Namtab 2013 at Great America

Turns out the awful rumors about Batman: The Ride running backwards had substance to them- Gurnee's Batman looks to be the latest roller coaster that Six Flags flips the direction the train is facing. Luckily, it's only for the 2013 season.

On the plus side, no indication of on-board audio, fire, or cardboard cutouts being strewn about the ride's course this time.

http://sfgamworld.com/section.php?page=newfor2013

I rode Freeze backwards last season, nothing to write home about. The climb up the vertical spike and subsequent drop turned into a mundane stretch of track, and it took the punch out of the launch which didn't have much to begin with. Unfortunately, I can see this sort of gimmick going chain-wide during years that SF Park X doesn't have any actual addition.

I don't know how I feel about Batman running backwards. It's a strange idea. Might make for an interesting ride though.

I think the new Mr Freeze shifted from a front seat to a back seat ride. Or, wait... what used to be the back seat, now at the front of the train. At least that's where backward spikes are best experienced, right?
And on rides like reverse Batman, does the back seat suddenly become the most popular? With station queue modifications? Or does the general public still go for the lead car thinking its more desirable?
Speaking of lead cars, those early B&M inverteds have the two lead cars hooked together for a two-row nose car, with subsequent rows trailering off of it. If the train's turned backwards, does that need to be reconfigured? Or does it not matter if the 'stable' car is in the front or the back? My initial thought is that it doesn't. Anyone?

Sounds like a terrible idea, and I have a hard time believing that B&M would endorse it. That's a fairly intense ride, engineered for forward facing people. I wouldn't ride it.

From folks that were at NoCoaster, it sounds like B&M is making 2 special chassis for the ride. They are marketing this as a "limited time" experience with no word on how long that will be. The impression is that the chassis will be moving onto other Batman rides after Chicago has had their spins.

I'd rather ride Batman forward (it's the perfect invert IMHO), but am looking forward to taking a spin in the forward most track facing row. (Back row?)

To elaborate a little on the details, to run backwards, the ride will have new chassis which the existing seats will be mounted to. Additionally, while Batman is running backwards, the trains will only have 7 cars due to the station set up. Basically, with the trains reversed, they have to drop the eighth car so that the train will fit over the floor platen and within the restraint platen.

Given that it is for a limited time only, and that new chassis aren't cheap, it is probably safe to speculate that these special chassis will be rotated around to other Batmen.

The park hasn't officially defined "Limited Time" yet, other than it starts opening day, but the rumor is 2 months.

Jeff said:

Sounds like a terrible idea, and I have a hard time believing that B&M would endorse it. That's a fairly intense ride, engineered for forward facing people. I wouldn't ride it.

For once Im going to have to agree with Jeff on this one. There are some rides that were never meant to run in reverse and that is one of them.

I don't know how I feel about it. I'd try it for sure. But "NAMTAB" is my favorite part of the story...

Reminds me, I gotta finish watching Sesir Thgink Krad...I'm about halfway through.

I'm also curious to see how the general public lines up for this thing. Especially since that station is specially configured to allow a longer line for the "front" seat. Could lead to some chaos in the station.

Backwards Batman? Thanks, I'll pass.

.Mmmmm...CHAOS. I miss that ride.

I'd ride once, for the novelty.

From a marketing standpoint, it makes sense. The rep at No Coaster said something about the public responding well to deadlines; commercials about "Batman backwards -- only one more week!" will certainly drive attendance.

SFGAm Shock Wave said:

The park hasn't officially defined "Limited Time" yet, other than it starts opening day, but the rumor is 2 months.

I don't know whether or not this is true, but wouldn't it take them multiple weeks of testing to turn it forwards and whatever B:TR is next on the hitlist backwards? It seems like waiting until the off season or at least a month break between Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park (for applicable parks) would make more sense than taking 2 rides out of commission in the middle of the season.

Well, this is Six Flags we are talking about. They don't seem to care about things like ride closures and downtime.

Six Flags will not be the only company turning their B&M around this year. Seems this IS a B&M up sell kind of thing.

This gimmick works on me. I'd love to try some select B&M's backwards.

I wonder if Cedar Fair will eventually join the party...

CP could market SitnaM to all the guys so that they wouldn't have to worry about adding more family attractions.

LostKause said:
Well, this is Six Flags we are talking about. They don't seem to care about things like ride closures and downtime.

When was the last time you actually witnessed this yourself?

When he went to the park with Lennay Kekua.

Hollywood Dream (B&M's smallest 'hyper-like' coaster at 144') at Universal Studios Japan is running backwards this year (for a limited time as well). I figure the parks and B&M want to see how these backwards coasters will work out with riders over a test period; don't want any hurt necks or bloody noses!

Hollywood Dream is also a rare sappy song by the Runaways :)

Tekwardo said:

When was the last time you actually witnessed this yourself?

I haven't been to a Six Flags branded park about seven years, but I do read the CoasterBuzz trip reports on a regular basis.