Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain is a historical coaster. It’s been used in TV shows, music videos and was even part of what is arguably the best theme park movie ever made. For 36 years Colossus has been thrilling riders with rides on one of it’s two tracks. Now, in August of 2014, the coaster will be closing for good.
The Griswalds traveled half way across the country to find out that their favorite fun park was closed. Of course, that was in the days before the internet made travel planning easier. Instead of being closed for two weeks, could you imagine the shock and dismay if their favorite coaster was closed for good?
Banners were hung in the park urging riders to get their last rides in on the three decade old coaster, as the park will be closing it for good on August 16th. However, with a high profile coaster like Colossus, is it really going anywhere? Rumors and trends in Six Flags building state that while Colossus may be closing…it will be more like the phoenix and rise from the ashes of it’s former self. Rumors strongly state that the coaster will take on a huge makeover from Rocky Mountain Coasters, and will emerge as “Iron Colossus” or “The New Colossus”. The park chain has made many of their wooden roller coasters new again with the introduction of steel supports, while keeping the wooden frame. With this new technique, limits have been pushed and now wooden coasters are doing things that were only possible with steel coasters. Inversions, barrel rolls, and even extremely steep drops are all part of the new age of wooden coasters that have emerged. So while Colossus may not remain the same coaster that the Griswalds challenged in National Lampoon’s Vacation, the coaster will most likely not be gone long.
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