3.75 (out of 5)
Sure, there are more thrilling rides at Six Flags New England. But the new family launch coaster, Quantum Accelerator, has just enough oomph to keep adrenaline junkies engaged while remaining accessible to a wide swath of guests. It’s also incredibly smooth, wholly satisfying, and a great addition to the park’s lineup.
The new ride is located in the park’s Old West-themed land, Crackaxle Canyon. According to Six Flags’ backstory, crackpot inventor Professor Screamore has purchased the town to showcase his creations, including his time travel machine, Quantum Accelerator. The themeing isn’t extensive (and the story isn’t entirely obvious to guests), but it’s more generous than most Six Flags rides. Walking through the queue, guests see some of the professor’s works-in-progress, many of which are embedded with cogs, gears, and other steampunk-styled ephemera. The copper roof of the Victorian-era loading station has a nicely aged green patina. During the ride, passengers pass a smokestack belching steam and curious looking vats containing green-tinged goo–apparently another one of the professor’s experiments.
Each seat in the two-passenger cars has a single hydraulic lap bar that’s comfortable and a breeze to pull down and release. With its simple, intuitive, restraint system, two-train operation, and energetic, capable ride-ops crew, the line for Quantum Accelerator was booking right along on the day that I visited.
Six Flags and Intamin, which designed the coaster, tout Quantum Accelerator’s “straddle seating” and call the cars “hover bikes.” Unlike rides such as TRON Lightcycle/Run at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Coaster at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure, which feature vehicles that truly feel like motorbikes, the straddle designation here seems more like a gimmick. Riders sit on bench seats, but their legs are positioned astride small humps on the car’s floor. They can sit back or lean forward and grab small handlebars at the front of the vehicle. If the cars had no fronts or sides, perhaps they might seem more like motorbikes.
The train rolls out of the station and is immediately propelled from 0 to 30 mph via a tire-launch system on a straightaway. The launch is enough to grab riders’ attention, but fairly tame. The first half of the course, which takes place to the left of the loading station, sends passengers on a gentle excursion through banked turns and twists.
Heading back towards the station for the coaster’s second act, business picks up when another tire-launch revs the train to 45 mph. That’s still well within family coaster parameters, but–parents take note–perky enough to give pause to younger or more timid guests. (The minimum height for unaccompanied riders is 52 inches and 48 inches for accompanied ones.) The launch sends the cars around a bend and up a 59-foot hill, which is Quantum Accelerator’s highest point. More twists and turns follow on the right side of the station before the train returns to unload.
Six Flags claims Quantum Accelerator delivers 11 airtime moments. I rode in both the front and rear cars and aside from a barely-there rise out of my seat as the train crested the hill after the second launch, I couldn’t discern any more airtime. That doesn’t mean that the coaster isn’t a load of fun. Everyone from veteran ride warriors to more casual fans will enjoy Quantum Accelerator. The crowd pleaser could be a great choice for courageous kids that are ready to graduate from kiddie coasters and try their first truly thrilling ride.
With 12 coasters, it’s interesting to note that Quantum Accelerator is Six Flags New England’s first launched coaster. The park describes the new ride as “New England’s first dual-launch straddle coaster.” That’s a lot of qualifiers. In fact, Quantum Accelerator is only the second launched coaster of any kind in the region after Phobia Fear Coaster, the Premier Rides Sky Rocket ride at Lake Compounce in Connecticut.
Of Six Flags New England’s 12 coasters, I’d rank Quantum Accelerator as tied for my third-favorite thrill machine alongside the floorless Batman – The Dark Knight. It’s considerably better than the clanking, woefully painful Vekoma Inverted Boomerang, Goliath, that used to occupy the spot on which Quantum Accelerator now sits. By the way, the RMC makeover, Wicked Cyclone, nabs the second spot, and the glorious hypercoaster, Superman The Ride, soars high at number one on my Six Flags New England list (and is one of my all-time faves anywhere). I will now add Quantum Accelerator to my must-ride list when I visit the park.
Have you been to Six Flags New England? What’s your favorite coaster at the park? Will you return to experience Quantum Accelerator?