Six Flags Great America opens for the season this month with what the park calls the world’s largest loop roller coaster.
The new coaster, named the Mardi Gras Hangover, will be accompanied by the amusement park’s first-ever summer Mardi Gras Festival with nightly shows, floats, beads, food, firework and more, according to a press release.
Mardi Gras Hangover, announced in August before the coaster was named, is 100 feet tall with 32 seats arranged in a “face-off” design where riders sit back-to-back and face-to-face. It features multiple inversions on a giant loop, suspending riders upside down for extended periods, the park said.
“Naming such a unique and record-breaking coaster required out-of-the-box thinking,” Park President Hank Salemi said in the release. “Riders will experience multiple moments of hang-time on Mardi Gras Hangover, with the addition of our Mardi Gras Festival debuting this summer, it was the perfect fit.”
Mardi Gras Hangover is surpassed in height by Six Flags Magic Mountain's 127-foot tall Full Throttle, according to Guinness World Records. A Six Flags spokeswoman said Mardi Gras Hangover "is the largest loop coaster of its kind."
Six Flags Great America opens at 10:30 a.m. April 21 with ticket costs from $54.99-$74.99. Season passes including unlimited admission, free parking and friend tickets are on sale for $77.99-$87.99 through April 22.
The park also announced Wednesday that it will be open for the first time through Dec. 31 for its inaugural Holiday in the Park event, which is set to include light shows, a tree-lighting ceremony, fire pits and photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The park closed Nov. 20 last year after another new festival, the Last Call Fall Festival.
