Poltergeist is a

steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated whee ...

located at

Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Fiesta Texas, formerly known simply as Fiesta Texas, is a theme park located in Northwest San Antonio. It opened on March 14, 1992, in the La Cantera, San Antonio, La Cantera master-planned development and district as the first busines ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. Designed by

Werner Stengel Werner Stengel (born 22 August 1936, in Bochum) is a German roller coaster designer and engineer. Stengel is the founder of Stengel Engineering, also known as Ingenieurbüro Stengel GmbH (or Ingenieurbuero Stengel GmbH). Stengel first worked on a ...

and manufactured by

Premier Rides Premier Rides is an amusement ride manufacturer based in the United States. The company was the first to use Linear Induction Motors (LIMs) on their roller coasters. Jim Seay has been the sole owner and company president since 1996. The first r ...

, the roller coaster opened to the public on May 28, 1999. Its track was fabricated by

Dynamic Structures Dynamic Structures of the World is an American company with a history of steel fabrication dating back to 1927. They create amusement rides, theme park rides, observatory telescopes and other complex steel structures. History Dynamic Structures ...

and Intermountain Lift, Inc.

History

On October 8, 1998, Six Flags Fiesta Texas announced a $30 million expansion on new rides. There would be three major rides set to open that year, which were Poltergeist,

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

and

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

. Poltergeist would be built by

and be an LIM launch coaster. The ride would replace Seaside Golf, a miniature golf course that opened with the park in 1992. Poltergeist officially opened on May 28, 1999. The attraction closed temporarily in 2021 for refurbishment, which included a new color scheme, upgraded queue line, and repainted station. The track was repainted a light green, while the supports were repainted a darker green-gray. New elements were added to the queue, such as an archway, refreshed railings, garage scenery, a hedge maze, an expanded indoor queue area, planters and other themed structures. Moreover, a ghostly statue was added on top of the station. The trains were also repainted. Poltergeist reopened on September 3, 2021.

Ride Layout

Poltergeist is located in the Rockville section of the park. After boarding Poltergeist, riders are launched through a narrow launch tunnel into a "spaghetti bowl" of track which contains a cobra roll, a sidewinder, and many twists and turns. This coaster doesn't have a mid-course

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...

Flight of Fear Flight of Fear is the name of two identical enclosed roller coasters located at Kings Island and Kings Dominion amusement parks. Built and designed by Premier Rides, they were the world's first launched roller coasters to feature linear inducti ...

has at

Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expan ...

and

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 ri ...

, or rings like

Joker's Jinx The Joker's Jinx is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland. The ride utilizes linear induction motor technology to launch the train from 0 to in just over three seconds. The Joker's Jinx was designed by ...

Six Flags America Six Flags America is a theme park located in the Woodmore CDP of Prince George's County, Maryland,

. After that riders spiral downward and to the left and after more twists and turns they pass through a

corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attached to a hand ...

before arriving at the ride's final brake run. Premier Rides built several of these LIM Catapult roller coasters from 1996 to 1999, although, of those, only the two Flight of Fear rides are indoors. The other outdoor LIM Catapult coaster in the United States is

Six Flags America Six Flags America is a theme park located in the Woodmore CDP of Prince George's County, Maryland,

; that opened in 1999. In addition, a LIM Catapult coaster called

Mad Cobra Ewart Everton Brown (born 31 March 1968), better known by his stage name Mad Cobra or simply Cobra, is a Jamaican dancehall musician.Huey, Steve " Mad Cobra Biography, AllMusic, retrieved 2010-01-31Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia ...

operated at

Suzuka Circuit The , more famously known as the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. Int ...

in Japan from 1998 to 2003; Mad Cobra was moved to China and reopened at Kingdoms of Discovery in 2006. The five Premier LIM catapult coasters share a similar layout and have the same technical specifications. Poltergeist uses a LIM launching system instead of a traditional

lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from th ...

to propel riders into its first inversions. Initially, the ride had over-the-shoulder restraints, but due to numerous reports of pain and discomfort, these were replaced in 2002 with more traditional individual ratcheting lapbars.

Ride Elements

Cobra Roll Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn. Variations in normal track movement that add thrill or excitement to the ride are often called "thrill elements". Comm ...

* Sidewinder *

Corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attached to a hand ...

Similar rides

Poltergeist opened in the same year as

The Joker's Jinx The Joker's Jinx is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland. The ride utilizes linear induction motor technology to launch the train from 0 to in just over three seconds. The Joker's Jinx was designed b ...

Six Flags America Six Flags America is a theme park located in the Woodmore CDP of Prince George's County, Maryland,

(1999), three years after the world's first LIM-launched coasters,

, opened at

(1996) and

(1996).

In other media

Poltergeist is also featured in

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

's ''Roller Coasters: A Thrill Seeker's Guide to the Ultimate Scream Machines''.Roller Coasters: A Thrill Seeker's Guide to the Ultimate Scream Machines
on

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

References

External links

Official Poltergeist website
{{Authority control Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters manufactured by Dynamic Structures Steel roller coasters Roller coasters in Texas Six Flags Fiesta Texas Roller coasters introduced in 1999 1999 establishments in Texas