The Riddler's Revenge is a stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened as the park's eleventh roller coaster on April 4, 1998, 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 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 tall and features a top speed of. The 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, setting world records for this type of coaster in height, drop, speed, length and number of inversions. The ride also broke the record for the world's tallest vertical loop. The previous holder of all these records was Chang at Kentucky Kingdom, which was installed exactly one year prior. The opening of the ride was part of a redevelopment of the Monterey Landing themed area into the Movie Town themed area. As part of the expansion the park added new restaurants, retail outlets, and rethemed some existing rides. In March 2000, The Riddler's Revenge conceded the title of the world's largest vertical loop to at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. The floorless roller coaster featured a vertical loop, taller than that of The Riddler's Revenge. 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.
Characteristics
Statistics
The Riddler's Revenge stands tall. With a top speed of, the ride features six inversions including a vertical loop, two dive loops, an inclined loop, and two corkscrews. 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. The Riddler's Revenge cost $14 million to build, making it the single biggest investment on an attraction at the park. 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. 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 straddle. This configuration of trains caters for a capacity of 1,610 riders per hour.
Manufacturer
The Riddler's Revenge is one of four Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain, joining , Scream, and Tatsu. The coaster is the park's second stand-up coaster; the first was a smaller coaster manufactured by Giovanola and contracted by Intamin, Shockwave, which operated from 1986 to 1988. Shockwave was relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure, preceding the installation of Green Lantern.
Theme
As its name suggests, The Riddler's Revenge is themed after the DC Comics character Riddler. The track was originally painted green with black supports until 2017, when the supports were repainted yellow. As the Riddler was an archenemy of Batman, The Riddler's Revenge is located appropriately adjacent to Batman: The Ride, in the back of the park. The Riddler's signature question mark is featured on the coaster's logo. The techno music that played on the loading platform is Ecuador by Sash!.
Ride experience
The ride begins with a right turn out of the station. Once the train ascends the chain lift hill it goes through a small pre-drop, before dropping on a banked left turn. It then enters the 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.
Reception
The Riddler's Revenge has made four appearances on Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awardstop 50steel roller coasters. It debuted on the poll in 2003 at position 41, before peaking at 38 in 2006.
