originally posted on 10/27/2025
All renderings: courtesy of Six Flags Over Texas. View full-sized image.
Six Flags Over Texas is taking its 65th anniversary in 2026 by the horns.
For the past year, it has been known that Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington) was building a record-setting dive coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). It closed the last remaining Intamin bobsled (La Vibora) last fall. The clearing of that ride made way for much groundwork this summer.
Word was “getting around” that it looked to be B&M’s first dive coaster taller than 300 feet, which enthusiasts like to term “giga” since the term was introduced with Millennium Force. Six Flags as a company clearly stated it would be record-setting, but which records?
On September 25, all was revealed.
As the first dive coaster to surpass 300 feet, Tormenta will offer riders panoramic views of the area for 15 seconds — a startling contrast to most gigacoasters.
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Tormenta Rampaging Run was unveiled mere days after the first supports were being erected. At 309 feet, it will be the world’s tallest dive coaster (a record currently held by Yukon Striker at 225 feet — the same as Valravn — but with a larger drop of 245 feet into a tunnel).
The largest of the inversions is the Immelmann, standing at 218 feet.
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Multiple records will be broken, some of which the park is touting, others not. Broken down, they include longest (4,199 feet), fastest (87 mph) and largest drop on a dive coaster, the world’s largest loop (179 feet), the world’s largest Immelmann inversion (218 feet), world’s highest beyond-vertical drop (285 feet at 95 degrees) and, well, the tallest roller coaster in Texas (beating the park’s 245-foot-tall Titan. Are some records not broken, given such astonishing statistics? Actually, yes. The drop at 95 degrees matches those of recent years, including Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger (Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio), which set that record in 2022. Also, the number of inversions doesn’t even tie the current record holder (Wrath of Rakshasa, Six Flags Great America, Gurnell, Illinois) … maybe.
The first drop will be a staggering 285 feet at 95 degrees.
This is the first debate ACEers are sure to have. B&M and Six Flags Over Texas report the ride has four inversions, but enthusiasts may beg to differ. The final element, an “overbanked” turn is tilted to 147 degrees, far beyond the 135-degree mark that RollerCoasterDataBase established in counting inversions (which is more than halfway between 90 degrees and an upside down 180). Either way, five would not be a new record, but it would tie it.
Cocina — The reimagined Spain area of the park will feature an all-new restaurant, the park’s highest-capacity venue.
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Of note, tormenta means “storm” in Spanish. The attraction comes as the anchor of a new Spanish Village called Rancho de La Tormenta, a fictional town named after the storms that swept through the town. As the tale is spun, the town acquired fame as having raised a fierce bull so fear-inspiring that matadors traveled from all over Spain to face him but never to defeat him. The bull was named Tormenta.
At first look, Tormenta Rampaging Run, giving a nod to the running of the bulls of Pamplona, may appear to be a coaster that some might view to be all inversions. Not necessarily. Aside from the aforementioned overbanked horseshoe turn, it is worth noting that this coaster will be the first gigacoaster to have a sustained 300-foot view of the surrounding area. Since most gigacoasters are up and over, this one will truly offer sweeping views (for 15 seconds) of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, including the neighboring ballpark and stadium of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers (unless riders might happen to be looking down).
Another distinction is the third inversion. The first two — Immelmann and vertical loop — are commonly seen, although the grand scale of these should make them graceful and soaring. The third, however, rises up into the inversion and then makes a simple twist, a mere flip of a pig’s tail (which could be a good name for the element). Naturally, the near-vertical drop of the midcourse brake will also offer more airtime.
There is something else to acknowledge. With its Spanish vibe, it could have been an easy move for the park to rehash “El Toro” or “Raging Bull” as the name, but Regional General Manager Jeffrey Siebert knew this ride deserved an original approach. “Due to the iconic size and scale of our new giga-dive coaster, we wanted to ensure it had its own distinctive place in history by creating a unique name to communicate the epic thrills of this new massive and powerful attraction,” Siebert said.
The global enthusiast community will be making note of the hardware, but regional ACEers and season passholders will love what it is doing for the park in general. The ride invigorates the theme of the area, one of the six on which the park was based (creating the name Six Flags). The Spanish village will feature Cocina Abuela, a brand-new, from-the-ground-up restaurant. Featuring Spanish and Latin cuisine, it will be designed to accommodate the most guests of any restaurant in the park.
And speaking of being accommodating, B&M dive coasters typically have a height requirement of 52 or 54 inches. Tormenta will welcome riders as short as 48 inches.
As this ride pushes the boundaries of the dive coaster — and B&M — it’s worth noting that coaster fans had all eyes on the first dive coaster, Oblivion, at Alton Towers (Staffordshire, England) in 1998. Standing at a demure 65 feet (albeit with a much larger drop into an underground tunnel), it is dwarfed by Tormenta in both height and length. How far the genre has grown 18 installations later!
The previous three dive coasters built featured seven-across trains (Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger, Iron Menace and Wrath of Rakshasa). Tormenta Rampaging Run returns to the wider-gauge track and eight-across seating.
Expect to see the running of the ACEers next spring.
— Tim Baldwin, ACE News
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