The Flash: Vertical Velocity (Six Flags Great Adventure) In-Depth Review

The new sitting area with a beautiful view of the coaster.

All set? All clear! 👌🏼 Aaron here bringing you an in-depth review of North America’s first ever Vekoma Super Boomerang. We were graciously invited to Six Flags Great Adventure to get some rides in on their all new coaster, The Flash: Vertical velocity at their media day event. You can read my review of the day and a preview of the 2025 season at Great Adventure here. With this being the first Super Boomerang many people will get to experience, I wanted to take some time to give a detailed review of the experience, especially as I expect this model to start popping up in more parks. I will discuss the area of the park around the ride first, then discuss one of the biggest concerns about the coaster, capacity. Finally I will share my experience on each element of the ride including the train before wrapping up with my overall thoughts on this specific coaster and the model itself.

A look at The Flash immediately after entering the park

The Flash: Vertical Velocity will likely be the 2nd coaster guests notice as they enter the park, primarily because you cannot miss Superman: Ultimate Flight with it literally being in the parking lot. The Flash is located immediately to the right of the main entrance, though you will need to enter the park a little further to get to the ride. It is located in the Metropolis area of the park, which has not changed much. The exceptionally well-themed Hall of Justice, containing the Battle for Metropolis, is unchanged. As is the Showcase Theatre, which looks out of place in this area but is otherwise well maintained. The area has a lot of open space with the removal of Cyborg Cyber Spin, and I hope they take advantage of this to improve the theming.

The sign for The Flash: Vertical Velocity

Outside of a great looking sign, the queue is a bit lacking. There are 2 signs which make an attempt to incorporate a story and some theming, but I am just hoping that at the time of the media day event the theming was incomplete.

The signs in the queue that give The Flash: Vertical Velocity a back story.

The building found in the queue.

There is a sheet metal building as you get closer to the station with speakers and a stage, so I believe more will be added. There is some coverage as you enter the queue, but between the sheet metal building and the station, there is very little shade.

The Flash: Vertical Velocity's station.

The station itself is also quite plain, it is a silver sheet metal building with some standard lighting and speakers. The train also has a speaker on it which suggests there will be on-ride audio, however the audio was not playing during the media day event due to the on-ride shoots.

The trains look great and are very comfortable!

The train is beautiful with the red and yellow colors of The Flash really popping. The coaster uses a lap bar that is pulled down from over your head along with a vest type restraint. While the vest isn’t really needed, it will give riders peace of mind and still allows for plenty of movement to let the elements of the ride pop. As you exit the ride you follow a path next to the queue, this is also plain without any type of theming.

A major area of concern with this ride is the capacity, which may potentially leave guests in the previously mentioned queue for an extended period of time. During the media day event the dispatch times were great and while the staff was working hard to achieve this, the crowd was roller coaster enthusiasts who understand how to efficiently load and unload a train. The train does not have a seat belt which should help some but I do not think there is any way this ride will achieve the stated capacity of 800 riders per hour. I would be thoroughly impressed and surprised to see it hit 500 especially with it being located in a high traffic area of the park. My recommendation for anyone visiting Six Flags Great Adventure would be to make this the first ride you head towards or closely monitoring the wait times to see if at any point of the day the line isn’t long. I also do not see any feasible way they can increase the throughput due to the layout of the coaster and the station. There is no way they could add a turn table or switch track without major expenses, so capacity will be entirely dependent on the efficiency of the loads and unloads.

The Flash: Vertical Velocity Ride Experience:

Capacity issues aside, this coaster is an amazing addition to the Great Adventure coaster lineup. I spoke a little about the appearance of the train, but the comfort of the seats is another area this ride shines. The train is very comfortable, and I am around 6’3 and was able to fit comfortably with plenty of leg space. I would think someone even as tall as 6’5 would fit pretty comfortably. Height can be a bit of an issue with some manufacturers, so I was happy to see Vekoma at least made this train with above average height people in mind. The seats have a thin layer of padding which is pretty standard for modern coasters. The restraint is also comfortable and while I would prefer just a lap bar, the vest does not have a negative impact on the experience of the ride.

The reverse spike in all of its glory.

The ride experience starts with an initial forward launch and while it will never be mistaken for a hydraulic launch, it did have a slight kick. This launch barely gets the back row out of the station, before a reverse launch sends the train backwards through the station. This was a lot of fun especially towards the front of the train where you could really feel the speed and power of the launch. However, where the seating position truly starts to matter is on the reverse spike, the large vertical track behind the station. This is where we discovered that the back of the train takes this ride from good to borderline great. Hitting the top of the reverse spike and the subsequent weightlessness, or airtime, that follows was my second favorite part of the ride. The further back you can sit for this the better. The front still gave some airtime, but in the back it is far more sustained and an amazing experience. The second launch through the station gives you a slight jolt of speed, otherwise it isn’t really noticeable, but you will still be thinking and talking about that reverse spike anyway.

This is actually a video! (just kidding)

After launching through the station you hit the best part of the ride, the stalled Immelmann inversion. For those who do not know what an Immelmann is, it starts with a half-loop that takes the train completely upside down before rotating a full 180 degrees to return the train right side up with it exiting facing the opposite direction it entered. What makes this Immelmann different from others is the stall portion. As you reach the top of the half loop the train literally feels like it stops moving. This results in the most incredible hang-time that I have ever experienced. It is like nothing I have ever experienced on a coaster before, as you feel like you are hanging upside down for a full 5 seconds. This may be my favorite element of any coaster I have ridden.

The double up, dive turn, and zero-g roll viewed from the station.

As the train completes the twist of the Immelmann to bring it right side up you hit a small launch section that was also not really noticeable that gives a boost of speed into a double up, which gave a nice pop of ejector airtime. The second hill of the double up leads directly into what I would call a diving turn. I have seen this element called a dive loop some places, but the train does not fully invert, which is why I say dive turn. As you reach the top of the hill the train enters a drop that turns it 180 degrees again facing the direction it came. This dive turn was surprisingly smooth and in the back row it was a lot of fun as you get yanked through it with some force. You then hit another small launch section before the zero-g roll. This was the only element of the ride I found mildly underwhelming. Hear me out, going upside down is always at least a little fun, I just felt like it didn’t matter what car we were in, we did not get hang-time on this element going forward. You finish the forward portion of the ride going up a second spike, which in the front gives a little bit of weightlessness, in the back it does not. Which was expected, as this spike exists just to give you some momentum to return to the station.

The double up, dive turn, and zero-g roll from the new sitting area.

As you roll back from the second spike you start with the zero-g roll, but backwards. Going backwards is always at least a little fun, except maybe on the old school Vekoma Boomerangs, but the layout of this coaster works great in reverse. The zero-g roll is much more enjoyable going in reverse, in the back row you get some solid hang-time, in the front you are pulled faster through it but still get some weightlessness. The train then hits a rolling launch with a noticeable kick that was much more noticeable backwards. This was my favorite launch on the coaster as it was forceful and despite knowing it was coming I never could truly prepare. Traversing the diving turn backwards was also noticeably forceful regardless of where you sat, however in the front it was the strongest. I think this transition is crucial to the ride experience and the reason why Vekoma decided to go with a turn instead of an inversion. One of the worst parts of a classic Boomerang is going through the cobra roll backwards, on a good Boomerang it is uncomfortable at best and on some low quality ones it’s brutal. The Super Boomerang’s reverse diving turn is not jarring at all and is forceful without being uncomfortable. It made me appreciate how well-engineered and designed this coaster is, but this part in particular I really give Vekoma major props for.

The stalled Immelmann from the exit.

Going through the double down backwards gives some ejector and is a lot of fun, especially the first few rides when you are not expecting it. You then head backwards into the stalled Immelmann, which is just as amazing in reverse. Going through this element twice along with the floater airtime that starts the ride on the reverse spikes gives this coaster 3 really incredible elements. The reverse stall is indescribable and once you experience it you are going to want to keep going back for more. It is a slow moving element that somehow also feels completely out of control. It is perfectly executed. You then head backwards through the station onto the bottom of the reverse spike before abruptly stopping and slowly rolling back to the start position.

Overall, and I know I have stated this a few times, The Flash: Vertical Velocity completely exceeded my expectations. In case you haven’t noticed, I really liked the stalled Immelmann inversion. All joking aside, the reverse spike and stalled Immelmann are the stand out moments of the ride. These elements are well worth the wait and the rest of the ride is a smooth and action packed experience. There is no wasted time or space on this layout and the pacing is flawlessly executed. It is also butter smooth and the comfort of the train and restraint give this ride endless re-ride ability. I rode it around 15 times on media day and did not experience any discomfort. I would be thrilled to see more of these Super Boomerangs pop up at parks across the country, and would especially love to see current Boomerangs be replaced by them. It is a truly good and enjoyable coaster, not just a space filler with a small footprint. Vekoma knocked it out of the park with the design and I give major props to Great Adventure for identifying the opportunity to get this ride. The back row is a fantastic experience.

The primary drawbacks of the ride is the duration as it is about a minute long and the lack of capacity. For Great Adventure this is a concern due to the location of the ride and size of the park. There is also not a realistic way that they could add a turn table or switch track to increase the capacity. The wait is likely to be very long, especially on weekends, for a short ride. The theming is also an opportunity area and I look forward to seeing the completed project with the theming finished. There also appears to be some power issues that still need to be worked out with the ride. The staff we spoke to said part of the delay was due to electrical issues. During the media day event there were 2 evacuations that each appeared to be caused by an outage. There were 2 other times while the ride was in the station that it had power issues. I am hoping they are able to get this resolved and make this a reliable coaster for the park. Another note for those considering the Flash Pass, this would be a great coaster to get the most value for the Flash Pass, as the Flash Pass takes you directly to the station platform.

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