Six Flags Great America adding Maxx Force to roller coaster roster
BIG NEWS: Coming to Six Flags Great America in 2019 - Maxx Force!
— SF Great America (@SFGreat_America)Si> Flags Great America will add another roller coaster next year, and this one will launch riders faster than any other in North America.
Using a unique air-powered launching system, Maxx Force will shoot riders from zero to 78 miles per hour in less than two seconds, according to the park's president, Hank Salemi.
"The new Maxx Force coaster is in a class all by itself," Salemi said. "No other coaster in the country accelerates at that blistering speed."
In addition to the ride's fast launch, the new ride will also feature the world's highest double inversion at 175 feet above the ground. It also will feature a 60 miles-per-hour zero-G roll, also a world record.
The new ride will be racing themed. The coaster trains will be modeled after Formula One racing cars.
According to a news release, Maxx Force will be built in the Carousel Plaza area of the park.
Based on videos the park produced and released on social media in the weeks leading up to the announcement, it seems like the coaster will be built where the Pictorium theater once stood. One video titled "Road to Glory" posted to Twitter last Thursday showed a young man wearing a red jumpsuit running through the park and ending at the old theater's marquee.
The Pictorium was billed as the world's largest motion picture experience when it debuted at the Gurnee park in 1979. It featured a 96-by-65-foot screen. The theater was demolished earlier this year, according to a tweet by the park in May.
Maxx Force will be the park's 17th roller coaster when it is completed.
Guests will be able to watch the coaster's construction through the end of the year, as the park will stay open for a new seasonal event dubbed Holiday in the Park on select dates starting Nov. 23.