Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage

The last new roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain, West Coast Racers, was opened just before the Pandemic shut everything down. Rather than take a couple years off, Magic Mountain instead spent that time working on their next thrill ride. And now it’s here! Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage is now open, 2.5 years after West Coast Racers’ debut.

With a world-record 20 roller coasters, Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage occupies the space in the DC Universe section of the park that was formerly the home of the now-defunct Green Lantern: First Flight. Magic Mountain revamped the DC Universe plaza and rethemed the former Wonder Woman flat ride to Teen Titans. Both Batman: The Ride and Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage will now end in a new store, and the center of the plaza will be filled with umbrellas, seating, and food carts.

Enough about the environs; how’s the RIDE? Put simply, it’s great. Billed as the “tallest and longest single-rail coaster on the planet,” the ride boasts numerous fun features. Primarily, this coaster is only one seat wide. Trains have 12 riders in a single-file row, with no neighbors obstructing your view, which adds a great deal to the visual excitement as well as the feeling of flying. My favorite moment may be the first drop, which gets as steep as 87 degrees! The view from the front seat is of course amazing, looking nearly straight down. However, my usual preference for the back row wins again, as you are whipped over the top of the 131-foot hill and pulled down that nearly vertical drop at almost 58 miles per hour.

Flight of Courage has three inversions and they are all very smooth. No traditional loops here, they are mostly twisting maneuvers as the track continues forward. This continues the flying motif. The leisurely moments of being upside-down are glorious and almost relaxing. The ride feels like it could have more though. On several occasions, the track and cars turn 90 degrees leaving you sideways…but then you rotate upright again, instead of continuing into an inversion.

The themed queue is a bit perfunctory, with a vibe similar to Justice League: Battle for Metropolis. It’s a faux-marble building with switchbacks and some thematic Greek adornments on the walls, but it’s nothing amazing. Its best purpose will be providing a cool space to get out of the sun. Because it was a media preview, I don’t know how long the average wait time will be. Certainly with only 12 riders per train, the capacity is lower–but the track can accommodate 4 trains at maximum capacity, so the time between individual launches will be the deciding factor.

Overall, Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage is a top-tier thrill ride, even considering Magic Mountain’s impressive lineup. I would say that it’s one I will always try to ride when I visit the park from now on. It’s not the fastest, or the tallest, but it’s one of the most fun and exhilarating. And really, that’s the most important thing of all.