What If? – Finding New Homes for the Coasters from Six Flags America

After the big announcement that Six Flags America will be closing after the 2025 season, most of us are probably thinking, “where are the coasters from Six Flags America going to go?” after the park closes its gates forever in November. So, let’s do some theoretical thoughts on what their fate might be.

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Finding New Homes for the Coasters from Six Flags America

Batwing

Batwing is the very last Vekoma Flying Dutchman roller coaster. Both its sister coasters, Firehawk at Kings Island and the prototype model Nighthawk at Carowinds, have now all been retired.

What’s likely to happen: The chances of this being relocated in the Six Flags chain or put up for sale to be sold is looking to be pretty low. Seeing the only two other models be torn out as recent as this last year, Batwing more than likely will be sold for scrap.

Best Case Scenario: Six Flags decides to put it up for sale and another park outside of the chain buys it.

Worst Case Scenario: Sold for scrap.

Firebird

Firebird is the very first roller coaster Bolliger & Mabillard ever built on their own when it was Iron Wolf at Six Flags Great America. It was relocated to Six Flags America in 2012 where it opened as Apocalypse in its original stand-up form until 2019 when it was converted to a floorless model with new trains and rethemed to Firebird.

What’s likely to happen: This is a tough one. It would work well at a smaller park like Valleyfair, Frontier City, or Michigan’s Adventure where they haven’t received a new coaster in a very long time and capacity would work perfectly there. The only problem is that the track itself is 35 years old this year and the state of it might be not worth the relocating cost.

Best Case Scenario: Six Flags relocates it to a smaller park in the chain where it would fit nicely in their coaster lineup.

Worst Case Scenario: The coaster ends up in the scrap heap and the trains are sent to other parks in the chain for parts.

Great Chase

This little Zamperla family coaster has been at the park since 1999. While it’s certainly the smallest coaster at the park, it’s a great first-time coaster for kids to ride and would be fairly easy to sell or relocate.

What’s likely to happen: Great Chase has the highest chance out of the 9 coasters to just be sold to a park outside of the chain. Several of the legacy Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks already either has this exact model or a similar coaster. They could do a Six Flags Magic Mountain and relocate it to a park that already has a kiddie coaster and just add in a second.

Best Case Scenario: Relocated in the chain to another park to be a 2nd or 3rd kiddie coaster, but high chance to just be sold outside of the chain.

Worst Case Scenario: Scrapped because no one wanted to buy it.

Joker’s Jinx

Joker’s Jinx is an outdoor clone of the Flight of Fear coasters at Kings Island and Kings Dominion and has another outdoor clone, Poltergeist at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. This Premier Rides LIM launch coaster was part of the launch coaster boom that happened in the late 90’s and early 00’s across several parks around the world. Being a now 26-year-old LIM launch coaster that is extremely energy inefficient, relocating this inside of the chain would be a tough sell.

What’s likely to happen: This more than likely could be put up for sale and sold to a park outside of the chain. There’s a slim chance it could get relocated to one of the other Six Flags parks, but since the company is looking to cut costs, relocating the very expensive launch system would more than likely not be worth it to them.

Best Case Scenario: Six Flags relocates it to a park without a launch coaster, potentially upgrading the launch system to LSM with new trains, similar to Top Thrill 2.

Worst Case Scenario: Becomes a parts donor to the Flight of Fear and Poltergeist coasters and the rest is scrapped.

Professor Screamore’s SkyWinder

This is your standard off-the-shelf Vekoma SLC seen across the entire Six Flags chain and other parks around the world. Opening initially as Mind Eraser in 1995, the park only just refurbished it to become Professor Screamore’s SkyWinder in 2024. Not only receiving a fresh new paint job, but also Vekoma’s new SLC trains with the more comfortable vest restraints.

What’s likely to happen: I don’t see them bringing this anywhere else in the chain unless they really want to move it to Valleyfair or Frontier City, who are the only two parks in the chain without a looping inverted roller coaster. The trains are the most valuable piece on this and would work better at a park like Michigan’s Adventure where a train upgrade would be really nice on Thunderhawk.

Best Case Scenario: The coaster itself is scrapped, but the trains are sent off to another park like Michigan’s Adventure with a far superior Vekoma SLC that replacing the trains would give a significant upgrade to the ride.

Worst Case Scenario: Six Flags relocates it to Frontier City where it would be the first big coaster addition to the park, or it ends up at Valleyfair to be their first full-circuit inverted coaster.

Ragin’ Cajun

Another relocated coaster, Ragin’ Cajun is a Reverchon Spinning coaster featuring a Mardi Gras theme. This originally was at Six Flags Great America but was relocated in 2014 to Six Flags America under the same name and theme.

What’s likely to happen: This would be another coaster that I see them putting it up for sale to sell outside of the chain. Several parks in the chain are either too big for the capacity for this or already have a coaster of this type, either as a typical mouse coaster or in another spinning coaster form.

Best Case Scenario: Six Flags sells this off and another park buys it up.

Worst Case Scenario: Scrapped or moved back to Six Flags Great America back in its original spot. As if it never left.

Roar

One of two wooden roller coasters here at Six Flags America. This was one of the first Great Coasters International wooden coasters to be built, opening in 1998. This wooden coaster has not quite aged very well in its 27 year history and relocating wooden roller coasters, while it has happened, it’s extremely rare or has to be really special for them to bring it somewhere else.

What’s likely to happen: Roar just end up in the woodchipper. The trains shipped off to somewhere else in the chain to be used as replacements or parts.

Best Case Scenario: Trains find a new home in the chain, like to replace the not-so-great Gerstlauer trains on the Boss at Six Flags St. Louis and Roar’s structure is torn down.

Worst Case Scenario: The entire thing ends up being taken down and trains just parted out or given to the National Roller Coaster Museum of America since it was one of the early GCI coasters.

Superman – Ride of Steel

Superman – Ride of Steel, the star attraction at Six Flags America. The one everyone wants to know what will happen to it. While this does have a mirrored version at Six Flags Darien Lake, it’s one of the early Intamin Mega Coasters and was the predecessor to the Giga coaster. It’s also an extremely large and sprawled out coaster that relocating it to another park might be too expensive and it might just end up being scrapped.

What’s likely to happen: There’s a slim chance this might find a new home somewhere in the chain, but also, it’s an extremely large footprint and finding a spot for it would be tough. Most of the other Six Flags parks either have a B&M hyper coaster, a very similar or the same coaster, or does not have the room at all to install it. There also could be a park outside of the chain that could decide buying a used semi-200ft tall Intamin coaster would be worth adding to their lineup if they have the proper room.

Best Case Scenario: Once again, Michigan’s Adventure is really the only park that could use a coaster like this since it doesn’t have a hyper coaster as its original plans to build one in the late 90’s was cancelled when it was sold to Cedar Fair and Morgan going out of business. Another park out there also can end up buying it as well and is willing to foot the cost to relocate this beast.

Worst Case Scenario: This ends up in the scrap heap and the trains and any useable parts are shipped off to somewhere like Six Flags Darien Lake or Six Flags New England.

Wild One

The most historic coaster at Six Flags America, Wild One already has been relocated once, from Paragon Park where it was built in 1917 and known as Giant Coaster. When that park closed in 1985, Wild World, as Six Flags America was called at the time, relocated it to here and had the Dinn Corporation assist on relocating and rebuilding the structure. Now nearly 40 years later, Wild One might be seeing its final days of operation.

What’s likely to happen: Wooden roller coasters are extremely hard and expensive to relocate. Even though this is one of the last remaining coasters designed in the 1910’s and still operating, the cost alone would be the sole reason this would not move anywhere. We’ve seen this over the years with a few failed wooden coaster relocations. Wild One might not be long for the world and would more than likely meet the same fate as Roar would.

Best Case Scenario: Only because of the historic nature of this 1917 wooden coaster, a buyer relocates it and spends the money preserving this coaster somewhere else. Someone could also buy the plans and rebuild the coaster brand new like what Bay Beach Amusement Park did with Zippin Pippin using the existing hardware like the trains and mechanical parts.

Worst Case Scenario: Wild One meets the same fate as Roar and ends up in the scrap heap and the trains sent off around the chain to be used as replacement parts.

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While we probably won’t know the official fates of the coasters and rides until after the park has closed forever in November, we should at least enjoy Six Flags America for the 2025 season and give it and its rides one last big send-off before it closes forever. Get your rides on these coasters while you can because it could be the last time.

Where do you think the coasters from Six Flags America will end up? Let us know in the comments below!

Tags: six flagsSix Flags America