After speculation over whether Six Flags Magic Mountain was ever going to refurbish the amusement park’s main ride, Colossus, the park announced it would be closing down on August 16, after existing for 36 years.
“Six Flags Magic Mountain will announce exciting future plans for the park we think our guests will love at a later date,” Magic Mountain spokesperson Sue Carpenter said in a statement. “In the meantime, don’t miss your last chance to ride Colossus.”
Park officials would not elaborate on why it was being shut down, according to a Yahoo.com article.
In June of 1978, Colossus was named the fastest and tallest wooden coaster in the world. It has two drops higher than 100 feet, making it the first coaster in the world to have that aspect, and it also has 4,300 feet of track, covering over 10 acres of land.
The ride is 13 stories tall, and dives into a curve at 62 mph. Its huge, recognizable and iconic, and some people can see it from the highway.
The iconic rollercoaster, Colossus, has also been featured in the film “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and episodes of “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park,” “Knight Rider,” “The A-Team,” and “Wonder Woman.”
Six months after Colossus opened, a woman died was ejected from her seat and died. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the ride was shut down and overhauled with new height and weight restrictions. Adjustments, such as replacing the trains, were made, although safety concerns remained.
For some rollercoaster enthusiasts, like Cal State Long Beach alumna Marissa Gorup, the ride will be missed when she visits Six Flags.
“It was one of the first rollercoaster’s of its kind, and it’s sad that they’re closing it down,” Gorup said. “I don’t go often, but I’ll still miss it and it’ll probably be weird to go and not have it there.”
Another CSULB alumnus, Jonathon Lugo, also said he will miss the iconic ride for being one of the first wooden coasters.
“It’s a wooden coaster, and you don’t see too many around anymore,” Lugo said. “You have more of the advanced rides, like X2 and it’s all about speed, but Colossus is the experience with its rickety-rackety noise and that’s what makes it unique.”
Graduate student Nate Phung also said he would miss the ride because of its “iconographic appeal.”
Before the rollercoaster officially shuts down, one side of the rollercoaster will run backward until June 15, and it will resume running forward until it shuts down.
There may be many possibilities for what the new ride could be, and some people are hoping for the
Sign my petition to preserve Colossus on Change.org