Six Flags unveils new attractions for every park in 2015

Six Flags has unveiled its 2015 lineup of new roller coasters, thrill rides and water slides at the amusement park chain’s 13 locations.

Additions are to include three roller coasters, five thrill rides, two dark rides and two water attractions.

Among the highlights:

Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio)

By far the biggest addition at any Six Flags park for 2015 is Batman: The Ride planned for Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio.

The new first-of-its-kind ride is described as a cross between the Green Lantern fourth-dimension coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia and the X-Flight wing coaster at Six Flags Great America in the Chicago area.

Sitting on a compact footprint, the 120-foot-tall 4-D wing coaster is top feature an elevator-like lift hill, forward and reverse inversions and beyond-vertical freefall drops.

Six Flags has used the Batman: The Ride name on several Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coasters, including one at nearby Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington.

Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia)

Twisted Colossus is to be designed and built by Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction, which wowed ride enthusiasts with the triple-inversion Outlaw Run at Missouri’s Silver Dollar City.

The massive makeover will transform the 1978 Colossus wooden racer into a 4,990-foot-long wood-steel hybrid ride billed as the world’s longest hybrid coaster.

In all, riders will experience 18 airtime hills, two lift hills, two 80-degree drops, two zero-G roll inversions and two passes through a distinctive “high five” element.

Six Flags New England (Massachusetts)

In Massachusetts, Rocky Mountain Construction is planning to convert the Cyclone wooden coaster to the Wicked Cyclone wood-steel hybrid.

Reaching a top speed of 55 mph, the 3,320-foot-long Wicked Cyclone will feature two zero-g roll inversions, a overbanked stall and double reversing banked airtime hill.

Over the last few years, Rocky Mountain has converted three old wooden coasters -- the 1990 Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas, the 1992 Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the 2000 Medusa at Six Flags Mexico -- into wood-steel hybrids that combine a steel track with a wooden structure.

The ongoing relationship with Rocky Mountain portends good things for other parks in the amusement park chain with aging wooden coasters such as Six Flags Over Georgia (Great American Scream Machine and Georgia Cyclone) and Six Flags St. Louis (Screamin’ Eagle and Boss).

Six Flags Mexico

Six Flags Mexico is to add a 242-foot-tall SkyScreamer swing tower that reaches a top speed of 35 mph.

Since 2011, Funtime Star Flyers in the 150- to 400-foot range have been installed at more than half of Six Flags parks.

Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St. Louis

Both parks plan to introduce DC Comics Justice League-themed 3-D interactive dark rides called Battle for Metropolis. Along the way, riders will help Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern face off against the Joker, Lex Luthor and other comic book villains.

The St. Louis attraction is to replace the Scooby-Doo Ghostblasters dark ride. The Texas dark ride will go into the former Adventure Theater.

A similar Justice League dark ride called Alien Invasion 3-D was built in 2012 by Florida-based Sally Corp. at Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia.

La Ronde (Montreal)

The Canadian amusement park will introduce a year-round haunted attraction called Maison Rouge: Labyrinth of Fear.

The walk-through funhouse will be similar to the Fright Fest mazes featured at Six Flags parks every Halloween.

Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey), Six Flags America (Baltimore/D.C. area), Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo) and Six Flags Over Georgia

In perhaps the most disappointing announcement of the 2015 season, four Six Flags parks are to install pendulum-style thrill rides typically associated with traveling carnivals and county fairs. Adding insult to injury, Six Flags is intentionally misrepresenting these rides as roller coasters.

Built by Texas-based Larson International, the 70-foot-tall Giant Loops have gone by various names in the past, including Fireball, Ring of Fire and Super Loop.

The tire-driven rides feature a train that rotates back and forth on a vertical circular track before building up enough speed to make a continuous loop.

Each of the rides will have a different name: Bourbon Street Fireball at Six Flags America, Dare Devil Chaos at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Looping Dragon at Six Flags Great Adventure and Joker’s Chaos at Six Flags Over Georgia.

Six Flags Over Georgia

In addition to Joker’s Chaos, the Atlanta-area park also plans to add the Dive Bomber slide tower to the White Water water park.

The 100-foot-tall enclosed capsule slide drops riders into a high-speed free fall at a 90-degree angle.

Also coming to Six Flags Over Georgia: Harley Quinn Spinsanity, a spinning, twisting and rolling ride in the Gotham City section of the park.

Great Escape (New York)

The Six Flags park in upstate New York is to add a Buccaneer Beach kids water-play area at the Splashwater Kingdom water park.

Surrounded by shade umbrellas, the shallow wading pool designed for young children is to feature a pirate-themed climbing structure with kid-friendly slides.

Six Flags Great America (Chicago area)

In honor of its 40th anniversary, Six Flags Great America plans to renovate the Carousel Plaza and Hometown Square sections of the Chicago-area park with rehabbed kiddie rides.