
Deja Vu
Six Flags Great America, Magic Mountain,
and Over Georgia
Deja Vu is the next generation boomerang roller coaster and the latest version of the Vekoma Invertigo roller coaster. Unlike the previous versions Vekoma takes this ride to the extreme by increasing the size and adding new elements to push the envelope in coaster design.
This year not one, but three Six Flags Theme Parks will build and debut this exciting new roller coaster, or shall we say the "Extreme" coaster. Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California; Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois; and Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, Georgia will all add Deja Vu to their roller coaster line-up.
Just a warning before we get started...the description of this ride alone may be enough to make you sick.
Before your ride begins you will first board Deja Vu's 32-passenger suspended train, designed with six rows, seating four abreast. Once strapped in the ride begins when the floor beneath your feet drops and the cable lift starts to pull the train backwards out of the station, up the 196-foot tall tower with the track angled at 90-degrees. You've read that right 90-degrees...you'll be facing straight down towards the ground. This experience alone will give you' a whole new appreciation for OTS (over-the-shoulder) restraints!
Using a cable lift instead of a traditional chain lift the train will be able to quickly climb the tower before being released. Without warning riders are sent into a straight vertical dive back into the station for a quick flyby at speeds of 65 mph before leaving to enter a massive 110-foot tall double inversion boomerang. (Take note that the boomerang inversion on Deja Vu is only 15 feet shorter than the lift hill on the first generation Boomerang coaster).
Entering the boomerang or cobra roll as it's called on other roller coasters, riders are sent through a quick three-punch series of head-over-heel inversions, which is sure to leave your throat dry from screaming and your head a bit disoriented.
Winding out of the twisted boomerang the train drops toward the ground and then is sent soaring once more around the third inversion, a 102-foot vertical loop. Quickly rounding the final inversion riders then face the sky as the train heads straight up the second vertical spike burning off any remaining speed.
A second cable lift will kick in to give the train the extra boost to reach the top of the second 196-foot vertical tower, where riders can see nothing but the sky above. Without warning the cable disengages and the train begins its vertical decent with riders in freefall this time backwards!
Traveling in reverse the train repeats this course of three inversions while traveling once again at speeds approaching 65 mph, before returning to the safety of the station.
If you made it this far having not quit reading then just possibly you're ready to give Deja Vu a test run. So this season when your craving some thrills, don't forget to include a ride on Deja Vu, the next generation super boomerang roller coaster, which merely based on description and appearance earns it the title... the "Extreme" coaster.
 Editor's Note:A very special thank you to Keith McVeen for allowing us to use his 3-D models of Deja Vu.
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