Even roller coaster aficionados will pause before getting aboard this ride.
But if you have the thrill-seeker gene, a new attraction being built in Saudi Arabia might be just the thing for you.
Falcon’s Flight is billed as the longest, tallest, and fastest roller coaster in the world, and that’s not hyperbole.
The ride will cover about 2.5 miles of track and reach speeds of 155 miles per hour. The highlight will be a track that dives off a 525-foot cliff into the valley below where magnetic motor acceleration reaches record-breaking speed.
The Qiddiya Investment Company has partnered with Six Flags to build Falcon’s Flight, the centerpiece of Six Flags Qiddiya, set to open in 2023 outside Riyadh.
“I will never forget the moment when I was standing at the edge of the 200-meter-high cliff on the Tuwaiq Mountain in Qiddiya, looking into the valley and imagining the creation of a future record-setting roller coaster,” Daniel Schoppen, Vice President of Design and Development for Intamin Amusement Rides, said in a statement.
Just how fast is 155 miles per hour? For some perspective, visitors of Disneyland and Disney World can imagine Thunder Mountain, which whips travelers around at speeds that reach just 36 miles per hour. Or Space Mountain, which hits just 27. Las Vegas tourists may have tried the roller coaster at New York-New York, which drops from its peak at 67 miles per hour.
Now imagine going multiple times faster than that and dropping off a cliff in the process.
“The worldwide unique setting and heights such as the natural cliff will enable us to design an architectural masterpiece in steel,” Schoppen said.
In addition to the speed and the drops, the track will feature several 360-degree loops.
Video of the simulated ride is enough to give one chills. And that’s the idea.
“Roller coaster fans around the world have been eagerly anticipating this ride since it was announced as there is nothing quite like it anywhere else,” said Phillippe Gas, CEO of Qiddiya. “Falcon’s Flight will dominate the skyline at Qiddiya, weave all the way around our destination, right out of the theme park, up the cliffside, and down the cliff face.”
At 525 feet tall, Falcon’s Flight will surpass Kingda Ka at the tallest steel roller coaster in the world. Kingda Ka, located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey, stands 456 feet.
Just now in the construction phase, Six Flags Qiddiya will cover 79 acres and feature 28 rides and attractions and six themed areas: The City of Thrills, Discovery Springs, Steam Town, Twilight Gardens, Valley of Fortune, and Grand Exposition.
Appropriately, the start of Falcon’s Flight will begin in The City of Thrills.
“It won’t be for the fainthearted,” promises Gas.
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