Magic Mountain passed up SFNE's The Dark Knight coaster

Based on all the lackluster reviews for this ride, I'm kind of relieved.

http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/dark-knight-roller-c-2280/

I don't blame them, it has had a horrible reception in Great Adventure (never have I seen so many people saying a coaster was horrible) and I guess Great America as well and with SFMM being so close to Disney and Universal, I would think the reception would even be worse there. *** Edited 7/21/2008 4:23:31 AM UTC by YoshiFan***

I kinda hope they just build the coaster without the DK theming at some other SF park that would benefit from a great family coaster.

Am I like the only one who enjoyed DK?

I think there's a lot of psychology involved with the dislike of this ride and I suspect a plain vanilla mouse coaster would have been better received.

I think people are expecting an entirely different ride inside that enticing mystery box. I think the preshow/theme is too good for the ride that follows. I think the effect along the ride are well done, but that the story never really resolves and ends up not quite making sense or delivering closure.

Add that all up and you have people going, "That's it!? Man, that sucked."

It's a shame too, because even at its core it's easily one of the better mouse rides - untrimmed on the top and living up to the 'wild' title - and the preshow and theme are really well done.

coasterimage - lordgonchar

Funny, because it was probably the *only* mouse that I would prefer to be trimmed a little bit. The thing was going so fast I hardly got to soak in any of the theming!

YoshiFan said:
I don't blame them, it has had a horrible reception in Great Adventure (never have I seen so many people saying a coaster was horrible) and I guess Great America as well and with SFMM being so close to Disney and Universal, I would think the reception would even be worse there. *** Edited 7/21/2008 4:23:31 AM UTC by YoshiFan***

It only has a horrible reception from teenagers who expect it to be an intense thrill ride. The ride is a hit with families and younger kids which the ride was built for. I also enjoyed the ride and by the looks of the lines for it everytime i go i would say it is a hit.

The fact of the matter is, marketing was done poorly for this ride seeing as it was built as a ride for the whole family, but themed to a movie which is tailored to a more adult audience and then advertised to the hilt as the newest greatest rollercoaster in the park. If they advertised it as it is instead of building this false hype and if they would have chosen a more appropriate family theme or have chosen a ride with better capacity, it probably would have been more successful.

Still, even after all of that, SFGAm already had a wild mouse and it was ridiculous for this economy to pay for a second one.

Mildly amused since 2003.

I haven't heard one good thing about the one installed here in NJ so I imagine the execs at SFMM are somewhat relieved to have passed on the ride. That move left them open to get a ride for the '09 season that will likely be a lot better.

Pretty much. There's a strong disconnect between the ride itself and the thematic elements, not to mention previous Batman themed rides. For coaster enthusiasts, we all know what's inside the box. For other folks, there's no indication of what kind of ride is inside other than the theme, and the theme is tied to a very dark, very violent crime drama, not to mention there is precedent for other Batman coasters being hard-core thrill rides.

There were certainly ways a highly-themed mouse could have been more successful in these parks but I don't think they're going to squeeze every drop of value out of these coasters. Having a mouse in a box is by no means some sort of disaster but for the money I think better decisions could have lead to a more sustained ridership in the future.

Lord Gonchar said:Am I like the only one who enjoyed DK?
It's a shame too, because even at its core it's easily one of the better mouse rides - untrimmed on the top and living up to the 'wild' title - and the preshow and theme are really well done.

I really thought DK was very enjoyable, and will probably garner some re-ridership among the pre-teens and their parents. The mouse itself ran VERY fast, the theming was very good (even if it did go by a tad quickly), and the pre-show/station tied in to the entire experience.

The thing many *enthusiasts* don't seem to get is that the DK rides are part of the retrenchment into the "family entertainment" concept that the old guys abandoned in favor of drawing a seemingly endless flood of teenagers...

^What part of the theming do you consider "very good?"

When I went on it a week and a half ago, I noticed that the section after the hairpin turns was completely unthemed. The only cool thing was hearing the Joker's voice through one of the tunnels. If this attraction even has a story, its very hard to follow. I also thought the preshow was too long.

I haven't been on either of them, but I would rather just see the thing built somewhere instead of not.. even if that means skipping the theme.

If the public isn't liking it, then they have a real problem.

I love the one at SFGAdv. I was expecting to only ride it once, but I've actually waited through a lengthy line on three different visits now. I much prefer it to Kingda Ka and Superman. It has some wicked airtime in the back seat going down those fast drops. I love how fast the ride is through the turns.

I have no idea what the storyline is either, but there is lots of scenery in there, and that alone enhances the experience.

But I have to agree that many of the people exiting the ride express major disappointment. People are actually much more enthused by Rolling Thunder despite what most enthusiasts think of that ride.

AV Matt
Long live the Big Bad Wolf

Even though it fell extremely short of my expectations -- you have to admit it is the best "immersive" on-ride theming job that SFI has done to date and that is saying something.

SWOOSH -- MidwestInfoGuide.COM

Judging by the company I'm keeping, I'm not sure I want to like it anymore. ;)

Nice to see others feel at least kind of like I did.

coasterimage - lordgonchar

Swoosh said:
you have to admit it is the best "immersive" on-ride theming job that SFI has done to date and that is saying something.

Why is that "saying something" ? What previous SF attractions have set the bar so high in the past?

Judging by the POV's people have taken the ride is nothing like the animation was. The animation one actually looked GREAT, but the ride looks like a total bore, even to the younger ones. Short, no drops, just turns, and very little theming.

Gonch, you're not alone, and I personally enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. It's a lot more comfortable than the other mice. I cringed when I heard it was similar to the Dorney and Hershey versions where our entire groups felt pain on every turn, while here I admit the turns were fast, but it wasn't painful.

I didn't see much of the storyline at all, and much of the scenery seemed to have bad timing like starting late so that we were already past it when whatever was supposed to be seen was visible.

Overall, it was a very decent ride and far better than that bad Spongebob replacement that won't even make it worth the wait for the air conditioning.

The negative reviews at Great America also have to come from the fact that they have practically the same exact ride sitting in the same section of the park. Only a better spinning version. What park needs 2 wild mice when there are sooooooooooooo many other types of coasters out there.

If they wanted something enclosed and unique they should have went for a Mack Euro-Sat.

So I wonder where this ride will end up. SFOT? SFFT? SFDK? SFA?