Phantasialand’s F.L.Y. is now in soft opening

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Rookburgh with the new flying rollercoaster F.L.Y. (Photo by Simon de Bruijn)

Yesterday German theme park Phantasialand (Brühl) unexpectetly opened their new roller coaster F.L.Y. Phantasialand states that it is a soft opening, meaning that they can not guarantee it being open for the upcoming period until the official opening. Phantasialand is yet to announce the official opening.

F.L.Y. is a Flying Coaster, built by Dutch manufacturer Vekoma. The project was held in much secrecy, but people who were able to ride it yesterday confirmed that the ride has several dark ride scenes, qualifying it as a semi-dark ride. The coaster uses a newly developed system with rotating cars that puts riders in a sit down position during the dark ride parts, before locking in flying position for the roller coaster part.

The ride is located in the new theme zone Rookburgh. Rookburghis a steampunk themed city and F.L.Y. is a transportation system through the city. The area and ride theme were designed by Phantasialand’s designer Eric Daman. Construction on the ride started in 2016 when the Race for Atlantis simulator was closed and demolished.

F.L.Y. is said to be the longest flying roller coaster in the world, exceeding Flying Dinosaur with a track length of 1.142 meters. It is the first launched flying coaster in the world and even includes two launches.

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F.L.Y. in sit down position for the dark ride parts (Photo by Simon de Bruijn)
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LSM lifthill (Photo by Simon de Bruijn)