Six Flags Over Texas · Tower Section
The New Texas Giant
The 2011 wooden-to-steel conversion that started the entire modern hybrid-coaster era — a 79-degree drop on a wooden structure with ejector airtime.
Ride facts
- Type
- Roller coaster
- Height
- 48in (122cm)
- Intensity
- Intense
- Motion sickness
- Moderate motion risk
- Getting wet
- Stay dry
- Indoor / outdoor
- Outdoor
- Air conditioned
- No
- Rider Switch
- Available
Last verified July 2026
What it is
The Texas Giant was a 1990 wooden coaster famous for its size. In 2011 Rocky Mountain Construction replaced its track with fabricated steel and rewrote the layout: steeper than wood allows, faster than the original, with airtime hills that throw rather than float. The conversion worked so well it spawned a decade of imitators — Twisted Colossus, Goliath at Great America, Iron Rattler in San Antonio — making this ride arguably the most influential single coaster of the century so far.
The New Texas Giant runs on the original wooden structure, which gives it the look of a woodie and the behavior of a steel coaster. The signature is the first drop: 79 degrees from 153 feet, taken in a lap-bar-only train.
For visitors building a Texas coaster trip, this and San Antonio's Iron Rattler are the two hybrid milestones of the same construction company, four hours apart. Riding both is the regional pilgrimage.
What riding it is actually like
The lift climbs through the original Giant's structure, and the drop at the top is a wall — you steer down it rather than fall. The first airtime hill delivers ejector float that lap-bar-only trains make famous, and the middle section carves the quarry edge in banked turns that wood could never hold.
The back half is a series of pops and dives that never fully settle, ending in a helix that pulls hard into the brake run. It rides bigger than its statistics — the structure creaks like a woodie while the track performs like steel, and the dissonance is the experience.
Re-ride the back car. The airtime amplitude at the rear axle is the whole argument for the hybrid era, and this is where it started.
Is The New Texas Giant scary?
The 79-degree first drop is one of the steepest on any wood-structured coaster, and the airtime hills eject rather than float. The fear is physical — steep and fast — not thematic.
Scores are editorial, on a 1–5 scale, judged against what frightens a typical four- to seven-year-old rather than an adult.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair
- Must transfer to the ride vehicle
- Audio description
- Not offered
- Handheld captioning
- Not offered
- Assistive listening
- Not offered
- Sign language
- Not offered
- Service animals
- Must use a kennel or wait with a companion
Transfer into hybrid-coaster trains with lap-bar restraints.
Tips that actually help
- Back car for the airtime — the ejector hills are the ride's signature and strongest there.
- Ride mid-morning; the queue builds by eleven and holds all afternoon.
- Lap bars only: this is one of the best big coasters for riders who dislike shoulder harnesses.
Timing
- Best time to ride
- The first two hours after open.
- Typical wait
- 30–60 minutes in season; under 20 on spring weekdays.
- line-skip passes
- Covered by a line-skip pass
The New Texas Giant: common questions
Is the New Texas Giant a wooden coaster?
It is a hybrid: the original wooden structure carries new steel track. It looks wooden, sounds wooden, and rides like a modern steel coaster — that combination is exactly why its 2011 conversion started a movement.
What is the height requirement?
48 inches, with lap-bar restraints rather than shoulder harnesses — a good first big coaster for the 48-to-54 bracket.
How does it compare to Iron Rattler?
Iron Rattler in San Antonio is the same construction company's next-generation work and rides the walls of a quarry — more dramatic setting, slightly smoother. The Giant is steeper and more airtime-focused. Enthusiasts ride both and argue politely.