Zonga

Infobox roller coaster
name = Zonga
location = Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
type = Steel
type 2 = multi-looper
manufacturer = Anton Schwarzkopf
height = 112
drop = 89
speed = 55
restriction = 52
status = In Storage
opened = 1986-1996, 1998-2000, 2003-2004
closed = 2005

Zonga was a steel tracked looping roller coaster at Six Flags Marine World (now known as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom) from 2003 to 2005. It was designed by Schwarzkopf. The coaster was previously at Six Flags Astroworld as "Texas Tornado", and before that toured the German funfair circuit as "Thriller".

History

This coaster was originally built for German showman Oscar Bruch. It debuted as the Thriller on May 17th, 1986 at the fairground in Freiburg, Germany. For the next 11 years it mostly traveled the German fair circuit. It also operated at the stationary park of Gröna Lund in Stockholm, Sweden in their car park for July 1996. Late that year, Six Flags Astroworld purchased the Thriller.

It was assembled at Six Flags Astroworld in Houston late in 1997. The roller coaster opened at Six Flags Astroworld on March 14, 1998 and was renamed Texas Tornado. This coaster had very positive reviews from guests but when summer hit, the heat and humidity seemed to disrupt operation. On very hot days the coaster suffered a lot of downtime. "Texas Tornado" continued to operate there in the 1999 and 2000 seasons with a lot of downtime on the hotter days. It seemed to run decently on milder and cooler days. At the end of the 2000 season, Six Flags decided to remove the ride but it stayed at Astroworld in 2001 but did not operate that season. Early in 2002, it was moved out of Six Flags Astroworld and into storage.

In 2003, Texas Tornado was moved to Six Flags Marine World and some track modifications were made by Premier Rides. The most significant was increasing the elevation of the first two loops. The effect of this change would be reducing the Thriller's top speed and lowering the g-forces during the first two loops. It was assumed that the mild weather would enable the coaster to run better. It was then renamed "Zonga".

Zonga then operated for two years at Marine World. Unfortunately, operation continued to be inconsistent. Zonga regularly opened about two hours after the park and had frequent breakdowns. The ride wasn't very attractive because of its location (in a distant corner and hidden behind Roar) and appearance. There have been many malfunctions, which eventually led to Six Flags again closing down the ride. There have also been many complaints about the ride being "bumpy". The ride ran for much of the 2004 season but stood silent for the 2005 season and was removed at the beginning of the 2006 season, leaving a large empty concrete area at the front of the park. Zonga was disassembled and moved to the Discovery Kingdom parking lot where it sat throughout the 2006 season. The new coaster for 2008—Tony Hawk's Big Spin—was erected on the pad that Zonga used to occupy.

This coaster was then bought in 2008 by the Aguascalientes State government in Mexico, for its use in the famous San Marcos National Fair. It is currently being installed and has not been named yet.

References