Six Flags Over Georgia to add new roller coaster for 2011 season

Dare Devil Dive, to cost $9 million, was custom-designed and engineered by Germany-based Gerstlauer Rides. It is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend in 2011.

Six Flags would not disclose anticipated attendance figures for the new coaster.

In a press release, the company described the ride this way: (The) "mission begins with guests being pulled straight up to the sky on a special vertical chain lift, then slowly rolling to the top of the tower nearly 100 feet in the air. After an agonizing pause at the crest of the summit, the coaster car plummets downward at an angle that is beyond straight down -- it actually angles inward at a blistering 52 miles per hour.

"The ride then careens through a thrilling combination of diving loops while executing three inversions before riders catch air on a zero gravity hill and swoop across the dreaded Immelmann vertical U turn stretched high above the ground. the crescendo builds as the car drives toward the ground and up in to a Heartline roll before being slowed by the magnetic brakes."

Besides Goliath, some of the the park's other popular roller coasters include Batman: The Ride, and Superman: Ultimate Flight.

The park is owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., a Dallas-based publicly-traded company that bills itself as the largest regional theme park operator in the world. It has 19 parks in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The company emerged from a Chapter 11 restructuring earlier this year. It reported strong second quarter 2010 financial results, with revenue up 7 percent in the quarter as a result of increased attendance and sponsorship, the company said.