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"Superman: The Ride"
A superhero arrived on the scene during the year 2000 in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands when Six Flags Holland opened for the first time as one of the first European parks in the Six Flags chain.
Superman: the Ride blasted off with the theme park that year, coming from Dutch ride manufacturer Vekoma as a Linear Induction-utilizing, multi-inversion spaghetti-bowl-style twister ride. With a layout similar to the Rock 'N' Roller Coaster Disney attractions, Superman's 3,280 feet of bright red track twisted through three inversions - a double-inverting sidewinder and more traditional corkscrew as well as dozens of other curves throughout the two and a half minutes that riders were tossed and turned in the coaster's maze of tubular steel track. To start the ride off with a bang and plenty of momentum to spare, the train was fired out of the station with an initial Linear Induction Motor launch propelling it from a dead standstill to 56 miles per hour, all acheived in 2.8 seconds. Upon opening, the red and blue superhero coaster became Six Flags Holland's sixth rollercoaster track and fourth coaster from Vekoma, others including rides like La Via Volta and the very first Suspended Looping Coaster model from the company, El Condor.
Boarding the train, riders blasted off down the LIM-driven launch and immediately sped up into the sea serpent loop combo, flipping over with a half vertical loop, two half-corkscrew-type inversions, and then a final half-loop. The train full of passengers sped up into a steep curve turning the course around and swooping down towards water below. Climbing again and continuing to curve to the right, Superman entered a brief straightaway and then dove back down to curve in the opposite direction. After a 180-degree curve, thrillseekers entered Superman: the Ride's third inversion, the corkscrew, and through 450 degrees of rightwards curvature encircling the corkscrew. After another brief straightaway, the track dove in a left-handed banked curve and then curved around, completing several hops en route to the final brake run.
Superman: The Ride was initially to be called "Riddler's Revenge" and was painted green at the factory. Shortly before the ride was installed, it was decided that Europeans know of Batman, but not necessarily all of the related villains. So the track was repainted with red and blue supports and given a Superman theme. The station was given the theme of the Daily Planet offices.
With the departure of Six Flags and Warner Brothers in 2004, Six Flags Holland became Walibi World and resulted in Superman: The Ride being renamed X-Press. The ride has since been repainted from the classic Superman red & blue to pink & powder blue and the Daily Planet offices have been changed to a travel agency. Other than these cosmetic changes, the ride is still just as thrilling as when it was Superman: The Ride.
