Six Flags has officially entered a new era of global expansion. On Dec. 31, 2025, the company opened Six Flags Qiddiya City near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, debuting what it calls the most ambitious attraction in amusement park history: Falcon’s Flight. This roller coaster simultaneously holds the world records for height, speed, and length.
The steel-launched coaster reaches 195 meters (639.8 feet) at its highest point, accelerates to 250 km/h (155 mph), and spans 4,250 meters (nearly 2.6 miles) of track. The scale of the ride prompted its manufacturer, Swiss firm Intamin Amusement Rides, to introduce a new category — the “Exa Coaster” — for attractions exceeding 600 feet in height.
Falcon’s Flight eclipses previous record holders by wide margins. It towers more than 55 meters above Top Thrill 2 at Cedar Point, overtakes Ferrari World Abu Dhabi’s Formula Rossa as the fastest coaster in operation, and extends roughly 5,000 feet longer than Japan’s Steel Dragon 2000. Unlike earlier record-setting rides built on flat land, Falcon’s Flight integrates the natural Tuwaiq Mountain terrain, sending riders down a 160-meter vertical plunge along a cliff face into the valley below.
The coaster reaches top speed in just 4.9 seconds using a three-stage linear synchronous motor (LSM) launch system. According to Intamin, more than 700 LSM modules power the ride — a scale far beyond existing launch coasters. Trains are open-air and designed to heighten the sense of speed, with large curved windshields to protect riders from airborne sand in the desert environment.
Falcon’s Flight anchors Six Flags Qiddiya City, the company’s first purpose-built theme park outside North America. The park includes 28 attractions across six themed lands. It features additional record-setting rides, including Iron Rattler, billed as the world’s tallest tilt coaster, and Spitfire, the world’s tallest inverting coaster.
The project is part of Qiddiya City, a massive entertainment and lifestyle development announced in 2017 as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative to diversify the kingdom’s economy beyond oil. Six Flags joined the project in 2019, with construction beginning in earnest in 2022 following pandemic-related delays. The park was built under a SAR 3.75 billion (approximately $ 1 billion) contract led by Bouygues Bâtiment International and the Saudi firm Almabani.
Tickets for Six Flags Qiddiya City start at $85 for adults and $70 for children, with premium skip-the-line options available for an additional cost. The park is located about 40 minutes from Riyadh and is positioned as a destination attraction, supported by future hotels, dining, retail, and sports venues planned across the broader Qiddiya development.
For Six Flags, the opening signals a strategic shift from its traditional regional park model toward large-scale international destinations. For the global amusement industry, Falcon’s Flight represents a rare moment in which multiple world records converge in a single attraction — a benchmark likely to shape the next generation of thrill ride development.
