The FAILED Story of the SPACE DIVER! | Meet Six Flags’ Z-Force / Flashback!

Рет қаралды 5,073

Күн бұрын

What’s going on guys and welcome back to the channel! Ah, Six Flags Magic Mountain. My home park and the place that basically raised me - well sort of. I guess I owe 8 years at Disneyland some respect. Anyways, Magic Mountain is where I sparked a love of coasters thanks to Viper, and with that came a kid completely nerded out and obsessed with Six Flags Magic Mountain. Aside from re-building the entire park on RCT3, I also knew like every bit of lore ever surrounding this park. One of these things I loved so dearly were its defunct coasters. For whatever reason I was just fascinated that these giant metal machines could be there, and then not be. Today’s star, the world’s first and only Space Diver Coaster, was one of these, that was relocated 3 times and eventually closed forever. Intended to be the next big thing in coasters, it ultimately failed and became irrelevant, why? Let’s get into it. But first, what is it? And where did it come from? This is the story, of Six Flags Magic Mountain’s, Flashback!
Media (Thanks creators for making this possible!):
• Z-Force, Manufacturer ... (Intamin Amusement Rides)
• Z-Force Commercial
• Six Flags Magic Mounta... (Six Flags)
• Flashback, Magic Mount... (psyclonesteve)
• Flashback (mousesny)
rcdb.com/126.htm#p=21118 (Joel Rogers x Michael S. Horwood)
/ @nationalcoasters (National Coasters®)
/ @frontseatpovs (Front Seat POVs)
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*Thanks to Jackson Hartline for providing the intro music! 🎸
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Пікірлер: 57

@concertino58 27 күн бұрын

I feel this ride deserved to be an indoor ride in the dark. Would’ve been cool with some strobes and cool lighting.. or whatever theming, but I always felt its compact shaped would lend to a cool indoor coaster.

@NationalCoasters 27 күн бұрын

YES!

@robertharding3403 27 күн бұрын

Rode it a handful of times as a teenager (because the line was always extremely short), and Flashback was the perfect combination of dull and painful. Absolutely remarkable that one of these models was ever sold

@landscapefutures 28 күн бұрын

Classic RCT2 tbh the precise noise the game had for this ride was incredible...

@davidsmallwood2753 28 күн бұрын

My first visit to Magic Mountain found me on Flashback and they had to have a number of riders to operate it. This coaster was probably the roughest, worse coaster ever.

@MK-ps2jp 28 күн бұрын

Rode it. So bad I can't believe it ever made it off the drawing board.

@OakViewFilms 28 күн бұрын

I’ve been going to SFMM for nearly my whole life (25+ years to be exact), and yet I only ever saw this thing operate ONCE: In April 2003, during what would be the final month of this rides operation (hell, there a chance the day I went was the final day it ever operated). At the time, Scream had just opened, and it was BUSY. Scream, Goliath, X all had wait times of over 2 hours, Viper, Batman, Riddler an hour, Revolution 45 minutes. But Flashback? Walk on. That should have been a sign this ride was going to be terrible (spoiler alert: It was). It’s an extremely rare credit I can brag about, but that’s about it. I have a high pain tolerance, but one ride was more than enough for me on this thing.

@NationalCoasters 27 күн бұрын

Hah! I wish I was around for this era… how did “X” ride in comparison with X2?

@TheTrumpReaper 27 күн бұрын

The only SFMM coaster that was more painful than Flashback was Psyclone. ☠️

@Duelingdragons382 25 күн бұрын

So ever heard of green lantern first flight 💀💀

@cryan208 28 күн бұрын

The fact that the restraints on this ride looks like viper's restraints

@mabus42 28 күн бұрын

I remember riding it once in the 80's at SFGAm... Was quite a weird ride, and yeah, you were definitely tossed around quite a bit. It was not uncommon for people to come off the ride with a nasty headache.

@NationalCoasters 27 күн бұрын

So crazy how many of you guys have ridden it! How cool!

@williamhaynes7089 26 күн бұрын

@@NationalCoasters and "FREEFALL Stunt Tower" right after this one

@normanshute7162 27 күн бұрын

The absolutely worst coaster that Intamin had ever built. Rough ride,noisy and glad to see it gone.😂

@detroitdiezel7856 25 күн бұрын

I rode this back in 1992 and actually liked it.

@michael7054 27 күн бұрын

Great video! Very interesting coaster! Its awful what happened to that one rider.

@FixedRS 26 күн бұрын

Always been fascinated with this coaster, since it was on rct2

@CruiseControlM3 26 күн бұрын

Your intro about RCT and childhood obsession with Magic Mountain was totally me growing up😂 I wish I had you as a friend during those times haha. As a kid and new to coasters, Flashback was the perfect ride with just the right amount of thrill. I totally forgot how loud it was.. you could hear it from the parking lot. I enjoyed this video and will subscribe 😊

@NationalCoasters 19 күн бұрын

That’s so kind! I’d consider you a friend! Maybe in another universe! :)

@TheKurtsPlaceChannel 26 күн бұрын

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

@ericcartman3385 28 күн бұрын

I loved the 2 days I went there a few years ago.... And CP being my home park...I had to goto walley world and I did enjoy it My favs were VIPER and Tatsu

@P-_-S 26 күн бұрын

Guessing this was at Magic Mountain before your time, National Coaster, but trust me you didn't miss a damn thing. I had the misfortune of riding this when it was at MM. For the first dive or two, you're like "oh this is neat, never felt these sensations before on a coaster" and then you do the exact same thing over and over and it becomes super boring. It's sad that the most entertaining part is the helix at the end. That is of course ignoring just how rough the damn thing was, once you include that in the equation, you never make the mistake of riding it again no matter how tempting the short line was. Absolutely brutal headbanger. (Tangentially related, MM had several pretty brutal coasters in that era, worst of which was Psyclone, god damn that was the most painful coaster ride in my life and I am very tolerant of that kind of thing normally). From what I've heard, Z-Force/Flashback (along with most of the other coasters that got moved around a bunch back then) got worse for the wear each time they moved it. By the time it got the MM it was supposedly a lot worse than when it was first built and installed. Doesn't surprise me at all that they just randomly tossed it in the trash one day and never spoke of it again. It was hot garbage.

@NationalCoasters 18 күн бұрын

The "misfortune" haha! Thanks for the run down! Though I can't say I wish it was around, it definitely would have been worth a ride - just for the memory.

@Ceijonius 26 күн бұрын

I got to experience this beauty during its tenure at SFOG in late 80's.🥰 It became and still remains one of my favorite coasters.💯 Was devastated when taken away to SFMM!😭😡 Thank goodness I rode it before all those concerns.🥳

@NationalCoasters 18 күн бұрын

Really? This is awesome to hear! I like hearing the positives too! Every coaster has redeeming qualities!

@morganmcmahon3021 27 күн бұрын

I’ve never heard of Intamin making a bad model for the short time I’ve been an enthusiast so thanks for sharing this info. They really do need to create The Demonator at this park. Will make some Drake and Josh fans very happy😂👍🏻

@francescov.3610 27 күн бұрын

Intamin in the 70s, 80s, and 90s was mostly making mid tier and family coasters. It wasn't until Superman: The Escape that they basically went and blew everyone's minds

@NationalCoasters 27 күн бұрын

Hah! Yes!

@P-_-S 26 күн бұрын

I had to look up the Drake and Josh thing, it came quite a bit after the age I would have watching shows like that. I looked up a clip of the episode on Dailymotion and saw that they hilariously just use a shot of the Santa Monica boardwalk and it's coaster for Mystic Mountain's Demonator. Your comment reminds of some things that were from my time, both involving Magic Mountain. There was a sitcom in the 90s called Step by Step the intro is filled with shots of the family running around Magic Mountain and it ends with them superimposed on the old Colossus from Magic Mountain, which is in turn superimposed on a waterfront that is presumed to be one of the Great Lakes (as the show is set in Wisconsin) It's hilarious bad SFX, especially if you know Colossus well enough to know it doesn't belong on an idyllic lake in the mid-west. Look up the Step by Step intro on KZfaq, it's quite amusing. The second is from the 90s movie, Encino Man. In the movie at one point they go to "Mega Mountain" to ride the "Vapor" because it is running in reverse (per the script). Cut to clips of them running around Magic Mountain and riding Viper, which hilariously is running forwards. Thanks for sparking some old memories!

@haiderodes 26 күн бұрын

The building you noted as the station at the end was not actually the station. That building was a giftshop at the original exit that would also become the ride’s entrance after the Batman Arena was demolished for HH. The original entrance and large cattle-pen queue was north of the ride. I remember going 1993 with the queue overflowing and they were using those boarding pass tickets to prevent line cutting.

@NationalCoasters 18 күн бұрын

How interesting! Do you think it may have been changed after Hurricane Harbor was built?

@haiderodes 18 күн бұрын

@@NationalCoasters that’s exactly when it changed. The station/loading platform and exit never changed. When the water park first opened, the ride’s popularity had died down so much they turned the original Flashback queuehouse into a large all-day locker area, but the entrance to the ride was still along the same path. When they expanded the waterpark, the path east of the ride was gobbled up and the entranced moved to run alongside the exit. The former Flashback queuehouse still remained backstage for several years.

@ninjapwnsatlyfe 26 күн бұрын

someone had the idea for pausing thrills every 4 seconds and no one thought that would be boring or lame after 1 whole ride. this thing wasnt even good compared to real traveling coasters lol

@m.hoffman2889 27 күн бұрын

S&S could revive the concept with El Loco track and trains and fresh up the layout a bit (smoothen and remove dead spots)

@CubbyTech 20 күн бұрын

It was SNO for like ~5 years before it was torn down. I think I got to ride it once - you aren't missing anything. It was 10% cool, 90% head-banging and not in a good way.

@NationalCoasters 18 күн бұрын

Sounds about right

@rikp 27 күн бұрын

I thought it was interesting for how different it was. I think I actually liked those weird diving turns. I've tended to go to Magic Mountain in the off-season so I rode it several times, and I don't remember pain, but I do remember it always being a walk-on and rather isolated off in the front.

@waynejkl4035 27 күн бұрын

Thanks for digging up the history on this! I rode the OG Z-Force at SFGAm. It was definitely unique for its time and I remember being pretty scared to ride it. Looking at it today though it doesn't look all that exciting. It's just a handful of dive loops wrapped up in a small footprint kinda like a wild mouse. I get why it didn't catch on.

@NationalCoasters 27 күн бұрын

Absolutely! Thanks for the comment! It’s pretty cool to see so many of you rode it!

@hellacia8151 27 күн бұрын

I wonder if B&M tries to disassociate this ride from their name

@WookieeMonster1 25 күн бұрын

It was the worst ride I have ever had the misfortune to experience. It would serve humanity better better by being melted down and used as the spiral binding in Justin Bieber notebooks. It was SBNO for a long time, and I always hated even looking at it. As a side note, the inverted swinging ride that you showed a couple of seconds of at the end of your video - while that was operating at Six Flags, it was called "Z-Force". THAT ride was a lot of fun, and I will never refer to THIS heap of future paperclips as anything other than "Flashback".

@NationalCoasters 18 күн бұрын

Hah! I've heard lots about Z-Force! It looked awesome! Are any left in operation?

@WookieeMonster1 18 күн бұрын

@@NationalCoasters I've not a clue. It was just a swinging ship that would eventually build up to a 360. They took it out when they put in Tidal Wave, as I recall. That's not as bad as Flashback was, but it's really low on my list.

@screamingeekmedia 27 күн бұрын

I ride it at all 3 locations. I was never a fan of it. Even in the beginning when it was smooth...it was just boring. I did not see the appeal of it. I rode it at SFOG just to say I rode a coaster at 2 different parks. Then the same when it was at SFMM. I could not believe how bad it was at that time!