Six Flags Great Adventure to add new flipping roller coaster

Six Flags Great Adventure is adding a new attraction to its arsenal.

On Thursday, the Jackson, N.J.-based park, known for such roller coasters as El Toro, Kingda Ka, Nitro and 2015's El Diablo, announced it will add a new ride in 2016: Total Mayhem.

Groups of eight riders will strap into five separate free-moving vehicles. At the start, the vehicles are first pulled up a 12-story, 90-degree hill along an elevator-style chain-link lift, and then dropped into a chaotic thrill ride of twists and turns that sends the vehicles - and the riders strapped inside - into a complete flip six times throughout the run.

The journey is capped off by two "raven" drops, which give riders a free-falling sensation.

John Fitzgerald, park president, described the new ride in a news release: "This new, vertical coaster that delivers gravity-defying somersaults with utter unpredictability."

The ride will officially open in spring 2016.