originally posted on 6/9/2025
Photo: Xander Lee. View full-sized image.
Opening day finally arrived on May 31 for Wrath of Rakshasa at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Like the many skyscrapers seen in Chicago's skyline, Wrath of Rakshasa, a Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) dive coaster, adds to Great America's skyline, standing at 180 feet tall. While that height may not impress, likely owing to a smaller plot of land, make no mistake. Six Flags Great America got creative and found a way to pack in 3,239 feet of track, making this one of the longest dive coasters on record. Wrath of Rakshasa will also set records for a dive coaster with the steepest drop at a beyond-vertical 96 degrees and the most inversions at five. The trains have three rows of seven seats for a total of 21 riders.
Photo: Jeremy Wdowicki. View full-sized image.
The ride’s entrance and queue explain the coaster’s unique name and lore.
Photo: Tim Eckmann. View full-sized image.
Photos: Jeremy Wdowicki. View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
Located in the County Fair section of the park, Wrath of Rakshasa is nicely themed throughout the queue area. And what is a rakshasa anyway? Rakshasa is a type of demon featured in Hindu mythology that possesses supernatural powers, including the power to change its shape at will and appear as an animal or a monster. A rakshasa usually uses its powers for evil rather than good, which might be behind the “wrath” in the coaster’s name.
Guests inside and outside of the queue will be entertained by various artifacts surpassing the theming of recent Six Flags coaster installations.
Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
As part of the theming in the surrounding area and queue, riders can see "The Ornelas Brothers' traveling exhibition: The Wrath of Rakshasa," with artifacts that help explain the legend of these demons, including statues of the Rakshasa demon near the ride’s entrance. The station has bins for loose articles that are on a track, similar to that of Yukon Striker at Canada's Wonderland, where articles are placed in the bin on the load side but then the bins move, rising above the train and over to the unload side, where they can be retrieved after a ride.
Like recent B&M dive coaster installations, Wrath of Rakshasa features a vertical drop followed by an assortment of inversions.
Photo: Jeremy Wdowicki. View full-sized image.
Photo: Xander Lee. View full-sized image.
And the ride experience? Before riders even buckle in, they’re immersed in the dark tale behind the Rakshasa. The queue winds through an eerie jungle temple adorned with cracked stone statues, glowing eyes and lore-filled signs that tell the chilling story of a powerful demon that escaped its chains by transforming into something unstoppable—a roller coaster itself!
Six Flags Great America’s newest coaster towers over neighboring rides like X-Flight and Demon.
Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
Photo: Jeremy Wdowicki. View full-sized image.
Yes, you read that right: you're not just riding the ride. You're riding the Rakshasa.
Photo: Jeremy Wdowicki. View full-sized image.
After cresting the lift hill, the train is held for three seconds before being released into the drop, during which riders will be out of their seats the entire 171 feet. They then encounter the first of the record-setting five inversions — an Immelmann, dive loop and three zero-G rolls — before finishing with a helix. This relentless gauntlet of inversions criss-crosses the park’s midway multiple times in a blur of steel and screams. With nonstop pacing, no midcourse brake and those inversions, riders are left with an intense layout that interacts with the midway and multiple attractions—including a heart-stopping fly-by near the Arrow custom looper Demon. Wrath of Rakshasa makes sure no one, not even onlookers, escapes its wrath. Riding it felt like getting tossed around like a ragdoll, but in the most graceful, ridiculously fun way possible.
As expected, Six Flags Great America will offer an assortment of Wrath of Rakshasa merchandise.
Photo: Missy Behling. View full-sized image.
Photo: Jeremy Wdowicki. View full-sized image.
Photo: Xander Lee. View full-sized image.
Wrath of Rakshasa will be a popular addition to Six Flags Great America. During media day, WGN anchor and fellow ACE member Marcus Leshock interviewed several ACEers who had ridden, and the response for favorite element was not only the first drop, but also various inversions. ACE members attending Coaster Con 47 are in for a treat riding this brand new, fun, exhilarating dive coaster. Let’s hope they succeed in avoiding any demons that may be along for the ride!
— Dan Stuber and Jeremy Wdowicki, Assistant Regional Representative, ACE Western Great Lakes
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