Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain 
Basic Overview
Average Wait Time: 20 minutes Dominating just a part of Six Flags Magic Mountain’s skyline at 188 feet up in the air stands Viper. It sits there, just mocking you as if to dare you to come and ride it, and once it calls you, yourresistance is shattered, and soon you find yourself lumbering towards its entrance like a zombie.
While standing in line for Viper, I couldn’t help but applause the wonderful job done on Viper’s queue line; it is wonderfully themed. The “cracked” up building has arches, a second story walkway, and an overall theme that evokes of an old, abandoned Spanish villa. After about a 20 minute wait, I was strapped into the quite comfortable trains, which offer lots of support. The OTSRs were a little bit on the hard side, but it didn’t bother me much. Finally, the restraints were checked and we were off on our journey. The 188 foot mark took what seemed ages to reach, but it did provide you with lots of time to see the overview of the park, with X right in front and Goliath far off to your left. Soon enough, you crest the hill and speed down at 70mph down the twisting first drop and up into the first of three loops. These loops offer plenty of hang time, although the bumps do detract from the experience. You soon make a slow turn to the left, coming up right next to the lift hill at ground level. Traveling through two more consecutive loops, you again feel the slight bumps, but it doesn’t matter because these loops are so disorienting that they even cause some to black out! Next, you find yourself crawling upwards into a short brake run, which doesn’t slow you down too much at all. You make another moderately slow left hand turn and then head into the batwing, a heart shaped element that combines a corkscrew into a downward half loop, and another upward half loop into another corkscrew, sending you back from where you came. Entering through a corkscrew that sends you flying upwards to the right, there is a slight moment of bumpiness, which can send your head into the OTSRs (over-the-shoulder restraints). Through the rest of the batwing however, there is no bumpiness, just more disorientation. By now, you feel so dizzy that you’ve lost all sense of direction. yet you still have the double corkscrew to conquer! After the exit of the batwing, there is a trim brake that barely slows you down. You make a right-handed turn that sends you straight into the bumpy double corkscrew. You stall a lot on these elements because you enter them at a rather slow speed. Riders in the middle will find themselves upside down for what seems like a second or two. Next, you travel on a little straight that sends you plunging left below the station, only to find yourself do the opposite: make a hard upwards right swing to level yourself out. This pretty much ends the ride with a final brake run. Viper is arguably a coaster worth of recognition equal to that of other major coasters.
Pros: Disorienting elements, double corkscrew, first drop, and variety of elements |
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