The Bat - POV

I rode it lots of times and I never said it.

Subsequent suspended coasters were far too tame, probably in an effort to get things "right" and still offer a much touted product. XLR8 was a real snooze and Iron Dragon not much better. It wasn't until Vortex (at CW) and Top Gun/Flight Deck came along that things started looking up for thrill seekers. Even those rides had subtle changes, with added shocks to the carriage.

Eagle Fortress looks like it was probably the cream of the crop.

Interesting the way ride reputations change and shift and do weird things depending on what we read and hear.

I guess I didn't realize that The Bat had a reputation as "legendary" beyond it was a crazy concept at the time, it was tough to ride because of long lines and lots of downtime, and then it was taered down quickly.

Maybe there's some sort of contingent out there that says it was also an awesome ride experience, and hence reactions in this thread that it actually looks lousy. But having grown up with KI as my home park, the general consensus I always heard was that everyone thought it was lousy to begin with.

I'm waiting for when on coasterbuzz about fifteen years from now the teenagers and twenty somethings talk about how legendary Son of Beast is and how they wish they could have rode it. I'm in my mid twenties and that's how I like to look at The Bat to put it in perspective for myself. Son of Beast looks half decent in POV's too. (Same with Drachen Fyre the other semi-legendary Arrow failure).

You say "the other" as if there were only two. :)

My memories of the Bat ride itself are pretty generalized, it's been 30 years, but I recall it being fun, but not worth the wait. One of the best parts was the gimmick of seeing the platform disappear under the train at the top of the lift... the suspended nature was fully apparent then. The swinging was fun but it was over pretty quick.

Since someone mentioned SOB, I'll reiterate that I'm one of the few who enjoyed the ride. Not in large doses, but I'd try to ride it a few times each visit, if I could find volunteers to go with. Staring down 21 stories of wooden track from the top of the hill in the front seat was just awesome, and the actual drop was very intense in any seat. Great speed. The rosebowl ranged from ok to ouch, and the loop was fun. Biggest problem with the ride in my book was the end.. after the loop, it was like 2000 feet of boredom. Still, that drop....

While I agree there are many Arrow rides that are not good and could be considered failures I think The Bat, Drachen Fyre, and to some extent Steel Phantom are the real standouts. The reason The Bat and Drachen Fyre garner so much attention and intrigue is because they were open a short period of time and few actually got to ride them.

Steel Phantom is rarely regarded as legendary or sparks much interest. No one cares and for good reason. Kennywood saved the best parts of the ride and tossed the worst parts. It's still rideable in a sense which rids us of those nostalgic feelings. We don't miss it because it's still there. At least the parts people care about.

I liked the original Phantom.

I don't get the love for Flight Deck.

Bat looks incredibly boring. Add me to the list of people who heard how great the ride was and how it was a shame we lost it. Now I know those people are wrong.

Drachen Fire, however, was pretty freaking fun. It did give me a monster of a headache after a few rides, though.

Lord Gonchar said:

I don't get the love for Flight Deck.

I recall Top Gun being a massive disappointment to many when it first opened, but it was built within the context of 1) no internet 2) 1993 was a very "coaster wars" kind of era and Top Gun wasn't really a "coaster wars" kind of coaster" 3) nobody realized at the time we were at the end of the suspended coaster's run as a genre.

None of those are true now, so I think it makes sense for an overall pretty OK coaster to become a kind of really well-liked suspended coaster over time in context.

My memories of the Bat when I first rode it at age 13 during its opening year... I was scared to death. I had totally bought into the hype (fear) from the TV ads. And watching the ride while I stood in line added to my nerves. I don't remember exactly how long we waited in line, but it was well over an hour, maybe over 2 hours.

Once we were about half way through the ride I realized that the Bat wasn't nearly as scary as I had made it out to be. I said to my sister, "This isn't bad at all". Just then we took an wild turn and a huge swing from one side to the other and the car slammed against itself as the shock absorbers maxed out.

In hindsight, the Bat was tame with the exception of that one wild turn. But still a fun ride. I rode it each time I was KI during those few years it was there.

Iron Dragon is considered tame by most, and again I ride it on most of my trips to Cedar Point. It's not thrilling. Just fun.

Raven-Phile said:

Drachen Fire, however, was pretty freaking fun. It did give me a monster of a headache after a few rides, though.

EXACTLY how I felt about the original Steel Phantom...thankfully, the ride that "rose from the ashes" of the original Phantom is a Phoenix-quality steel coaster... :~P

What a resurrection it is, too!

Raven-Phile said:

Drachen Fire, however, was pretty freaking fun. It did give me a monster of a headache after a few rides, though.

Did we ride the same ride? Im tall so the rough Arrow Loopers do not bother me as much as other riders, mainly because my ears are high enough they do not get boxed going through corkscrews. That ride however, is the only steel coaster to give me a headache. It felt like I was going to have a concussion.

The Steel Phantom was a good ride, however I remember lamenting the OTSR going down the big drop because of all the airtime that could be had with a lap bar. Steel Phantom was a solid 4 star coaster, but Phantom's Revenge is in my top 10. To use another metaphor, Kennywood had a home run, but decided that wasnt good enough and turned it into a grand slam.

All I know is it ruined my day later on, but that red was super intense. Had I known about Excedrin at that point, I think it might have saved my day. :)

Then how did you enjoy the ride? Coasters that actually physically hurt me are down at the bottom of my list. The dubious three are:

-Flashback @SFOT (the restraints went down 3 extra clicks on my first trip through the vertical loop, pure pain)

-Ultra Twister @SFAW (The restraints were quite tight, and not comfortable when going through the barrel rolls, it really hurt)

-Drachen Fire

A couple thoughts.

I always heard that The Bat was the best of the suspended coasters, too, but I always assumed that most of its "legendary" status was garnered because of the crazy, eternally perpetuated rumor that the train hit a support and killed people. That said, people have given their accounts of it in this thread, and it seems like opinions range from bestEVAR all the way to lousy.

Kind of like Drachen Fire and Son of Beast. Some people find it impossible to believe anyone could possibly like either. For the record, I was one of the few who thought Drachen Fire was incredible, and it never caused me pain. I rode it prior to and after the corkscrew removal. And also for the record, I'm on the complete opposite side of the fence with regards to Son of Beast. I don't miss that POS at all.

And I find it funny that many of the same people who bitch about other people who claim they can tell how good or bad a ride is by watching a YouTube video are claiming they can tell how good or bad The Bat was by watching a YouTube video.

Count me in on Drachen Fire love. I rode it the first year of operation, so it was at its smoothest... that still wasn't very smooth.

I never went back until last year, but with first hand knowledge of Steel Phantom (and with some stories from the BGW maintenance staff), I can understand how bad it got and how quickly. I totally enjoyed it that first season, though.

Vater said:

And I find it funny that many of the same people who bitch about other people who claim they can tell how good or bad a ride is by watching a YouTube video are claiming they can tell how good or bad The Bat was by watching a YouTube video.

Sucks.

I loved Drachen Fire a lot, and was surprised many years later when I read about how people were experiencing pain. I only rode it it's first year of operation though.

When I read that Phantom was being removed, I rode it one last time and a little tear fell out of my eye on the exit platform. Imagine how happy I was to read a little while later that the parts of the ride that I adored were going to remain, and the parts that I could live without were being removed and redesigned. While kind of on the short side, Phantom is still an incredible ride.

Ans as far as SOB goes, I felt a hatred for that ride and what it did to me that I was actually excited to hear about it being closed and removed. I am not ashamed to admit that either.

The Bat... I saw it standing but not operating at one point of my life. The wild rumor that someone died on the ride were absolutely true in my mind at the time. Everyone swore that they saw it on the news, or that a cousin was there the day it happened, or that their friend relative was the one who died on the ride. I was always very disappointed that I didn't get to ride it before it went away. All my life, up until the internet made fact-checking easy, the ride was considered legendary.

Vater said:

And also for the record, I'm on the complete opposite side of the fence with regards to Son of Beast. I don't miss that POS at all.

And I find it funny that many of the same people who bitch about other people who claim they can tell how good or bad a ride is by watching a YouTube video are claiming they can tell how good or bad The Bat was by watching a YouTube video.

Never rode DF, got into coasters too late for it.

Sonny MIGHT have been successful with RMC re-doing it. The loop was the only part of the ride that was more fun than painful, though.

I've seen that Bat video 4 or 5 times now, and I can honestly say I have no idea how it would "feel" to ride it. But it is a really sweet video.