Steamin' Demon is a
steel roller coaster located at
Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor
Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor is an amusement and water park owned and operated by Six Flags. It is located approximately north of Albany, in Queensbury, New York. It was one of three Six Flags parks not to be officially branded ...
in
Queensbury, New York
Queensbury is a town in Warren County, New York, United States. The population was 27,901 at the 2010 census.
It contains the county seat of Warren County, located at a municipal center complex on U.S. Route 9 south of the village of Lake George ...
.
Ride experience
The ride is located at the front of the park in the Ghosttown area, although the theme of the coaster doesn't match the rest of the park section. The single blue train rides on orange and yellow rails with blue (formerly green) structural supports. The coaster features a single loop and a double corkscrew. The actual ride time is very short, as the roller coaster completes the 1,565 foot run in approximately 37 seconds. The ride only has the ability to run one 28 seat train due to lack of block brakes/sections.
The Steamin' Demon is an early
Arrow Dynamics
Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (194 ...
Corkscrew coaster, featuring a layout that was extremely common when originally designed. Many others similar to the Steamin' Demon have been dismantled over the years. The ride itself is rather rough, but it still attracts a regular stream of riders.
History
Steamin' Demon was the first major ride, and the first roller coaster, built after
Storytown USA changed its name to the Great Escape. Previously, the coaster was located at
Pontchartrain Beach
Pontchartrain Beach was an amusement park located in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It was founded by Harry J. Batt Sr. (grandfather of American actor Bryan Batt) and later managed and owned by his sons, Harry ...
and was named the Ragin’ Cajun.
Six Flags announced on March 3, 2016, that Steamin' Demon would be among several rides at various parks that would receive 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. Riders will have 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 is themed to a fighter jet, where riders fly through a futuristic city as co-pilots battling alien invaders. The feature debuted on the coaster when it reopened in summer of 2016.
References
Roller coasters manufactured by Arrow Dynamics
Queensbury, New York
Roller coasters introduced in 1984
Roller coasters operated by Six Flags
The Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor
Steel roller coasters
Roller coasters in New York (state)
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