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2010 Best Theme Park Attraction nominee: Six Flags Magic Mountain's Goliath

By Robert Niles
Published: December 31, 2009 at 2:05 PM
Let's wrap up the year with a roller coaster, shall we? Six Flags Magic Mountain's Goliath joins the 2010 Best Theme Park Attraction tournament as the 14th seed in the Best Roller Coaster bracket.

Six Flags Magic Mountain's Goliath

This Giovanola Mega coaster opened February 11, 2000. Its then-record 255-foot drop was soon topped by Cedar Point's Millennium Force, when that Intamin Giga opened in May of that year.

With a top speed of 85 miles per hour, Goliath is all about speed... and Gs. After that initial record-setting drop, Goliath flies through its turns, culminating in a high-G helix, which is either loved or loathed, depending upon whom you ask.

The helix element on Goliath is so extreme, some riders have reported blacking out on that section of the ride. Others love it for the body-crushing rush it provides at the end of a high-speed adventure.

This is the only coaster is this year's tournament from Giovanola, a Swiss manufacturer that went defunct in the mid-2000s. The other Mega coaster from Giovanola is Titan at Six Flags Over Texas. Will Goliath's fans vote the coaster to a first-round upset, or will the helix haters come out for whatever ride Goliath faces? We'll find out in March, when voting begins in the Best Theme Park Attraction tournament. In the meantime, let's hear your thoughts about Goliath and Titan, in the comments.

Readers' Opinions

From Robert Niles on December 31, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Magic Mountain very kindly sent a courier over with some video of Goliath for me to post with this entry, but unfortunately... they sent over Beta tape, which I don't have any way to convert. (VHS I could hack, though I'm pretty much a digital-only operation.)

Anyone in the Pasadena area got a Beta deck that can convert to a digital format? :-)

FWIW, I've long had a policy against embedding video that was recorded in violation of a park's safety rules on photos and recording. So that's why I haven't pulled any YouTube POV on Goliath (or other roller coasters). The POV we use on Theme Park Insider is stuff either provided by the parks or that was recorded with park assistance on the media days we've attended.

From 72.161.243.110 on December 31, 2009 at 4:32 PM
Beta still exists? Who knew...
From Derek Potter on December 31, 2009 at 4:50 PM
beta??? Maybe it's a beta copy of footage from one of the Discovery/Travel Channel TV shows shot there around it's opening. I have access to the pro grade beta machines, formerly used by TV stations....done a little beta to digital transferring for clients at times myself. Alas I am 2500 miles away.

Perhaps it's time for the marketing dept to spend a little money in the A/V dept. If not on a new setup and capture on rides with DV or HD, then at least on transferring the old stuff to a more user friendly format.

From 24.90.249.214 on January 3, 2010 at 7:41 PM
Sounds just like Nitro at sixflags great adventure. Blacking out on thse turns and helix is not common because I have heard of people that have done it at greatadventure

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