Pandemonium (roller coaster)

Pandemonium
Pandemonium at Fiesta Texas
Previously known as Tony Hawk's Big Spin and Big Spin at some locations and Mr. Six's Pandemonium at Six Flags New England
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Park section	Fiesta Bay Boardwalk
Status	Operating
Opening date	March 10, 2007 (2007-03-10)[1]
Six Flags New England
Park section	North End
Coordinates	42°02′26″N 72°36′52″W / 42.040456°N 72.614562°W / 42.040456; -72.614562Coordinates: 42°02′26″N 72°36′52″W / 42.040456°N 72.614562°W / 42.040456; -72.614562
Status	Operating
Opening date	April 14, 2005 (2005-04-14)[2]
Six Flags Over Texas
Park section	Boomtown
Status	Operating
Opening date	May 17, 2008 (2008-05-17)[3]
Cost	$6,500,000
Six Flags St. Louis
Park section	Britannia
Status	Operating
Opening date	April 21, 2007 (2007-04-21)
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Park section	Sky
Status	Relocated to Six Flags México[4]
Opening date	May 23, 2008 (2008-05-23)
Closing date	January 1, 2012 (2012-01-01)
Cost	$6,500,000
Replaced	Zonga
Replaced by	Superman: Ultimate Flight
General statistics
Type	Steel – Spinning
Manufacturer	Gerstlauer
Designer	Werner Stengel
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Drop	27 ft (8.2 m)
Length	1,351 ft (412 m)
Speed	31 mph (50 km/h)
Inversions	0
Duration	1:51
Capacity	1400 riders per hour
Height restriction	42 in (107 cm)
Cars	Riders are seated 2 across, in 2 rows, for a total of 4 riders per car.
Flash Pass Available at the four Six Flags parks.
Single rider line available at Six Flags New England

Pandemonium is the name of multiple Gerstlauer steel spinning roller coasters that are located at several Six Flags theme parks including Six Flags New England, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Six Flags St. Louis, Six Flags Over Texas, and previously at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom which was relocated to Six Flags México as The Joker.^[4] Its design consists of several cars holding four riders each. While the cars traverse the track, they spin around according to the angle of the track and the shifts in the riders' weight. All five rides were installed by Ride Entertainment Group, who handle all of Gerstlauer's operations in the Western Hemisphere.^[5][6]

History

Tony Hawk's Big Spin logo from 2007–2010.

The original Pandemonium opened at Six Flags New England on April 14, 2005 as Mr. Six's Pandemonium (Six Flags dropped the "Mr. Six's" prefix one year later).^[7] It was the only Gerstlauer spinning roller coaster at a Six Flags park until 2007 and 2008 when Six Flags opened another 4 spinning roller coasters — all named Tony Hawk's Big Spin.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} The rides were originally billed as the "total Tony Hawk experience" and were designed to have the look and feel of giant red-and-black skateparks.^[13]

They offered a full "extreme sports" experience, with monitors in the queue lines displaying highlights of the history of action sports and a large spinning Tony Hawk figure crowning the rides. Tony Hawk's Big Spin merchandise was also available at the rides' exits. They were named after the skateboarding trick of the same name, which is a body varial with the skateboard rotating fully once, or 360 degrees. Prior to the opening of the rides, Tony Hawk's Boom Boom HuckJam toured through several Six Flags parks in 2006 and 2007.^[14] In late 2010, Six Flags began the process of cancelling licensed intellectual property deals they had with various brands including Tony Hawk. The 4 Tony Hawk's Big Spins were originally renamed to Big Spin before being renamed and rethemed to Pandemonium.^{[9][10][11][12][15]}

After January 1, 2012 (the end of the 2011 season at Discovery Kingdom), Pandemonium at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom was closed to be removed to make room for the park's newest coaster Superman: Ultimate Flight for the 2012 season.^[16][17][18] Days after January 1, Pandemonium was starting to be removed and then towards the end of January 2012, Pandemonium was completely removed from the site where the coaster was located.^[19] By March 2012, Pandemonium from California traveled to the Roller Coaster Museum in Plainview, Texas before being sent to Six Flags México in Mexico City possibly to once again operate.^[20][21] On September 6, 2012, Six Flags México announced The Joker, which was the Pandemonium at Discovery Kingdom.^[4]

Layout

The layout consists of several "segments" separated by brakes. The first segment comprises a swooping drop and climb into the second segment, which is a series of S-shaped turns. The third segment is a heavily banked figure-8; the fourth is a series of hills that form a semicircle; the fifth is a pair of small hills; and the sixth is a helix into the seventh segment; a long loop, which leads to a massive hill, and finally into the brake run. For most of the ride, the cart is spinning around rapidly.

See also

• 2012 in amusement parks

Gallery

• 
  Six Flags New England's Pandemonium
• 
  A model of Six Flags New England's Pandemonium on display at the IAAPA Euro Attractions Show 2009.
• 
  Pandemonium at Six Flags New England
• 
  Six Flags Fiesta Texas's Pandemonium
• 
  Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's former Pandemonium

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pandemonium (roller coaster).

• Pandemonium at Six Flags Fiesta Texas
• Pandemonium at Six Flags New England
• Pandemonium at Six Flags Over Texas
• Pandemonium at Six Flags St. Louis