the ride in daylight!
The Flash is not the only new coaster coming to Great Adventure. After
demolishing Kingda Ka
and some other rides over the winter, Six Flags is working on a multi-world-record-breaking coaster that will occupy that space. That new coaster is set to open in 2026.
There is one other "Super Boomerang" coaster in the world called
Cloud Shuttle - it's at Fantawild Wonderland in Xuzhou, China
.
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