Déjà Vu was a Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang shuttle coaster that opened at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois on October 7, 2001. Riders sat in dangling, ski-lift-style chairs suspended below the track, launched out of the station by a catch-car vertical lift, sent through a 102-foot vertical loop and a 110-foot cobra roll, and then pulled backward through the entire course to do it all again in reverse.
The ride was one of three nearly identical Giant Inverted Boomerangs Six Flags installed in 2001, alongside sister units at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Over Georgia. All three suffered from chronic reliability issues tied to their catch-car lift systems, and Great America’s version ran its final rides on October 28, 2007 before being removed. The ride was later shipped to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho, where Vekoma overhauled it and reopened it as Aftershock in 2008.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, Illinois)
- Manufacturer: Vekoma
- Model: Giant Inverted Boomerang
- Opened: October 7, 2001
- Closed: October 28, 2007
- Height: about 195 feet
- Top speed: about 65 mph
- Length: 1,204 feet
- Inversions: 3 (ridden forward, then backward)
The Ride Experience
Unlike a traditional coaster with a chain lift, Déjà Vu used a catch car to grab the train and haul it up a vertical spike, then drop it forward through the loop and cobra roll before it coasted back into the station. The train then reversed, climbing the opposite spike backward and repeating the entire circuit tail-first, so every inversion was experienced twice per cycle.
The open, dangling seating with nothing below riders’ feet made the loop and boomerang elements feel far more intense than the modest 1,204-foot layout suggested, and the ride’s height and speed briefly made it one of the tallest and fastest shuttle coasters in the world when it debuted in 2001.
Reliability Problems and Closure
The Giant Inverted Boomerang design proved mechanically troublesome across all three U.S. installations, with frequent downtime linked to the catch-car launch system. Six Flags Great America’s unit ran for six seasons before it was pulled from the lineup after the 2007 season and replaced by the Buccaneer Battle water ride.
Rather than being scrapped, the coaster was sold and relocated to Silverwood Theme Park near Athol, Idaho, where Vekoma reworked its lift and safety systems. It reopened there as Aftershock in July 2008 and continued operating under its new name and location.
Explore more: Explore more roller coasters.
Déjà Vu Photo Archive: 2001 & 2005
These are original ThrillZing photos of Déjà Vu taken at Six Flags Great America in May 2001, while the Giant Inverted Boomerang was still being built, and in August 2005, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the cranes on the spikes, the finished green-and-blue towers over the midway, the entrance sign, and a Sky Trek Tower aerial. The ride moved to Silverwood as Aftershock in 2008. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Déjà Vu FAQs
Is Déjà Vu still at Six Flags Great America?
No. The coaster closed at Six Flags Great America after the 2007 season and was relocated to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho, where it reopened as Aftershock in 2008.
What replaced Déjà Vu at Six Flags Great America?
The Buccaneer Battle interactive water ride was built on the former Déjà Vu site.
Why did Déjà Vu close so soon after opening?
The Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang’s catch-car launch system was notoriously unreliable, causing frequent downtime at all three U.S. installations, which led Six Flags to remove and sell off each unit.
Get More from Déjà Vu
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate Déjà Vu, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.
Photo: Stolbovsky / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.