From Medusa to Bizarro at Six Flags Great Adventure: The World’s First Floorless Roller Coaster Takes a Bizarre Twist
Back when new CEO Mark Shapiro took over Six Flags he was interviewed at Six Flags Over Georgia. He pointed at the brand new 20-story hyper coaster Goliath and stated “No more of those.” Now, after 2008′s X2 at Magic Mountainand this year’s Bizarro-themed roller coasters we know that the new Six Flags strategy is moving the company away from huge, expensive thrill rides and towards roller coaster makeovers.
Medusa opened in 1999 as the World’s first floorless roller coaster. On Medusa’s open trains riders are basically seated in a chair (with restraints) with their feet dangling above the track. Now, the transformed seven-looping monster sports what Six Flags calls a “multi-sensory ride experience with all-new thematics and innovative, state-of-the-art visual, audio and sensory effects launching it into another dimension of thrills and excitement.” While that all sounds good, let’s take a closer look at the new elements of Six Flags Great Adventure’s Bizarro.
To help introduce Bizarro, a lesser known super villain, comic-book style signage can be found throughout the queue. Right off the initial 120′ drop, the train is sent speeding through Bizarro’s “freeze vision cool zone”. There are a number of shield-shaped archways that douse the riders with a mist. Following the large vertical loop, the dive loop has been spiced up with a set of flame throwers. These babies look like they could easily be felt by the riders speeding by. Next, the train traverses the popular zero-g roll and then a cobra roll over the ride’s entrance path.
Bizarro finishes with the train spiraling over the misting ”Auger of Doom”, a spike-shaped cylinder placed in the center of the interlocking corkscrews. It looks to give a pretty head chopper effect, but I can’t imagine that it’s 
actually all that close to the trains. Six Flags doesn’t need another suit on their hands.
Coasterer on ThemeParkReview didn’t hate the new Bizarro coaster, but he said that the new elements were ‘unnecessary.’ He liked that the ten year old roller coaster got some love with a new paint job and theming, but he didn’t feel that the effects really added that much to the overall ride. He also went on to share his views on the on-board sound system:
“I wasn’t the biggest fan of the on-board sound system however. I thought the yelling and explosions and stuff you heard going up the lift hill were unnecessary, and to be honest, nobody in our group even noticed that there was a soundtrack over the course of the ride, while it was in motion. And then, on the brakerun, the Bizarro chants were a little much too. Also, with the noise, it is impossible to carry on conversation with your friends and those you ride with.” - Coasterer on ThemeParkReview
Medusa, I mean Bizarro, has been a great ride for years. It doesn’t sound like the makeover hurt the ride, but it doesn’t sound like it improved it a whole lot either. Check out this POV video of Bizarro at Six Flags Great Adventure:
What’s Your Take?
Have you ridden Bizarro? How do you think it compares to its former life as Medusa? Leave a comment below. Images from ThemeParkReview & GADV
June 8, 2009 at 13:13
I paid my first visit to Great Adventure 2 weekends ago. What I great park! El Toro managed to grab the #2 spot on my top 10 list along with Nitro coming in at #9. The sudden upheaval in my list caught me quite by surprise! I managed to ride Bizarro twice, both times in the last row, and I have to say that I agree with Coasterer. The quality of the sound was poor, so it was more annoying than entertaining, especially while waiting to enter the station to unload. The fire might be exciting to, say, fourth-grade boys, but it did nothing for me. The mist, on the other hand, was quite enjoyable on a hot day. I enjoyed the ride, but I'll take Dominator any day.
June 10, 2009 at 18:06
Yep. El Toro is an amazing roller coaster. That's why I gave it a 10/10. Thanks for the mini Bizarro review. I was curious to hear what people thought about the redesign.
Thanks for reading!
June 11, 2009 at 02:50
Hey TCC Thanks for making me like coasters.
and i'm making a new YouTube Show the "Roller Coaster Critic" that was inspired by you,Thank You!
From: Cole
June 15, 2009 at 15:09
I saw photos of the revamp a while back. Reminds me of the 'ride-that-wasn't-supposed-to-be-IoA's-Incredible-Hulk-but-actually-was' from "The House on Haunted Hill". They portrayed it as a harrowing overly-themed ride with a false train flying off a hinging track. A stretch, I know, but that's what I thought of the before/after.
June 23, 2009 at 06:00
I really have to disagree with most of these people. On Medusa, the chainlift was kind of boring because it was hard to see other rides, but this new soundtrack adds a whole new thrill level. Sure, it's not great… but you can't walk in expecting Universal. I liked going through the superman-shields, especially at night… and the flame effects are awesome. the "Auger of Doom" is also pretty cool… Medusa was a great coaster already and I think this made it better. You can even hear some famous movie lines in the ride if you listen carefully, from "Superman 2", "Scarface", "Shrek", and more… this doesn't make sense but this ride is really fun. And don't forget the hip hop song at the end.
June 23, 2009 at 20:36
This "new" version of Medusa is….well, it's hit and miss. I liked sitting in the back and being pretty much by myself because they took out the two back middle seats. The "soundtrack" made absolutely no sense, and I couldn't hear the spoken parts half the time. I liked the mist, I jumped at the fireballs, and the Auger of Doom DOES appear to be pretty close to your head. That being said, I really feel like these effects were just tossed in there to claim that Great Adventure got a "new" ride. I talked to quite a few people who were under the impression that GAdv got a new coaster and were sorely disappointed to learn that it was just a revamp. I wasn't expecting Universal, but Six Flags (if they weren't bankrupt) would do well to consider hiring new people for the special effects so that they are more integrated and not so random-feeling.
June 24, 2009 at 07:08
I was thinking that Why couldn't six flags have "revamped" the Medusa and still kept it Medusa. In other words, Built on the theme that was already existing instead of changing it completely. I hope Six Flags doesn't do it to my favorite ride Medusa on the West Coast.
August 3, 2009 at 22:45
After going on this ride eight times in a row at night with the effects working the way they should every time I think it's safe to say that I disagree with your opinion. I love the Gandalf quote right on the first drop and every other quote (Aliens, Superman Returns, Shrek, Zoolander, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Superman II to name a few) were fabulous. I liked the ride before, but now I found it to be the most entertaining ride at the park now and easiest to get on.
May 19, 2010 at 18:25
why would you be trying to carry a conversation?
July 9, 2010 at 14:59
After the ride is over and you are waiting for the next train to be dispatched you usually talk to family or friends and ask them how they liked the ride. With the Bizarro chant over and over and being very loud you can't talk to the person beside you. Maybe you just want to ask were to go next. I loved the AUGER of Doom but not the on board soundtrack.
August 31, 2010 at 03:00
I disagree with you guys. The soundtrack and the effects are great.
September 2, 2010 at 08:30
I just recently was able to get on Bizzaro, and I was riding with my 10-year old cousin, who had never been on huge coasters 'till we went.
I'd been on Medusa about 4 times before, and I loved it just for it's twists and the way it proved it could flip you like an omelette any way it wanted. When I first heard about the revamp, I was disappointed, yet equally interested. I thought, "Why retheme a popular ride?", but then, I noticed that lines were getting shorter and shorter for Medusa over the years, and I decided that it was probably just a gimmick.
I wasn't able to go to Great Adventure in '09, but I finally went…TWICE this year, and just last week, me and my cousin were able to get on Bizzaro.
The revamp was…Noticeable. The audio was actally just cheesy enough to be acceptable, and the different effects were a nice added touch (It even scared the beejesus out of my cousin while waiting on line!).
I asked my cousin after the ride what he thought, and the fact that he liked it more than Nitro proved it was his favorite of the day!
Honestly, why couldn't they revamp Great American Scream Machine to Bizzaro? I mean, not only would yo be revamping and repopularizing a ride from 1989, but Scream Machine is RIGHT NEXT TO SUPERMAN! Not only would it make sense to put a Bizzaro revamp next to the Superman coaster, but it'd be repopularizing a dying ride, which just proves Scream Machine NEEDED that revamp more than Medusa, because now it's getting removed, and I'm sure more than a few Great Adventure fans wold agree with me on this one…
But yes, I feel the revamp was a nice touch, but it would've worked ALOT better on Scream Machine…
September 2, 2010 at 15:53
The audio didn't work when I rode it.
September 2, 2010 at 18:25
Really? I was on it a week ago, and the thing was clear as day!
September 3, 2010 at 03:44
I was on it two weeks ago.
September 3, 2010 at 06:44
Huh. Guess they must've fixed it during the week I went?
March 14, 2011 at 12:03
Bizzaro's sound and sight effects make the ride seem more like an "experience" than just a plain roller coaster ride. You actually feel like your in the middle of mass mayhem. And about not being able to talk to the person next to you…..I think the sound is getting less loud every time I ride. When i rode it in 2009 the sound was strong and i could clearly hear it. In October of 2010, it was a bit faint and like coasterer said i could hardly hear it. But even if it was loud, talking to the person next to me wasnt a problem, they could hear me fine.
August 15, 2011 at 21:02
I love the effects the story and the music the revamp is great to me you people need to lighten up and enjoy it for what it is Bizzaro #1 bizzaro bizzaro bizzaro bizzaro bizzaro # 1
December 2, 2011 at 16:28
Wow pretty cool i rode the scream!@ six flags magic mountain
July 3, 2012 at 07:55
I love Bizzaro
July 3, 2012 at 18:13
I hope Six Flags some day decides that giving a boatload of money to a comic book company is a bad idea and gets rid of the silly "stories" around their rides. Sorry I never read Ubermann and the other comic books when I was a kid and now they seem to be just a way to dumb people down. Just my opinion.
I'd rather have them spend the money on the rides than the cartoon cutouts of stupid comic book characters.