Superman Escape From Krypton

On March 19^th I had the extreme pleasure of attending this years West Coast Bash event, at Six Flags Magic Mountain. This event is held annually in the park for theme park enthusiasts. One of many highlights offered during this event included a ride on the newly revamped Superman Ride, now called Superman Escape From Krypton. I was very impressed with the changes and updates made to the coaster.

In 1996 the original ride, Superman The Escape began construction and opened March 15, 1997. This dual coaster, designed by Intamin AG was a 30 second, 41 stories tall, forward launching, high speed extreme coaster. The original concept of the ride would allow both sides to operate at once, sending riders 0 to 100 mph up to the very top of the tower. Unfortunately due to a few design flaws, the ride experienced many maintenance issues which ultimately resulted in only one side being operational at a time as well as break issues that only allowed the coaster to sometimes go as far as half way up the tower. These issues made it obvious to Six Flags that a full re do and transformation was necessary to get this ride back up to the standards of its original concept.

Now onto the newer version. The transformation of this epic ride included a new paint job, turning the towers into the signature color scheme of legendary, caped super hero SUPERMAN! The coaster cars have also been re-painted and hold 14 passengers per car. The huge wheels that use to be on the cars have been done away with and replaced with smaller wheels. The big gasp whammy is that the cars are no longer facing forward into launch. That’s right, you are now being launched backwards at 100mph all the way up the 41-story tower. The cars are now lighter so it can reach up to 104 mph as an empty car and 102 mph fully loaded. There are no longer break issues, which allows the coaster cars to soar to the top at full speed. The retraining system on the coaster car has evolved from the old lap bar only option, to over the shoulder restrains. I can only guess the reasoning for this is to keep you from plowing your face into the back of the seat in front of you at launch. The new restraint system is very comfortable and really gives you a very safe feeling during the ride. Each end seat in the rows includes a pretty aesthetically pleasing arm shield to help riders keep their arms from going out the sides of the car. Safety first is my motto and I am happy that the updated design of this ride operates well within my safety expectations.

So let me tell you about the actual ride. As soon as your locked in and loaded you take a breathtaking launch backwards through a silver tunnel structure no longer shining with blue lighting but lit with bright green lighting, imitating that glowy green we know Krypton radiates. You can feel the speed build all the way up the tower. When you reach the top, you’re looking down while experiencing several minutes of weightlessness before you plummet face forward and back to earth! The stopping before the station is surprisingly smooth and you finally get a chance to catch your breath only while disembarking the ride.

If there’s speed and excitement you know I’m in. When it comes to knowing all about coasters, I jump at any opportunity to get the inside info. I was looking forward to the Q &A session with Six Flags Executives and PR reps during the event. One inside spoiler I got from the session that I can share regarding this ride is that per the request of Six Flags Magic Mountain, Intamin AG constructed the new cars of Superman Escape From Krypton, to be easily switched to the forward launching sequence. Six Flags Magic Mountain fully intends of taking advantage of this feature by switching up the sequences, possibly a couple times a year to shake things up a bit. All and all I have to say this is a Super awesome ride and I highly recommend taking flight as soon as you can. Good job Six Flags on this upgrade!

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