Superman –
Ride of Steel is an Intamin mega coaster and by far the tallest ride at Six
Flags America, towering over the landscape.
Seating two across with a total capacity of 32 riders, the train makes a
right turn from the loading station and ascends a 197-foot lift hill, at the
top of which is an awesome moment of hang time if you’re sitting in the front
row. (Even from the second row you get
an almost unobstructed view due to the lowness of the seats.) It then drops 205 feet at a 68-degree angle,
reaching a maximum speed of 73mph. The
initial drop is pretty spectacular, offering some good ejector airtime for
those sitting in the back. This is
followed by an overbanked (90-degree) right turn and 143-foot climb to the
second drop, then an upward 540-degree right helix leading up to
a smaller
hill. Next is an extended 540-degree
downward left helix before the train turns right, drops left, navigates some
bunny hills and comes to an abrupt stop just outside the loading station.
This
coaster offers some pretty good air time, significantly more if you’re riding
in the back. However, of all the Intamin
hyper/mega/giga coasters I’ve ridden, this is the only one that failed to
completely blow me away. This is for two
reasons: 1) I felt that the helixes were too long; and 2) I found the
restraints uncomfortable. As to the
helixes, you do get the sensation of flying along but they could easily have
been made shorter. As to the restraints,
the T-shaped lap bars include T-bars with plastic shin rests connected to the
tops of the bars by metal poles. The
shin rests are made of hard plastic and they hurt during moments of airtime,
when the legs knock against them. My
advice when riding is to keep your legs as far away from them as possible. That being said, Superman – Ride of Steel is
a topnotch roller coaster that provides a thrilling and action-packed
ride. 4 ½ out of 5 stars. For more information about rides at Six Flags
America, visit www.sixflags.com/america
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