2008 has seen the opening of two more Gerstlauer Spinning Coasters at Six Flags parks. The chain chose to continue the use of the “Tony Hawk” theme for its new coasters at Six Flags over Texas (Arlington, Texas) and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, California).
The Texas ride has a layout similar to the coasters that opened at other Six Flags parks. However, in California the layout was the first of its type in North America. It is one of Gerstlauer’s compact designs and features:
- Curving First Drop
- 3 Wild Mouse Turns
- 2 Helices
- High-Incline Turn
- Camelback Hump
Both rides have been marketing successes with park guests. In Texas Park President Steven Martindale said, “It was amazing how smooth it was. It’s fast, got a lot of sharp turns and I was spinning the whole time, so I was trying to figure out which way was which. We think we got a big hit here.”1 In California during the media day guests enjoyed sushi and an ice cream bar as celebrity chef Guy Fieri and his family took the ride for its inaugural spin. He said, “We had a blast. The best part is going right up the top. As soon as you get to the top you just do this freefall backwards into this crazy spin. It’s something worth checking out- it’s got this real nice fluid motion to it.”2
The opening of the Gerstlauer rides marks another busy year for the famed German coaster design and manufacturing firm. Managing Director Siegfried Gerstlauer said, “Everyone at Gerstlauer has enjoyed working with Six Flags in a partnership that has lasted over ten years. We cannot wait to see what new concept we will get to collaborate on in the future.”
1 Quoted in: www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa080516_ac_sixflags.108a5befc.html
2 Quoted in: http://videos.sacbee.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1897359