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| The roller coaster in 1978 when it was known as "Turn of the Century" | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Arrow Dynamics | ||||||||||||||
| Product | Custom Looping Coaster | ||||||||||||||
| Type | Steel | ||||||||||||||
| Riders per train | 24 | ||||||||||||||
| Propulsion | Chain lift hill | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 103.7 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Drop | 90 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Top speed | 50 mph | ||||||||||||||
| Length | 2130 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Inversions | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Drop angle | 54° | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1:45 | ||||||||||||||
| HELP | |||||||||||||||
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Demon is an Arrow Dynamics sit-down roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, USA. The ride opened in 1976, along with its identical copy at California's Great America as Turn of the Century.
History
Originally known as Turn of the Century, the roller coaster was built with the park, at the time called Marriott's Great America. The ride opened on May 29, 1976 along with the park.[1] It was very similar to the Turn of the Century which opened nine days earlier at Marriott's Great America in California, now called California's Great America.
For the 1980 season, both Turn of the Century roller coasters were modified and renamed Demon.[2] The two hills after the first drop were replaced with vertical loops, the track was repainted black, and the rockwork was added.
On August 5, 2016, Six Flags announced that Demon would be one of two rides to receive a virtual reality upgrade for Fright Fest, with the other being Kong at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. The ride would show a film called Rage of the Gargoyles and it was being billed as "the world's first fully immersive gaming experience".[3]
Demon was temporarily closed in October 2023 as the rockwork around the vertical loops was removed. The ride reopened the following weekend, sans the rockwork.[4]
Design
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Ride experience
The ride leaves the station by entering a tunnel followed by the 103.7 foot tall lift hill, followed by a 90 foot tall first drop leading into the ride's first vertical loop. Shortly after is the second vertical loop followed by a tunnel filled with lights before entering the mid-course block brake section. The design continues with a drop into a double corkscrew, followed by a turn into the final brake run followed by the station.
Trains
3 trains with 6 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 24 riders per train.
Incident
On April 18, 1998, 23 guests were stranded upside down for two hours when the train they were on stalled inside the second vertical loop.[5][6]
Images
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Demon in 1997
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The entrance sign
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The switchback section in the queue
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The helix
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References
- ↑ "May 29 opening slated for new park". The Pantagraph. 1976-05-16. p. 7.
- ↑ "Tower Ticker". Chicago Tribune. 1980-04-25. p. 28.
- ↑ "Six Flags Demon coaster launches virtual reality experience".
- ↑ "Is Demon at Six Flags Great America Closing or Just Losing its Rocks?". Coaster101. 2023-10-17. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
- ↑ "Roller coaster gets stuck in mid-loop - April 18, 1998 - CNN".
- ↑ "SIX FLAGS ACCIDENT BLAMED ON AXLE FLAW".
External links
- Demon on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
| Most inversions on a roller coaster (4) tied with Carolina Cyclone, Demon, Python 1980 - May 1982 | ||
| Preceded by Corkscrew |
Most inversions on a roller coaster (4) tied with Carolina Cyclone, Demon, Python 1980 - May 1982 |
Succeeded by Vortex |
