Viper (Six Flags Great Adventure) - History

History

At one point in 1990, Six Flags Great Adventure had 5 roller coasters. But due to ride rotation programs and the purchase of Batman the Ride, the park was down to only three by the end of 1992. Batman's opening brought the park up to four coasters in 1993. At that point a decision was made to buy a new coaster for the park. It was decided that due to the fact Ultra Twister was fairly popular, that TOGO would be recruited to design and build a similar coaster to occupy the site that Ultra Twister once stood on.

Construction began in the fall of 1994 and in June 1995, Viper finally opened after several delays. Initially, lines were long. But due to the rough restraints, popularity faded by 1997.

By 1998, the ride was not operating for a majority of the season because its manufacturer, TOGO, was troubled financially and went out of business, making replacement parts difficult to obtain. It reopened on Labor Day weekend.

In 2001, the coaster was shut down throughout the season, being considered "Standing but not operating". Viper was not listed on the 2001 park guides or the 2001 park map. Six Flags planned to remove Viper that year, but it was canceled because Six Flags failed to find a replacement attraction to fit the land occupied by Viper.

In 2002, after some modifications on the restraints and track, Viper reopened. The ride continued to be rough and the coaster was frequently experiencing problems.

In 2004, Viper only ran one train when open (i.e. the second train was scrapped from the ride), and on Labor Day the ride was shut down for the remainder of the season.

In 2005, just before opening Kingda Ka, Six Flags demolished Viper in June for multiple reasons; they include the frequent performance issues with the ride, the massive amounts of down-time, and because the ride's popularity was completely faded due to the rough and overall painful ride. Other rides were removed as well this year, such as the nearby Rodeo Stampede and Taz Twister to make room for El Toro, the coaster to replace Viper.