Goliath is a

steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its steel Railway track, track, which consists of long steel tubes that are run in pairs, supported by larger steel columns or beams. Trains running along the track typically rely ...

located at

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newha ...

amusement park in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Manufactured by

Giovanola Giovanola Frères SA was a prominent steel manufacturing company based in Monthey, Switzerland. It was known for building electrical power stations, water storage tanks, pipelines, boilers, highway bridges, submarines, ski lifts and many other st ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, the

hypercoaster A hypercoaster is a roller coaster with a height or drop measuring at least . The term was first coined by Arrow Dynamics and Cedar Point in 1989 with the opening of the world's first hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200, which features a height of . Th ...

is located in the Goliath Plaza section of the park and opened to the public on February 11, 2000. Its sub-tropical theme is characterized by ancient ruins of the Mayan civilization. The ride is nearly identical to

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

Six Flags Over Texas "Six flags over Texas" is the slogan used to describe the six sovereign countries that have had control over some or all of the current territory of the U.S. state of Texas: Spain (1519–1685; 1690–1821), France (1685–1690), Mexico (1821� ...

, but it lacks a 540-degree upward helix prior to the mid-course

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track that utilizes some form of brakes to slow or stop a roller coaster train. There are various types of braking methods employed on roller coasters, including friction brakes, skid brakes, a ...

and features a slightly shorter track layout. For a brief period, Goliath was widely recognized for having the longest drop at and the fastest speed of among all closed-circuit roller coasters in the world.

Millennium Force Millennium Force is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the park's fourteenth roller coaster when it opened in 2000, dating back to the opening of Blue ...

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounc ...

eclipsed both records several months later when it debuted on May 13, 2000, with a drop of and a maximum speed of . Still, Goliath remains among the tallest roller coasters in the world.

History

On January 29, 1999,

roller coaster track arrived at Six Flags Magic Mountain. It was then confirmed that the new attraction would be a

. On November 11, 1999, Six Flags Magic Mountain announced that the new coaster would be named Goliath. The ride officially opened on February 11, 2000. In November 2013, seat belts were added to Goliath and

Full Throttle Wide open throttle or wide-open throttle (WOT), also called full throttle, is the fully opened state of a throttle on an engine (internal combustion engine or steam engine). The term also, by extension, usually refers to the maximum-speed state o ...

. During the 2015 season, Goliath was covered in advertisements to promote ''

Monster Hunter 4 is an action role-playing game developed and published by Capcom. It is the fourth game in the ''Monster Hunter'' series and the second to be released on the Nintendo 3DS. Originally released in Japan on September 14, 2013. On January 26, 2014, a ...

'', a

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

game. A Gore Magala monster statue was displayed near the entrance. The queue line featured a supply hunt, large signs talking about the game, a camping site and other props. Plus, the train was wrapped to look like the Gore Magala. A good luck sign was placed in the station and a larger sign was displayed near the exit.

Ride experience

Leaving the station, the train makes a nearly 180 degree right turn. The train then ascends the

chain lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from ...

, reaching a height of . Ascent slows toward the top of the

, a safety feature that reduces stress on the chain; it is also an attempt to reduce positive g-forces and increases rider anticipation. The train begins accelerating down its first drop at a 61-degree angle, into an underground tunnel, reaching a top speed of . Upon exiting the tunnel, the train heads upwards into a banked right turn that towers above

Twisted Colossus Twisted Colossus is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. Originally designed and built by International Amusement Devices, the roller coaster opened as Colossus, a dual-tracked roller coaster, on Ju ...

. After completing the turn, the train heads down another drop, flattening out to pass by the onride camera. An airtime hill and banked left turn (rather than a helix on "Titan") follows into the mid-course brake run. The train is decelerated quickly and makes a hard left turn out of the brake section. Another 180 degree banked turn directs the train into a 585 degree, descending helix. Then, the track turns upwards and banks left. After an ascending right turn, the train reaches the final brake run.

Photos

Operation

* long tunnel at the bottom of the first drop. *Ride capacity: 1,600 passengers per hour. *Three five-car 30-passenger trains, with two abreast seating. *A small error was made while the ride's parts were being manufactured by Giovanola. The very last track piece before the final brake run was about too short. The mistake was found while the final piece was being bolted to the ride, and a supplementary track piece had to be made to fill the gap.

Use in media

*Appeared as “The Scream Monster” in ''

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'' *Appeared as “Aquaman: The Ride” in ''

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'' (Season 3 Episode 3 "Dominated") *Appeared in the ''

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'' episode "Roller Coaster" *Appeared in

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's Carpool Karaoke video with

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*Appeared in ''

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'' (2002) *Appeared in ''

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'' episode "Emotional Rollercoaster" *Referenced in the song “Colossus” by rapper

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Awards

Incidents

On June 2, 2001, a 28-year-old woman died from what was thought to be a heart attack while riding Goliath, later determined to be a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in an ...

. The park closed the ride for several hours and reopened it the same day after it passed inspection.

References

External links

*
Official websiteOfficial Goliath on-ride POV video
{{SFMM Coasters Roller coasters in California Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters introduced in 2000 Six Flags Magic Mountain Articles containing video clips