Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
Up the twisted spikeand an ejector coming down Sit up frontwatch the track disappear

Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, Illinois

Flash: Vertical Velocity

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“Fast but comfortable launch.”

175Maxx Force180Wrath of Ra.202Raging BullFlash185ftNo. 2 of 14coasters wecover at thepark70mphtop speed160ftdrop
POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
What riders love
  • You start off with a very punchy launch that can catch you by surprise.
  • The launch on this ride catches you off guard, and the vertical spikes give off solid airtime.
  • Sitting in the front watching the track disappear before you on the launch is so scary and the twist of the spike makes it even better.
  • Very tall, very fun. Launch is good, and there’s some float on the spikes.
  • I love the front row and also the back row it's a really weird style of coasters and the ride opps are always amazing.
  • The ride itself is still a gem, hidden in the Six Flags mud.
  • Now with operations all cleared up, this is a VERY fun ride, and man is it intense!
  • Very underrated. The forces and the hangtime is incredible.
  • The launch and ride in general is pretty intense and fun.
Flash: Vertical Velocity Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Flash: Vertical Velocity front seat on-ride 4K POV Six Flags Great America

youtube.com › CoasterForce

Flash: Vertical Velocity - Six Flags Great America - Back Row (4K HD POV) - August 2023

youtube.com › ThemeParkMark

The Flash Vertical Velocity POV At Six Flags Great America

youtube.com › CoasterNick3157

The Flash: Vertical Velocity off ride, Six Flags Great America

youtube.com › Anthony the Carnival Guy

Six Flags Great America Day 1 of 3 07/26/22 Part 9: The Flash: Vertical Velocity

youtube.com › AJfromMillay

The Flash Vertical Velocity start up siren Six Flags Great America Gurnee, IL 5/7/22

youtube.com › L. Michelle

The Flash Vertical Velocity Station Six Flags Great America 7-2-22

youtube.com › JiggidyNDG

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Six Flags Great America

It feels insane twisting up towards the sky and even more insane when you get that ejector coming down.

Aric The Kakapo

The launch on this ride catches you off guard, and the vertical spikes give off solid airtime.

Mik Gov

I don’t particularly enjoy the way the airtime feels on it, it’s almost too much.

Rollertoaster

Launch is good, and there’s some float on the spikes.

Birb from not Canada

but the 2 spikes on this ride are pretty good so I don’t care that it’s repetitive

BLITZN00DLE

Flash: Vertical Velocity offers the intense launch and airtime you would expect from an Intamin impulse coaster, but in my opinion, the lack of holding brake on this one definitely makes it worse than...

Michael M.

Perfectly smooth coaster, though and I think others who are into this style of ride will love it.

Rollertoaster

Fast but comfortable launch.

JJ Vavrik

No rattle or discomfort whatsoever, so great on that aspect as well.

Kevin

But sadly, this coaster has headbanging when you are sitting closer to the front row, which is disappointing because the front row is where you get the view over the water when you go up the straight...

Mik Gov

It was a little rough going up the spiral, though.

@jtbackup4553

I can’t get over the amount of intense force you get on both reverse launches into the rear spike (especially the further back you sit).

Max S.

Now with operations all cleared up, this is a VERY fun ride, and man is it intense! Launch is fine, nothing extraordinary, but the overall experience is extremely fun & nice.

Kevin

The launch and ride in general is pretty intense and fun.

Glass Cannonn

Its fun but lacks a bit of intensity

Scott Gordon

The scariest part about this ride is the start because it’s so fast 😂 but the rest is just fun.

@nickyb.3259

went on this yesterday the scariest part is when it starts really fast like 65mph

@BballNintendo3

Naturally, being a shuttle coaster, throughput is an issue here at one of the most attended regional amusement parks in the country.

Michael M.

While it was to be expected with this being a shuttle coaster, the relatively low capacity made the wait pretty annoying.

VelociGOAT

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

185 ftHeight
202 RagingBull 185 Flash:VerticalVelocity 180 Wrath ofRakshasa 175 Maxx Force 165 Goliath 127 AmericanEagle
160 ftFirst drop
208 RagingBull 180 Goliath 172 Maxx Force 171 Wrath ofRakshasa 160 Flash:VerticalVelocity 147 AmericanEagle
70 mphTop speed
Maxx Force78 Raging Bull73 Goliath72 Flash:Vertical Velo…70 Wrath ofRakshasa67 American Eagle66 078 mph
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

FunGreat launchHangtime

Criticised for

Long waitsToo shortRider fit issuesOften closed

Flash: Vertical Velocity offers the intense launch and airtime you would expect from an Intamin impulse coaster, but in my opinion, the lack of holding brake on this one definitely makes it worse than Steel Venom at Valleyfair!.

Michael M., Captain Coaster review

It’s fun. Frankly I think if you’re just gonna blast me forward and backward a few times, I’d rather be on a giant swing ride, but this thing has its own charm.

Mike Davis, Captain Coaster review

For what it is, it’s a very fun ride, especially in the front row.

Ibraheem Mustafa, Captain Coaster review

I love this ride and I love that the worker was being funny and lunching you after saying something funny that makes the wait better but it’s very short and stops to fast

Nora Westfall, Captain Coaster review

While it was to be expected with this being a shuttle coaster, the relatively low capacity made the wait pretty annoying.

VelociGOAT, Captain Coaster review

The ride itself is still a gem, hidden in the Six Flags mud.

David, Captain Coaster review

Photos

The twisted spike for The Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois
Harobouri, CC0
Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
Wacky Windjammer, CC BY-SA 4.0
Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
Wacky Windjammer, CC BY-SA 4.0
Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hendricksphotos/, CC BY-SA 2.0
Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hendricksphotos/, CC BY-SA 2.0
Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
Christophe95, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Flash: Vertical Velocity's rear tower
Harobouri, CC0
The Flash: Vertical Velocity's front tower seen from Yukon Territory
Harobouri, CC0
Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
Harobouri, CC BY-SA 4.0
Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
Harobouri, CC0
Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great America
Jonrev at English Wikipedia, Public domain

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History

May 18, 2001Opened

A impulse coaster, built by Intamin.

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Height requirement: Six Flags Great America. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Feather Better (CC BY 4.0), Harobouri (CC0), Wacky Windjammer (CC BY-SA 4.0), https://www.flickr.com/photos/hendricksphotos/ (CC BY-SA 2.0), Christophe95 (CC BY-SA 3.0), Jonrev at English Wikipedia (Public domain). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

Quote at the top of the page: JJ Vavrik, Captain Coaster review.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Aric The Kakapo, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It has an amazing kick to it and will…”; Caiden Brauchler, rider review on Captain Coaster: “You start off with a very punchy launch that…”; Mik Gov, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The launch on this ride catches you off guard,…”; Ibraheem Mustafa, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Sitting in the front watching the track disappear before…”; Aric The Kakapo, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It feels insane twisting up towards the sky and…”; Birb from not Canada, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Very tall, very fun. Launch is good, and there’s…”; Stormin Norman, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I love the front row and also the back…”; David, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The ride itself is still a gem, hidden in…”; Max S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “I can't get over the amount of intense force…”; Kevin, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Now with operations all cleared up, this is a…”; Cal Schattschneider Jr., rider review on Captain Coaster: “Very underrated. The forces and the hangtime is incredible.”; Glass Cannonn, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The launch and ride in general is pretty intense…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: ThemeParkMark's back row POV, Flash: Vertical Velocity - Six Flags Great America - Back Row (4K HD POV) - August 2023 (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.