Aquaman: Power Wave Testing at Six Flags Over Texas

The wait is finally over — Aquaman: Power Wave will open next month, and the long-awaited coaster has been testing ahead of its debut.

While at the park over the weekend, the Last week, Six Flags Over Texas announced on Twitter that Aquaman: Power Wave would open on Saturday, March 11, 2023:

🚨 AQUAMAN: Power Wave UPDATE! 🚨

The biggest splash is coming to Spring Break. Join us for the Opening Ceremony on Saturday, March 11 and experience the first-of-its-kind water coaster and the newest coaster at Six Flags Over Texas!#SixFlagsOverTexas #Aquaman #AquamanPowerWave pic.twitter.com/fLdKjJ7Cjy

— Six Flags Over Texas (@SixFlagsOverTX) February 15, 2023

Aquaman: Power Wave was first announced in August 2019.

The coaster is a Mack Rides Power Splash model, the first of its kind in the US. There are four others operating across the globe.

It replaces the former chute-the-chutes Aquaman Splashdown ride.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other delays, the coaster has stood nearly complete but nonoperational for three years.

Let’s “dive in” to the Aquaman: Power Wave ride experience:

During the 70-second ride, linear synchronous motors (LSMs) launch the boats three times: first backward into a small camelback hill that should provide plenty of airtime throughout the course.

The boat stalls out on the first tower and goes forward, over the camelback hill again where the LSMs propel the boat up the front tower.

After the final backwards launch the boat reaches a top speed of 62 miles per hour as they fly back up the reverse spike.

Now comes the splash, which also acts as a natural brake to slow the boats down. But how is the pool filled? I’m going to steal some text from Coaster101 writer (and engineer!) Nick Weisenberger’s 2019 post detailing how Aquaman: Power Wave works:

Nick writes:

“The secret is the water is divided up into two regions: the main reservoir which can hold all of the water, and the splash zone where the track passes through. The reservoir initially holds the majority of the water, meaning the water level in the splash zone is at a lower level (or could even have no water), allowing the vehicle to pass through with little or no resistance. When the control system gives the signal, flood doors (or sluice gates) in the reservoir are opened allowing water to quickly pour into the splash zone, raising the water level to a predetermined height very quickly.”

The boats come pretty close to the top of the 146-foot-tall tower.

Given the ride’s relatively short 708-foot-long course, the boats are able to accelerate to 62 mph much faster than I was expecting.

I’m guessing the feeling of weightlessness on the reverse spike will be one of the coaster’s highlights.

See the splashdown in action below:

Aquaman splashdown pic.twitter.com/CY25WrSZLA

— Coaster101.com (@Coaster101) February 18, 2023

This ride will be a hit during the hot summer months.

To increase Aquaman’s capacity, the coaster utilize a turntable loading station that allows to boats to operate at once. See the turntable in action in the video below:

Aquaman turntable in action @SixFlagsOverTX pic.twitter.com/Y3Hh0Au5en

— Coaster101.com (@Coaster101) February 18, 2023

The addition of the turntable was supposedly partially responsible for the delayed opening. I think doubling the ride’s capacity is a smart move and, in the long run, worth the delay.