The Riddler's Revenge

The Riddler's Revenge
The chain lift hill and vertical loop of Riddler's Revenge
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Park section	Metropolis
Coordinates	34°25′28″N 118°36′02″W / 34.424524°N 118.600637°W / 34.424524; -118.600637Coordinates: 34°25′28″N 118°36′02″W / 34.424524°N 118.600637°W / 34.424524; -118.600637
Status	Operating
Opening date	April 4, 1998 (1998-04-04)
Cost	US$14 million
General statistics
Type	Steel – Stand-up
Manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
Designer	Werner Stengel
Model	Stand-Up Coaster
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	156 ft (48 m)
Drop	146 ft (45 m)
Length	4,370 ft (1,330 m)
Speed	65 mph (105 km/h)
Inversions	6
Duration	3 minutes
Capacity	1,610 riders per hour
G-force	4.2
Height restriction	54 in (137 cm)
Trains	3 trains with 8 cars. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.
Flash Pass available
Single rider line available
The Riddler's Revenge at RCDB Pictures of The Riddler's Revenge at RCDB

The Riddler's Revenge is a stand-up roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened in 1998 as the park's eleventh roller coaster, setting world records among stand-up coasters for height, speed, drop length, track length and number of inversions. The previous record holder was Chang at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom which opened a year earlier. Located in the Movie Town area of the park, The Riddler's Revenge was also the park's single biggest investment at a cost of $14 million. It stands 156 feet (48 m) tall and features a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). The 4,370-foot-long (1,330 m) coaster also features six inversions and a ride duration of approximately three minutes.

History

The Riddler's Revenge opened as Six Flags Magic Mountain's eleventh roller coaster on April 4, 1998,^[1][2] setting world records for this type of coaster in height, drop, speed, length and number of inversions.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The ride also broke the record for the world's tallest vertical loop.^[8] The previous holder of all these records was Chang at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, which was installed exactly one year prior.^[9] The opening of the ride was part of a redevelopment of the Monterey Landing themed area into the 4.9-acre (2.0 ha) Movie Town themed area. As part of the expansion the park added new restaurants, retail outlets, and rethemed some existing rides.^[10][11]

In March 2000, The Riddler's Revenge conceded the title of the world's tallest vertical loop to Superman: Krypton Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. The floorless roller coaster featured a 145-foot-tall (44 m) vertical loop, 21 feet (6.4 m) taller than that of The Riddler's Revenge.^[2][12] The park closed several rides including The Riddler's Revenge in early 2017 to begin the construction of Metropolis, a new themed area that resulted in new paint schemes along with modified entrance and exit queues for some attractions. The new area opened on July 12, 2017, which marked the reopening of The Riddler's Revenge.^[13][14]

Characteristics

One of the trains on The Riddler's Revenge

Statistics

The 4,370-foot-long (1,330 m) Riddler's Revenge stands 156 feet (48 m) tall. With a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), the ride features six inversions including a 124-foot-tall (38 m) vertical loop, two dive loops, an inclined loop, and two corkscrews.^[2] The vertical loop featured on The Riddler's Revenge wraps around the lift hill; Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Banshee at Kings Island are the only other rides in the world to feature a loop of this kind. Riders of The Riddler's Revenge experience up to 4.2 times the force of gravity on the three-minute ride.^[2] The Riddler's Revenge cost $14 million to build, making it the single biggest investment on an attraction at the park.^[1][2]

The Riddler's Revenge operates with three steel-and-fiberglass trains. Each train has eight cars with four seats in a single row, for a total of 32 riders.^[2] Riders are secured by an over-the-shoulder harness. Although The Riddler's Revenge is a stand-up roller coaster, there is a small bicycle seat on which riders can lean.^[15] This configuration of trains caters for a capacity of 1,610 riders per hour.^[2]

Manufacturer

The Riddler's Revenge is one of four Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain, joining Batman: The Ride, Scream, and Tatsu.^{[16][17][18][19]} The coaster is the park's second stand-up coaster; the first was a smaller coaster manufactured by Intamin, Shockwave, which operated from 1986 to 1988.^[16][20] Shockwave was relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure, preceding the installation of Green Lantern (Chang after being rethemed and relocated).^[21][22]

Theme

As its name suggests, The Riddler's Revenge is themed for the DC Comics character Riddler.^[23] The track is painted green with black supports.^[24] As the Riddler was an archenemy of Batman,^[25] The Riddler's Revenge is located appropriately adjacent to Batman: The Ride, in the back of the park.^[26] The Riddler's signature question mark is featured on the coaster's logo. The techno music that played on the loading platform is Ecuador (Bruce Wayne Mix) by Sash! (Bruce Wayne being the secret identity of Riddler's nemesis, Batman).^[2]

Ride experience

An overview of Riddler's Revenge

The ride begins with a right turn out of the station. Once the train ascends the 156-foot-tall (48 m) chain lift hill it goes through a small pre-drop, before dropping 146 feet (45 m) on a banked left turn. It then enters the 124-foot-tall (38 m) vertical loop which wraps around the lift hill. Two dive loops follow, the second of which also wraps around the lift hill. An inclined loop is followed by two right turns that lead up and into the mid-course brake run. After dropping out of the brake run, the train immediately enters a corkscrew to the left. A series of direction and elevation changes lead into a second corkscrew, the inverted part of which is just above a portion of the queue line. The track then turns to the right and enters the final brake run before returning to the station.^[2][27]

Reception

The Riddler's Revenge has made four appearances on Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards top 50 steel roller coasters. It debuted on the poll in 2003 at position 41, before peaking at 38 in 2006.^{[28][29][30][31]}

In Mitch Hawker's worldwide Best Roller Coaster Poll, The Riddler's Revenge entered at position 31 in 1999, before dropping to a low of 108 in 2012. The ride's ranking in subsequent polls is shown in the table below.^[32]

Notes

References

External links

• Official website
• The Riddler's Revenge at the Roller Coaster DataBase
• Media related to The Riddler's Revenge at Wikimedia Commons