Apocalypse
Specific Type: Wooden
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In 2006 Six Flags Magic Mountain made a move for the future by tearing down the only wooden coaster to feature Bolliger and Mabillard trains upon a Dinn Corporation coaster, Psyclone. Upon its removal, the park guaranteed that another coaster would be built in its place, which would spark speculation for a few years as to what could be taking the not too popularPsyclone’s spot in the Six Flags Magic Mountain repertoire. These questions and speculation came to an end when Six Flags Magic Mountain announced that Terminator Salvation: The Ride, a Great Coasters International wooden coaster.
Standing at ninety five feet tall and sporting GCI’s Millennium Flyer trains, Terminator Salvation: The Ride, debuted on May 23, 2009. Terminator Salvation: The Ride features one element that no other wooden coasters had at the time of its opening; it had an on-board audio system. This system consisted of speakers at the back of each car, and an audio-box at the back of the very last car of the train. Unfortunately, this meant that the train would hold two less passengers than the traditional Millennium Flyer train which would in turn hurt the ride’s capacity a little bit. This audio system allowed for guests to hear a recorded track during the ride. Terminator Salvation: The Ride also featured a station fly-by in which a train goes through a part of the station at a high speed during its course. This provides an exciting visual for riders on the train and also doubles as part of the pre-ride experience. The ride experience for Terminator Salvation: The Ride begins before you even sit down in the car. The ride features a highly themed queue to get riders into the mood from the coaster before they even step foot in the station. Once you make it to the train, you are ready to begin your journey. The ride starts with a short pre-lift section that involves a few left turns and a small straight away between some buildings before the train begins ascending the lift. Once the train crests the lift it starts off with a small dive into a banked left turn. After pulling through the turn riders are sent downhill in a path that will take them underneath the lift hill they just climbed. Upon reaching the ground the train heads through a right turn followed by a small airtime hill. After pulling out of the hill, the train heads into a rising right turn. When the train levels out from the ascending the turn ends and the train takes a dive straight down towards the ground before banking once again into a small left-turning hill element. Upon exiting the hill it is time for a hard banking right turn through a themed, dark tunnel. After exiting the tunnel and turn the train goes through an s-curve before ascending upward and leveling out as the train flies through the station. After exiting the station, the train dives into a left turn through another tunnel followed by a quick s-curve and a long right turn. After the right turn the riders are treated to a little airtime hop as the banking changes back to a left turn once again. Upon completion of this left turn the train slides into the final brakes and returns to the station. As you can tell, Terminator Salvation: The Ride is a highly twisted wooden coaster with its fair share of airtime and forces. Hopefully it will be thrilling riders for many more years to come! During the 2010-2011 off-season, Six Flags ended a number of branding contracts in an effort to help reduce company debt. The Terminator was included in this and is now known asApocalypse and any theming related specifically to the movie franchise has been removed. |
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