Giant Inverted Boomerang
A Giant Inverted Boomerang is a type of steel shuttle roller coaster manufactured by the Dutch firm Vekoma. The ride is a larger, inverted version of Vekoma's popular Boomerang sit down roller coasters., three installations of the model are operating.
History
Giant Inverted Boomerangs were slated to open for the start of the 2001 season at three Six Flags parks. Sudden errors and malfunctions during testing delayed these. The first to open was Déjà Vu at Six Flags Magic Mountain on August 25, 2001. Déjà Vu at Six Flags Magic Mountain has since been removed and relocated to Six Flags New England as Goliath. This was followed by the opening of a further two Giant Inverted Boomerangs named Déjà Vu on September 1, 2001, at Six Flags Over Georgia and on October 7, 2001, at Six Flags Great America. The opening of the fourth Giant Inverted Boomerang was delayed even more after the problems were discovered with the first three. Stunt Fall opened on August 8, 2002, at Parque Warner Madrid.In 2007, Six Flags announced the removal of Déjà Vu from both Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags Great America. They announced that the Six Flags Over Georgia ride would be replaced with a new themed area called Thomas Town. After the Six Flags Great America ride gave its last rides on October 28, 2007, it was removed and replaced with the Buccaneer Battle ride.
In January 2008, Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho announced on its website that it would install the Déjà Vu from Six Flags Great America with a projected opening date of July that year. They later announced Déjà Vu would operate as Aftershock. Before opening at its new location, the ride was overhauled by Vekoma in order to make the ride more reliable. The ride officially opened July 21, 2008. Rocky Mountain Construction, an Idaho-based manufacturing firm, assisted with the construction of the ride.
In November 2009 it was announced that Mirabilandia in Brazil had purchased Six Flags Over Georgia's Déjà Vu. The ride was to be renamed to Sky Mountain, but it never opened as the park closed permanently.
On August 16, 2011, Masslive reported that Six Flags New England was planning on building a Giant Inverted Boomerang for the park's 2012 season where the Shipwreck Falls attraction was located. On August 18, 2011, the ride was approved by the Agawam Planning Board, with the Los Angeles Times confirming one day later that Déjà Vu from Six Flags Magic Mountain would be relocated to Six Flags New England and would begin operation under a new name in 2012. An official announcement from Six Flags representatives was made on September 1, 2011, confirming previous reports and announcing that the relocated ride's name would be Goliath. On October 16, 2011, Déjà Vu operated for the final time. At around the same time, Shipwreck Falls was removed from Six Flags New England to make way for Goliath. Goliath at Six Flags New England was topped off on February 29, 2012. Goliath opened to the public on May 25, 2012.
In 2011, the first new Giant Inverted Boomerang since 2002 was constructed. Jinjiang Action Park opened the aptly named Giant Inverted Boomerang in September 2011. This ride closed permanently in 2025. In 2014, Sochi Park Adventureland opened Quantum Leap, another Giant Inverted Boomerang.
Goliath was SBNO for a majority of the 2021 season until it began demolition later that year.
Installations
Ride
Layout and design
The Giant Inverted Boomerang is a departure from Vekoma's earlier Boomerang designs. This model features a vertical cable lift hill that quickly lifts the train up a vertical tower. Also, this model is larger than previous Boomerang designs. From above, the track layout looks like an 'X'.Train
As a Giant Inverted Boomerang is a shuttle roller coaster, each installation only operates with a single train of eight cars, each utilizing four-across seating, similar to that on Bolliger & Mabillard's inverted roller coasters. Giant Inverted Boomerang seats are staggered such that the outside seats are pushed back slightly behind the middle two seats in each row. The train seats a total of 32 riders.Goliath at Six Flags New England featured a new train by Premier Rides. This train had four-across seating, similar to Bolliger & Mabillard's inverted roller coasters. The new train design was chosen in an attempt to make the lines in the station less complicated to navigate and also to give the ride a higher capacity.