Boomerang: Coast to Coaster is a Vekoma shuttle coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California, tucked into the park’s Sky area. It opened on March 27, 1998, making it one of the longest-running attractions at the park, and it belongs to a well-known family of nearly identical Vekoma Boomerang models built at parks across the world in the late 1990s.
Rather than a continuous circuit, Boomerang launches riders up a chain lift backward, then releases them to race forward through a cobra roll and a vertical loop before climbing a second lift tower, reversing, and running the entire course again in reverse. It’s a format that packs a surprising amount of airtime and disorientation into a compact footprint.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
- Manufacturer: Vekoma
- Opened: March 27, 1998
- Height: About 116 feet
- Top speed: About 47 mph
- Length: About 935 feet
- Inversions: 3
The Ride Experience
The ride begins with a backward climb up a vertical chain lift, giving riders a brief, stomach-dropping preview before the train is released to run the full course forward. In quick succession it threads a cobra roll, a twisting double-inversion element, straight into a vertical loop.
After clearing the loop, the train coasts up a second lift tower on the opposite end of the track, pauses briefly, and then drops back down to run the entire layout again — backward. The full round trip takes under two minutes but delivers the cobra roll and loop twice, once facing forward and once facing back, sending riders upside down six times in all.
Part of a Classic Coaster Family
Boomerang at Discovery Kingdom shares its blueprint with a batch of Vekoma shuttle loopers built for Six Flags parks in the 1990s, many using nearly identical track layouts and ride times. The Discovery Kingdom installation has been repainted over the years and now runs with teal track and yellow supports, a departure from its original color scheme.
Despite its age, the ride remains a fixture for guests seeking a quick, intense dose of inversions without the wait times of the park’s larger coasters, and it continues to operate as one of the park’s original thrill rides.
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Boomerang FAQs
How tall do you have to be to ride Boomerang at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?
Riders must be at least 48 inches tall to board.
How many inversions does Boomerang have?
The track has 3 inversions, a cobra roll and a vertical loop, but since the train runs the course both forward and backward, riders go upside down six times per ride.
When did Boomerang open at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?
It opened on March 27, 1998, making it one of the park’s longest-operating coasters.
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Photo: Paul L Dineen / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.