Vekoma

Next up, we are heading to Six Flags Magic Mountain, where they have revealed a new roller coaster opening next year.

It's a brand new first-of-its-kind Vekoma that combines a motorcycle-style seating, sort of like Tron.

with an overhead track and inversions uh not unlike a flying coaster um like tatsu uh this is a wild new concept and it's going to be called the thrill glider uh it's going to have an original sci-fi story i

love it this is exciting i think we're every week we're we are having a coaster announcing some six flags it's right

This is called the Thrill Glider.

And it's built by Vekoma, and it's going to open out at Magic Mountain in 2027.

So here's what makes this thing different.

Vekoma is calling it a first of its kind, and it's going to be exclusive to Magic Mountain.

And it looks like it blends three different technologies.

Flying roller coaster tech.

Who knows? They are teasing the name Thrill Glider out there.

But remember, Thrill Glider is the name of the model of the Vekoma coaster that they're installing here.

If they actually named it Thrill Glider, that would be the most generic.

Oh, it's like naming a roller coaster roller coaster.

Bringing a high-speed system like Hagrid's does pose numerous problems, first being manufacturer.

Hagrid is an Intamin coaster, where Everest was contracted by Vekoma.

Intamin coasters are notorious for pushing the envelope for cool breakthroughs, but also lack reliability.

Accelerator is a perfect example." Uh, if he's talking about knots.

So the ride operated with just the upper loop from that point on until 1992, which replaced both of the lightning loops, um, with Batman, the ride, um, The Upper Loop was sent to Adventure World, now the former Six Flags America, and it ran from 1993 to 1998.

And it was replaced by Two-Face the Flipside, another shuttle coaster of Vekoma and Vertigo, which also had a relatively short lifespan in that park and is now operating at Movie Land in Italy as Diabolic Studios.

The lower loop was stored for a year, and then it reopened as Diamondback in Frontier City in 1994.

They did a little bit of work on that ride to...

Next season, Skyhawk.

I'm looking forward to that.

It's going to be the new Vekoma family inverted coaster, suspended coaster, I should say.

That's going to be part of a Campton Patrol to reimagine Yukon area.

No, we're not.

No, I'm on loan here now because I'm at the lake pod at Vekoma.

But anyway, they've said it seems Strasbourg does the same mistake as Bluko.

Meaning there's 33 players in their squad and zero over 24.

The park had a brief stint as Six Flags Belgium from 2001 to 2005, during which Looney Tunes and DC Comics characters took over.

In true Six Flags style, three Vekoma roller coasters were added during this time frame, the Wooden Loop Guru, the Vampire SLC, and the Cobra Boomerang.

As Six Flags began experiencing financial problems due to its explosive growth in the late 90s and early 2000s, they sold their European interests in 2004, and the park reverted to Wallaby, Belgium in 2005 under new ownership from Star Parks of London.

The next year, it was sold to Compagnie des Alpes, who currently operate numerous theme parks and ski resorts throughout Europe.

It's beautifully presented within dock world, and I love that it's got that little extra bite.

There is airtime here, but the restraints are supple enough that I think any rider would feel secure.

Vekoma family-launched coasters are exploding in popularity in America following the success of Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood, and while that ride is great, Gerstlauer's giving parks the possibility to level up on thrills.

Few roller coasters I've ridden bridge the gap between family and thrill like Mecladon.