Tormenta Rampaging Run: First Impressions & Ride Review

Earlier this week Six Flags Over Texas announced the updated public opening date (July 9) for Tormenta Rampaging Run, the park’s record breaking dive coaster that had recently experienced a setback causing the initial date to be pushed. Riders anxious to tame the bull questioned whether the park would offer any kind of passholder preview for the ride as is often done with new attractions, but nothing came from the park…

Until Friday July 3, when park guests were greeted with a sign indicating the Tormenta was in “technical rehearsals” (a popular amusement industry phrase indicating they’ll be running the ride but no guarantees it won’t shut down for extended periods) and that season passholders and members could ride.

This caused a fury of park fans changing their day’s plans to instead make it out to the park and experience Tormenta for the first time, nearly a week before its grand opening. We hadn’t planned to go to the park this day, but obviously upon seeing this unexpected news, we quickly altered our plans to head out to the park.

Spain Plaza

Guests are first greeted by a brand new Spain area portal. You can compare the old and new versions:

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  Sign welcoming visitors to the Spain section

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  The redone portal to the Spain area perfectly frames Tormenta's statue and entrance

Then upon walking in, a giant bull statue forms the centerpiece of the remodeled Spain plaza.

Tormenta’s entrance is directly behind the statue, just beyond a ramp between the old Conquistador fountains that were preserved despite the park making the difficult, unplanned decision to remove the popular swinging ship ride.

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  Tormenta's entrance reuses elements of Conquistador's entrance

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  Conquistador's fountains were reused around Tormenta's entrance, preserving some of the park's legacy

Overall the Spain area looked great, despite it still not being complete. Cocina Abuela, the new restaurant that is slated to become the park’s largest dining location, is still a ways off from opening, as it still appeared to be in the foundation phase.

To compensate for Cocina Abuela still being a ways out, the park brought in two food trucks. One offers chicken torta sandwiches and elote, while the other serves the ubiquitous chicken tender (a throwback to Rancho de Pollo/Totally Kickin’ Chicken perhaps).

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  Two food trucks are parked just outside of the Spain area while Cocina Abuela construction continues

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  This food truck offers chicken tortas and elote

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  One of the food trucks serves chicken tenders and Fruta Loca

There is still a large construction wall surrounding the Cocina Abuela area now, which the park plastered with scenes of a (presumably) Spanish village.

Tormenta’s Queue

As you pass through Tormenta’s Alamo-esque entrance, you take an immediate right toward the queue. This is an initial stretch of unshaded area and can be a bit brutal if the line isn’t moving (which it didn’t for some time upon our initial arrival due to a biological cleanup).

Things improve a bit when you get to the main switchback area, which has several pergolas to help provide shade. There are also several fans with misters, in addition to large temporary fans the park brought in to try and help keep people cool.

Still though, the shade and misters weren’t quite enough for everyone on this sweltering day (it is July in Texas after all). We saw at least one person on the ground overheated and awaiting medical attention. As always, be sure to start hydrating before you even get to the park, and always bring a drink with you into the queue. We experienced several temporary stoppages during our waits, most of which seemed due to cleanups (which could have been caused by the extreme heat or the final brake run, but more on that later). The shade and misters seemed to make the line bearable if the ride was running, but weren’t fully adequate during the more significant delays.

As the queue winds towards the station, an attendant gives the spiel about no loose articles being allowed on the ride. Luckily, Tormenta offers free pass-thru lockers (one of the greatest things to come to the park in years). Riders use one of three kiosks to enter a personal code and claim a locker, though remembering your locker number and code are on you as no barcodes or receipts are given.

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  Just before the station stairs, guests have a chance to use the free ride lockers

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  Tormenta offers free ride lockers to ensure riders secure any loose articles

Immediately after the stairs is the station. Rows were being assigned but you could probably have asked to sit in a specific row (we didn’t try).

There honestly aren’t a lot of switchbacks or room for an extended queue, so the park seems confident the ride will eat through the lines. We timed our wait time from starting at the beginning of the main, covered switchback area and found it only took about 30 minutes from there to boarding. And this was with them only loading 2 of the 3 trains—a ride op explained that train 1 hadn’t yet cycled enough for passengers so it kept cycling empty.

Finally, it was time to experience Tormenta Rampaging Run.

Tormenta’s Ride Experience

As the loading gates open you board the comically wide trains. The restraints are flexible vest-like restraints, not the hard over-the-shoulder restraints of the past. It’s worth mentioning here that Tormenta not only has a minimum height requirement (48″) but also a maximum height requirement of 78″ (6′ 6″), likely due to the restraint design. People right at this upper limit mentioned it was a tight fit getting into the train, though there is a test seat available at the entrance.

After riders are loaded, it’s time to dispatch. As a mechanical engineer, I absolutely love the motion of the collapsing floor.

The train pushes out of the station and into the signature B&M ‘dip and turn’ they so often make between the station and start of the lift hill. The steep lift hill starts out normal and then accelerates to a brisk pace. Speakers along the lift hill begin to chant “Tormenta! Tormenta!” but honestly you only really hear it once you get to the top, with the loud anti-rollbacks drowning out most of the audio.

At the top of the lift as the train makes its left turn towards the holding brake and first drop, it really starts to settle in how high up above the ground you are. Adding to the thrill/fear is the physical swaying you actually feel. The train creeps toward the signature dive coaster holding brake and briefly gives you amazing views of the park and Judge’s entry lake (if you can actually take them in). And then, you are headed (more than) straight down.

The drop is the best part of any dive coaster, and Tormenta Rampaging Run is no exception. It’s a freefall that is noticeably long. Before you know it, you are experiencing some decent positive G’s as you transition up and into the initial massive Immelmann inversion, which definitely feels like it takes a while and gives a little bit of hangtime at the top. Next up is the vertical loop which the train speeds through, again generating some positive G’s. Next up is the modified Immelmann which sends you into a twisting element into the midcourse brake.

I’ve ridden several other dive coasters and without fail the midcourse brake tends to kill the momentum of the ride. Tormenta is unfortunately no exception here, with the train being brought to a complete stop as it approaches the second half of the ride. Still, the second half of Tormenta is fun and offers some great headchoppers and elements, and it still offers more than most other dives give in their second half.

As the train rockets toward the brake run, Tormenta’s most peculiar element starts—the brake run. The first set of brakes are magnetic and offer the smooth, pleasant slowing you would expect, but then come the pneumatic brakes. I don’t know if it’s just programming that will be improved down the road or what, but they do this absolutely bizarre, herky-jerky start/stop behavior that is reminiscent of a teenager learning to drive. Riders look like synchronized headbangers as the train is repeatedly stopped and released along the brake run before it comes to a final stop. It seems to be due to the steepness of the brake run itself that the brakes have to stop the train so frequently to adequately control its speed. I saw reports of this making some people nauseous, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the final brake run alone was the cause of at least some of the cleanups. Keep in mind that this entire article is a report of the first day of the ride’s technical rehearsals, and that anything and everything is subject to improvement.

Overall Tormenta is undeniably fun and thrilling and will absolutely be a world-class coaster for Six Flags Over Texas. It creates this giant billboard for the park that can be seen for miles around. Its location that everyone walks by as they enter the park only builds more anticipation and excitement. Tormenta is legitimately a great ride in my opinion.

Does it Rattle?

No Tormenta review would be complete without addressing one of the questions coaster enthusiasts have about every new B&M coaster—does it rattle? For the unaware, this is a hotly debated topic in the “thoosie” world where recent models of B&M coasters seem to have a noticeable rattle or vibration, the theory being looser track tolerances that causes the train to essentially wiggle a bit. You also have to remember that no group hates coasters more than coaster enthusiasts, so you have to take the pedantic critiques of such a relatively small aspect of a giant coaster with a grain of salt.

For full disclosure, we were only able to get one ride on Tormenta in during our visit before succumbing to the heat. I rode in row 2 on the far right seat. While I wouldn’t say I would classify my experience as having a rattle, it did have a noticeable jostle at times as the train sped through the first half elements. I classify it as a jostle instead of a rattle because it felt like a lower frequency than a true rattle vibration.

Still, I wouldn’t say this negatively detracted from the ride experience. I don’t expect a 300+ ft ride that hits 87 mph to be completely smooth. And keep in mind I was on the outermost seat where this effect is going to be at its worst. I expect (and saw reports of) seats closer to the middle being even smoother. To me, the “rattle” is a non-issue on Tormenta and one that you only notice if you’re specifically looking for it (and something that’s not going to factor in with the general public).

After Riding

After taming the bull, you exit Tormenta’s station and have an option to return to the pass-through lockers. From there, it’s a straightforward path back to the Spain plaza. Tormenta has a on-ride photo stand along the exit that has seemingly poor placement as it creates this bottleneck blocking the exit. Hopefully they either move it or move back the railing that prevents a proper flow of people.

Tormenta’s station gives a great view of the Six Flags Railroad and shows that the park still needs to install new track and connect it with the existing track behind El Aserradero. That’s obviously going to take some time so I don’t expect the train to be running around the park anytime soon.

Closing Thoughts

Thinking back on how we got to this point has been quite a roller coaster ride if you can excuse the pun. After years of a visibly declining park, Cedar Fair entered the equation and merged with Six Flags reigniting hope for Six Flags Over Texas’ future. Though I don’t think a record-breaking dive coaster the scale of Tormenta was in anyone’s cards for the park, it was announced back in 2024 and then officially announced with details of the name and theme in late 2025. The park saw a flurry of improvements and enhancements throughout 2025 in preparation for this year, the park’s 65th anniversary.

Things certainly still aren’t perfect at the park, with limited ride operations and closures remaining at the forefront of many visitors’ minds. But Tormenta and the reimagined Spain area are certainly a step in the right direction. The park’s landscaping and cleanliness are absolutely on point and if the park can get operations (and ride refurbishment schedules) back on track, it will undoubtedly return as the flagship park it deserves to be.