Goliath (Six Flags New England)


Goliath is a steel shuttle roller coaster manufactured by Vekoma located at Six Flags New England. The ride is a larger, inverted version of Vekoma's popular Boomerang sit down roller coasters. It originally opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2001 as Déjà Vu., five installations of this type of coaster are operating, with another one under construction.

History

Three Giant Inverted Boomerang coasters, all named Déjà Vu, were slated to open for the start of the 2001 season at three Six Flags parks. However, sudden errors and malfunctions occurred during testing and caused the openings to be delayed. The first version of Déjà Vu to open was at Six Flags Magic Mountain on August 25, 2001. This was followed by the opening of a further two Giant Inverted Boomerangs on September 1, 2001, at Six Flags Over Georgia and on October 7, 2001, at Six Flags Great America.
On August 16, 2011, Masslive reported that Six Flags New England was planning on building a Giant Inverted Boomerang for the park's 2012 season where the Shipwreck Falls attraction was located. On August 18, 2011, the ride was approved by the Agawam Planning Board, with the Los Angeles Times confirming one day later that Déjà Vu from Six Flags Magic Mountain would be relocated to Six Flags New England and would begin operation under a new name in 2012. An official announcement from Six Flags representatives was made on September 1, 2011, confirming previous reports and announcing that the relocated ride's name would be Goliath. After October 16, 2011, Déjà Vu was closed. At around the same time, Shipwreck Falls was removed from Six Flags New England to make way for Goliath. Goliath at Six Flags New England was topped off on February 29, 2012. Goliath opened to the public on May 25, 2012.

Ride experience

Layout and design

Goliath features a vertical cable lift hill that quickly lifts the train up a vertical tower. Also, this model is larger than previous Boomerang designs. From above, the track layout looks like an 'X'.

Train

Unlike the other Giant Inverted Boomerangs, Goliath features a train by Premier Rides. This train has seating, exactly like that on Bolliger & Mabillard's inverted roller coasters. The new train design was chosen in an attempt to make the lines in the station less complicated to navigate and also to give the ride a higher capacity.

Incidents

On July 11, 2016 Goliath at Six Flags New England suffered a cable snap on tower one, shutting down the ride until replacement parts were obtained and installed.