When we planned our annual Coaster101 writers’ trip to Six Flags Great America, we were banking on a Memorial Day Weekend opening of Maxx Force. As you might be aware, that hasn’t happened quite yet. The track is complete, the trains are on the track, but to date, no testing has been done, and there is still much work to be done before Maxx Force opens to the public.
That said, with the ride under construction, we did what any sane group of coaster enthusiasts would do in that situation; pulled out our cameras and started taking pictures.
Here’s a little of what we saw!
All of the track was in place, and looked great! The supports were wild, as is sometimes seen on S&S Coasters.
Maxx Force backs up well against Raging Bull, Six Flags Great America’s B&M Hyper. They look super close in person!
More track, from the Viper queue.
While the track was complete, there was still work to be done.
The park is repurposing the former Pictorium IMAX theater sign for Maxx Force’s entrance. The seldom-used theater building was razed last summer to make room for the coaster.
The facade was up for the new coaster’s entrance, but the concrete pad for the queue was missing its railings.
Progress being made on the transfer track and station.
Workers were hard at work to get the coaster ready for opening.
Remember, real coaster enthusiasts don’t ride coasters, they just look at coasters that are under construction.
An overhead look from the Skytrek Tower.
If you look closely you’ll see kicker tires have been installed at the highest point of the ride. Presumably they don’t want a Top Thrill Dragster situation where the train has gotten stuck at the highest point before. And yes, you could still potentially get a roll back provided your train doesn’t make it to this point.
Look at that support structure!
The train was on the tracks, but not quite testing just yet.
One of Maxx Force’s five inversions.
More station work.
Maxx Force Construction Update Video
And if video format is more your style, here you go:
Are you excited for Maxx Force? Let us know in the comments below!
Rumor has it that a manufacturing problem has caused the track to misalign with some of the supports and the crew is waiting on S&S’s approval on making sure everything is safe and sound before testing. They bent part of the support on the final half loop by a few inches when it wasn’t alligned correctly when they put that section up.