On September 5th, California’s Great America will close their Vortex roller coaster to make way for a new experience in 2017. Next season, the park will convert the ride from a standup roller coaster to a floorless coaster!
Image: California’s Great America
Vortex is one of only a handful of standup coasters remaining in the United States. The type of ride has been disappearing due to lack of popularity in recent years.
By converting the ride to a floorless coaster, the park will be able to take an unpopular ride experience and revitalize it. In 2015 another standup coaster, Mantis at Cedar Point, was converted in the same fashion to Rougarou. The ride experience drastically improved.
Image: California’s Great America
In addition to the conversion of the ride from a standup coaster to a floorless coaster, the park will be re-theming and renaming the ride to the Patriot. The ride will have a new blue and white color scheme and will fit into the park’s All American Corners land, where it is situated.
What do you think of California’s Great America’s conversion of Vortex? Let us know in the comments and be sure to follow Theme Parks and Travels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more theme park content! You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel! Don’t forget to give our west coast correspondent, Michael, a follow on Twitter and Instagram! You can also subscribe to us on Apple News by searching “Theme Parks and Travels” in the app!
