Skull Mountain is a steel

Steel roller coaster

A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world...

 enclosed

Enclosed roller coaster

An enclosed roller coaster is a roller coaster built inside a structure intended solely for the ride. This structure often imparts a theme or houses special effects...

 roller coaster

Roller coaster

The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...

 at Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation...

 in Jackson, NJ

Jackson Township, New Jersey

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 42,816 people, 14,176 households, and 11,269 families residing in the township. The population density was 427.9 people per square mile . There were 14,640 housing units at an average density of 146.3 per square mile...

.

Ride experience

After ascending the 1st lift hill, the train travels around the front facade of the enclosure to ascend the second lift hill. The first drop is the ride's only steep drop, while the rest of the ride contains three horizontal helices.

The building is punctuated by strobe lights, and sound effects play over a heavy metal music score. On occasion, the park turns on the ride's exterior waterfall, which falls from the exterior skull's eyes, and pours down into the water below, wetting guests in the ride's queue. Although this hasn't been occurring as often, you can find the water falling on hot, crowded summer days.

While all of the park's coasters (except Kingda Ka

Kingda Ka

Kingda Ka is a roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, USA. It is the world's tallest roller coaster, and was the world's fastest until Formula Rossa opened in November 2010. The train is launched by a hydraulic launch mechanism to in 3.5 seconds. At the end of...

) will operate in the rain, Skull Mountain remains open during thunderstorm

Thunderstorm

A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...

s, since it is enclosed.

History

Skull Mountain was opened in 1996 and is one of three roller coasters at the park with a 44 inches (1,117.6 mm) height requirement. The top height of the ride is 41 feet (12.5 m).

When the coaster first opened, the lights were on and the coaster seemed slow. In 2010, Skull Mountain's lights were no longer on; the only lights during the main ride that are on are the strobe lights during the brake run. In 2010, during the ride, Skull Mountain seemed darker and faster, and during Fright Fest 2010, it was one of the most popular rides.