Roar (roller coaster)
| Roar | |
|---|---|
 | |
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1. Logo 2. Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom | |
| Six Flags America | |
| Park section | Chesapeake |
| Coordinates | 38°54′27″N 76°46′34″W / 38.907591°N 76.775993°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | May 2, 1998 |
| Six Flags Discovery Kingdom | |
| Park section | Sky |
| Coordinates | 38°08′17″N 122°13′58″W / 38.13806°N 122.23278°W |
| Status | Closed |
| Opening date | May 14, 1999 |
| Closing date | August 16, 2015 |
| Replaced by | The Joker |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Wood |
| Manufacturer | Great Coasters International |
| Track layout | Twister |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 95 ft (29 m) |
| Drop | 85 ft (26 m) |
| Speed | 50.5 mph (81.3 km/h) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Duration | 1:52 |
| Max vertical angle | 45° |
| G-force | 3.5 |
| Height restriction | 48 in (122 cm) |
| Trains | 2 trains with 6 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 24 riders per train. |
| Length |
3,468 ft (1,057 m) (America) 3,291 ft (1,003 m) (Discovery Kingdom) |
 Flash Pass Available at both Six Flags parks. | |
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Roar at RCDB Pictures of Roar at RCDB | |
Roar (trademarked as ROAR) is the name of a wooden roller coaster at Six Flags America located near Upper Marlboro, Maryland. There were originally two roller coasters, with the first one built in 1998 at Six Flags America followed by the second one which was built in 1999 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Both rides were designed and built by Great Coasters International (GCI). In 2015, Discovery Kingdom announced the retirement of Roar at its theme park, but the park later revealed that it was being renovated and transformed into The Joker with I-Box track technology from Rocky Mountain Construction.
Design and operation
The ride is a wooden roller coaster with a chain lift hill system. It features a unique "Speed Shed" element over a large section of track, designed to enhance the sense of speed without the visual sensory loss of a traditional tunnel. Of the two trains used on the ride, each one seats a capacity of 24 people in six cars and utilize both seat belts and lap bars. The height of the roller coaster is 95 feet (29 m), and its drop is 85 feet (26 m); the maximum speed reached is 50.5 miles per hour (81.3 km/h). Unlike classic out and back rides, Roar is a twister design.
Six Flags America
Six Flags America's Roar, called Roar (East) by GCI, was built in 1998. Unlike its sibling in the west, this ride is longer at 3,468 feet (1,057 m) and has a slightly longer ride time. The longer track length is due to the ride's location on a slanting hillside, and longer drops on the station side and lift hill. Its trains, designed and maintained by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, are also different. Roar is one of the three rides at Six Flags America that feature an on-ride camera (the others being Superman: Ride of Steel and Apocalypse). The ride is situated in the park's Skull Island themed section of a pirate island.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's Roar, called Roar (West) by GCI, was built in 1999 in light of adding the Six Flags moniker to the Marine World amusement park.[1] At 3,291 feet (1,003 m), this coaster was shorter than the installation at Six Flags America. The ride consisted of two 12 car Millennium Flyer trains. This type of train helps give the sensation of a steel roller coaster utilizing the classic wooden style design.[2] Roar was situated in the Sky animal-themed area of the park. It closed on August 16, 2015.
On July 16, 2015, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom announced that Roar would be retired on August 16, 2015. The closure marked the completion of the attraction's seventeenth season. Park president Don McCoy released a statement that the ride was being removed to make room for future expansion. An estimated 11 million visitors to the park have ridden the roller coaster since its debut in 1999.[3] On September 3, 2015, Six Flags announced that the Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom would be transformed into a "wood-steel hybrid" named The Joker featuring three inversions.[4][5] Rocky Mountain Construction performed the conversion, opening the new version on May 28, 2016.
Awards
| Golden Ticket Awards: Best Wooden Coaster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ranking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mitch Hawker's Best Roller Coaster Poll: Best Wooden-Tracked Roller Coaster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ranking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- General
- "Roller Coaster DataBase: Roar (Six Flags America)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- "Roller Coaster DataBase: Roar (Discovery Kingdom)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- "Great Coasters International: Roar (East)". Great Coasters International. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- "Great Coasters International: Roar (West)". Great Coasters International. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- Specific
- ↑ "Six Flags Discovery Kingdom profile". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- ↑ "Great Coasters International trains". Great Coasters International. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- ↑ Zavoral, Linda (July 16, 2015). "Six Flags Vallejo closing its Roar roller coaster". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
- ↑ MacDonald, Brady (September 3, 2015). "Six Flags unveils new attractions for every park in 2016". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ↑ Glidden, John (September 3, 2015). "‘The Joker’ roller coaster set to open next year". Vallejo Times Herald. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roar (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom). |