My first ride on Wicked Cyclone was near the front of the train, and I didn’t find it especially intense. Then I rode near the back twice. The first overbanked turn and inversion made a much stronger impression from there. This thing can pack a punch.
That difference is part of what makes Wicked Cyclone so interesting to me. It’s a relatively small coaster with plenty of airtime, inversions that give you time to appreciate being upside down, and enough force near the back that I wouldn’t mistake its size for a gentle ride. It’s also currently my favorite roller coaster.
There are several reasons for that, and one of them is a plane crashed into the side of the ride building. I wasn’t expecting that part, either.
109 feet is plenty
Wicked Cyclone opened at Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts, in 2015. Rocky Mountain Construction, or RMC, rebuilt the park’s wooden Cyclone into a hybrid coaster: steel track carried by a wooden structure. The result sends riders through inversions while still winding through that wooden framework.
The headline numbers are 109 feet tall, 55 mph and three inversions. Compared with some of the other RMCs out there, the height isn’t particularly imposing. I don’t think it needs to be. One of my favorite things about Wicked Cyclone is how much of the ride stays close to the ground. Making it taller wouldn’t automatically improve the part I already like.
The first drop makes good use of the height it has. At 78 degrees, it’s steep enough to send me right out of my seat, and that matters considerably more to me than how impressive the lift hill looks on a list of statistics. It’s a very fun drop, and it gives a pretty clear introduction to how much time this ride is going to spend trying to separate me from my seat.
Airtime, hangtime and a reason to try the back
Wicked Cyclone takes almost every opportunity to lift you out of your seat. Some of my favorite moments are the small hills before the second inversion and the double down after the second overbanked turn. A double down breaks a descent into two successive drops, giving the ride another chance to lift you before you’ve finished heading downhill. These aren’t enormous elements, but they’re exactly the sort of thing I love about this layout.
The inversions add a different kind of weightlessness. Instead of only being lifted over a hill, you get time hanging upside down as the train rolls through the track. The 55 mph top speed might look modest, but I like that the ride doesn’t rush through every inversion. There’s room to feel the hangtime, and that gives the layout some variety alongside all those airtime hills.
It can be forceful, too. On my two rides near the back, the first overbank and first inversion hit hard. An overbanked turn leans the train beyond sideways as it changes direction, and Wicked Cyclone puts a lot of intensity into that opening sequence. My first ride near the front hadn’t felt nearly as intense, so the change in seating position made a real difference to my experience. If intensity is what you’re looking for, I’d try a seat farther back.
What I especially appreciate is that the force doesn’t come with a rough ride. Wicked Cyclone is smooth as hell. The transitions never felt jerky to me, even when the ride was being aggressive. I want the track to throw me out of my seat on purpose, and this does a very good job of that.
A layout that knows when to move on
The individual elements are excellent, but the spacing between them is what makes the whole ride work so well. Airtime hills, turns and inversions arrive in a rhythm that feels right to me. The layout gives each of those things its place, and I never felt a jarring transition interrupt what should have been a good moment.
That’s why I’m giving the layout a full 10 out of 10. Wicked Cyclone doesn’t need its tallest drop or biggest inversion to carry everything else. I’m just as enthusiastic about those smaller hills and the double down, which says a lot about how much there is to enjoy between the obvious highlights.
The ride time feels right, too. I finished wanting more, but that’s a fairly good outcome for a roller coaster. Wanting another ride is different from feeling that the one I just took was incomplete. Wicked Cyclone gives me enough to feel satisfied and enough reason to get back in line.
The restraints help. The padded lap bars were comfortable and gave the ride an open feeling, and the shin pads didn’t bother me, either. I’m 6-foot-2, so I was happy with how they fit me. That isn’t a guarantee for everyone my height, but I had no complaints. Nothing about them got in the way of enjoying the ride.
The crashed plane was a nice surprise
Theming is one of the most important parts of a coaster to me. I want the intensity and inversions, but I also want something interesting to look at. A good ride gets me excited about the track. Good theming can start doing that work before I ever reach the train.
I walked up to Wicked Cyclone expecting little to no theming, especially given that this is a Six Flags coaster. Instead, there was a substantial amount of visual detail in the queue and around the ride, including a plane crashed into the side of the ride building. That’s a pretty convincing way to establish that a storm has been through.
I wouldn’t call the theming perfect, but it’s more elaborate than what I’ve encountered on any other Six Flags coaster I’ve ridden. That distinction matters to me. Wicked Cyclone already has an excellent layout, and finding this much attention given to its surroundings made the experience better. Theming earns a 7 out of 10.
The queue has another advantage: it takes you underneath the track. I like taking pictures and video of coasters, so a queue that puts me close to the ride gives me something useful to do beyond watching the line move. Between those views and the theming, this is a part of the attraction I actually appreciate.
Even the name works. “Wicked Cyclone” keeps the familiar Cyclone name and adds an adjective that feels appropriate once the ride gets going. It isn’t an outstanding name, but I like it.
A quiet day, well handled
Operations were good during my visit. The staff sent trains out efficiently, and my waits stayed at ten minutes or less. I was there on an off day, so I can’t use those waits to promise anyone a quick ride on a busy afternoon. Still, the crew was making an effort to keep things moving, and I appreciated it.
That’s a particularly nice combination on a coaster that leaves me wanting another ride. A good layout supplies the reason to return to the queue; efficient operations make doing so much easier.
The score: 89/100
For this review, I’m using 13 categories, with some worth five points and others worth ten. Each coaster starts with ten points and can earn another ninety. I’ve done the math, so you don’t have to.
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Starting points | 10 |
| Height | 3/5 |
| Drop | 8/10 |
| Speed | 8/10 |
| Smoothness | 5/5 |
| Airtime | 5/5 |
| Intensity | 9/10 |
| Duration | 5/5 |
| Theming | 7/10 |
| Restraints | 5/5 |
| Layout | 10/10 |
| Queue | 5/5 |
| Name | 4/5 |
| Operations | 5/5 |
| Total | 89/100 |
Wicked Cyclone earns 89/100, and it’s my favorite coaster. Those two things make sense together to me: I don’t need every individual feature to be the biggest or the best when the complete ride works this well. I can give the height three out of five and still love how much the layout does close to the ground.
If you need a reason to visit Six Flags New England, this is mine. Try farther back if you want the intensity I found there. I’m sure I’ll keep finding coasters that challenge Wicked Cyclone, but right now it’s the one they have to beat.
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