Very shortly after Colossus closed, Six Flags Magic Mountain put our fears to rest and stoked the flames of excitement with the announcement that yes, wood was about to meet steel in the good hands of Rocky Mountain Construction, a company that specializes in not only repairing and re-envisioning roller coasters, but designing and building them from scratch, such as Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City, Goliath at Six Flags Great America, Iron Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and Wicked Cyclone at Six Flags New England. Like everyone else, we waited with great anticipation to see what would take place. Additionally, it would be cheaper to convert Colossus into a hybrid than demolishing the entire structure and then building something from scratch on its huge footprint. That rumor seemed to make a lot of sense there are no other hybrid coasters on the West Coast, and one would lend itself nicely to Magic Mountain’s huge selection as the coaster capital of the world. What would become of the legendary Colossus? Would it be destroyed to make room for new rides or a new, modern roller coaster? One rumor that seemed to prevail, was that the coaster would be converted into a hybrid – steel track built on top of the original structure of Colossus. The news created huge buzz throughout the fan community as well as themed entertainment industry. The answer began to reveal itself last year, when Magic Mountain announced that the famed wooden coaster would close permanently on August 16, 2014. The question always loomed in the back of fans’ minds – how much longer would Six Flags Magic Mountain want to maintain Colossus, and what would its ultimate destiny be? While Colossus was fairly well maintained over the years, with some modifications along the way, roller coasters at Magic Mountain as well as around the world got bigger, faster and more thrilling – including wooden coasters. For decades to come, it would serve as an icon to the thrill ride industry and would go on to be featured in more movies and television shows than any other coaster in history, most notably National Lampoon’s Vacation. On June 29, 1978, Magic Mountain debuted the world’s tallest and fastest roller coaster a wooden behemoth aptly named Colossus.

Twisted colossus six flags