Greased Lightnin'
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| Manufacturer | Schwarzkopf | ||||||||||||||
| Product | Shuttle Loop (Weight Drop) | ||||||||||||||
| Type | Steel - Launched - Shuttle | ||||||||||||||
| Track layout | Shuttle loop | ||||||||||||||
| Riders per train | 28 | ||||||||||||||
| Hourly capacity | 1300 | ||||||||||||||
| Propulsion | Weight drop launch | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 137.8 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Top speed | 57 mph | ||||||||||||||
| Length | 863 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Track inversions | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Rider inversions | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Drop angle | 70° | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 0:38 | ||||||||||||||
Greased Lightnin' was a Schwarzkopf launched shuttle roller coaster previously located at Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara, California, USA. It operated from 1977 to 2002.
History
The ride originally opened on July 8, 1977 as Tidal Wave, located in the Yankee Harbor area.
It was repainted and renamed Greased Lightnin' in 1999, as Yankee Harbor was rethemed to All American Corners. The name would be in reference to the 1978 film Grease that featured a song of the same name.
It closed three years later in 2002 after celebrating its 25th anniversary and was sold to Wieland Schwarzkopf. He intended to send it back to Germany and refurbish it to an new owner, but this never happened. He would later sell the ride to Six Flags, who would relocate it and store it at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, California, USA in that park's parking lot.[1][2]
During the 2005/2006 offseason, some of the stored ride's track was reused on Greezed Lightnin' at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. The ride became a parts donor and the rest was scrapped by early 2007.[3]
Back at Paramount's Great America (now California's Great America), the footers and maintenance shed were not removed and remain standing as of 2025.
Design
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Greased Lightnin' launched from the station to a top speed of 57 mph in a total of six seconds. Next, the ride traveled through a vertical loop and up a 70° incline. At this point, the ride fell backwards through the entire design and past the station to another incline. After climbing and falling down that incline, the train slowly rolled into the station.
Color scheme
Green track and blue supports. The ride used to feature blue track and supports when operating as Tidal Wave.
Trains
Single train with 7 cars. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 28 riders per train.
References
- ↑ "The Tidal Wave's 25th Anniversary, 2002". YouTube. greatamericaparks.
- ↑ "Greased Lightnin' - California's Great America". Ultimate Roller Coaster.
- ↑ "Greezed Lightnin' - Kentucky Kingdom". rcdb.
External links
- Greased Lightnin' on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
- Greased Lightnin' on Coaster-Count.
