Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast at Six Flags St. Louis is a Premier Rides LIM shuttle coaster that has been thrilling riders since April 1998. Propelled by 116 linear induction motors, the train accelerates from a standstill to 70 mph in just 3.8 seconds, blasting through a launch tunnel, over a top hat inversion, around a sweeping overbanked curve, and up a soaring 218-foot vertical tower before gravity yanks it back down.
In 2012, Six Flags St. Louis reversed the train orientation to create the ‘Reverse Blast’ experience. Riders now launch backwards through the entire course before free-falling forward down the spike, then repeat every element in the opposite direction — doubling the intensity without changing a single piece of track. A mirror-image twin of the coaster operates at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Six Flags St. Louis, Eureka, Missouri
- Manufacturer: Premier Rides
- Opened: April 10, 1998
- Reverse Blast added: 2012
- Height: 218 ft (66 m)
- Top speed: 70 mph (110 km/h)
- Acceleration: 0–70 mph in 3.8 seconds
- Length: 1,300 ft (400 m)
- Inversions: 1 (traversed twice)
The Ride Experience
Seated backwards, riders brace as the LIM array unleashes its full force in under four seconds. The train rockets out of the launch tunnel, crests the top hat, sweeps through a 140-degree overbanked curve, and climbs the vertical spike. A fleeting moment of weightlessness hangs at the 218-foot summit before the train drops back and charges forward through every element at full speed.
The shuttle format means each feature is experienced twice — once in reverse and once forward. That double-traversal of the top hat gives Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast a relentless, back-to-back punch that far exceeds what its compact 1,300-foot layout might suggest.
History and Origins
Premier Rides constructed twin versions of the coaster — one at Six Flags St. Louis and one at Six Flags Over Texas — both debuting in spring 1998. The layout was designed by Werner Stengel of Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH. The original plan was a 1997 opening timed to the Batman & Robin film, whose villain Mr. Freeze inspired the ride’s theme, but complications with the LIM launch system pushed the premiere to the following spring.
The 2012 Reverse Blast modification required no structural changes — simply reversing the train orientation transformed a thrilling coaster into a genuinely disorienting one. Six Flags St. Louis has continued to operate the ride under the Reverse Blast name, with the park’s social media confirming active operation through 2025.
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Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast FAQs
How fast does Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast go?
The ride launches from 0 to 70 mph in approximately 3.8 seconds using a bank of 116 linear induction motors.
Why is it called ‘Reverse Blast’?
In 2012, Six Flags St. Louis reversed the train orientation so riders face backwards during the initial launch. Every element of the course is experienced in reverse first, then again forward on the return trip.
Is there another Mr. Freeze coaster?
Yes — a near-identical mirror-image version is located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. That installation also received the Reverse Blast configuration in 2012 and later transitioned to mixed forward and backward train operation.
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Photo: Jeremy Thompson / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.