Six Flags is cleaning up
Seeing as how the original Batman with its now 16 year old theme is still very popular and the character still resonates with people, I'd assume that the Dark Knight characters will have a similar drawing power.
If the ride is decent (and I mean the full experience, not just the track), I do think it could be a great draw.
thecoasterguy said:
Rollergator, interesting comment, but I have to disagree at least a bit. The Dark Knight rides may or may not end up as classics -- I don't think that it is easy to tell what will become a nostalgic ride before suddenly one day it is. The original Batman at Great America is a great example. I remember going to the park in 1992, and the ride was HUGELY popular and the park was constantly packed.When I stopped this year, Batman had a decent sized line for it. Sure, it wasn't as big as it was in 1992, but it was definitely bigger than most of the rides there. Next year, Batman will be 16 years old. At this point, you can't say the ride is "wearing off" and will get less popular in the future years. It has remained an amazingly popular ride.
Add to this the fact that those who are riding it for the first time now were probably not alive when the ride was built, and they can talk with their parents who can remember their first trip on it when they were younger (a 12 year old could have a parent who was 16 when they first rode, and that parent would now be 31), and it's just about there.
On the other hand, Iron Wolf at the same park was a complete walk on the day that I was there. It's older, but it is definitely *not* a classic ride.
Batman the Ride has been getting more popular since the new paint job on it was put on. People think it's a new ride because they painted it. I'm going to contradict myself now though. This year was a TERRIBLE year for Batman the Ride. I can't really tell if it was more popular, or it was just the workers.
It took so darn long for those trains to be dispatched this year. That was the worst crew in awhile for this year. If that's not bad enough, they had one train not working in the early season because they put brand new harnesses on that ride. It just took so darn long for them to dispatch the train! The Deja Vu crew was fast compared to Batman the Ride.
For Iron Wolf, it's just not that tolerable anymore. You are going to be in some pain after you ride that ride. They changed the harnesses in 2006, and it became a whole lot worse than it was before that time. These harnesses aren't soft anymore. You would get head banged, but the harnesses were nice and soft like pillows. Now, they are like rocks.
People say for Demon that they bang their head on the harnesses if they are younger, and they always say something like this, "This was too short of a ride." or "That wasn't worth it at all.", and of course I have once heard "This is no way comparable to Mindbender."
How long will the theming remain fresh and intact? History says "not too long". Unfortunately, the parks seem to think of the ride theming ONCE, and that's at construction. Anyone been on an Italian Job lately - not even Paramount kept up with theming. My best guess based on past performance is that the DK rides will be VERY popular, and a big draw....for a season. With luck, they might even get some off-season rehab after '07 and still be decent for '08. By '09, the "newness" will be gone, and likely the theming will begin to deteriorate badly. The ever-present ROI discussion will come about, and people will be talking about, and riding, the latest and greatest attractions.
Those Anton rides stuck around for a long time because they were great RIDES. S:RoS at SFNE retains its lofty status because it's a great RIDE. The DK rides are heavily-themed ATTRACTIONS. Eventually, the IP becomes stale, or the theming goes downhill, but in either case, these are great ideas that will do what they're supposed to do - draw people in for a year, maybe two at most.
As always, my $.02, feel free to argue otherwise...shoot, I encourage it! :)
You still have Zoidberg.... You ALL have Zoidberg! (V) (;,,;) (V)
Spinout said:
Batman the Ride has been getting more popular since the new paint job on it was put on. People think it's a new ride because they painted it.
Well, from my experience the ride was equally popular for the first half of the decade before the paint scheme change as it has been after. In fact, the longest line that I ever waited in for Batman was in 2002 before the paint change when I waited for about two and a half hours for it. That was longer than opening year!
And seriously, give the general public some credit. I have never once heard of anyone referring to the ride as a new ride. No one that I have ever been in line with thought it was.
rollergator said:
How long will the theming remain fresh and intact? History says "not too long". Unfortunately, the parks seem to think of the ride theming ONCE, and that's at construction. Anyone been on an Italian Job lately - not even Paramount kept up with theming. My best guess based on past performance is that the DK rides will be VERY popular, and a big draw....for a season. With luck, they might even get some off-season rehab after '07 and still be decent for '08. By '09, the "newness" will be gone, and likely the theming will begin to deteriorate badly. The ever-present ROI discussion will come about, and people will be talking about, and riding, the latest and greatest attractions.Those Anton rides stuck around for a long time because they were great RIDES. S:RoS at SFNE retains its lofty status because it's a great RIDE. The DK rides are heavily-themed ATTRACTIONS. Eventually, the IP becomes stale, or the theming goes downhill, but in either case, these are great ideas that will do what they're supposed to do - draw people in for a year, maybe two at most.
As always, my $.02, feel free to argue otherwise...shoot, I encourage it! :)
Actually, that was a great counter-point and one that I do for the most part agree with. However, as crazy as this might sound, I think that Six Flags will invest in the theming enough to keep it up to the early standards, or at least close to it.
The theming that has really rotted away from rides happened mainly in the Paramont Parks. Flight of Fear is a complete shell of the awesomeness that it once was. Italian Job is another great example. Top Gun at King's Island had the whole under-the-station thing re-routed / removed (?) from it.
But if you look at the original Batman ride, the theming there stuck around in relatively the same condition for about 12 years. Then in 2002 or 03 or whatever it was, when they decided to get rid of the graffiti and stuff to try to "clean up their image", they removed some of it... but when I was there in 2001 the tunnel had fog in it, the cop car had fog coming from it (both water fog, I believe, and not the original stage fog -- but I think the water fog looked as good and was probably much cheaper to maintain).
From what I remember, the only thing that the ride lost from when it came out to when they "cleaned it up" was the lights blinking on the back of the trains (anyone else remember how cool that looked?), the smoke in the tunnel at the end of the ride (which I heard was due to safety concerns in seeing the ride actually return), and the operator's outfits, which were removed park-wide at some point. During this time, it received a new soundtrack I believe (at least in the station), new stuff for the video monitors and those signs that tell you what to do. While it wasn't kept perfect, it was kept.
Also, at Great America, from everything that I remember, the only thing theming wise that has degraded or been removed since the Time Warner days was the moving snakes and bags in Viper's station. Hell, they even kept up the simulator thing pretty well.
So, I'll give Six Flags a pass *until* they allow the effects to degrade, at which point I will be the first to really nail them about it. I *hate* the way that Paramount made awesome stuff and then let it go to hell, and I really hope that doesn't happen.
As for the staying power of the Dark Knight as an intellectual property, I think that it could last a lot longer than just a little bit of time. The Batman character has been around for a LONG time and has remained popular throughout, and I believe that there are already plans for another Batman movie after this one. That could (should?) keep these rides relevant for a long time to come... IF they are taken care of.
And you *can* have classic attractions -- Look at Disney with Pirates of the Caribbean, or Haunted Mansion, or Tower or Terror for that matter. Those continue to draw people back time and time again, and the theming is a huge part of the draw, if not the entire thing. How many people would be interested in a serene boat ride for 7 minutes if there wasn't anything to look at?
We'll see. For now, Six Flags gets the benefit of my doubt.
Six Flags Great America, on rides doesn't have much theming. There isn't a lot of extra stuff on any of the rides like the cop car, broken bicycle, or Dedicated to Bruce Wayne stone besides Batman the Ride. I guess the other ride that has extras is the Demon with all those rocks, and lights in the tunneling. They used to run the waterfall, and that just stopped.
Six Flags seems to really theme some stuff, and doesn't care about others because it's costs a lot of money to do so. To me, a ride could be themed wonderfully, but if the ride isn't good, no one will care to go on it. If they themed a Huss Top Spin Faith Hill something or another, that still doesn't incline me to go on that ride. I may LOOK at the ride, and see how it looks, but it's still just a Top Spin. It's not going to get me on it.
When Six Flags stopped being owned by an *entertainment* company and began to be owned by a ride group again, the theming of stuff went out the window. Pretty much everything they did had nothing to do with the surrounding area, and had somewhere between absolutely none and the smallest amount of theming.
The people running Six Flags now come from an entertainment background again.
Same thing happened with Paramount. Pre-Paramount, pretty much no theming. Paramount takes over, things are themed (although left to rot). Cedar Fair -- a rides based company -- takes back over, and suddenly the latest stuff is pretty much unthemed again.
I'm not saying it is bad to be a rides based company (except in Six Flag's case, it was), but that I definitely have more trust that rides and stuff added by the parks will be better themed than in the past. I stopped and watched one of the Wiggles shows this past year, and I thought that it was very well done, and that the stage for it was done really well. I (for now at least) expect I'll see the same thing next year, only with a property that I really enjoy.
These rides could be taken out in the coming future (besides the ones you mentioned) because they are really "old": Fiddler's Fling, Ricochet, Triple Play, Sky Trek Tower, Hometown Fun Machine, Rue Le Dodge, Demon, Columbia Carousel, The Orbit, East River Crawler, and the Condor is aging. That's a lot of stuff.
Giant Drop could be taken out because many people don't like it anymore, and everyone knows how great Jester's Wild Ride is.
___These flat rides to which you refer are staples of Great America's (and Gurnee's) landscaping. Gurnee has an ordinance stating that no building or tower shall exceed the 300+ ft. height of Sky Trek Tower.
Also, Demon is a relic reminiscent of original looping coasters. Orbit's center logo is from Marriott's ownership days, and the ride was originally located in Orleans Place. Fiddler's Fling is the best stomach-sickening ride. East Rivier Crawler is no carnival Tarantula.
And Columbia Carousel should not go ANYWHERE!!
These rides can't be so hard to maintain that they should just disappear. Triple Play was back for 2007, so someone must understand the idea of maintiaining thrilling rides, even if they're not mega coasters.
Jester's Wild Ride is great to keep children busy. And leave Condor as it is! It was at its best as The Birds during Fright Fest!! *** Edited 11/29/2007 7:26:23 AM UTC by Jiggidy James***
Ronman said:
Just saying the words theming and Great America in the same sentence, scares me. I can't remeber the last time Batmans Tunnel had fog. Or when the police cars fog worked for that matter. Of course with 5 minute waits this past season who would notice. None of this matters Batman runs as good today as 16 years ago, and thats what counts. Same goes with the Viper, again great runnning coaster. Now for example the outstanding placement of V2 still catches my eye.
Dude, seriously. I'm sorry, but Burke is gone, and so are your "glory days" for the park. At this point, it is apparent that you aren't going to be convinced that you are wrong, and you aren't convincing anyone else that you're right, so please drop it.
I also find it ironic that you begun this post stating that Six Flags theming anything "scared you," yet ended it by talking about what a great job Six Flags did theming things this past year.
Jiggidy James said:
These rides can't be so hard to maintain that they should just disappear.
This is the new trend on Coasterbuzz - you get sore about garbage like Deja Vu (or whatever ride) getting dumped, you see the (very sensible, IMO) ride removals at parks like SFNE, you get a chip on your shoulder and put out the possibility of Shapiro pulling out half the rides at whichever Six Flags in order to get everyone else in the thread as inflamed as you are. It's not one person in particular but we've already done it with SFA, SFGAdv, SFNE, SFGAm, and probably others that I've missed.
thecoasterguy said:Pretty much, from what I have seen, when Time Warner ran the park, they themed stuff amazingly. Batman comes out of that time, as does the Freezes and Superman at MM.When Six Flags stopped being owned by an *entertainment* company and began to be owned by a ride group again, the theming of stuff went out the window. Pretty much everything they did had nothing to do with the surrounding area, and had somewhere between absolutely none and the smallest amount of theming.
The people running Six Flags now come from an entertainment background again.
I like you...you make me think. :)
And I really *hope* you're proved right about this "entertainment background" theory. My fear, which is only partially justifiable (50% reality, 50% oparanoia, LOL), is that Shapiro comes more from a SPORTS background. Then again, he has proved VERY adept as handling the need to re-draw from the FAMILY market.
I guess I've just seen more than my fair share of attractions that were once amazingly-well done, only to find a few years later the ride was basically the only thing LEFT from the so-called "glory days". I kinda wish people would stop using the B:TRs as an example of theming, they're basically half-junkyard/half-boneyard thrown around willy-nilly in support of the most forceful B&Ms ever built. GREAT rides, meh theming. My concern with the DK rides is that they're pretty much "meh" rides to begin with, and the theming IS what the attraction is...so IF the theming goes, you've got....not much.
Here's hoping my fears are proven to be unjustified. ;)
rollergator said:
I like you...you make me think. :)
Wow. I think that is the first time I've heard that on a coaster board. ;)
And I really *hope* you're proved right about this "entertainment background" theory. My fear, which is only partially justifiable (50% reality, 50% oparanoia, LOL), is that Shapiro comes more from a SPORTS background. Then again, he has proved VERY adept as handling the need to re-draw from the FAMILY market.
Well then, to make you think some more... a quick quote from DisneyWar by James B. Stewart:
DisneyWar said:
So the previous December, Shapiro spread the word that ESPN was looking for an original sports-themed dramatic series, something that would be "appointment TV" for the heavily male audience coveted by national advertisers. After all, the E in ESPN stood for "entertainment," and a successful original series would lessen ESPN's dependence on sports programming owned by others.
The show that he landed was called Playmakers and only lasted a season because the NFL thought it put the league in a bad light, but it was the reason that Shapiro's star went shooting off and why he was considered to head ABC at one point, and then ended up defecting to Six Flags.
His biggest success on a personal level (and ratings level, just not NFL level) was creating an entertainment show on an otherwise all-sports network.
I guess I've just seen more than my fair share of attractions that were once amazingly-well done, only to find a few years later the ride was basically the only thing LEFT from the so-called "glory days". I kinda wish people would stop using the B:TRs as an example of theming, they're basically half-junkyard/half-boneyard thrown around willy-nilly in support of the most forceful B&Ms ever built. GREAT rides, meh theming. My concern with the DK rides is that they're pretty much "meh" rides to begin with, and the theming IS what the attraction is...so IF the theming goes, you've got....not much.
I would argue your point on the Batman rides and their theming. Of all the themed coasters out there, while the queue line wasn't as big or as detailed as a ride like Dueling Dragons, the ride actually told a story from the start of the actual line to the ride itself. When you got in line, you first saw the Gotham City Park, the area that Bruce Wayne had helped to donate and make the city better. Kids were playing (or whatever those noises were, that's what I always thought they were), birds were chirping, and it seemed like the future looked very good.
Then, you headed into the seeded underbelly of Gotham, where crime still ruled and there was garbage just decaying everywhere because no one was willing to clean it up. There was a shot out cop car, and there were tons of problems being radioed to the police. It was more than anyone could expect to handle. You needed to find someone who could help.
So, you went into the drain tunnel thing that was the way to get to the Batcave, and after getting to the end of it, you took the secret passage way up to the Batcave itself to try to find and alert Batman. When you got there, Batman wasn't there, but something was wrong, so Batman was sending emergency vehicles to aid in your escape. You boarded the train, and were sent on a ride where you were essentially avoiding whatever this bad force was until you got back to the station, at which point Batman had again assured that the day was safe, and you were free to continue on to explore the rest of Gotham City.
...
Admittedly, the theming got progressively less impressive for every ride past the first one that was made (until Premier took over and made the SFNO one which was just Batman in name only), but the story was always the same. It made sense start to finish, and for the technology that they had at the time the first one was built, it worked perfectly.
Since the removal of the garbage to clean things up, it has completely muddled the middle of the story because instead of the seedy underbelly, they are replaced with nice clean areas. Yes, the garbage looked like, well, garbage, but at the same time it was an important part to the story.
And, when it comes to the Batman story, I don't know what other sorts of theming really could've been done to the ride. Unlike other highly themed coasters like Space Mountain, Flight of Fear, and Big Thunder Mountain, having it associated with Batman already gave it a storyline constraint, and the ride gave you the opportunity to see just about all the major parts of the Batman story. It's hard to ask for much more out of a themed ride, in my opinion. The only thing that Batman didn't do is show any real scenes to the story during the ride, but because of the train configuration and the speed of the ride, it would have been really hard to do this anyway. The only thing that I think could've been done is a figure at the end of the ride of Batman assuring you that you are now safe, but then again, Batman is a dark character who isn't supposed to do much for his successes. Not being there is actually more his style, so I give it a pass.
Overall, the levels of the theming at the original Batman installations was really well done, and if you paid attention to it, it worked really well as theming. If you didn't, you probably didn't understand the story (and I'm sure 90% or more of the people in line don't look for the story), but I think it works.
Here's hoping my fears are proven to be unjustified. ;)
Like I said, my gut feeling is that they will be, although I remain a little skeptical myself. If the theming is as good as the original Batman rides, I will be very happy. If it is better, and if it is kept up, I will be *extremely* happy. As I've said before, I don't go just to ride coasters, and I can walk around a park without riding one ride and really enjoy myself. I love theming, and I have very high hopes for this new thing. The cost of the ride is VERY high it seems for a mouse installation, and I'm certain that a building isn't that expensive, so there is a LOT of money kicking around to really theme this thing impressively.
Jiggidy James said:
Spinout said:These rides could be taken out in the coming future (besides the ones you mentioned) because they are really "old": Fiddler's Fling, Ricochet, Triple Play, Sky Trek Tower, Hometown Fun Machine, Rue Le Dodge, Demon, Columbia Carousel, The Orbit, East River Crawler, and the Condor is aging. That's a lot of stuff.
Giant Drop could be taken out because many people don't like it anymore, and everyone knows how great Jester's Wild Ride is.
___These flat rides to which you refer are staples of Great America's (and Gurnee's) landscaping. Gurnee has an ordinance stating that no building or tower shall exceed the 300+ ft. height of Sky Trek Tower.
Also, Demon is a relic reminiscent of original looping coasters. Orbit's center logo is from Marriott's ownership days, and the ride was originally located in Orleans Place. Fiddler's Fling is the best stomach-sickening ride. East Rivier Crawler is no carnival Tarantula.
And Columbia Carousel should not go ANYWHERE!!
These rides can't be so hard to maintain that they should just disappear. Triple Play was back for 2007, so someone must understand the idea of maintiaining thrilling rides, even if they're not mega coasters.
Jester's Wild Ride is great to keep children busy. And leave Condor as it is! It was at its best as The Birds during Fright Fest!! *** Edited 11/29/2007 7:26:23 AM UTC by Jiggidy James***
You are really worried about history. It doesn't mean a thing to the new owners of a park. We are no longer in Marriott's day. Things change. Splash Water Falls was a "classic", and it's getting yanked, or just not operating anymore. Yankee Clipper hardly operates during the season. Hay Bailer, and Sky Whirl were yanked out like nobodies business awhile ago. They were old "classic" rides.
Sky Trek Tower was closed in August or maybe even in July last year, and didn't open after that because they didn't have the money to get the part for the ride. GL's tower, they did the same thing. They closed that ride because they didn't want to spend the money on it.
Look at Six Flags Magic Mountain. They are getting rid of a "classic" Rotor, a "classic" Baveryn Kurve, a "classic" Intamin Generation Drop Ride, and a "classic" Tilt-A-Whirl. How old is that breakdance at SFNE that's getting yanked out? A "classic" Theater Royale at SFGAm is going bye-bye also. Six Flags thinks flats cost too much money, and they want to get rid of them because they aren't as popular.
A lot of those rides that I mentioned are WALK-ONs. I go on them when other rides are crowded. If Six Flags can take out Space Shuttle America, and Splash Water Falls, why can't they take out Triple Play, and Condor. I don't really care if those two rides are gone, but get to reality. They might feel like they want to eliminate half of those flats. How many flats does Magic Mountain have now, and how many are they going to have after they eliminate those? They are also removing the "classic" antique car ride at SFMM.
Spinout said:
You are really worried about history. It doesn't mean a thing to the new owners of a park. We are no longer in Marriott's day. Things change.
Spinout, I'm curious -- which side are you arguing -- that these rides should stay because they are "classic", or that it shouldn't matter if they are "classic" or not.
I'd just like to say that I find it odd talking about any parks with rides that are less than 50 years old and calling them "classics". The Big Dipper at GL was a classic. A ride built in the 80's... ? Not to me.
This whole argument sounds like the strange arguments that the Disney fans do any time that Disney looks at changing something at one of their parks. Oh no! They might remove Carousel of Progress because it only operates at 20% of capacity, and replace it with something that more guests would want to ride! But that isn't cool! Walt would never do that!
But what did Walt say about Disneyland? "Disneyland will never be completed as long as there is imagination left in the world."
He didn't mean that he would never close rides, as I believe that he was the one that coined the Imagineering phrase -- "Disneyland is not a museum."
If Walt Disney, the creator of the most successful parks in the world, thought that way about his park, are we really going to fault Six Flags for adhering to the same principals?
thecoasterguy said:
I would argue your point on the Batman rides and their theming. Of all the themed coasters out there, while the queue line wasn't as big or as detailed as a ride like Dueling Dragons, the ride actually told a story from the start of the actual line to the ride itself. When you got in line, you first saw the Gotham City Park, the area that Bruce Wayne had helped to donate and make the city better. Kids were playing (or whatever those noises were, that's what I always thought they were), birds were chirping, and it seemed like the future looked very good.Then, you headed into the seeded underbelly of Gotham, where crime still ruled and there was garbage just decaying everywhere because no one was willing to clean it up. There was a shot out cop car, and there were tons of problems being radioed to the police. It was more than anyone could expect to handle. You needed to find someone who could help.
So, you went into the drain tunnel thing that was the way to get to the Batcave, and after getting to the end of it, you took the secret passage way up to the Batcave itself to try to find and alert Batman. When you got there, Batman wasn't there, but something was wrong, so Batman was sending emergency vehicles to aid in your escape. You boarded the train, and were sent on a ride where you were essentially avoiding whatever this bad force was until you got back to the station, at which point Batman had again assured that the day was safe, and you were free to continue on to explore the rest of Gotham City.
I wasn't on the ride the first years of it's operation, but I think something a little different than you. I think that the people who ride the ride are Batman themselves. You think that they are just citizens. Why do I think that? When you exit the ride, there is a rectangular metal thing. You enter it, and than exit it. Of course, the track is above it, but think about this.
You were just "Batman", and than you change back into "Bruce Wayne". Thus, that metal thing acts like a changing room. Of course, you changed into Batman in the batcave somewhere along the way to become "Batman". That police car actually came from a broken bridge. It's not like it matters, but that's where it came from. I always thought that same story. I always liked that saying on the wall in the park. It's say like Building Towards a Better City, or something like that.
This is SFGAm's one. I really like the compactness of Six Flags Great America compared to SFStL, SFOG's, and SFOT's though. The other rides lines are too spaced out. I guess they did that because they wanted more lines near the actual ride. At SFGAm, they have lines near the Octopus that has a lobster on his head. I guess for SFOG's theming is different. You go to the park, and than you find some junk, and they have like a warehouse instead of a city. Abonded warehouses are crime stricken too, I guess. Than, you go in the tunnel to be Batman. *** Edited 11/29/2007 7:12:45 PM UTC by Spinout***
Spinout said:
^I'm arguing that it doesn't matter if they are "classics" to some people. Shapiro is going to take them out if he wants too. Do I want Triple Play, and The Orbit to stay? Yes, I would love if they stayed, but who knows how long they are going to stay? They could last a year, or they could last 10 more years. I don't know, but I'm worried that with this guy running the company, those WALK-ON rides won't last too long, and the only waits in Six Flags will be an hour long because he's reducing costs.
If the ridership isn't there, I don't see any reason for the management of a company to keep the ride. Ultimately, we all vote with our feet. If you and the other 8000 people (or however many) attend a park on a regular day don't ride the rides, why should the park preserve them?
As I tried to highlight, Disney has this problem but it is greatly magnified there. They have rides that are practically empty even on heavy attendance days -- Carousel of Progress at WDW, Great Moments with Mr Lincoln (which has been "secretly" shuttered for a while) at DL. Those rides draw practically no one to the parks, and especially in the case of Carousel probably cost a lot to run, yet the "fans" of Disney get up in arms if they even think about changing them because they are "Walt's legacy."
As great as they once were, I don't think Walt would have wanted them around any more if they aren't drawing people. And we certainly shouldn't ask Shapiro and the people of Six Flags to try to keep around rides that are less than twenty years old just because of the "sentimental value" if no one is riding them.
Six Flags can afford even less to be a museum than Disney can.
And I'm not really arguing with you, I'm just making the point for whomever wants to drop back into this thread and start saying that the nostalgia factor isn't there. If there was *enough* nostalgia factor, and people actually went on the rides, *none* of them would be in danger.
I wasn't on the ride the first years of it's operation, but I think something a little different than you. I think that the people who ride the ride are Batman themselves. You think that they are just citizens. Why do I think that? When you exit the ride, there is a rectangular metal thing. You enter it, and than exit it. Of course, the track is above it, but think about this.You were just "Batman", and than you change back into "Bruce Wayne". Thus, that metal thing acts like a changing room. Of course, you changed into Batman in the batcave somewhere along the way to become "Batman". That police car actually came from a broken bridge. It's not like it matters, but that's where it came from. I always thought that same story. I always liked that saying on the wall in the park. It's say like Building Towards a Better City, or something like that.
I would accept that theory of the story too, which means that the story is even deeper than before if you can interpret it in multiple ways. Next time you are there though, I know that this is on a few of them and I'm positive that it is on the one at Great America (I think St Louis, Great Adventure and Magic Mountain had it too, but I may have fuzzy memory there), when you enter the station if you really listen to the voice that is talking, it says something like "You have entered through the storm drain. Sensors detect great danger. An emergency vehicle has been sent to take you to safety." When you leave, I distinctly remember the voice ending with, "And enjoy the rest of your day at Gotham City." A very nice touch to it, and why I had assumed that the story was that you were being saved by Batman... But I think this could fall into the "you are Batman" story line too...
This is SFGAm's one. I really like the compactness of Six Flags Great America compared to SFStL, SFOG's, and SFOT's though. The other rides lines are too spaced out. I guess they did that because they wanted more lines near the actual ride. At SFGAm, they have lines near the Octopus that has a lobster on his head. I guess for SFOG's theming is different. You go to the park, and than you find some junk, and they have like a warehouse instead of a city. Abonded warehouses are crime stricken too, I guess. Than, you go in the tunnel to be Batman. *** Edited 11/29/2007 7:12:45 PM UTC by Spinout***
From what I heard, the Six Flags Great America one has the queue like it has because it wasn't expected to be that popular. When it was, they had to expand the queue line out much further. Since they already knew how popular it would be, they made the sprawling queue lines at the other parks that got the ride, as they didn't want to have holding issues. The thing with the cop car at Great America is (was?) my favorite, but I think that the larger parks are better at the parks that those are in.
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