Mega Zeph is a wooden

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides ar ...

located at the abandoned Six Flags New Orleans theme park, in the

Eastern New Orleans New Orleans East is the eastern section of New Orleans, the newest section of the city. It is bounded by the Industrial Canal, the Intracoastal Waterway and Lake Pontchartrain. Developed extensively from the 1950s onward, its numerous residentia ...

area of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, United States. Originally opening on May 20, 2000, as Jazzland's signature ride, the coaster has been abandoned and left in a state of decay as a result of the park's closure following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It is currently standing but not operating.

History

Mega Zeph takes its name from the original ''Zephyr'' or ''Big Zephyr'' coaster that operated in the now-defunct

Pontchartrain Beach Pontchartrain Beach was an amusement park located in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It was founded by Harry J. Batt Sr. (grandfather of American actor Bryan Batt) and later managed and owned by his sons, Harry J ...

amusement park. The coaster celebrated its

topping out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...

ceremony on September 10, 1999, with the installation of the underpinnings of the coaster's highest hump. At the time of its completion, Mega Zeph served as both Jazzland's signature attraction as well as its most visible due to its location adjacent to the

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally ...

Interstate 510 Interstate 510 (I-510) is a short spur route of I-10 within eastern New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It runs south from I-10, intersects with U.S. Route 90, and ends at the Almonaster Boulevard interchange, near the NASA Michou ...

interchange. The coaster's opening would coincide with the grand opening of Jazzland on May 20, 2000.

After Hurricane Katrina

Shuttered since August 2005 due to severe flooding in the park as a result of Hurricane Katrina, the park has remained closed. Decisions haven't been made as to what to do with the rides. Each ride is decaying, damaged, and unusable. More information will be released at a later date. In 2007, Six Flags was in the process of removing some of its rides. The first ride to leave was Batman: The Ride, which was removed and taken to

Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Fiesta Texas, formerly known simply as Fiesta Texas, is a theme park located in Northwest San Antonio. It opened on March 14, 1992, in the La Cantera master-planned development and district as the first business in that development. S ...

, where it was refurbished and reopened as

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant defeated by the young David in single combat. The story signified King Saul's ...

on April 18, 2008. Bayou Blaster and

Sonic Slam Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in fast-food restaurant chain *Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider and CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities *Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...

were removed and taken to Great Escape in

Queensbury, New York Queensbury is a town in Warren County, New York, United States. The population was 27,901 at the 2010 census. It contains the county seat of Warren County, located at a municipal center complex on U.S. Route 9 south of the village of Lake Geor ...

, where it was refurbished and reopened as

Sasquatch Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims of ...

on May 10, 2009. The final ride to leave Six Flags New Orleans was the Road Runner Express, which was removed in 2009 and taken to

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 New ...

, where it was refurbished and reopened on May 28, 2011 under the same name. As of February 2016, the Mega Zeph has remained unused since August 2005, but may potentially reopen as part of a redevelopment of the park announced in August 2009 by New Orleans mayor

Ray Nagin Clarence Raymond Joseph Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former politician who was the 60th Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2010. A Democrat, Nagin became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane ...

. Rumors still float around regarding the history of the park. A large section on the Mega Zeph track has completely fallen to the ground due to the decaying of the wood. The majority of the wood from Mega Zeph has decayed and the steel track has severely rusted. Also, the only train has been sent to

Six Flags St. Louis Six Flags St. Louis, originally known as Six Flags Over Mid-America, is an amusement park featuring characters and rides from many Warner Bros. films and tv shows such as, Looney Tunes, DC Comics, and formerly Scooby-Doo. It is located in Eureka, ...

. They are now being stored under Batman: The Ride. ''Mega Zeph'' will cost around $3 million (USD) to fix and have the ride back to operating after ''Hurricane Katrina'' in August 2005. Mega Zeph was featured in the

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

film '' Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters'' along with several other rides including Ozarka Splash, released August 16, 2013. Mega Zeph was lined with lights along the coaster and resurrected just enough to have a car zoom in and out of frame during the shooting of the film. In the film, Six Flags New Orleans portrayed the park ''Circeland'' on the island of

Polyphemus Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and le ...

, that was built by the goddess

Circe Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vast kno ...

, only to be destroyed by the cyclops Polyphemus. The

National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives The National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives ( NRCMA) is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of historic roller coasters and amusement park artifacts and memorabilia. Its goals include ...

was able to preserve the neon sign from the ride's entrance at its facility in Plainview, TX.

Ride Layout

After passengers left the station, passengers climbed a

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 t ...

culminating in its first drop. The train then made a quick descent towards a high speed turnaround near the lake's edge. The physical construction of the ride is unique in that it consisted of steel construction with a wooden track.

References

{{Custom coasters international roller coasters Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Six Flags New Orleans Former roller coasters in Louisiana