Superman The Ride

Superman The Ride (formerly known as Bizarro and Superman – Ride of Steel) is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts. Built by Liechtensteiner manufacturer Intamin, the hypercoaster opened to the public as Superman – Ride of Steel in 2000. It features a 208 ft lift hill, a 221 ft drop, and a maximum speed of 77 mph. In 2009, the park changed the name to Bizarro, named after a DC Comics character portrayed as the antithesis of Superman. In accordance with the theme change, the coaster's track and supports were repainted with a purple and dark blue color scheme, and other special effects were added. In 2016, the Six Flags reverted to the original theme, but instead of restoring the name, it was changed to Superman The Ride. A virtual reality feature was added the same year, which created an optional 3D experience for passengers, but was removed prior to the 2017 season.

Superman The Ride has been well received, consistently holding a high ranking among steel roller coasters in the annual Golden Ticket Awards published by Amusement Today. The ride has topped the list five times since its debut. It has also weathered criticism from two serious accidents that occurred early in its tenure with one resulting in a passenger's death. Several safety modifications were made in their wake.

History

Prior to the 2000 season, Six Flags New England was known as Riverside Park. Six Flags

Ride experience

Track layout

After departing from the station, the train climbs the 208 ft-tall chain lift hill while the title theme from Superman: The Movie plays. To the left of the lift hill is the Connecticut River, which is parallel to much of the coaster. After reaching the top, the train drops 221 ft into a fogged headchopper tunnel. The ride reaches its top speed of 77 mph. After the train exits the tunnel, it climbs a second hill before dropping down into a 120 degree overbanked turn to the right. Riders then ride through cutouts of buildings and climb the third and fourth major hills. The third hill is where the on-ride photo is taken. After the fourth hill, the train drops through Superman's S shields. Riders crest a small hill, turning right into a clockwise helix, known as the spaghetti bowl. It then jumps over a bunny hill into a counter-clockwise helix. The train makes a right turn drop into a fogged tunnel followed by three bunny hills before banking right into the station.[16][17][18]

Trains

The roller coaster features two fiberglass trains with stadium-style seating.[19] Each train has nine cars with two rows of paired seats per car. When the ride was re-themed in 2009, onboard audio was added to the trains, with each seat having speakers mounted in the headrests. On each train, the two rear seats of the fifth car were removed to house equipment for the on-board audio. This reduced the capacity of the trains from 36 to 34.[4][20] Upon reopening following the change, a recording of various film quotes played while the train was in motion, ending with a loop of Bizarro and several other people chanting his name. Eventually, the audio track was switched to a compilation of clips from different rock songs, although the ending portion of the audio loop was kept due to popular demand. While on the final brake run waiting to return to the loading station, riders hear Bizarro chanting his name and "Bizarro #1".[17] The new trains paint scheme was changed from blue and red to purple.[9]

Track

The steel track is 5400 ft in length and the height of the lift is approximately 208 ft.[4] The track was originally painted red with blue supports, to fit the theme of Superman. In 2009, after the re-theme to Bizarro, the track was repainted purple while the supports were painted a darker shade of blue.[18] In 2016, the track and supports were repainted to their original colors but using more vibrant shades.[21]

previousnames	Superman: Ride of Steel (2000–2008) Bizarro (2009–2015)
location	Six Flags New England
section	DC Universe
coordinates	42.03861°N, -72.61139°W
type	Steel
status	Operating
previousattraction	Riverside Park Speedway
opened	May 5, 2000
year	2000
manufacturer	Intamin
designer	Werner Stengel
model	Mega Coaster
track	Out and Back Twister
lift	Chain lift hill
height ft	208
drop ft	221
length ft	5400
speed mph	77
inversions	0
duration	2:35
angle	72
capacity	1300
cost	Approx: $12,000,000
gforce	3.6
restriction in	54-76
trains	2
carspertrain	9
rowspercar	2
ridersperrow	2
virtual queue name	Fast Lane
virtual queue image	Cedar Fair Fast Lane availability icon.svg
virtual queue status	available
rcdb number	628

History

2009 theme change

2016 theme change and VR experience

Ride experience

Track layout

Trains

Track

Accidents and incidents

Safety modifications

Rankings

External links

References