If you’ve been to a Six Flags park, you’ve probably seen a ride themed to the legendary DC hero Superman, but a few of these coasters stand above the rest. For this entry in our 20 in 2020 series, we will be going to two different Six Flags parks, one in Massachusetts, and one in Maryland. Named Superman The Ride and Superman – Ride of Steel respectively, these two hypercoasters feature some of Intamin’s best layouts, and are still thrilling guests today.
History
In 1999, Six Flags opened Superman – Ride of Steel at their Darien Lake park, and the ride was a massive success. So, they decided to build more, one at Six Flags America and one at Six Flags New England. The one at Six Flags America is a mirror image clone of the one operating at Darien Lake, but the one in New England was a brand new layout.
The coaster at Six Flags New England actually opened with the name Superman – Ride of Steel as well, then it was changed to Bizarro and painted purple for a retheme in 2009, but converted back to Superman in 2016, featuring the red paint and new name, partly in order to coincide with the push for virtual reality on the Six Flags chain’s rides.
Stats
Superman – Ride of Steel
Length: 5,350.0 ft
Height: 197.0 ft
Drop: 205.0 ft
Speed: 73.0 mph
Duration: 2:10
Superman The Ride
Length: 5,400.0 ft
Height: 208.0 ft
Drop: 221.0 ft
Speed: 77.0 mph
Duration: 2:35
Ride Experience
Despite having the same theme and manufacturer, there are some major differences between these coasters. Right off the bat, the Six Flags America version features a 180 degree turn out of the station, whereas the New England version goes right into the lift hill from the station. The New England coaster is also notable because its drop is larger than its height, due to the fact it enters a tunnel at the bottom of the first drop.
This is likely also why the top speed is higher on Superman The Ride. In looking at the elements of the rides, it is interesting how similar they are, both feature two helices, multiple airtime hills, and a series of camelbacks leading the ride into the station. However, Superman The Ride’s spaghetti bowl helices are much tighter, and put extreme pressure and G-forces on riders, whereas Superman – Ride of Steel’s are much wider, and focus more on speed than intensity.
Superman The Ride also has another tunnel in the middle of a layout, and more airtime hills, along with an overbanked turn after the first drop rather than a helix. Overall, Superman The Ride is all about intense ejector airtime, whereas Ride of Steel goes more for speed, and a few pops of airtime at the end.
Virtual Reality
Both coasters received the Superman Samsung Gear VR virtual reality makeover in the summer of 2016, but the experience was short-lived, and did not return for the 2017 season. This was mostly due to significantly increased wait times due to the setup of the technology, and not enough public interest. You can read my article on why it failed here!
Fun Facts
- When Superman The Ride was converted to Bizarro in 2009, and along with the new paint and theme, received trains featuring on-ride audio.
- During its time as Bizarro, the ride featured pillars that would shoot flames as the coaster entered one of its spaghetti bowls. They have since been moved to New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas.
- Superman The Ride has topped the Golden Ticket Awards steel coaster charts 5 different times, and has gone 19 years without falling out of the top 5 spots.
- Both coasters enter their short brake runs at very high speeds, giving a final moment of intensity before the ride ends.
- Superman The Ride used to feature the T-bar restraints like the other Superman hyper coasters, but due to a rider incident, the restraints were expanded on in 2004, and are now the U-brick style.
- When Six Flags New England turned Bizarro back into Superman in 2016, theming was added such as a Daily Planet news van, lights inside the tunnels, and lights along its lift hill, in the style of Fury 325, and themed signage featuring newspaper proclaiming “Superman Defeats Bizarro!”
- Nerdy fact: After being converted back to Superman the Ride, the ride uses the Superman logo from the New 52 comics rather than the classic logo.
We hope you have enjoyed this series of 20 in 2020 articles, and thank you for celebrating these anniversaries with us throughout this year! What was your favorite coaster that opened in 2000?
Would have loved to see more attention to the Darien Lake model.