Riverside amusement park was one of the premier parks of its kind in New England, and offered a collection of both water and dry rides alongside a racing track. While the park had seen rough days it generally did well. Eventually, in 1996 it would be acquired by Premier Parks.
Then in 1998 as a result of a merger, it would begin a transition that would make the park a part of the Six Flags chain, although the Six Flags branding would only come to the park in 2000.
After Six Flags became a part of Premier Parks, the park that would be known as Six Flags New England began to transform itself into a park more befitting of the chain.
This began with a massive expansion of the water park, and would continue the next year in 1999 with the removal of the park's signature racetrack. The final race was held in 1999 with the intention of replacing it with a signature new ride to put the park on the map. That ride would be Superman Ride of Steel.
Superman Ride of Steel would be one of three new roller coasters built in the park for the 2000 season, alongside Flashback and Poison Ivy's Tangled Train (now known as Catwoman's Whip). It would by far be the most elaborate of these additions, however.
Superman Ride of Steel was the headliner attraction not only for a new area of the park, DC Universe, but it would become the flagship ride of the park itself, far outpacing the status of the two wooden roller coasters that had previously been the parks biggest attractions.
Opening on May 5th, and costing over $10 million this ride opened as the longest and tallest roller coaster in operation on the entire east coast of the United States. This Intamin Mega Coaster opened with a 221-foot biggest drop a track length of 5,400 feet, and a maximum speed of 77 miles per hour. It was painted red and blue like the colors of the iconic superhero and featured various theming to tie it in with the DC hero.
The ride begins with its massive lift hill before dropping down its largest drop into a tunnel before climbing another hill. This element is then followed by a banked turn low to the ground before climbing two additional hills. After this, the ride travels down a small hill that passes by the ride's exit. Up until this point the entire ride layout has been located alongside the Connecticut River, with amazing views of the surrounding landscape.
The ride then enters another hill which brings it away from the river and into a helix. After another hill, it enters yet another helix before traveling through a mist tunnel. The ride then ends with a series of smaller hills before turning into the final brakes.
The ride was an immediate success at the park, becoming widely considered to be one of the best roller coasters in the world. With the exception of its first year, the ride has never placed lower than fifth in the Golden Ticket Awards, having won five times, notably for four consecutive years.
But the ride has not been without its problems. In its second season, the ride's brakes would fail to engage and the two trains would collide in the station, leading to almost two dozen hospitalizations. Following this incident, the ride would be closed for over a week and the brakes would be upgraded to prevent a repeat incident.
This would not be the ride's last public incident however. In 2004 a man was thrown from the last turn of the ride and killed. Reportedly his restraint was not properly locked and he was too large for the type of restraint to work correctly. The park updated the restraints in the aftermath of this tragic accident, adding shin restraints and strengthened seat belts, which while safer, were criticized heavily by fans of the ride due to their uncomfortable nature.
The ride would see its most major change in 2009, when it would be rethemed to Bizzaro, one of Superman's most iconic villains. The ride would be repainted purple and blue and it would get new trains with permanently redesigned and more comfortable restraints. These new trains also included onboard audio that was utilized in the newly redesigned ride, alongside new fire effects.
Various new themed elements would be added as a part of this refurb, including building sets during the low to the ground segment and a tunnel of Bizzaro shields being added to the hill near the ride's exit.
This refurb would last until 2016 when the ride would be reverted to its Superman theme, although this time it would be known as Superman The Ride.
It would retain much of the added theming from the Bizzaro version of the ride, with the ride's elements merely being repainted to fit the returning theme.
As a part of the ride's returning theme, the park would add VR to the attraction, although it would only be offered for limited hours, and only for the one season.
Today Superman The Ride shares its status as the flagship ride of Six Flags New England with another ride, Wicked Cyclone, but it still remains one of the best roller coasters in the world. Whatever it is called the experience has remained a constant, an amazing airtime-filled intense roller coaster beloved by fans big and small.
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