Despite weather, Six Flags caps its newest thrill ride

Date: 3/7/2012

March 7, 2012

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

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AGAWAM — Snow fell steadily as workers from TNT Crane & Rigging Inc. of Houston, Texas, hooked massive chains and lashed a small evergreen tree to the last piece of the nearly completed "Goliath" coaster at Six Flags New England last Wednesday.

The tree, TNT Superintendent James Shelton explained, was a builder's tradition and included "for luck."

As soon as two riggers in an open-top elevator called "the bucket," reached the top of the structure's final tower, the blue-railed deck began its slow ascent, signaling the start of the official capping ceremony for the park's newest — and purportedly most exciting — ride to date.

A few deft maneuvers by the crane operator, a steadying hand by one of the riggers and after more than eight weeks of working, Shelton said, "in the wind and mud," the deck slid in place with nary a wobble.

"We're all very excited," Melissa Pinkerton, communications manager for Six Flags New England, said as the capping ceremony began. "This is going to be an awesome year for us."

Pinkerton explained that "Goliath" — a suspended looping boomerang coaster located at the site of the former "Shipwreck Falls" — is the first new thrill ride the park has added since the completion of "Batman The Dark Knight" in 2002. The ride, a popular attraction at other Six Flags locations, came to the New England park from a sister Six Flags in California.

"We've done a lot of family things over the past few years," she said, listing Mister Six's Splash Park and last year's addition of the Gotham City Gauntlet Escape from Arkham Asylum family coaster as examples. "We have a great balance [of attractions], but we wanted to kick up the thrills again [for 2012]."

"Goliath " is designed to send its riders, who will be dangling face-down, up to the top of the ride's first tower to experience a nearly 20-story free fall at speeds reaching 65 miles an hour. Following that thrill, they will ride a 102-foot tall vertical loop, a 100-foot butterfly turn and then rocket up the next 20-foot tower to repeat the experience all over again.

"Goliath will forever change the landscape of our park as it delivers pure adrenaline from start to finish and solidifies our commitment to adding high volume fun for the entire family," Six Flags New England Park President John Winkler said in a release about the new coaster.

Pinkerton said the new ride, which is "tall enough that you can actually see it from the street," is not the only change Six Flags is making for the 2012 season, which begins this year on April 14.

Just across the plaza from "Goliath," the park's construction crew was hard at work that same afternoon gutting and renovating the former Big Ben's BBQ eatery to create the park's first air-conditioned, table service restaurant.

Pinkerton said the restaurant, to be called JB's BBQ Smokehouse, would still feature barbecue, but servers will bring food ordered at the counter to a guests' table. The new, fully enclosed restaurant would also feature multiple wall-mounted TVs so patrons could "catch up on the game" while dining.

"It's going to be a good place to cool off, get a good meal and then go back out into the park," Pinkerton said.

Another new addition this year is the park's first-ever Grad Night — an exclusive after-hours dance and park-access party event for seniors from participating high schools. The event, slated for May 18, is modeled after a successful event that has been hosted by Six Flags' sister park in Los Angeles, Calif. ,according to Brian Feeley, senior sales executive for Six Flags New England.

Feeley said so far three high schools — one from Albany, New York, another from Rhode Island and a third from Springfield — have signed up to participate in the event, which will run from 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. and includes access to all park rides and shows, a dance party and an optional buffet dinner. The sign-up cutoff date for Grad Night is March 9. Complete information and Grad Night rules are available by calling 1-800-370-7488 ext. 3500 or visiting the park's website, located at www.sixflags.com/newengland.