- [Presenter] Goliath at Massachusetts
Six Flags New England.
This is by far one of the most notable fall
from Grace stories in rollercoaster history.
In California, it was highly acclaimed,
but shortly after its relocation to New England,
things went south.
But how could such a promising coaster
go from a highly acclaimed throw ride to a total disaster?
Let's find out today on Theme Park Crazy.
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For over 30 years, Dutch manufacturer Vekoma
has been one of the major players
in the rollercoaster industry.
First founded in 1926,
the company got its start building farming equipment
before later manufacturing steel materials
for the coal mining and petrochemical industries.
In the 1970s, Vekoma was contracted
by American ride manufacturer Arrow Development
to help bring their coasters to the European market.
Vekoma would construct the steel structures
for Arrow's track and would later license the same track
to manufacture on their own.
Their first self-made model was the Boomerang.
This compact looping shuttle coaster has a simple layout.
A reverse lift would take the train up one track spike
before releasing it downwards through two elements,
a first of its kind cobra roll and a vertical loop.
Afterwards, the train would ascend another spike
before being set backwards through the entire layout.
The design was an instant success
with four of them opening in 1984 alone.
By the end of the decade,
15 of these coasters had opened around the world.
These included installations in nine countries
and four different continents.
After numerous Boomerang installations
in the '80s and '90s,
Vekoma reinvented the concept
as an inverted coaster in 1997.
This new model named the Invertigo
would feature the same track layout
as the standard Boomerang,
but with the trains hanging under the track.
Originally, this concept was envisioned
as a magnetic launch coaster,
but the technology was too limited at the time,
so reverse chain lift was used instead.
This model also saw some success
with four opening between 1997 and 1999.
At the dawn of the new millennium though,
Vekoma introduced a direct successor to the Invertigo.
This model was the super Invertigo,
AKA the giant inverted Boomerang.
Though it featured the same inversions,
the model had several differences
from the standard Invertigo.
First off, the coaster was substantially larger,
standing at almost 180 feet tall.
Not only were the inversions larger,
but the track spikes were completely vertical.
This not only saved space,
but it allowed the ride
to start with a thrilling vertical drop straight down.
A less notable difference
was the shape of the layout.
The Super Invertigo's track actually crosses over itself
with the vertical loop built
directly above the boarding station.
Overall, it was an extremely impressive upgrade
that immediately made waves in the amusement industry.
Soon after the model's announcement,
Six Flags purchased not one, not two, not three,
but four Super Invertigo models.
These would be installed
at California's Six Flags Magic Mountain,
Illinois Six Flags Great America,
Six Flags Over Georgia
and Spain's upcoming Warner Brothers Park Madrid,
the latter of which was operated by Six Flags at the time.
The three American installations were set to open in 2001
with each one being named Deja Vu.
Later on, the one in Spain was scheduled
to open with the park in 2002 under the name Stunt Fall.
Soon after their purchase,
Six Flags began construction of these new coasters.
However, not everything was smooth sailing.
Embarrassingly enough,
every single Super Invertigo model
would have their openings delayed
due to extended testing and maintenance.
At one point,
Six Flags over Georgia's PR manager, Marcie Tanner,
cited Vekoma's testing process as a reason for the delay.
She added that the ride still had to be safety tested,
saying, "It takes as long as we need
to feel comfortable opening the ride."
One of the most prominent issues
with the coaster was a design flaw with the restraints.
It was discovered that riders could actually reach up
and touch the track while seated.
Six Flags responded to this issue
by modifying the restraints,
adding an extra bar on each side
to prevent guests from raising their hands too high.
Moreover, a height limit of 78 inches was imposed
and nobody taller than that was allowed to ride.
During testing at Six Flags Over Georgia,
the catch car used to lift the train up the tower derailed.
This damaged the train beyond repair
and forced the park to order another one.
After months of testing, analyzing,
welding and testing again,
Deja Vu would first open at Magic Mountain
on August 25, 2001.
Meanwhile, the one in Georgia
wouldn't open until September 1st that year
with the one in Illinois opening on October 7th.
Later on in 2002, Stunt Fall faced a similar delay
and wouldn't open until around four months
after the park did.
No matter where you wrote it though,
the experience was the same.
And though it pretty much had the same layout
as the Invertigo,
this model was considered to be vastly superior.
Upon opening at Magic Mountain,
the ride was universally acclaimed by park guests.
It was described as quote, "An unbelievable experience,"
"Incredibly freaky," and, "Awesome, just awesome."
Moreover, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit said,
"When you're going backwards, it's the best."
The model's other installations received equal praise
with passengers lauding its intensity
and surprisingly smooth track.
Despite the positive reception though,
all was not well with this model.
Throughout its run at Magic Mountain
and the other American parks for that matter,
the prototype model suffered
from various technical difficulties.
Oftentimes, the coaster would be closed down for maintenance
reportedly due to programming issues.
Furthermore, testing revealed
that the train could get stuck on the cobra roll.
Eventually, a stairway was added to this element
for easy evacuations.
And speaking of evacuations,
the ride didn't have a manual quick release system
for the restraints.
Instead, a battery pack was needed to unlock each one.
So if the power went out or the ride got stuck,
an evacuation would take a lot longer than it should have.
These issues plagued each of the Deja Vu coasters.
Meanwhile in Spain, despite Stunt Falls' initial delay,
it was said to be more reliable upon its opening.
Since it opened a year after the Deja Vu coasters,
this allowed for some more time
to work out the designs kinks.
As a result, this coaster is still operating
at the park today.
In the US though,
the Super Invertigo model turned out
to be an absolute maintenance nightmare.
In addition, Six flag CEO at the time, Mark Shapiro,
reportedly wanted to focus less on thrill rides
and try bringing in more families.
So in 2007, Six Flags would announce the closure
of Deja Vu at Great America and Over Georgia.
Great America's Deja Vu
was replaced with a Buccaneer Battle water ride.
While six flags over Georgia's Deja Vu
was replaced with a Thomas the Tank Engine themed area.
Furthermore, Great America's was sold
to Idaho's Silverwood theme park
where it continues to operate to this day is Aftershock.
As for the one in Georgia,
it was sold to Brazil's Mirabilandia
where it remains in storage as of now.
Interestingly enough,
Magic Mountain's Deja Vu continued to operate
for a few more years
after its American sister coasters were removed.
But finally, in 2011,
Magic Mountain would announce the coaster's removal.
It was revealed that the ride was being relocated
to Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts.
It had been almost a decade since the park
had gotten a major coaster,
but instead of spending millions of dollars
on a brand new one,
it was decided to import Deja Vu and rename it Goliath.
At Magic Mountain, Deja Vu's last rides
were given on October 6, 2011.
Soon afterwards, it was packed up
and shipped over to the East Coast.
Many pointed out that the move was an odd decision
considering that Six Flags New England
already had a standard Boomerang coaster called Flashback.
Even stranger, Deja Vu would be rebuilt
right next to the old Boomerang,
replacing the Shipwreck Falls water ride in the process.
It was as if the park was setting up Flashback for failure.
As reconstruction was underway,
a major change was planned for the ride's opening.
A change that would forever alter
the reception of this rollercoaster.
During its initial run, Six Flags noticed a problem
with how the train was designed.
The original trains featured staggered seating,
which sat two guests per row in a v-shape.
The rows alternated between inside seats
where two guests would sit right next to each other
and outside seats
where two guests were spaced apart on each end.
This feature was intended to allow
for better views in each row,
but passengers were often confused
by the layout when boarding.
Each pair of seats had a different gate.
The way it's supposed to work is this.
First, the inside seat passengers
head straight to their seats;
in the next row, the first outside passenger
must walk around the inside seats
to get to their own;
then the second passenger simply enters the ride
and boards their own seat.
This boarding procedure
proved to be confusing for many guests.
Sometimes, guests waiting in line would assume
that the outside and inside seats were in the same row.
This led to them accidentally cutting people in line.
Plus, many guests didn't know they had to walk around
the inside seats to get to the outside ones.
Even worse, each seat had two seat belts,
one that went across the lap
and one that connected the restraint to the seat.
This meant that it took longer
for the ride operators to check the restraints.
The confusion of the seating system
as well as the double seat belt system
reportedly led to longer wait times
and a hampered throughput.
These issues led Six Flags
to commission American manufacturer Premier Rides
for a new train design.
This train would replace the staggered seating
with standard straightforward four per row seating.
This is why half of the gates in Goliath station
were blocked off with metal bars
because they were originally used with a staggered seating.
In addition, the new seat design only featured one seatbelt
instead of the original two seat belt system.
Six Flags hoped that the new design
would lead to less confusion,
faster dispatches, faster wait times,
and increased guest satisfaction.
The new train design was planned to be used right away
with the rides reopening.
However, fabrication delays forced Six Flags
to stick with the old trains for the time being.
On May 25, 2012,
Goliath made its grand debut to the public
with an opening ceremony.
Park officials described the ride as a shining pillar
of innovation and industry,
as well as an extraordinary feat of engineering.
Just like at Magic Mountain,
reception to the attraction was immediately positive.
Journalist George Delisle said of the ride,
"Goliath offers the rider with a great first drop,
multiple inversions, lots of g-forces,
and a very intense experience."
All without putting any undue strain on my aging back,
neck, or shoulders,
lots of thrills, but comfortable thrills.
Unfortunately, this coaster
wouldn't stay comfortable for long.
Shortly after its installation,
the new Premier Ride trains were finally completed,
and it was all downhill from there.
Almost immediately, these new trains
were lambasted by the general public.
The problem with the new trains
was that they didn't run smoothly on the track.
This led to an incredibly bumpy
and uncomfortable ride experience
that caused guests to bang their heads
on the over the shoulder restraints.
If you were wearing sunglasses,
your ears would be knocked against them.
And if you had earrings on,
you were highly advised to remove them.
It wasn't uncommon for guests to come off this ride
with red ears and serious headaches.
These rollercoaster trains were considered
by many to be among the worst ones in history.
By contrast, Aftershock at Silverwood
still uses the old Vekoma trains
and it's highly praised by park goers.
As if the train situation weren't bad enough,
the ride was even more of a maintenance nightmare
than it was at Magic Mountain.
An especially notable incident happened in July 2016
where a lift cable snapped.
This shut down the ride for a while.
And while it would later reopen,
the coaster was clearly a problem for the park.
Over the next few years,
Goliath would regularly face downtime.
Sometimes it would be down for months.
During such occasions,
a sign was placed at the entrance that said,
"Goliath is a first-of-its-kind attraction
and we continue to make enhancements
to bring it to its optimal performance.
Due to adjustments we are currently making,
the ride will be unavailable for an extended time.
We apologize for any inconvenience
and are working quickly to make this attraction available
as soon as possible.
When this occurs,
we will provide an update at sixflags.com."
With the ride constantly being closed,
park guests were regularly irritated.
By 2019, the park likely
had enough of the coaster's problems
and it was pretty much destined for the chopping block.
Officials were surely asking
why they should bother keeping a ride that's hardly open,
especially one that people say is too rough.
Even before the pandemic,
there were rumors of Six Flags removing this coaster,
many speculate that the parks pandemic
related closure in 2020 was simply delaying the inevitable.
Sure enough, even after the park reopened,
Goliath would remain standing
but not operating for the entire 2021 season.
Even more ominously,
the coaster was removed from the park map
at the start of the season.
Interestingly enough, Six Flags never formally
announced Goliath's closure.
Instead, it was revealed on fan site SFNE Online
that the ride was being demolished in January 2022.
This coaster was literally discarded without any fanfare.
Later on, the coaster was revealed to have been scrapped,
reduced to nothing more
than jagged blue and green pieces of metal.
Nowadays, the ride's plot of land remains unused
serving as a reminder of what once was.
Funnily enough, the standard Boomerang it was built next to,
ended up outliving Goliath
and it still continues to operate today.
Some park guests were glad to see it torn down
because of how painful it was.
But when you really look into it,
it's pretty tragic how this ride fell from grace.
In an effort to improve the guest experience
with faster dispatches and an easier boarding process,
Six Flags ended up killing the ride entirely.
They took what was once a highly praised coaster
in California and turned it
into one of the worst roller coasters ever operating.
By contrast, the remaining Super Invertigo models
are considered to be vastly superior.
Some even consider the model
to be one of the Vekoma's best coasters.
As for Goliath though, it will be forever known
as one of the biggest failures in rollercoaster history.
Now it's time for the comment shoutout program.
This is where I take three random comments
from my past video and read them out.
These comments are from my video
on the worst rollercoasters I've ever ridden.
Silverfairy says,
"So fun fact, Mind Eraser at Six Flags America
was my first ever coaster with inversions.
It's a wonder that I went on others.
Yes, it is painful."
CoasterGuy97 says, "You take that back,
norm of the north is a national treasure."
And Lord Marquaa says,
"The worst coaster I've ever ridden was mean streak.
I rode this coaster back in 2016 when I was 10 years old,
the restraints gave me a headache
as I was really short at the time
and I was not at all sad when it was removed.
Maybe if I was a little taller,
it would've been a better ride
but then again I think my dad said he disliked it too.
I know I used to hate Corkscrew,
also at Cedar Point, for the same reason.
Nowadays, I no longer think Corkscrew is a bad ride
as it's only really a bad ride if you're short."
If you wanna see your words in my next video,
leave a comment down below and it may be selected.
Please note though that inflammatory
or spam comments will not be read.
Thank you all so much.
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This is Theme Park Crazy, and I'll see you all next time.
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