The Joker's Jinx is a steel roller coaster at

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

in Prince George's County, Maryland. The ride utilizes

linear induction motor A linear induction motor (LIM) is an alternating current (AC), asynchronous linear motor that works by the same general principles as other induction motors but is typically designed to directly produce motion in a straight line. Characteristica ...

technology to launch the train from 0 to in just over three seconds. The Joker's Jinx was designed 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 ...

and manufactured by Intermountain Lift, Inc.

History

In the fall of 1998, pieces of green

roller coaster track were spotted on the park's property. On October 28, 1998, it was announced that Adventure World would be renamed Six Flags America and feature three new roller coasters, including Joker's Jinx. Joker's Jinx would be an LIM spaghetti bowl launch coaster by

. It was to be located in a brand new Gotham City section, which would be entered by passing under

The Wild One ''The Wild One'' is a 1953 American crime film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. The picture is most noted for the character of Johnny Strabler, portrayed by Marlon Brando, whose persona became a cultural icon of the 1 ...

roller coaster. Construction of Joker's Jinx began in December 1998 and was completed in late March 1999. On April 4, 1999, the ride performed its first test runs. Joker's Jinx officially opened on May 8, 1999. Joker's Jinx was repainted with a brighter green track in 2020.

Ride Layout

Joker's Jinx is located in the

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

section of the park near Superman: Ride of Steel roller coaster and

Whistlestop Park Whistlestop Park is a themed children's area with various rides at several Six Flags amusement parks. History Before being named ''Whistlestop Park'', these themed areas were named ''Thomas Town'' from 2007 to 2010. *2006: On December 12, 2006, ...

. After boarding Joker's Jinx, 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. The coaster doesn't have a mid-course brake run like the similar rides 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 expa ...

and

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of 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 rides, shows and att ...

; instead the coaster has multiple rings that the train goes through. After the rings, 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 only the two

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 ...

rides are indoors. The other outdoor LIM Catapult coaster in the United States is Poltergeist 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 master-planned development and district as the first business in that development. S ...

; that opened in 1999. In addition, a LIM Catapult coaster called Mad Cobra operated at

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

in Japan from 1998–2003; 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. Premier Rides gave the

trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...

an overhaul in 2002 and replaced the restraints with lap bars.

Ride Elements

* Cobra Roll * 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 ...

Awards

Incidents

On April 13, 2017, a train stalled off the ground at a 30-degree angle stranding 24 riders. They were evacuated safely, and there were no reported injuries. The roller coaster was stuck in the same position it was in when a similar incident occurred in 2014, where it took more than four hours to evacuate the stranded riders.

References

External links

Joker's Jinx website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joker's Jinx, The Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Six Flags America Roller coasters in Maryland Roller coasters introduced in 1999 Batman in amusement parks Joker (character) in other media Warner Bros. Global Brands and Experiences attractions Gotham City (theme parks)