The Kemah Boardwalk unveiled a new ride this weekend, the first of its kind in Texas and one of only three in the world, according to officials there.
Flare is a looping rollercoaster that stands seven stories, or 75 feet tall. Riders sit in cars and loop at speeds of up to 27 miles per hour.
"I hear a lot of people screaming, so it's a very high thrill ride," said Mark Kane, vice president of Landry's amusement division. "You get on and the first thing you notice is you're next to someone and across from two people and it's always fun to see people's reactions as they ride a coaster."
The Flare was also built in Texas using 48 tons of steel and 648,000 pounds of concrete. It took a 400 ton crane to lift the top half into place.
"Riders go higher and higher until they revolve the full 360 both forwards and backwards. The view is great, on one side you see the whole Kemah Boardwalk, on the other you can see over the whole of Galveston Bay," said Kane.
The park added the new ride at the expense of the old Inverter, which was taken out to make way for the giant loop with the idea of "balancing thrill demographics."
"It's not the Boardwalk Bullet, but it's not a kiddie ride," said Kane. "It's a family friendly thrill ride, you only have to be 48 inches tall to ride this," which hopefully makes it available to 4th or 5th graders.
Flare opened Friday May 9 with a ribbon cutting ceremony that included Kemah Mayor Bob Cummins.
The Kemah Boardwalk has opened two rides in the last seven months, Flare and the Iron Eagle.
The Iron Eagle zip line features a side-by-side, two-seat chair lift where riders experience the sensation of flying at a speed of 30 mph. The Iron Eagle zip line opened this fall.
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