AT: Dean Lamanna
VALENCIA, Calif. — Six Flags Magic Mountain’s West Coast Racers took more than a few extra calendar days getting to the start line, revving to life in “time trials” with season pass holders in the final moments of 2019 — and just missing the height of holiday season for its big rollout.
But by the time the green flag was officially waved on Jan. 9, it was clear the park had a major winner.
Described as the world’s first single-track racing roller coaster with multiple launches, the sleek, 55-mph attraction, manufactured by Baltimore-based Premier Rides, is a one-of-a-kind installation. The ride incorporates a record four individual magnetic launches and runs three trains on a terrain-hugging, doubled-up 4,000-foot-long contiguous track that runs both side-by-side and intertwines with itself. The complex and clever design, which tops out at 67 feet, delivers a thrilling and satisfying experience that includes two complete racing laps, airtime hills, extreme high-banked turns, four inversions (three zero-G rolls and a zero-G stall) and a variety of acrobatic over / under near misses (14 track crossovers in all, plus a high-five maneuver similar to one on the park’s Rocky Mountain Construction marvel, Twisted Colossus).
In an inspired move, Six Flags Magic Mountain brought two world-famous brands together in partnering with West Coast Customs, headquartered in nearby Burbank, California. Utilizing unparalleled craftsmanship and expertise in creating the wild, high-end car modifications for which it has become famous on cable television (MTV’s Pimp My Ride, TLC / Discovery’s Street Customs), the company — working within technical specs provided by Premier — designed and built the sleek coaster cars for West Coast Racers.
Neal Thurman, president of Six Flags Magic Mountain, was clearly pleased with the attraction while discussing it with Amusement Today during a media preview. “We’ve added yet another unique, record-breaking coaster to our second-to-none collection of world-class attractions,” he said. “West Coast Racers absolutely delivers, living up to the park’s unprecedented thrill DNA.”
The ride brings to 19 the number of operating coasters in the park. Green Lantern: First Flight, installed in 2011 and the only Intamin ZacSpin coaster in the U.S., was taken out of commission last spring and will become the location of “future development,” per a Six Flags statement.
The timed-to-the-hilt racing element of West Coast Racers is enabled in part by a “pit stop” experience that occurs halfway through the three-minute ride in a temporary train holding area adjacent to, yet separate from, the loading platform. The mechanic’s garage-like space features a brief car-customization insider video narrated by West Coast Customs founder and CEO Ryan Friedlinghaus, who is as celebrated for his own TV appearances as his celebrity clientele. The pause here enables the next train on the loading platform to be loaded before both trains advance to the start line.
Friedlinghaus had a blast working with Six Flags on the attraction. “Throughout my career, I have always thought outside of the box, and I love being challenged to build things others can’t,” he said. “It was amazing to be part of every aspect of West Coast Racers, from designing the coaster cars to the overall look and feel of the entire ride. [The park] allowed us to be completely hands-on.”
On the record as being susceptible to motion sickness, Friedlinghaus himself had not ridden the coaster as of the Jan. 7 media event AT attended.
Thanks to what Thurman termed the coaster’s “broad appeal,” West Coast Racers is the centerpiece of a new 4.5-acre, Los Angeles / urban-themed area called The Underground, where guests experience a high-energy, graffiti-adorned street vibe along with new dining and retail locations. Twin Charged Tacos, Chicken Coupe, Snack Trax, Speed Shop and Six Gear are the eateries. The area also includes the park’s recently retracked, 2009-built Great Coasters Intl. wooden coaster, Apocalypse, and the refurbished, soon-to-reopen go-karts formerly known as Cyclone 500, renamed Pacific Speedway.
The Underground, located between the park’s DC Universe and Samurai Summit sections, occupies the area previously called Cyclone Bay. Its transformation, including the addition of West Coast Racers, took more than a year to complete.
Thurman told AT that fitting the coaster into the area and around and amid its existing structures, as well as a dry steambed that runs through the park, presented some design challenges. They included the ride’s utilization of the air space over the go-karts, which the park did not want to remove or relocate — resulting in a large portion of intricate support structure that had to be assembled at the manufacturing site in China to ensure its integrity once it was erected at the park.
The coaster’s loading station is situated inside a boxy, flat-black structure with branded signage that captures the look and feel of the actual West Coast Customs shop. The coaster’s trains, each of which consist of two cars with three rows of two seats, are outfitted with lap bars and soft over-the-shoulder restraints and feature front cars with an exceptionally cool sports car design.
“This truly is an authentic West Coast Customs experience from the moment you get in line for the ride until you get off the coaster,” Friedlinghaus said. “Hope fans love it!”
This article appears in the FEBRUARY 2020 issue of Amusement Today.
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