Just announced today, my hometown park of SFGAm in the northern Illinois suburb of Gurnee, will be adding a brand-new (and truly record-breaking) launched coaster for the 2019 season….MAXX FORCE.
With the Pictorium theater building removed, a giant land clearing was made available between the wooden coaster Viper and the front of the park. Many wondered if they’d add a big flat ride or expansion to Hurricane Harbor (personally, my money was on a LSM water coaster).
Needless to say, when they announced this one-of-a-kind launched attraction, I was stunned. I’d given SFGAm plenty of grief in the past for marketing their Larson Super Loop as a “coaster” and for copying names/themes/layouts of rides from other parks in the Six Flags chain (the 4D ‘free-fly’ Joker coaster was, well, kind of a joke).
They’ve gone and redeemed themselves big time with Maxx Force, a very unique coaster from S&S that will claim the fastest acceleration in North America, catapulting riders from 0-78mph in under 2 seconds. There’s also 5 inversions, including a lightning fast zero-G roll and a few that are honestly hard to classify (immelman + twisted drop? flying snake dive??)
A peak height of 175ft will drastically alter the skyline of Great America, and the new addition to the Carousel Plaza section should increase foot traffic to a normally sleepy area of the park. Trains are themed after Formula 1 racing cars.
I’m relieved to see that they opted not to continue the trend of adding DC-themed rides (Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, etc), instead opting to go for something totally out of left field. It’ll be a welcome addition as the parks’s 15th roller coaster….and no, American Eagle still doesn’t count as 2.