Goliath (Six Flags New England)

Goliath is a steel shuttle roller coaster manufactured by Vekoma located at Six Flags New England. The ride is a larger, inverted version of Vekoma's popular Boomerang sit down roller coasters. It originally opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2001 as Déjà Vu. As of July 2020, five installations of this type of coaster are operating, with another one under construction.

Goliath
Previously known as Deja Vu at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Goliath when it was originally at Six Flags Magic Mountain as Déjà Vu from 2001-2011
Six Flags New England
Park sectionCrackaxle Canyon
Coordinates28.038523°N 82.422389°W / 28.038523; -82.422389
StatusOperating
Opening dateMay 25, 2012
ReplacedShipwreck Falls
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Park sectionCyclone Bay
Coordinates34.427°N 118.597°W / 34.427; -118.597
StatusRelocated to Six Flags New England
Opening dateAugust 25, 2001
Closing dateOctober 16, 2011
Replaced byWest Coast Racers
General statistics
TypeSteel – Shuttle – Inverted
ManufacturerVekoma
ModelGiant Inverted Boomerang
Lift/launch systemCable lift hill
Height194 ft (59 m)
Drop177 ft (54 m)
Length367 ft (112 m)
Speed65.6 mph (105.6 km/h)
Inversions3
Duration1:32
Capacity870 riders per hour
Height restriction54 in (137 cm)
TrainsSingle train with 8 cars. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.
Goliath at RCDB
Pictures of Goliath at RCDB

History

Three Giant Inverted Boomerang coasters, all named Déjà Vu, were slated to open for the start of the 2001 season at three Six Flags parks. However, sudden errors and malfunctions occurred during testing and caused the openings to be delayed. The first version of Déjà Vu to open was at Six Flags Magic Mountain on August 25, 2001.[1][2] This was followed by the opening of a further two Giant Inverted Boomerangs on September 1, 2001, at Six Flags Over Georgia[3] and on October 7, 2001, at Six Flags Great America.[4]

On August 16, 2011, Masslive reported that Six Flags New England was planning on building a Giant Inverted Boomerang for the park's 2012 season where the Shipwreck Falls attraction was located.[5] On August 18, 2011, the ride was approved by the Agawam Planning Board,[5] with the Los Angeles Times confirming one day later that Déjà Vu from Six Flags Magic Mountain would be relocated to Six Flags New England and would begin operation under a new name in 2012.[6] An official announcement from Six Flags representatives was made on September 1, 2011, confirming previous reports and announcing that the relocated ride's name would be Goliath.[6][7][8][9] After October 16, 2011, Déjà Vu was closed.[10] At around the same time, Shipwreck Falls was removed from Six Flags New England to make way for Goliath.[11] Goliath at Six Flags New England was topped off on February 29, 2012.[12] Goliath opened to the public on May 25, 2012.

Ride experience

Layout and design

Goliath features a vertical cable lift hill that quickly lifts the train up a vertical tower. Also, this model is larger than previous Boomerang designs. From above, the track layout looks like an 'X'.

Train
Rendering of new Premier Rides Train for Goliath

Unlike the other Giant Inverted Boomerangs, Goliath features a train by Premier Rides (different from the originals built by Vekoma). This train has seating, exactly like that on Bolliger & Mabillard's inverted roller coasters. The new train design was chosen in an attempt to make the lines in the station less complicated to navigate and also to give the ride a higher capacity.[13][14]

Incidents

On July 11, 2016 Goliath at Six Flags New England suffered a cable snap on tower one, shutting down the ride until replacement parts were obtained and installed.[15]

gollark: Mere sort?
gollark: Too bad, you will be rotated in 7-space.
gollark: Just get good and read the machine code.
gollark: Well, I find your dichotomy "literal apioform".
gollark: That's reverse engineering of things, you literal metaphorical bee.

References
  1. Marden, Duane. "Roller Coaster Search Results  (Giant Inverted Boomerangs)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  2. Marden, Duane. "Déjà Vu  (Six Flags Magic Mountain)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  3. Marden, Duane. "Déjà Vu  (Six Flags Over Georgia)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  4. Marden, Duane. "Déjà Vu  (Six Flags Great America)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  5. Constantine, Sandra (August 16, 2011). "Six Flags New England working to add new roller coaster ride to its Agawam amusement park". News Article. MassLive.com.
  6. MacDonald, Brady (19 August 2011). "Six Flags Magic Mountain to remove Deja Vu coaster". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  7. Hagist, Jenna (August 18, 2011). "Six Flags Adds New Coaster". News Article. Wggb.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  8. Six Flags New England (September 1, 2011). "Six Flags New England Announces Goliath – A Coaster Of Epic Proportions For The 2012 Season". Six Flags. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  9. Six Flags Great America (September 2, 2011). "Hey Déjà Vu fans!..." Facebook. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  10. Six Flags Magic Mountain (September 13, 2011). "Déjà Vu fans..." Facebook. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  11. Six Flags New England (September 3, 2011). "Last Chance to ride..." Facebook. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  12. Six Flags New England (February 29, 2012). "Topping off Goliath..." Facebook. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  13. Six Flags New England (October 2, 2011). "...new train for Goliath?". Facebook. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  14. Six Flags New England (December 7, 2011). "...Goliath created Premier Rides". Facebook. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  15. "Roller coaster cable malfunction prompts Six Flags New England to close ride indefinitely". Retrieved 2016-07-12.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.