Terminator® Salvation™: The Ride

Terminator Salvation the ride was a wooden rollercoaster which opened as a tie-in to 2009’s Terminator Salvation.

The ride’s introduction featured an “Entertainment Element” with video footage of Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) and Barnes (Common) on screens surrounded by SkyNet factory decal / interiors. The two actors from the movie explain that an attack is taking place on a resistance safe house, and that ride visitors must evacuate to safety via the coaster.
The ride features pyrotechnics and “Fly-Thru” tunnels which featured Terminator props.
Six Flags spent approximately $1,000,000 on the Terminator branding for the ride.

Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams at Six Flags (promo image)

Terminator Salvation: The Ride Information:

Height Restrictions	Min .48″
Ride Category	Thrill
Flash Pass	Affirmative
Length	2,850 Feet
Unique Features	Loading Station “Fly-Thru” and Entertainment Element
Introduction	May 23, 2009
Manufacturer	Great Coasters International Inc. (GCII)
Ride Terminated	End of 2010

TERMINATOR: THE COASTER

Before it was decided that the ride would adopt the name of the fourth installment of the franchise it was originally planned to have the name TERMINATOR: THE COASTER.

Image of Terminator Salvation: The Ride when it was under construction

RIDE LAUNCH DESCRIPTION

Terminator Salvation: The Ride has arrived at Six Flags Magic Mountain, presented by Jeep. This is a wooden coaster like no other. Once you experience the full assault of speed, sight and sound, you’ll think you just stepped into battle in this year’s blockbuster movie, Terminator Salvation.
Six Flags

Six Flags Ride Launch Event

OFFICIAL RIDE DESCRIPTION

If you dare, climb aboard Terminator® Salvation™: The Ride, a journey that begins at Six Flags Magic Mountain and transports you into a desolate future to battle alongside a post-apocalyptic legion of soldiers.
With five belly-flopping hills and six high speed banked turns, Terminator® Salvation™: The Ride combines state-of-the-art technology with the classic heart-pounding thrills of a wooden roller coaster.
Get ready for an eruption of sights and thrills that drop and turn you straight into the confines of artificially intelligent lethal machines, in one final attempt to save human kind.
Six Flags

People riding Terminator Salvation: The Ride (Six Flags Promo Image)

RIDE PRE-SHOW

The Ride

Rebrand to “Apocalypse: The Ride”

Terminator Salvation The Ride is on the way out. An executive decision to drop the name for financial reasons means Six Flags will drop the name in favor of a homage name ‘Apocalypse‘. Maybe the Halycon Co. is asking for too much money for them to hold the title on the ride… ?

This also means sign changes, the music on the speakers, props, dialogue and footage from Blair Williams and Barnes, which was exclusively filmed for the entrance to the ride, will be removed.

The experience saw you being trained for the resistance “while you wait to get on the ride”. Videos of Blair and Barnes guided you through the story, and once on the ride, a mixture of sound, music and “fly thru” moments spruced the ride up to have a Terminator Salvation feel to it.
The ride was a wooden coaster to the max, and did fit the image of Salvation, however the lack of success attached to the movie meant the ride had a shorter lifespan than anticipated.

Did you visit Six Flags and try out Terminator Salvation: The Ride?