Roar is the Great Coasters International twister currently at Six Flags America
and previously at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. This was one of GCI’s first coasters and it’s
often identified as a potential RMC candidate. But does this coaster still have something
to offer? Find out in this review of Roar. GCI’s first coaster was Wildcat at Hersheypark
in 1996. This wood coaster was well-received in its early years, so Six Flags contracted GCI to
build two similar coasters for their recently acquired parks. The then Adventure World,
which later became Six Flags America, would receive Roar in 1998. The then Six Flags Marine
World, which now goes as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, would also receive Roar in 1999.
These two rides had very similar stats and layouts, but there was a key difference between
the two. Six Flags America’s Roar runs with PTC trains. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom’s Roar ran
with Millennium Flyer trains. The latter were able to more easily navigate Roar’s twisted layout.
These trains have been used on all GCI coasters built since 2000.
Both rides developed a reputation as rough coasters by the 2010s.
Both parks took dramatically different steps to address this issue.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom closed Roar after the 2015 season, converting it into a Rocky Mountain
Construction hybrid coaster known as Joker. I have an entire review on this coaster, but it is
the best coaster at Discovery Kingdom because of its powerful airtime and incredible inversions.
Meanwhile, Six Flags America has done some retracking recently their Roar to make the
experience more comfortable. My last rides on Roar were in 2021 before this retracking took place.
The ride looks just ok. The dense wood structure looks weathered,
but it does add a sense of scale to the coaster. And I love this ride’s logo and entrance sign.
Now this may be a hot take, but I actually like Roar…if…and this is a big if…I
am in the front row. This was the case with the one at Discovery Kingdom,
but it’s especially the case with the one at Six Flags America.
I think this ride has a nicely designed layout. You have lots of track crossovers and
some airtime spots. The roughness just caused the coaster, especially the East Coast one,
to not run as fast. This makes the airtime less extreme further back in the train.
More importantly, the ride gets significantly rougher as you go further back in the train,
particularly if you ride on a wheel seat or the back of a car of the one in Maryland.
I will always wait the extra 2-3 trains for the front if needed.
During my visits to Discovery Kingdom and Six Flags America,
neither Roar had long waits. The one at Six Flags America has always been a walk-on for me.
Part of it is the ride’s popularity. Part of it are the operations.
Six Flags America has always had two trains going for their Roar in my visits and the crew working
the ride usually has the next train ready to go once the prior one hits the brake run.
Of the two train options, I much prefer the Millennium Flyers.
They have superior cushioning. I’m surprised the East Coast Roar didn’t get West Coast
Roar’s Millennium Flyers once that one closed. All of GCI’s other early coasters- including
Gwazi and Hersheypark’s Wildcat- were retrofit with Millennium Flyer trains down the road.
I also prefer the T-bar restraint on the Millennium Flyers. Six Flags America’s Roar has
individual ratcheting lap bars. With both rides, I recommend holding onto the lap bar once checked
because the shaky valleys will want to lower that bar further, which not only reduces your
ability to experience the airtime, but it also can cause discomfort as you smash into the bar.
Once dispatched, you navigate a moderately interesting pre-lift.
It’s decently long and you have these tiny little bumps reminiscent of an RMC pre-lift.
There’s no airtime to be had, but it is quirky.
You then ascend the 95 foot or 29 meter tall lift hill.
You then navigate a twisting plunge. Those in back get a little burst of airtime,
but the drop is more notable for the decent laterals and whip as you’re pulled down it.
At the bottom, you’re shown the reason why you should only ride this coaster up front.
This valley…like many on Roar…will cause the train to very noticeably jackhammer.
You then rise upwards into a turnaround. Like many that GCI have designed over the years,
the top levels off sharply, so those up front get a good pop of airtime.
Even those in back get some light airtime into it. You do slow down atop this turnaround,
as many others on the ride, due to how it currently tracks.
You regain your speed on a twisting plunge back down to the ground.
This drop doesn’t offer anything besides bumps. Next is a giant camelback. Up front,
you get weak bouncy airtime. It’s rare to get this type of airtime on a newer wood coaster,
but Roar manages to do it. Those in back only get faint floater airtime on the descent.
You then enter another large turnaround. Those up front get a solid pop of airtime into it.
You then slowly dip down and up in the middle before plunging all-the-way
back down to the ground. While you may think this drop would give good airtime,
you have too little speed into it to do so.
You the navigate a low and bumpy turn before heading over a large bunny hill.
If you’re up front, you get another dose of weak bouncy airtime.
No one else gets airtime on this hill. Everyone does get a nice headchopper at the apex though.
Next is an underbanked turnaround that offers weak but sustained laterals for everyone.
Roar then enters this shed. This is one of the best spots to feel this ride’s speed since you
see wooden posts breezing past you on both sides. The America version starts with a straightaway
while the Discovery Kingdom version had a little speed hill that gave a quick burst of airtime.
Then both have this small banked hill that offers a great jolt of laterals.
You then rise up into another turnaround. This one also levels off at the top,
giving decent airtime for those up front. You then dip down and slightly raise upwards
as you turn. This is another bumpy spot. This turnaround leads into this slightly
banked bunny hill and it offers the most abrupt airtime on the ride.
It delivers a brief ejector pop for everyone as you crest it. It definitely sneaks up on you.
This is immediately followed by another banked bunny hill.
This one is much more gradual and only offers weak airtime for those up front.
You then navigate a low turn, but by this point, Roar doesn’t have much speed left.
The America version then hops right into the final brake run, giving one little bit of
airtime for those up front. This ends the 3468 foot or 1057 meter long experience.
The Discovery Kingdom version was just 3291 feet or 1003 meters long, but it had a bonus speed
hill before the entry into the final brake run. It only gave a tiny bit of airtime due to how little
speed you had, but it was still a positive. I talked about this ride’s roughness, but what
about the pacing? With how Discovery Kingdom’s Roar ran in its final years and how the America
one currently runs, this wood coaster is deficient in this department. There are points where Roar
screeches and crawls through its layout. I imagine this ride ran noticeably faster in its prime.
So what would I rate Roar? I would ultimately give this coaster a 5 out of 10.
I think the front row experience is more like a 6 or 7 out of 10,
but the other seats are significantly worse so I wanted the score to reflect that.
Up front, Roar is tolerable. The other seats are very rough. Roar has an interesting layout and
there are some good bits of airtime, but it’s best up front. So between the roughness and superior
ride forces, wait however longer necessary for the front row. You’ll thank me later.
Should Six Flags America continue to retrack Roar as they have or should they
do something more extreme? My heart wants an RMC conversion like West Coast Roar.
As with Discovery Kingdom, an RMC would become the best ride at Six Flags America.
However, I also wouldn’t mind if this coaster was fully retracked because I actually like the
layout. This would be the perfect ride to get retrofit start to finish with Titan Track if
Six Flags America wanted a more permanent fix than retracking sections with wood.
So those are my thoughts on both versions of Roar. What are your thoughts on either the
version that was at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom or the version that still is at Six Flags America?
Which did you prefer? Let me know your thoughts down below. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!