Twisted Colossus

History

For its next attraction to debut in 1978, Magic Mountain wanted a wooden roller coaster for the classic "rumble and sway" experience that they felt was missing from steel coasters. They hired Ohio-based International Amusement Devices (IAD), who began designing Colossus in January 1977. IAD in turn subcontracted Bernard Brothers Construction for the construction of the ride, Continental Consultants for all of the mechanical systems, and Lorenz & Williams for the structural engineering and electronic systems. A member of the design team traveled to Mexico City to study Montaña Rusa – the largest wooden roller coaster in the world at the time – in order to help plan for the project.

The design was finalized in May 1977, and construction began a few months later in August. During construction, a tornado caused part of the structure to collapse, but the roller coaster was still completed on schedule. At a final cost of $7 million, Colossus opened to the public on June 29, 1978. It was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, as well as the first to feature two drops over 100 feet (30 m).

Modifications

Colossus underwent a number of changes over the years. In 1979, the ride closed for approximately ten months to remove excessive negative g-forces. The "speed hill" after the second drop, the double-up element, and several of the ride's other hills were reprofiled. Also, the original IAD trains were replaced with trains manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) during this renovation. In 1987, the PTC trains were replaced with trains manufactured by Morgan Manufacturing, and the valley within the double-dip element was leveled off and received block brakes in 1991.

During the Halloween season, the coaster's web-like structure was accompanied by a giant black spider, and the height restriction became 54 inches (1,400 mm). On August 29, 2013, Six Flags Magic Mountain announced that they would run Colossus backwards for a limited time during the 2014 season. The train on one side of the track was changed to run backward using the old trains from the now defunct Psyclone roller coaster.

Closure and Twisted Colossus announcement

During the 2014 season Six Flags Magic Mountain announced that Colossus would close permanently on August 16, 2014. On August 4, 2014, the park held a 36-hour riding marathon event on the roller coaster as a way for the public to say goodbye to one of the park's staples. Out of 24 participants, six completed the marathon of 328 laps around the track in 45-minute intervals.

Less than two weeks after the ride closed, Six Flags announced that Colossus would reopen in 2015 as Twisted Colossus following a renovation by Rocky Mountain Construction. The company is planning to add their patented I-Box technology to the ride, also known as Iron Horse, which converts the wooden track to steel while retaining the original wooden structure. The hybrid retrofitting is becoming a popular trend at amusement parks around the world looking to extend the life of aging wooden coasters and for the ability to add overbanked turns and inversions.

Characteristics

The table below summarizes the differences between Colossus and Twisted Colossus. With the exception of capacity, the statistics of Colossus represent a single track only.

Colossus

The previous configuration of the roller coaster featured two drops greater than 100 feet (30 m); the first drop was 115 feet (35 m) and the second was 105 feet (32 m). The ride spanned two and a half minutes and reached speeds up to 62 miles per hour (100 km/h). Its original configuration was noted for numerous and sustained air-time moments, which were eventually toned down or eliminated by reprofiling and/or braking.

Twisted Colossus

The ride begins on the blue track. Immediately after dispatch, the ride makes a 90 degree left turn, is sent through a set of "drive tires" to boost the train towards the pre-lift section, and makes another left turn. After going through a series of small hills in the "pre-lift", the train makes its way up the lift hill, catching up to the train on the green track. Immediately after the lift hill ends, riders are sent down an 80 degree, 128 foot drop. The trains then go through a small airtime hill and then up another tall hill, crossing under Goliath. The train then proceeds to go through a banked turn to the left, and goes through a "high-five" element. After this, the blue tracked train drops down and goes under the train on the green track while it does its top gun stall. The blue track goes through an airtime hill, taking riders close to the train in the green track's stall. Then the blue tracked train does a zero-g roll. After a double up and a quick turn to the left, the blue track turns green and the train hits a brake run, before returning to the second lift hill. The green track is identical to the blue tracked segment up through the high-five, which is banked in the opposite direction as to create the "high-five" illusion with the blue track. After the high-five, the green track does a double down and does a top gun stall crossing over the blue track. After crossing under the blue track's zero-g roll, it then goes up a double up and turns left, where the train hits the final brake run.

Because Twisted Colossus is a "racing coaster" with one long continuous circuit, it may be considered a Möbius Loop roller coaster. However, unlike most Möbius Loop layouts, it only has one station and one cycle sends riders through both sides. This is different than a traditional Möbius Loop layout (such as Racer at Kennywood), which takes riders through only half of the ride's "complete" circuit before stopping and unloading at the other station.

Because of the unusual setup of a one-station Möbius Loop layout, to race, the operators on Twisted Colossus must properly time dispatches. While a train is in the blue side, the ride operators will sometimes call out " __ seconds to race", counting down to encourage riders to board quickly so they can race. To give the ride operators extra time, the green lift can run slower than the blue lift, giving the blue side time to catch up.

Film and television

Colossus was nearing completion in May 1978 when it was used as a backdrop for fight scenes in the NBC TV movie Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park. In 1983, it was featured in the film National Lampoon's Vacation as Screemy Meemy. In the sitcom Step by Step, Colossus is the roller coaster that the Lambert-Foster family rides in the opening sequence. The roller coaster was also seen in television episodes of Knight Rider, Wonder Woman, and The A-Team. The film Zapped! featured the ride when protagonists Barney and Bernadette visit Magic Land (Six Flags Magic Mountain). The Castle episode "Deep Cover" used Colossus as a stand-in for the Coney Island Cyclone.

Incidents

A 20-year-old woman died after being thrown from the ride in December 1978. An investigation determined the lap bar restraint failed to close properly due to the rider's size.

On September 8, 2014, while workers were disassembling the track, the top of the lift hill on Colossus caught on fire. The fire – which occurred while the park was closed – was contained and no injuries were reported.