Dec. 04--In the distinct dialect of Boston natives, the new wood-steel hybrid roller coaster planned for Six Flags New England looks freakin' wicked good.
Located west of Boston, the Massachusetts amusement park will transform the classic 1983 Cyclone wooden coaster into the relentless and intense triple-inversion Wicked Cyclone wood-steel hybrid.
Set to debut in summer 2015, Wicked Cyclone will be slightly shorter (3,320 feet) and significantly faster (55 mph) than the original.
The renovated twister-style wooden coaster will be the latest ride to undergo a massive makeover by Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction, which will perform a similar conversion on the Colossus racing coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
In recent years, Rocky Mountain has added inversions to Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas (2013) and Six Flags Mexico's Medusa (2014) while building two new looping wooden coasters: Silver Dollar City's Outlaw Run (2013) and Goliath at Six Flags Great America (2014).
In 2011, Rocky Mountain installed new track on Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags New England's Cyclone that significantly smoothed out the rides.
As part of the renovation at Six Flags New England, the new ride steepens the first drop, increases the top speed, introduces 14 negative-G airtime hills and adds three inversions to the structure of the existing coaster.
After climbing to the top of a 120-foot-tall lift hill, riders will descend a 78-degree first drop before powering through a 120-degree overbanked turn.
Following an outward-banked airtime hump, the coaster train will travel through a 200-degree stall element. An airtime-filled triple-down hill leads to a pair of zero-g rolls and a double-reversing banked hill element that slithers back and forth in quick succession.
The second half of the ride features a series of over-banked turns and airtime hills that weave through the wooden supports of the coaster, creating a number of near-miss head-chopper experiences.
The original coaster opened in 1983 as the $2.5-million Riverside Cyclone at what was then known as Riverside Amusement Park.
Inspired by the original Coney Island ride in New York, the Massachusetts twister was designed by William Cobb Associates, which created a number of wooden coasters at Six Flags parks in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The ride's name was shortened to Cyclone in 2000 when the park was rebranded as Six Flags New England.
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