| For more uses, see Batman: The Ride. |
Batman: The Ride is an inverted steel roller coaster located in DC Universe at Six Flags Great America. It is a prototype Inverted Coaster by Bolliger & Mabillard and opened on May 9, 1992.
This was the first of eight installations of the ride, seven of which still exist today. It was the first Inverted Coaster to be built and the fourth Bolliger & Mabillard coaster to be built.
History[]
Conception[]
The concept of an inverted steel roller coaster with inversions was developed by Six Flags Great America general manager Jim Wintrode in the early 1990s. To develop the idea, Wintrode worked with Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard from the Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard and engineer Robert Mampe. Although the full cost of the ride has never been disclosed, it was the single biggest investment made by Six Flags Great America on one attraction at the time it opened. Being the first, Great America's Batman has a few unique features. For one, it is designed to fit in the narrow strip of space it has in the middle of Yankee Harbor so unlike many of the clones the ride is squeezed into the park and has very little space for the queue line. As a result, the ride has three entrances, the main one (Gotham City Park), the first overflow queue where the entrance is behind the Jack's Snacks stand, and the second overflow entrance was built in Orleans Place next to Cajun Cliffhanger (now Mardi Gras next to The Joker). It was the first roller coaster to be themed to a DC character and exemplified Time Warner's raised interest in Six Flags Theme Parks.
The Lobster flat ride was repainted black and purple and renamed to East River Crawler to fit in with the darker more gothic theme because of the proximity to Batman, and because Batman's overflow queue uses East River Crawler's queue house.
Opening[]
Batman: The Ride officially opened to the public on May 9, 1992. When the ride opened, wait times could consistently reach up to three hours long.
Coaster Sign
ACE Landmark dedication[]
On June 20, 2005, at Coaster Con XXVIII, the American Coaster Enthusiasts dedicated Batman: The Ride with Coaster Landmark status.
Experience[]
Entrance Archway
Queue[]
Guests enter through the main entrance, an archway that reads "Gotham City Park". Upon entering the queue, guests make a left turn and pass by a Bruce Wayne plaque. This section features numerous winding pathways, a birdhouse, a vine wall and hidden speakers that play children and bird sound effects. At the back of the area is a Gotham Public Works banner. There is a switchback next to a fountain that leads around a path. As they wind through the park, the tone becomes more ominous. Throughout the queue are sound effects of construction equipment. Guests then go to the Streets Section, modeled after Anton Furst's award-winning set design for the original Batman film, featuring a crime-ridden and dirty environment, with wrecked cars, discarded pieces of equipment, crumbling concrete, a broken highway overpass and a Gotham City Police Car riddled with bullet holes. This area also has sound effects of vehicles, sirens, criminals, police chases, gunshots and barking dogs that can be heard from time to time. There are several switchbacks and televisions in the area. Guests then enter a drain tunnel with a sign that says "Broad Ave. Storm Drain Access" above it, which leads into the Batcave upstairs. In the Batcave, they can see the Batsuit inside of a case, and they enter one of the terminals to get on the train.
There is an extended queue line located to the right of the entrance. It is a switchback section that formerly used the East River Crawler queue house.
Layout[]
Batman: The Ride begins with the track floor descending. The train moves out of the station and up a 100-ft tall chain lift hill. At the top of the hill the train dips down through a Bolliger & Mabillard "pre-drop", coasts down a 180-degree swoop to the left, and drops 85 feet into the first 360-degree vertical loop, reaching a maximum speed of 50 mph. It then flips through a zero-g roll to the right, followed by another vertical loop. The train then travels upward around a tight helix to the left, then through a wider turn to the right, drops slightly, and quickly turns through the first wingover element, also known as a flat spin or corkscrew. Following this is a tight right turn and another wingover, then a tight left turnaround before the train enters the final brake run into the building.
Soundtrack[]
Safety Guide
The soundtrack of Batman: The Ride primarily features songs from the 1989 film Batman, but it also includes songs from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) and Batman Forever (1995).
Gotham City Park[]
- "Waltz to the Death" - Danny Elfman
- "The Arms of Orion" - Prince
- "Trust" - Prince
Batmobile
Drain tunnel & Batcave[]
- "The Batman Theme" - Danny Elfman
- "Descent into Mystery" - Danny Elfman
- "Mask of the Phantasm Main Theme" - Shirley Walker
- "First Love" - Shirley Walker
- "The Passenger" - Michael Hutchence
- "Partyman" - Prince
- "Electric Chair" - Prince
- "In My Memory Gabriel & Dresden Remix" - Tiësto
- "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" - U2
- "Kiss from a Rose" - Seal
Characteristics[]
A train climbing the Lift Hill
Structure[]
Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great America features a maximum height of 100 feet, while the installations to follow reached 105 feet. Each installation of Batman: The Ride has a track length of approximately 2,700 feet. The rides reach a top speed of 50 mph and exert up to four times the force of gravity. Batman: The Ride operates with two steel and fiberglass trains, each containing eight cars. Each car seats four riders in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.
A train going through the Zero-G Roll
Ride exit[]
The ride exit is a long ramp that goes to the ground. It is found on other Batman: The Ride Clones.
Ride layout[]
The ride's layout was specifically designed to fit in the Yankee Harbor area at Six Flags Great America, although the layout for each successive version of the ride is identical or a mirror image of the original.
Batman: The Ride's current yellow track and purple supports the color scheme.
Color scheme[]
The ride opened with a black color scheme to match the theme of Tim Burton's Batman until 2004 when the track was painted yellow and supports dark purple. The clone at Six Flags Great Adventure was also repainted with the same colors in 2004.
Changes[]
- In 2004, the themed graffiti on the walls in the streets of the Gotham area of the queue was painted over due to confusion with real graffiti, and the walls were repainted a solid black/grey.
- A tribute to the people responsible for the creation of the coaster on the wall in Gotham City Park (Jim Wintrode the GM, Bolliger & Mabillard) however this was removed when the cityscape was redone in 2008.
- The Batmobile had its own photo plaza in front of the ride up 2001 and Whirligig (swing ride) was moved across the midway to make space for Vertical Velocity. The Batmobile is now in between Batman's entrance and Whirligig. The queue is still original as of right now.
- Sometime in October 2022, the ride received a sign in the middle of where you board the train describing the ride.
Awards[]
| Golden Ticket Awards: Top Steel Roller Coasters | |
|---|---|
| Year | 1998 |
| Position | 23 (tie with Mr. Freeze) |
| Golden Ticket Awards: Best Themed Ride | |
|---|---|
| Year | 1998 |
| Position | 1 (tie with Nemesis and Alpengeist) |
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Queue Photos[]
Exterior Photos[]
Ride Layout Photos[]
References[]
External links[]
- Batman The Ride | Six Flags Great America
Batman: The Ride at Wikipedia- Batman The Ride at the Roller Coaster DataBase
