Six Flags adds new thrill to coasters

For those adrenaline junkies who don’t get enough of a thrill riding a regular roller coaster, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif., is adding virtual reality to the mix.

In a partnership with electronics giant Samsung, Six Flags plans to strap virtual-reality goggles onto riders of the park’s Revolution roller coaster so they can feel the twists, drops and climbs of the coaster track while watching images of a midair battle with space aliens.

The images in the goggles, created with the help of technology firm Oculus VR, are synced to the motion of the coaster.

The virtual-reality element is part of a new feature that will be added to roller coasters at nine Six Flags parks across the country. The images shown on the virtual-reality goggles will be modified for each of the rides at the nine parks.

At Magic Mountain, Six Flags is upgrading an area around the roller coaster, which opened in 1976, and renaming the ride the New Revolution.

Six Flags doesn’t have a monopoly on the idea. Europa Park in Germany added virtual reality to one of its coasters last year, and a theme park in England announced plans to do the same.

The advantage of the technology is that roller coaster operators can create new virtual-reality software for the goggles on a regular basis, enabling the park to draw repeat visitors to the same ride, park experts say.

“They can change the story to have aliens or it can take place in a submarine,” said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services. “They can change it annually — just rewrite the software rather than spend $25 million for a new coaster.”