| Two Face: The Flip Side | |
| Location | Six Flags America |
|---|---|
| Status | Defunct |
| Opened | 1999 |
| Closed | 2008 |
| Type | Steel - Inverted - Boomerang |
| Manufacturer | Vekoma |
| Designer | Vekoma |
| Model | Boomerang Invertigo |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift |
| Height | 160.75 ft (49.00 m) |
| Drop | 138 ft (42 m) |
| Length | 1,013.75 ft (308.99 m) |
| Max speed | 50 mph (80 km/h) |
| Inversions | 3 (6 including reverse section) |
| Duration | 1:30 |
| Max vertical angle | 47° |
| Capacity | 850 riders per hour |
| Acceleration | 50 |
| Max G force | 3.7 |
| Height restriction | 4 ft 6 in (137 cm) |
| Two Face: The Flip Side at RCDB | |
| Pictures of Two Face: The Flip Side at RCDB | |
| Amusement Parks Portal | |
Two Face: The Flip Side was a steel roller coaster at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Mitchellville, Maryland. It was a standard Vekoma Boomerang Invertigo modeled roller coaster, themed after D.C. Comics' Batman rival, Harvey Dent A.K.A. Two Face. The ride was located in the Southwest Territory themed area of the park, and was situated next to The Wild One. After eight years of operation, an incident in 2007 caused the ride's ultimate downfall and closure by 2009. Currently, the land in which the coaster once stood remains unoccupied.
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Featuring fourteen rows of two, the ride had a total capacity of 28 riders. Built in 1999 (after "Adventure World" was bought by Six Flags in 1998), it was two of the three rides to be built by Six Flags (Roar being the first and Joker's Jinx being the other) for their new acquired park.[1] The ride was built and manufactured by Vekoma as an Boomerang Invertigo model, with the theming of Batman's rival, Harvey Dent's Two Face. Unlike other Six Flags park that featured regular models of the Boomerang design, called Boomerang: Coast to Coaster, this ride featured an orange colored track and teal beam supports. The ride was located in the park's Southwest territory and was implemented in the former space of Python, which had operated until the renaming of the park in 1998. For eight years, the ride remained popular and featured few malfunctions. Besides a major stall in 2003 and August, the ride had not featured any type of major malfunction as that of October 2007.
In 2003, Two Face stalled on one of the vertical lift hills, and had riders stuck on the ride for a lengthy period of time until they were rescued; the ride was shutdown for inspection but later reopened after it was cleared for operation. The ride would undergo five years without incident until August 2007, when the ride had stalled once again while carrying riders; after being stuck for a period of time, the ride was shutdown for inspection after riders were rescued. When the ride was cleared for operation later that month, the ride functioned properly without any incident.
However, in October 2007, the ride unexpectedly stopped on one of the vertical lift hills. When one of the ride attendants attempted to rescue the riders, the train unintentionally moved back into the station and ripped a pipeline that carried hydraulic fluid. This hot fluid sprayed onto the faces of the riders, causing them minor injuries that required at least ten people to go to a local hospital, in addition to victims treated at the scene for back and neck injuries.[2][3] Before the fluid sprayed, one of the riders (about 40 minutes into the situation) used their cell phone to dial 9-1-1 in request of assistance from Prince George's County rescue teams.[4] Six Flags America officials stated that the ride had been inspected that same day and was clear of any problems; however, Maryland investigators said that the newer technology of roller coasters of the 2003-era feature technology that is more difficult to comprehend than older models, thus making it almost impossible to find the cause of the incident.[2]
Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation ordered the closure of the ride including retaining the certificate of operation for the ride, until the ride could be proven safe, which never occurred.[3] Eventually it was noted that a safety sensor had malfunctioned and caused the coaster to stall and unexpectedly jolt back to the station.[5] For the 2008 season, the ride sat not in operation while the investigation continued, although due to the many breakdowns of the ride, it was put up for sale and eventually bought by an unknown client.[6] By 2009, the ride had been dismantled (its current whereabouts are unknown), and the site remains vacant as of 2010 with the Six Flags trademarked "Under Funstruction" sign.[7]
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