The Joker (S&S Worldwide)

The Joker is the name of four spinning roller coasters currently operating at four Six Flags amusement parks in the United States, those being Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Great America, Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags New England. Built by S&S – Sansei Technologies, an American ride manufacturer, each of these steel coasters are versions of their "Free Spin" model. Since 2016, Six Flags has installed The Joker in four of their parks.

Not to be confused with The Joker (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom) or The Joker (Six Flags México).
The Joker
The Joker at Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Great Adventure
Park sectionLakefront
StatusOperating
Opening dateMay 28, 2016
Six Flags Great America
Park sectionYankee Harbor
StatusOperating
Opening dateMay 27, 2017
Six Flags Over Texas
Park sectionGotham City
StatusOperating
Opening dateMay 20, 2017
Six Flags New England
Park sectionGotham City
StatusOperating
Opening dateMay 27, 2017
General statistics
TypeSteel – 4th Dimension – Wing Coaster
ManufacturerS&S – Sansei Technologies
DesignerAlan Schilke
Model4D Free Spin
Lift/launch systemChain lift hill
Height120 ft (37 m)
Drop54 ft (16 m)
Length1,019 ft (311 m)
Speed38 mph (61 km/h)
Inversions6 (2 track inversions)
Capacity720 riders per hour
Height restriction48 in (122 cm)
Trains5 trains with a single car. Riders are arranged 4 across in 2 rows for a total of 8 riders per train.
Flash Pass available
Single rider line available

Riders zig zag along the track while flipping head over heels up to six times throughout the ride in a somewhat uncontrolled manner.[1] Six Flags started installing more after the success of Batman: The Ride that opened in 2015 at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.[2][3]

History
The Joker at Six Flags New England

When originally announced in September 2015, The Joker at Great Adventure was given the name Total Mayhem. Then on January 27, 2016, Six Flags Great Adventure renamed the coaster after the DC Comics villain Joker.[4][1] The new title on the coaster brings the total number of DC Comics themed coasters in the park to seven, the most of any Six Flags park.

On September 1, 2016, Six Flags announced that Six Flags Great America, Six Flags New England and Six Flags Over Texas would install the roller coaster into their parks for the 2017 season.

The night before opening the roller coaster on May 20, 2017, Over Texas hosted an all-night private event which had The Joker opened only to the event attendees. A storm that was producing strong winds came into the area, which triggered the ride to halt while in operation while eight passengers were on board. During the stoppage, the storm got more severe, preventing the ride to be fixed soon, so the park called emergency services to come help rescue the passengers that were on the ride. The rescue operation took over three hours, bringing each passenger down individually the 120-foot-tall roller coaster while the storm was overhead. None of the riders were injured that night, and the park suspended the roller coaster operations on the following day for safety inspections.[5][6] The Joker reopened a day later on May 21.[7]

Ride
Joker at Six Flags Great Adventure

Riders on The Joker begin by climbing along a 120-foot vertical rise. Then zoom over hills while pivoting forward multiple times, before plummeting into a steep raven drop. Next, riders subsequently change directions and get to enjoy a backwards flip, spinning backwards into another raven drop and then ending with a forward flip. The roller coaster uses an adjustable series of magnetic kickers to allow the cars to spin freely, based on factors such as gravity and rider weight in the cars. The park can adjust the degree of spin based on rider input, which will help them regulate the experience to average rider tolerance over time.[3]

All four coasters were designed by S&S, while the track was manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction.[8]

As the name suggests, The Joker roller coasters are themed to the DC Comics supervillain, Joker.

At Six Flags Great Adventure, the supports are all black. At Six Flags Great America, Six Flags New England and Six Flags Over Texas, they have purple and green supports parallel to each other. At Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Over Texas, those coasters have 2 Joker signs facing back of each other, while the ones at Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags New England have only one Joker sign.

Installations
ParkAreaOpening date
Six Flags Great AdventureLakefrontMay 28, 2016
Six Flags Over TexasGotham CityMay 20, 2017
Six Flags New EnglandGotham CityMay 27, 2017
Six Flags Great AmericaYankee HarborMay 27, 2017

References
  1. MacDonald, Brady (September 3, 2015). "Six Flags unveils new attractions for every park in 2016". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  2. "Six Flags Great Adventure Will Create Total Mayhem in 2016". September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  3. Mortan, Neal (August 28, 2014). "Six Flags Fiesta Texas unveils '4D' Batman roller coaster". mySanAntonio.
  4. Biese, Alex (January 26, 2016). "WATCH: Joker coaster comes to Great Adventure". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  5. Anastasio, Jeff (May 20, 2017). "Students stuck for hours on Six Flags ride while storms blew through". WFAA. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  6. Brandson, Azia (May 20, 2017). "Eight people rescued after wind causes The Joker at Six Flags to stop". Star Telegram. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  7. Ramirez Jr., Domingo (May 21, 2017). "The Joker reopens at Six Flags Over Texas after stormy weekend". Star Telegram. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  8. McDonald, Brady (December 17, 2014). "Six Flags Fiesta Texas puts a new spin on fourth-dimension coasters". LATimes.
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