SkyScreamer is an amusement ride located at several

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

s in

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. Designed by Funtime, an

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n ride manufacturer, the attraction is one of their "Star Flyer" models. Riders aboard SkyScreamer are carried aloft in two-person swing-like chairs attached to a rotating gondola mounted on a central tower. When the gondola reaches the top of the tower, riders are swung in a wide circle at speeds approaching , with a bird's eye view of the surrounding area. The ride is marketed to both thrill-ride enthusiasts and patrons seeking a more family-friendly experience.

History

The first two SkyScreamers were announced in late 2010 for

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly known as Six Flags Marine World, Marine World, The New Marine World Theme Park, and Marine World Africa USA) is a 135-acre (55 ha) animal theme park located in Vallejo, California, off of Interstate 80 i ...

and Six Flags St. Louis for the 2011 season. On May 14, 2011, SkyScreamer officially opened at Six Flags St. Louis, where it replaced the Riverview Racer. On May 27, 2011, SkyScreamer made its debut at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, adjacent to the ''

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

'' roller coaster. In September 2011, Six Flags announced the addition of SkyScreamer to two more parks,

Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Fiesta Texas, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Fiesta Texas, is an amusement park in San Antonio, Texas, United States. It opened on March 14, 1992, in the La Cantera master-planned development and district as the ...

and

Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located approximately southeast of Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park complex is situated between New York City and Philadelph ...

. On January 19, 2012, Six Flags announced that La Ronde would also receive a Star Flyer tower. On May 19, 2012, La Ronde opened their attraction, using the name ''Vol Ultime'' (French for "Ultimate Flight") instead of SkyScreamer. On May 23, 2012, Six Flags Great Adventure opened SkyScreamer as part of their new Adventure Alley section, which was based around the idea of retro-style amusement rides. On May 27, 2012, Six Flags Fiesta Texas opened their SkyScreamer in the Spassburg section of the park; season passholders were allowed to experience the ride one day earlier. In July 2012,

Six Flags New England Six Flags New England, formerly known as Gallup's Grove (1870–1886), Riverside Grove (1887–1911), Riverside Park (1912–1995) and Riverside: The Great Escape (1996–1999), is an amusement park located in Agawam, Massachusetts. Opening in ...

submitted plans to the city of Agawam, Massachusetts requesting special approval to construct a Star Flyer ride, as the proposed height exceeded the city's height limit. The approval was granted a week later, with an additional conditional approval to build as tall as , in case a competing park built a taller model first. The planning documents revealed that the ride would replace the park's

Skycoaster Skycoaster is the name of a free-fall and flight-simulating amusement park attraction produced and managed by Skycoaster Company, LLC.. On the Skycoaster, riders in groups of 1 to 3 are harnessed in specialized Flight Suits (in a face-down, p ...

, "Taz's Dare Devil Dive" as well as the former spot of "

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". However, when Six Flags announced its 2013 capital investments in August 2012, the Six Flags New England Star Flyer was not included. Instead, two other parks,

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� ...

and

Six Flags Over Georgia Six Flags Over Georgia is a amusement park in Austell, Georgia, United States. Opened in 1967, it is the second park in the Six Flags chain following the original Six Flags Over Texas, which opened in 1961. Six Flags Over Georgia is one of t ...

, were set to receive SkyScreamer attractions. Six Flags Over Georgia's version replaced the

Wheelie A wheelie, or wheelstand, is a vehicle maneuver in vehicle acrobatics in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to sufficient torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels, or rider motion relative to the vehicle. Wheelie ...

and officially debuted on May 24, 2013, after two weekends of passholder previews. Six Flags Over Texas' model, dubbed the Texas SkyScreamer, was awarded the title of the "world's tallest swing carousel ride" by

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. Although reports suggested it took this record from the ''Prater Turm'' in

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, ''Eclipse'' at

Gröna Lund Gröna Lund (, ), or colloquially ''Grönan'' (), is an amusement park in Stockholm, Sweden. Located on the seaward side of Djurgården Island, it is relatively small compared to other amusement parks, mainly because of its central location, which ...

actually held the record for a period of a month standing at , shorter than the Texas SkyScreamer. On August 29, 2013, Six Flags announced that they would be adding the New England SkyScreamer to Six Flags New England in 2014. The over 400-foot-tall ride debuted officially on May 23, 2014, in the park's North End section. At the time of its debut, New England SkyScreamer held the title for the tallest swing ride. As part of its 2015 attractions presentation on August 28, 2014, Six Flags announced that Six Flags Mexico will be the next park to receive a SkyScreamer, a model and the only attraction of its kind in Latin America. Two years later after the announcement of Six Flags Mexico addition, Six Flags announced that they would be adding yet another Funtime Star Flyer for the 2017 season after a hiatus of building the swing ride back to back.

Six Flags America Six Flags America is an amusement park in Woodmore, Maryland, United States, The ride would become one of the first SkyScreamers to be themed to a

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

character. Six Flags Mexico rethemed their SkyScreamer to

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...

in 2018 to be a part of the new theme area the tower was already located in. Also in 2018, Six Flags added a SkyScreamer installation to Six Flags Darien Lake for the 2019 season. The 242-foot-tall ride was labeled the tallest ride in the state of New York. From 2019 to 2023, there had been no other news with the SkyScreamer attractions at the Six Flags parks. Six Flags announced for the 2024 season, Six Flags Fiesta Texas' SkyScreamer would be rethemed to Supergirl, as the park expands their new

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themed land in parts of Spassburg. On May 1, 2025, Six Flags announced that the Six Flags America park will close at the end of the 2025 season on November 2, 2025. The status on the future of the Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth attraction was not given at the time of the announcement.

Ride experience

While the heights of the various SkyScreamer installations vary from park to park, the basic operation of the ride is consistent. Riders sit in one of 16 two-seat chairs connected to a gondola mounted on a central tower, which brings the gondola up and down. A seat belt is placed over the rider's waist to keep them firmly in their seat, and a lap bar is fastened into place. When the ride cycle begins, the gondola rises to the top of the tower, beginning to spin slowly around the central tower and picking up speed as it ascends further. By the time it reaches the top, it rotates around the tower at its full speed of approximately , with riders rotating around the tower in a circle in diameter. The gondola remains at the top of the tower for a period of time, then it descends and slows down slightly before returning to the top. At the end of the cycle, the gondola lowers to the ground and slows its rotation such that, by the time it reaches the bottom of the tower, all rotation ceases and the riders are able to depart. Optionally, SkyScreamer can be set to rotate in the opposite direction during its cycle, such that riders are traveling backwards. Thus far, the installations at St. Louis, Discovery Kingdom, Fiesta Texas, New England and La Ronde have operated in this manner, with each running them in this mode during special events or as a limited-time promotion. The New England SkyScreamer and Texas SkyScreamer differ from the standard models, although the actual ride experience is intended to be the same. The gondola of the two rides hold 12 two-seat chairs instead of 16. When the gondola reaches full height, the chairs rotate in a larger circle——but at a slower speed—.

Installations

All rides were installed by Ride Entertainment Group, who handle all of Funtime's operations in North America.

Reception

SkyScreamer has been described as being a "classic" and "retro" ride by the press. It is marketed as a compromise between riders who prefer

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

s and similar thrills and those who prefer more family-friendly rides. Roller coaster enthusiasts, who are often sought out to sample new thrill rides, have been generally positive about the attractions. Frankie Gobel, a roller coaster fan whose father, Charlie Gobel, wrote a book about their experiences entitled ''Flying With Frankie: Three Hundred Days in Amusement Parks Riding Roller Coasters With My Son'', described the ride as not being "your typical swing set" commenting that "It’s not too intense for Mom or too dull for a teenager. It’s the perfect family ride - assuming your family has a strong stomach." Gary Slade, the publisher of ''

Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...

'' magazine, said that while SkyScreamer doesn't have the same drawing power as a new roller coaster, it still was the type of ride parks needed to install to keep guests returning. Slade said, in regards to the attraction at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, "I think it's really going to be a huge hit for them."

References

External links

Official website
for first installation, Six Flags St. Louis

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