Pandemonium (roller coaster)

Pandemonium
Pandemonium at Fiesta Texas
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)
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
Single rider line available

Pandemonium is a spinning roller coaster located at several Six Flags theme parks in North America. It was designed by Gerstlauer, a German ride manufacturer, and Werner Stengel. Since 2005, Six Flags has installed Pandemonium in five of their parks, with one being relocated to another company park.

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.

History

New England's Pandemonium

The first installation of Pandemonium opened at Six Flags New England on April 16, 2005, and dubbed as Mr. Six's Pandemonium. The New England park went to a roller coaster manufacturer, Gerstlauer, to help bring a coaster to the park that all ages would be attracted to. Gerstlauer then introduced Six Flags with the manufacturer's latest development of the spinning roller coaster, which was developed in the early 2000s.[1] In early 2005, Six Flags New England announced its plans for the upcoming season by adding two roller coasters to the park, including Mr. Six's Pandemonium, themed after the advertising character of the company.[2] Without any notice, Six Flags New England removed the theming of Mr. Six on the roller coaster and operated it as Pandemonium for the start of the 2007 season.

In late 2006 and early 2007, both Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags St. Louis announced the addition of a new spinning coaster to their respective parks.[3] Six Flags licensed with professional skateboarder, Tony Hawk, to help brand the company's newest two coasters after the success of the Boom Boom HuckJam, which toured many Six Flags parks in 2006.[4] The ride was originally billed as the "Tony Hawk experience" and was designed to have the look and feel of a large red-and-black skatepark. It 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 ride.[5][6] In 2007, both parks equipped their two new coasters with CD ride technology that captures the guests' on-ride experience which is put on a DVD for a take home souvenir.[7]

With the success of Tony Hawk's Big Spin, Six Flags announced in late 2007 that they would be adding two more to their parks. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and Six Flags Over Texas both opened the next two installments in the spring of 2008.[8][9]

In November 2010, Six Flags began the process of cancelling licensed intellectual property deals they had with various brands, including the agreement with Tony Hawk himself, as the company was emerging itself from bankruptcy at that time.[10] Discovery Kingdom, Fiesta Texas, and Over Texas operated until January 2011 that 2010 season for Holiday in the Park, so those three parks quickly dropped Tony Hawk's name from the ride and any other memorabilia associated with him and operated their coaster as Big Spin for the remainder of the season. At the start of the new season in 2011, all four Tony Hawk's Big Spins were officially renamed to Pandemonium like their sister park at New England.

Superman: Ultimate Flight was announced by Six Flags in late 2011 to be built at Discovery Kingdom, which would replace their Pandemonium roller coaster.[11] Pandemonium at Discovery Kingdom officially closed at the park on January 1, 2012. As a relatively new coaster, Six Flags moved the coaster to the headquarters of Larson International and Roller Coaster Museum, which are both located in Plainview, Texas, to keep as storage.[12][13] In mid 2012, Six Flags México announced The Joker for the 2013 season.[14] Track of the stored Pandemonium moved from Texas to its new home in Mexico.

Layout

Fiesta Texas's Pandemonium

According to the Gerstlauer website, the manufacture has two different models of its spinning roller coaster collection and one where a park can customize to fit its desires. The five Pandemoniums make up both of the two, the 400 and the 420. Each model has different statistics, so the Pandemoniums range in height from 52 feet (16 m) to 54 feet (16 m) with the same speed of 31 miles per hour (50 km/h). Discovery Kingdom was the only park to feature the 400 as the others were the 420 model. The 400 model, is shorter at 48 feet (15 m), more compact, and had a lower capacity. 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.

Fiesta Texas and St. Louis' Pandemonium has a portion of its track above a half-pipe like structure, used as part of the former theme for Tony Hawk.

Installations

All rides were installed by Ride Entertainment Group, who handle all of Gerstlauer's operations in North America.[15][16]

NameParkAreaModelOpening dateStatusRefs
PandemoniumSix Flags New EnglandNorth EndSpinning Coaster Model 420April 16, 2005Operating[2]
PandemoniumSix Flags Fiesta TexasFiesta Bay BoardwalkSpinning Coaster Model 420March 10, 2007Operating[5]
PandemoniumSix Flags St. LouisBritanniaSpinning Coaster Model 420April 21, 2007Operating[6]
PandemoniumSix Flags Over TexasBoomtownSpinning Coaster Model 420May 17, 2008Operating[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Gerstlauer Opens Mr. Six's Pandemonium at Six Flags New England" (PDF) (Press release). Ride Entertainment. April 19, 2005. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Six Flags Unveils Two Coasters For New England Park" (Press release). Ultimaterollercoaster.com. February 23, 2005. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Tony Hawk Builds a Roller Coaster | Underwire". Wired.com. April 20, 2007. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  4. ↑ Lamothe, Dan (June 28, 2006). "Six Flags to host skateboard icon". The Republican. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "'Tony Hawk's Big Spin' is coming to Six Flags Fiesta Texas! Park's new family coaster will have riders whirling in '07!" (Press release). Roller Coaster Database. December 6, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Tony Hawk's Big Spin Highlights Season of New Family Thrills and Fun at Six Flags St. Louis in 2007!" (Press release). Roller Coaster Database. February 12, 2007. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Riders Take a Spin on Six Flags New Attractions That Offer an "Extreme Sports Experience"". Ultimaterollercoaster.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Continues the Adventure with Tony Hawk's Big Spin -- An All-New Spinning Coaster for 2008 Season" (Press release). Roller Coaster Database. September 27, 2007. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "Tony Hawk's Big Spin Whirls Its Way to Six Flags Over Texas" (Press release). Roller Coaster Database. September 25, 2007. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  10. ↑ MacDonald, Brady (November 25, 2010). "Six Flags amusement parks prepare for thematic makeovers". LA Times. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  11. ↑ MacDonald, Brady (June 7, 2012). "Bird? Plane? It's Superman coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  12. ↑ McDonough, Doug (March 27, 2012). "Six Flags roller coaster now in Plainview". My Plainview. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Historic Greezed Lightnin' moving to Cliff's Amusement Park". Amusement Today. May 4, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  14. ↑ "The Joker Takes Over Six Flags Mexico in 2013". News Plus Notes. September 6, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Gerstlauer busy in 2011". Park World Magazine. December 29, 2010. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Projects". Ride Entertainment Group. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
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