Kong is an

inverted roller coaster An inverted roller coaster is a roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. This latter attribute is what sets it apart from the older suspended coaster, which runs under the t ...

located at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom amusement park in

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to th ...

. The Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) model was manufactured by

Vekoma Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. History The company originally m ...

and first opened to the public as Hangman at

Opryland USA Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially "Opryland") was a theme park in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally (generally March to October) from 1972 to 1997, and for a special Christmas-themed engagement eve ...

on May 1, 1995. Following Opryland's closure in 1997, the roller coaster was sold to Premier Parks and moved to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, where it reopened as Kong in May 1998.

History

Opryland USA

''Kong'' was previously located at the now-defunct

theme park in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

where it was known as ''The Hangman''. The ride was officially announced on October 8, 1994. Opened on May 1, 1995, it was notably the last major attraction to be added to Opryland before the park closed at the end of the 1997 season. The Hangman was located in the American West area of the park, in an area formerly occupied by the Tin Lizzies antique car ride. Upon Opryland's closure, The Hangman was disassembled and sold to Premier Parks. Soon afterwards, it was relocated and rebuilt at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom as ''Kong'' after Premier Parks acquired the

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any a ...

chain.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Kong debuted at The New Marine World Theme Park (later Six Flags Discovery Kingdom) on Memorial Day Weekend of 1998. At that time Kong became the tallest and longest

in Northern California, missing the speed record by and achieving the length record by only . Today, The Flash: Vertical Velocity and

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

, hold the height and speed records in Discovery Kingdom and Northern California. Kong's entrance was previously loaded near the iWerks theater (Also known as the "Dino Sphere"). In 2007, the park moved the attraction's entrance to Oasis Plaza. Guests now walk under the ride to get to the loading platform. During

Fright Fest Fright Fest or FrightFest may refer to: *Six Flags Fright Fest, a Halloween event at Six Flags parks. * FrightFest (film festival), a British film festival, also known as Film4 Fright Fest. *"FrightFest", a Halloween event at the Elitch Gardens Th ...

2016, Kong was given a

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

(VR) upgrade. The experience would be called Rage of the Gargoyles. Riders had the option to wear

Samsung Gear VR The Samsung Gear VR is a virtual reality headset developed by Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with Oculus VR, and manufactured by Samsung. The headset was released on November 27, 2015. When in use, a compatible Samsung Galaxy device acts ...

headsets, powered by

Oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

to create a 360-degree, 3D experience while riding. The illusion was themed to a fighter jet, where riders flew through a futuristic city as co-pilots battling demonic creatures. On February 8, 2017, Six Flags announced that Kong would offer a new VR experience known as The New Revolution Galactic Attack. It was billed as the world's first mixed Virtual Reality Experience powered by Oculus VR. The experience was centered around an alien invasion in space.

Ride experience

Kong starts with a lift hill. Followed by that is a drop, a heartline loop, sidewinder and back to back inline twists.

References

External links

The Hangman at RCDBSix Flags webpage
{{Authority control Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters introduced in 1998 Six Flags Discovery Kingdom