Green Lantern (Six Flags Great Adventure)

Green Lantern, formerly known as Chang, was a stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. It stood tall and featured a top speed of . The ride featured five inversions and had a duration of approximately 2 minutes. The steel coaster was designed and built by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard.

The ride originally operated at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky from 1997 to 2009, where it was known as Chang. Upon opening in 1997, it held the world records for a stand-up coaster in height, drop, speed, length and number of inversions. Its introduction caused Kentucky Kingdom to achieve record attendance levels. After Six Flags abandoned Kentucky Kingdom in 2009, it was relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure. It debuted in 2011 as Green Lantern, replacing the former Great American Scream Machine.

History

Chang (1997–2009)

thumb|left|alt=Aerial photo of green-and-purple roller coaster|Green Lantern in 2004, when it was Chang at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

Chang ("long" in Mandarin Chinese) opened at Kentucky Kingdom on April 4, 1997, setting world records for this type of coaster in height, drop, speed, length and number of inversions. The ride was constructed by Martin & Vleminckx.

When it debuted, Chang had a yellow track and supports. Around 1999, after Six Flags acquired Kentucky Kingdom's operating rights, the coaster's track was painted lime green and the support columns violet. T2 was expected to be known as "Batman: The Ride" and Chang "Riddler's Revenge", but those plans were later canceled. which was soon cancelled as Six Flags later announced plans to dispose of its Kentucky Kingdom property. The removal of Chang and the closure of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom caused the owners of the park land (the Kentucky State Fair Board) to sue Six Flags for ownership of the rides. Kentucky Kingdom opened under new operators in 2014.

Green Lantern (2011–2024)

thumb|right|200px|alt=Green-and-yellow roller-coaster track against blue sky|Green Lantern in April 2011, just before its May opening

In June 2010, Six Flags was considering moving Chang to Six Flags Great America for the 2011 season. The park obtained approval to exceed the height limit imposed on the park, but plans were later dropped in favor of a water park expansion.

On July 5, 2010, Six Flags Great Adventure announced that its Great American Scream Machine would close on July 18 to make way for a new attraction the following year, and the layout was identical to that of Chang.

On September 16, Six Flags Great Adventure announced that it would open a Green Lantern-themed roller coaster in 2011 in honor of the 2011 film Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. The specifications released for the new ride matched those of Chang. As part of the relocation, the ride would receive technical renovations and a new coat of paint. On May 19, 2011, Green Lantern soft-opened to a select group of season-pass holders, media and families from Children's Miracle Network. The ride opened to the public on May 25. This announcement coincided with the confirmed closure of Kingda Ka and several other attractions to make way for future developments.

The demolition of Green Lantern began between November and December 2024, with scrap material set aside for later use in other projects. By March 2025, the ride had been fully removed - including its station and the queue line originally used by its predecessor, Great American Scream Machine. The final piece to be dismantled, a segment of the lift hill, was taken down by the end of the month.

Characteristics

Location

Green Lantern was located in the Boardwalk section of the park. Green Lantern was the third roller coaster to occupy this plot of land, following the Sarajevo Bobsled (which ran at Great Adventure from 1984 to 1988 before moving to Six Flags Great America and Great Escape) and the Great American Scream Machine (an Arrow Dynamics looping coaster which had occupied this area from 1989 to 2010). Like the Great American Scream Machine, the infield of Green Lantern was covered with gravel. The coaster also reused the Scream Machine's queue area building.

Manufacturer

Green Lantern was Six Flags Great Adventure's fifth Bolliger & Mabillard roller coaster, joining Batman: The Ride, Medusa, Nitro and Superman: Ultimate Flight. The coaster was the park's second standup coaster; the first was a smaller coaster manufactured by Intamin, Shockwave, which operated from 1990 to 1992. Before Shockwave arrived at Great Adventure, the coaster was previously installed at Six Flags Magic Mountain from 1986 through 1988, preceding Riddler's Revenge.

Theme

As its name suggests, Green Lantern was themed to the DC Comics character of the same name. The theme was chosen to coincide with the Green Lantern film scheduled for release in 2011. The ride's queue area featured a series of comic-book-style boards relating the story of Hal Jordan (the Green Lantern) and the Green Lantern Corps.

Ride experience

The first section of Green Lantern was a near mirrored clone of the first half of Rougarou at Cedar Point. Leaving the station, the train started by climbing the chain lift hill, on which the Green Lantern oath was played over loudspeakers along the steps. At the top, the train went through a pre-drop before making a slightly banked 180° turnaround. After this, the train went down a drop into a vertical loop.

Records

At its opening, Chang claimed the record for the tallest vertical loop of any roller coaster in the world. At the time, it was the world's tallest, fastest, and longest stand-up coaster. It also claimed records for the largest drop and the most inversions on a stand-up roller coaster. All of these records had eclipsed those set by Mantis, which opened at Cedar Point in 1996. In 1998, The Riddler's Revenge opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain, surpassing every title held by Chang.

Reception

After Chang's 1997 opening at Kentucky Kingdom, the park saw a rise in attendance to a record of more than one million visitors.

After the ride's relocation to Six Flags Great Adventure, Brady MacDonald of the Los Angeles Times ranked it 8 of the park's 13 roller coasters. Both JTown Magazine and The Star-Ledger interviewed a number of park guests and coaster enthusiasts when Green Lantern opened; all gave favorable reviews.