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When Six Flags Magic Mountain opens its latest roller coaster, now under construction at the Valencia theme park, it will once again change the Santa Clarita Valley skyline, a Six Flags spokesman said Wednesday during a “hard hat” tour of the coaster site.
“The entire loop should project above the treeline,” said Tim Burkhart, Six Flags Magic Mountain corporate vice president of maintenance.
“You’ll see it not only as a landmark feature in the park, but you’ll also see it from the freeway.”
Dubbed Full Throttle, the coaster will be the world’s fastest and tallest looping coaster, Burkhart said.
The coaster will include a 160-foot loop, the tallest loop in the world.
“Building a loop is much harder than building an inversion,” Burkhart said. “Anyone can build a track and flip it. I’ve done it a million times; it’s easy to do. To build a loop is much more difficult.”
Riders will travel at a top speed of 70 mph before entering a special-effects tunnel and being launched backward along the top of the loop back to the ride station.
The entire ride should last one minute and 20 to 30 seconds, Burkhart said.
He said the ride’s theme should appeal to everyone.
“Everybody thinks they live their life full throttle,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 8 years old and riding a skateboard or 80 years old and watching someone ride a skateboard.”
The ride will open during the summer, Burkhart said. The exact opening date has not been released.
"Everything in this area will support the idea of the Full Throttle lifestyle," he said. "It seems to have a very broad interpretation by people. It’s not going to be race car theme or mountain climbing theme, it’s going to be all those things that capture the idea of when you’re going full throttle."
The ride will open during the summer, said Burkhart. The exact opening date has not been released.
Full Throttle is being built in the area previously inhabited in part by the Log Jammer water ride which was closed Oct. 31, 2011. The Johnny Rockets restaurant was also demolished to make way for the new ride and the Full Throttle Plaza.
A restaurant featuring "Full Throttle" wings and loaded hot dogs, a gift store, an outdoor barbecue and other amenities will be added to the plaza.
"It’s going to be one of the most heavily themed areas we’ve ever done," Burkhart said.
Other changes planned at the park will include enclosed buses that will replace the old open air trams that transport guests from the parking lot to the park entrance.
Six Flags Magic Mountain has long shaped the Santa Clarita Valley’s western skyline, starting with the Sky Tower, erected in 1971, and including Superman: The Ride, Goliath and Viper.
