The Falcon takes Flight at Six Flags Qiddiya City
The world now has a new tallest, fastest, longest roller coaster.
Falcons Flight officially entered the record books this evening. Six Flags Qiddiya City welcomed the coaster in a lavish grand opening ceremony that was broadcast in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and webcast worldwide. You can watch a replay of that broadcast here.
Six Flags Qiddiya City opens to the public on December 31. Photo courtesy Qiddiya City
The grand finale of the ceremony was the official launch of Falcons Flight, the Intamin Exa Coaster that stands over the park, with its 525-foot drop from a 640-foot cliff, into an accelerated climb up and over a 535-foot camelback hill. Along the way, Falcons Flight reaches a top speed of 155 mph on its 13,944 feet of track. Update: From Intamin, here is the full, official POV of Falcons Flight from aboard the coaster during its maiden voyage.
Other record-setting rides at the park include:
- Iron Rattler, the world's tallest and longest Vekoma Tilt Coaster
- Spitfire, Intamin Launch Coaster that features the world's tallest inversion
- Gyrospin, from Zamperla - the world's tallest pendulum ride
- Sirocco Tower, from S&S - the world's tallest drop tower.
Visitors Guide to Six Flags Qiddiya City
Here are all of the park's attractions, starting clockwise from park entrance.
Discovery Springs
- Sea Stallion: Maurer Rides motorbike. Minimum height: 47 inches
- Big Splash: Zamperla water plunge ride. Minimum height: 41 inches
- Into the Deep: Triotech dark ride. Minimum height: 39 inches
- Water Wheel: spinning family water ride. Minimum height: 35 inches
- Zoomaflooma: WhiteWater West log flume. Minimum height: 35 inches
- Aquatopia: Sprayground
Steam Town
- Iron Rattler: Vekoma tilt coaster. Minimum height: 47 inches
- Saw Mill Falls: Mack Rides water coaster. Minimum height: 43 inches
- Sprockenator: Zamperla NebulaZ. Minimum height: 41 inches
- Steel Stampede: Crazy Daisy spinning ride. Minimum height: 37 inches
- Adventure Junction: Play area
Twilight Gardens
- Twilight Express: Vekoma family coaster. Minimum height: 37 inches
- The Enchanted Greenhouse: family dark ride. Minimum height: 35 inches
- Kaleidoscope Balloons: balloon race. Minimum height: 35 inches
- Amirat Al Buhayra: Splash Battle ride
Valley of Fortune
- Spitfire: Intamin launch coaster. Minimum height: 51 inches
- Treasure Trail: Zamperla track ride. Minimum height: 35 inches
- Canyon Charters: elevated swing ride. Minimum height: 35 inches
- Skywatch: Flying Island observation tower
Grand Exposition
- Gyrospin: Zamperla Frisbee pendulum. Minimum height: 53 inches
- Colossus: Great Coasters International wooden hybrid coaster. Minimum height: 47 inches
- Expo Flyer: Waveswinger. Minimum height: 41 inches
- Roundabout: bumper cars. Minimum height: 41 inches
- Arabian Carousel. Minimum height: 35 inches
City of Thrills
- Falcons Flight: Intamin Exa coaster. Minimum height: 51 inches
- Sirocco Tower: S&S – Sansei Technologies drop tower. Minimum height: 51 inches
- Windrider: Zamperla kite flyer. Minimum height: 41 inches
- Adrena-Line: Vekoma suspended family coaster. Minimum height: 37 inches
Ticket prices vary by date and start at US$87. A line-skipping GoFast Pass is available for an additional US$83.
Replies (7)
From what I can see, Falcons Flight has multiple launches fattyattkin (at least 3 that I can see), which includes a final boost/speed control section just before the "St, Louis Arch hill". This coaster has such an interesting layout and a variety of elements without a single inversion, which is pretty remarkable given the coaster's length. Intamin could have phoned it in, and just filled this with a bunch of parabolic airtime hills and a few helixes to achieve records (FF is over a mile longer that the previous recordholder, Steel Dragon 2000, which is nothing but airtime hills), but designers put tons of elements into this design, including stalls, outward-banking turns, and others. For as much as the cliff dive and main airtime hill steal the headlines, I think the first half of this coaster might be the best part from the POV (looks like a supersized Taron minus the walls and trenches).
However for as good a Falcons Flight looks, I'm disappointed in Spitfire and some of the other attractions that have just been supersized to grab records and attention. I do think it's probably a toss up as to whether Iron Rattler or Colossus will be the second best coaster in the park (it will probably come down to how well the park maintains the woodie in the unforgiving heat), and while the park's 3 best coasters are probably worth a trip halfway around the world, operators will need to show this park as something more than those record-breaking experiences and oversized clones of attractions thrill seekers can find in easier-to-access locales.
Unsurprisingly Falcon's Flight has not opened yet and is having technical issues.
This is definitely on the bucket list.
I wonder when the sweet spot for riding is going to be between when the technical issues are solved and the ride gets too rough to be rideable.
Were they out of paint options besides white? To my understanding, this is often done for heat reflection, but with such a milestone coaster, I would think maybe a little bit of color on the track or supports to make it pop.
Once you come off that camelback, this gives me strong Formula Rossa vibes. It's the same high-speed, low-to-the-ground curves as on that Intamin ride.
Watched a POV. Two nice drops, but a lot of nothing to get to them. Maybe the appeal only rubs off in person
Edit: first pov I watched was a night time. I then watched a day time and the ride looked nicer but still underwhelming.
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It’s hard to tell from the video, but are there multiple launch points to keep this coaster accelerating to such a high speed along the terrain? It looks like Hagrids on Meth, and then it gets crazier lol.