The Great Chase is a steel kiddie roller coaster at Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts, built for the park’s youngest thrill-seekers. Dressed up with a Looney Tunes theme starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, it’s one of the gentlest coasters in the park’s lineup and a reliable first-coaster experience for small children.
The ride didn’t start life under this name. It originally opened in 1996 as Rolling Thunder, running near the Black Widow coaster, before Six Flags rebranded the park at the turn of the millennium and gave the ride its current identity and cartoon-themed home in the park’s family area.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Six Flags New England, Agawam, Massachusetts
- Manufacturer: Miler Coaster, Inc. (E&F Miler Industries)
- Opened: 1996 (as Rolling Thunder; renamed The Great Chase around 2000)
- Height: About 16 feet
- Top speed: About 12 mph
- Length: About 337 feet
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
The Great Chase runs a simple oval steel track with a single six-car train, each car seating two riders across for a total of 12 passengers per lap. There’s no inversion and no steep drop here — just gentle curves and a bit of speed, capped at roughly 12 mph, that make it an approachable entry point for kids who are too small for the park’s bigger steel and wooden coasters.
Riders must be at least 42 inches tall to ride unaccompanied, which fits the ride’s role as a transition coaster for children who have outgrown toddler rides but aren’t yet tall enough for Six Flags New England’s larger attractions like Superman The Ride or Wicked Cyclone.
A Looney Tunes Makeover
Before it became The Great Chase, the ride operated as Rolling Thunder starting in 1996, stationed near the park’s Black Widow coaster. When Six Flags New England rebranded its children’s area with a Looney Tunes theme around 2000, the coaster was relocated and renamed to match a cartoon chase between Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam.
That theming has helped the small coaster stick around for decades as a staple of the park’s family section, even as flashier headline coasters have come and gone around it.
Explore more: Explore more roller coasters.
Park apps, mobile ordering and photos kill a battery by 3 p.m. This one snaps on magnetically, so there's no cable to snag on a restraint.
Ride with your glasses on and keep them. Many parks allow glasses on rides if they're strapped, so check the ride rules first.
Small enough to ride with on most coasters, big enough for a phone, card and keys. Two zippers mean nothing falls out upside down.
The Great Chase FAQs
How tall do you need to be to ride The Great Chase?
Riders need to be at least 42 inches tall to ride without an accompanying adult, making it one of the more accessible coasters at Six Flags New England for younger children.
Does The Great Chase have any loops or inversions?
No. It’s a flat, oval-shaped kiddie coaster with no inversions, designed for gentle family fun rather than thrills.
Is The Great Chase a new ride at Six Flags New England?
Not exactly — it originally opened in 1996 as Rolling Thunder before being renamed and re-themed as The Great Chase around 2000.
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Photo: Tichnor Bros. Inc., Boston, Mass. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.