originally posted on 8/28/2024
All renderings: Courtesy Six Flags Great America. View full-sized image.
All the websites and social media were quick to rehash the press release from Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, Illinois) with the announcement of Wrath of Rakshasa (and how long will it take to be able to pronounce that correctly without pausing to think about it?) on August 15.
While the news was out shortly after the release was provided, it basically stayed to the talking points the park emphasized: 180 feet tall with a 171-foot drop, 96-degree first drop, 67 mph and five inversions. There you have the main points. If you want to add 3,239 feet of track, there’s that too.
But what about the enthusiast analysis? Let’s break it down.
The park is quick to tout the two records: steepest drop and most inversions on a dive coaster. Will the public latch on to the “dive coaster” part of those records? Probably not. But as Batman The Ride and X-Flight, two other Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) installations at the park with five inversions, that “most inversions” statistic needs to be specifically applied to the dive coaster nuance. And as Shockwave was the first seven-inversion coaster when it opened at the park in 1988, the Illinois audience is savvy enough to know the “most inversions” has to mean something precise.
The steepest drop on a dive coaster? We can give them that, as long as it is a B&M dive coaster (HangTime at Knott’s Berry Farm [Buena Park, California] beat it to the 96-degree punch in 2018). But it is tied regardless. So that’s cool. All the earlier ones with the “mere” 90 degrees don’t get to enjoy the track disappearing from view while in the signature hold brake.
View full-sized image.
But that’s all marketing jargon. What Great America isn’t touting — because this is an enthusiast thing — is that it ties the record with sister park Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson, New Jersey) and Sea World Orlando (Florida) for the most B&Ms in one park: five. Considering the investment that attractions from this renowned company requires, that’s significant. Solid, dependable rides are a good thing.
An additional “good thing” is seeing a B&M installation at a Six Flags park. After X-Flight opened at Great America in 2012, it was an entire decade until Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio) brought the Swiss firm back into the fold with Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger. Although this project had been on the books for a year or two, perhaps with the merger with Cedar Fair, new B&Ms will continue to appear in the legacy Six Flags parks.
And speaking of a certain doctor, let’s compare the two. Wrath of Rakshasa is taller, longer and has more inversions. But does Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger have signature attributes of its own? Sure. Depending on one’s infatuation or apathy toward inversions, Rakshasa is pretty much all inversions. A snappy left bank-right bank sequence could give the ride a nice finale, but Cliffhanger has some airtime and other maneuvers besides flips, including a nicely orchestrated pre-show. If nothing else, this makes each ride its own layout and not a clone — and Six Flags can be notorious for clones, so this is a bold step forward. Another plus is that it isn’t an umpteenth roller coaster named after a superhero or supervillain. (Yeah, it’s been done; so, let’s leave it at that.)
Whether or not a person loves to loop, this new layout could possibly have some snazzy moments. The first two inversions look to be standard B&M fare, but the third inversion has the potential to catch riders by surprise. It looks to be along the lines of a heartline roll, but the curving exit teases us into hoping it will be quite slick, if it all comes off with dramatic snap. The final two rollovers happen in quick succession, one being a roll to the right and the other being a roll to the left. Too cool or too much? We’ll see. Would one of those have been better served with an airtime hill? Possibly, but then you lose that whole important “record thing.”
Are there any criticisms to be made? Maybe. And that’s a game of wait and see. The name is original and intriguing, so thumbs up in regard to that. But … is there a story here? Who is Rakshasa? And what caused the wrath? In the rendering, the station couldn’t be any less themed if it tried. But perhaps those plans are still being developed. As mentioned, it is just a matter of waiting. Wrath of Rakshasa is an odd fit for County Fair, but the park hasn’t really tried to remain true to its themes for quite a while, which is unfortunate. The Demon has been possessing the County Fair since 1980 after all.
The three trains seat seven across in each of the three rows — a similarity to Dr. D. Interestingly, there is no midcourse block. If it’s a fast load, it could be interesting to see the continuous flow of giant vehicles.
Of course, hanging over it all is the big question. Will it be ready by Coaster Con 47? An argument could be made that Six Flags hasn’t had an encouraging record of opening rides on time since the pandemic, but last year’s rides were ordered late, and B&Ms have to be contracted years in advance. Still, looking at how far along Kings Dominion’s Rapterra is and the emptiness of the site in Illinois, it is a concern.
Wrath of Rakshasa will be the park’s 16th roller coaster, the second biggest collection of all the legacy Six Flags parks.
— Tim Baldwin, ACE News
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