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Six Flags Magic Mountain Colossus Closure Confirmed
The rumors of Six Flags Magic Mountain’s mammoth double coaster, Colossus, closing at the end of this year are indeed true. Six Flags hung banners in the park announcing the last day to ride will be August 16th.
At this point it is unknown whether the ride will be going the route of Rolling Thunder, another large, old, wooden racing coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure that was demolished last year. Or, a rumor that has been around for a while, is the ride will be getting a Rocky Mountain Construction steel Iron Horse track makeover like Texas Giant, Rattler, and Medusa, three other large Six Flags wooden coasters. If so, it will be interesting to see if the ride is reconstructed as a racing coaster or transformed into one large scream machine.
When it opened on June 29, 1978, Colossus was one of the tallest and fastest wooden roller coasters in the world and the first roller coaster in the world with two drops in excess of 100 feet. Colossus was made famous by the number of TV shows, movies, and commercials it appeared in, such as Step by Step and National Lampoon’s Vacation. If you can’t get out to Six Flags Magic Mountain to ride Colossus before the end of the summer then take a virtual ride by watching the Colossus POV below:
What do you think the future of Colossus is: demolished, Rocky Mountain treatment, or something else entirely?
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Why are they closing Colossus?
My heart is broken! The wooden roller coasters are the best!
I seem to be leaning more toward Colossus getting the rumored Rocky Mountain Construction steel-hybrid renovation (also known as, iron horse re-track). RMC did an excellent job in transforming and revitalizing Texas Giant, Rattler, and Medusa coasters at SFOT, SFFT, and SFM, respectively. I believe SFMM’s iconic twin racing coaster getting the RMC treatment would look very promising.
Who cares that ride sucks.
I LOVE COLOSSUS!
Wooden roller coasters have a unique “feel” to them…..but the wood is > 30yrs old…so probably does need some replacement/repair work done. I hope they re-do it EXACTLY as it is.
Hey Nick, Medusa isn’t wooden.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa_(Six_Flags_Discovery_Kingdom)
Roar is the wooden one at that six flags park. I grew up in the area and figured you’d like to know to correct your article.
@Wenchi. Six Flags Mexico has a wooden coaster called Medusa. It’s getting the Rocky Mountain treatment and I don’t think it’s open yet. Six Flags has an ugly habit of recycling the names of coasters to confuse the commoners.
This may sound like a dumb question but do any of you think that Six Flags will tear the Colossus down but replace it with an updated wooden coaster that’s very similar but with a different name?
Thanks for the comments everyone!
Randy, rising maintenance costs and declining popularity are usually the two biggest factors when a park decides to remove a ride.
Wenchi, I was referring to Six Flags Mexico’s Medusa wood coaster.
LaDone, I don’t think they will replace a wooden roller coaster with another similar wooden coaster. Most of the general public wouldn’t even know it was a new ride. They are most likely to build something highly marketable and easily recognizable as a brand new attraction.
I don’t know why they would close a ride like colossus. it looks great and its a classic. this may sound weird but they should keep colossus and tear down American eagle at SFGAM. The eagle always broken down, way to loud, gives you a headache to ride, gives you the sensation that the ride will collapse, and takes up the space of 2 large steel coasters. It is just a bother and if removed could add so much room to the park.
Where are they going to hang the giant black widow spider on halloween?
As a Southern California rollercoaster enthusiast, I’m saddened to hear that Colossus is going 2 b demolished. It has been a staple and an icon of the park since it opened in June of 78. There is plenty of land and wide open spaces in back of the park in which to construct new rides. Hopefully, rollercoaster enthusiast groups will band together and save it.
That was my very first ride I conquered my fear of heights on. It can’t be torn down. The prices to get in need to go down and same for the food. I haven’t been able to go because prices are too high.
My hear is crushed Colossus was the second roller costed iv ever been on in my life n turned out to be my most favorite of all
They are probably going to build a flagship, B&M coaster in its place! They stated that what they are going to put there will delight riders. As for American Eagle, it’s still an awesome ride! SFGAM is my home park. I love that ride, especially when the trains are in sync and actually “racing” each other! They just need to replace track sections that are worn out. That happens over time with any wooden coaster. Also, they are now touting American Eagle as the world’s tallest and fastest RACING wooden coaster (aka twin track). So it seems like it’s staying. IT’s has great riders/hour capacity due to the twin tracks and that it’s so long. Even after Goliath goes up I will STILL ride the American Eagle. If any ride should be torn down, it should be the Demon or even the Whizzer, although that one is a classic and great “junior” coaster for the kids.
The Eagle isn’t that loud and the rough, rickety feel is part of the charm of a wooden coaster! That’s what I like about American Eagle and Viper. Also, should the Beast be torn down then? It’s even older than the Eagle. I wouldn’t cry if Demon goes away. It’s sort of a junior coaster, so it does server a purpose. But it’s older than the Eagle actually !
I will miss this beautiful ride it was the ride that turned me into a roller coaster junkie. I wish they will change their mind & not tear it down
I would guess that the maintenance on such a large 30 year old wooden coaster has to be enormous and it is probably more of an economical decision.
Colossus has either gotten extremely bumpy and rickety or I’ve just gotten super old and rickety at 28 :(. Used to be a great ride, but 6 flags must see that the ride hardly ever has a line longer than 5 minutes, so it isn’t attracting as many guests to the park as a great new coaster would.
I’ve changed my mind after several rides on the American Eagle this year at Six Flags Great America! That ride can come down and new, flagship B&M can take its place! Something like Banshee at Kings Island. At the very least Six Flags should give Eagle the iron horse track treatment. It’s VERY rough to ride. And, whoever thought adding those “rumple strips” after the first drop to slow the train wasn’t thinking clearly! They are like mini speed bumps and make it even more bumpy to ride.
Bummer. I’m a coaster aficionado and I’m getting a little tired of all the new, generic steel coasters replacing the classic wooden ones. Hyper and inverted coasters were good in their day but bore me now. Being 6 Flags I’m sure they’ll either replace it with A) another steel snoozer, or B) a great steel coaster that’s closed down half the year. Take yer pick.
It’s cool to come back later and see what everyone thought! Now Twisted Colossus is one of the best coasters in the world!
I know these comments are almost a decade old and by now you all know that Colossus ended up getting the Iron Horse roller coaster cosmetic surgery procedure by RMC. It did NOT go away and it was NOT replaced by some B&M steel cookie cutter coaster. I don’t mean to throw shade at B&M or any steel coasters because they are fabulous! But Colossus is and will always be my heart coaster. I have nothing but find memories and if I were to recall the when I feel real joy! Pure unbridled joy, it would be while I was riding on Colossus. I would rather see that it got the Iron Horse makeover than to see if demolished with no trace of the classic left and forgotten forever. I love Twisted a colossus because it has the heart and soul of the Classic version and that will never change. Magic Mountain split the difference with Colossus when they gave it the makeover. They wanted to bring something fresh to the park but they weren’t willing to give up their anchor iconic coaster either. I would have liked to have seen Colossus completely restored to its majestic glory but I am still happy with the makeover.