Thursday, March 22, 2012

Mr. Freeze Reverse Blasts into Two Six Flags Parks



Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St. Louis have announced that this year their Mr. Freeze coasters will take on a new direction, that is to say instead of launching riders forward through the track followed by a backwards run, the train will be turned around for a "reverse blast."

During the experience "riders will travel backwards through a 190-foot tunnel, into a 180-degree inversion before climbing more than 200-feet in the air where they will find themselves suspended, dangling in the air, before repeating the entire chilling experience."  The reversing of the train means that the plummet down the tower that serves as the ride's mid-point will be face-first, adding and extra thrill.


Both coasters "will maintain the original Mr. Freeze theme, patterned after Batman's cold-hearted arch rival in the DC Comics Batman series. The adventure begins with a chilling walk through "Snowy's Cones," an old abandoned ice cream warehouse that secretly doubles as the favorite hideout of this "Villain of Chillin." Riders strap into one of the 20-passenger seats and take off on the reverse ride-of-a-lifetime, covering nearly 1,500-feet of track at spine-chilling speeds of up to 70 mph—making it the fastest reverse roller coaster ride in Texas and Missouri."



Both rides opened in their respective parks in 1998, and were created by Premier Rides.  The Reverse Blast versions are both scheduled for a May, 2012 debut. 


2 comments:

Surya said...

So now the coaster is backwards - forwards in stead of forwards - backwards... Reversing a shuttle coaster doesn't serve much purpose, now does it?

And you can launch people faster if they have a seat to lean against, which you don't have in backwards mode. So I don't see this as a benefit.

linda said...

Personally I have been on Mr. Freeze at six flags over texas and rode both directions and liked it a lot better running forward instead of backward. Forward facing made the take off more thrilling and the drop from the peak much more fun running down that part backwards.