10 Great Adventure Retired Coasters We Still Miss

Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ, is open for the 2026 season and is unveiling five new or relocated rides, themed food, and improvements to its boardwalk ambience.

In roller coaster news at Great Adventure, the park has promised major upgrades to the El Toro wooden coaster this year.

While we wait for 2027's major unveiling of the new roller coaster nicknamed "Project Purple," which is still being constructed, let's take a look back at some other coasters we loved over the years at Great Adventure.

Remembering 10 of Great Adventure's Best Retired Coasters

Since Six Flags Great Adventure opened on July 4th, 1974, the park has had 53 operating roller coasters.

By the way, the oldest of them, the Runaway Mine Train, which opened the same day as Great Adventure, is still rolling today.

But many of Great Adventure's other coasters have gone on to the great amusement park in the sky. In other words, they were disassembled and hauled off to a junkyard somewhere.

This is a fond look back at a few of the favorites you can no longer ride, but which brought excitement to thousands of roller coaster fans in their prime.

Or, if you're like me, they just scared the crap out of you for a few minutes.

The Retired Coasters Remembered Here

The coasters chosen for this gallery span the decades of Great Adventure

You will see photos of the 1970s and '80s favorite Lightning Loops, and Rolling Thunder -- which opened in '79 and closed in 2013 -- right up to Green Lantern and Kingda Ka, which just ended their run.

A couple of my favorite coaters from years past are featured.

There's the 1980s Ultra Twister, which was so intimidating that it offered a "chicken exit" in the line for guests who lost their nerve at the last moment.

And, The Great American Scream Machine, which I test-rode on opening day 1989, and I've always felt contributed to my vertigo issues afterward.

But it was really fun at the time.