mcjaco

This morning I headed over to Six Flag's Great America to be a part of Media Day for The Dark Knight Coaster. It's official opening is tomorrow. I had tried to stay away from previous media day threads on other Six Flags versions of the ride, but my prying eyes couldn't keep me away. That being said, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. And with that being said, there will be spoilers in here, so turn back if you want surprises! I'm was a bit dismayed when I heard Great America's version was going into Orleans Place. How would Gotham fit in there? To be honest, they did a pretty good job of squeezing it into an area where it doesn't look all that out of place. After Superman: Ultimate Flight, they have a nice little superhero corner thing going on. The first thing you notice, is that this isn't your typical Six Flags "theming." That's not to say it's on par with Disney or Universal, but it's definitely well above the mark of anything else they've done. And with GAm's version, the queue is in the old Theatre Royale building, so it's out of the weather, and it's got A/C which will be a nice welcome on those hot Chicago, August days. As you most of us know, the ride is simply a Mack Mouse themed, enclosed, and in the dark. You enter the Gotham City Rail station to board a subway, the queue winds around oddly on the old theater floor which is still sloped. Then it's into a pre-show room, where the story of the ride attempts to unfold. The Joker hijacks a Harvey Dent press conference, and you're led into the actual ride. The actual ride vehicles are awesomely themed. Little subway cars that have seen better days. The ride consists of random little scenes to which I think they try to tell the story of how the Joker is taking the city for ransom during his crime sprees. If there's a negative about the whole experience, it's that the story gets a little lost, and that there's no theming for the last half of the ride, so it's loses a little "oomph." All in all, I think Six Flags has hit nail on the head in their quest for a more family oriented coaster. The preshow might scare the bejesus out a small kid, but the ride is entertaining, and certainly nothing like they've offered before. So enough of my rambling, off to the pictures! Oh yes, thanks to Dan for showing us around today! 2008's new addition. A family pleaser. I still love the drop. It's simple and silly, but I loves it. The Joker terifies Marco. Or he's about to lose his bagel. There's a lot to look at the first 2/3's of the ride. I mean, look at them! Just look at them! Loading platform. The trains, are seriously the coolest! A little more theming on your way to the ride. This is one long queue. Uh oh. The Joker's here! Why so serious? Harvey Dent addresses the masses. Theming like this newspaper, is a cool little detail. After queuing for a bit you get a little pre-show entertainment. This where the story attempts to unfold. Looking the other way. They've also got new HD tv's with new programming which should be a huge improvement over the old sets. This is the main queue, where the theater seating was. The whole floor is sloped, so it's kind of funky. I wonder if they can fix the pothole on my street? The old queue from Theatre Royale was reused. Posters and maps galore. Gotham is bar none when it comes to public transportation. Ok enough. Let's check it out! Shot one of the entrance. Again, the ride show isn't as blaringly obvious as the others. And we're off! Cut the ribbon! And then on to the GM (whose name escapes me. For shame.). A short little talk from Brooke of PR. There were little batmen everywhere! Batman and pizza. Could it get any better? The ride building is off to the left, so it's not such an eyesore as the other parks versions. It's nicely nestled into the corner of Orleans Place. They had these cool Joker cards marking the way to The Dark Knight. Planting of the marigolds. The big opening day must be right around the corner!

^ Which has been going on for years.

^ It came together perfectly with no planning.

Fine. How about we get back on topic?

Gentlemen, let's get back to being civil. We've all heard the the fanboy arguments too many times.

Step One. Cut a hole in the box.

It was filmed on Hi8. Unfortunately, I bought a camcorder right before MiniDV came out. I didn't research enough back then. I also discovered that capturing video through Windows Movie Maker is really crappy. I now capture through Sonic, then move it over to Adobe Premiere. The quality is much improved, and I'm not sure why. As I said, before. Completely agree on the overuse of transitions. I got a bit too excited about their use!

Amen. Let's move on to more Big Mike TR's!

Well, for one, every interstate in and around Chicago is under construction. Be prepared for long travel times in the area. Going on a Monday is a good day though. Two, make sure to hit Demon, and Ragin Cajun first at SFGAm, as they don't use Flash Passes.

^ I deleted them. No offense, but those were a little creepy.

Just a couple over the past week or so. Not sure what to make of it. It's nice a sweet, and very light. Finally, Breckenridge's Agave Wheat I like most of Capital's stuff, but this was not good. Too much carbonation, and almost tinny. Next up Capital's Island Wheat. It's good, but I'm too whipped over the Tart. After sharing my last bottle of New Glarus Raspberry Tart, I thought I give the Rubeus a try. Honestly, the more this ages, the better it gets! Back to Longshot's Weizenbock.

Congrats on your trip, but I think this better fitting in Ask Alvey. I shall move it there! ~Matt

Robb's in SoCal, so going to USH isn't that big of a trip. I think we all wish we could jet set around and visit these parks though.

^ Picture sizing is in the TOS, which everyone should read before they post. Doing a search for "Picture resizing" will bring up multiple threads on how to do it as well. I don't think Robb was harsh at all. Besides that, this could of been reposted in the original thread. This creates a whole lotta work for Mods that isn't necessary. Help us, help you. That's all we ask.

Pointless, and we already have a Major League Baseball thread. MLB Thread

And that's kind of the argument. Did they design a coaster that's TOO aggressive, and that will keep tearing itself apart? I guess we'll see if the trend continues.

^ What? You don't like pointless posts, with no references?

Nice. Bait a mod. Very cleaver. As for the signature, it's from Brad Paisley's song "So much cooler Online." It's a wonderful ode to those who pretend to be something they're not. Trust me, I'm not cool. Not even on here. And finally, I handled general liability claims for over five years, I was only pointing out that your example wouldn't have much of an argument legally. Just trying to put my CCLA to good use, as it's worthless to me now that I've gone over to underwriting. We're litigious, BUT the plaintiff still has to present a case where the defendant didn't do due diligence. In this particular case, I'd say SFKK is in a heap of trouble, and the family has a right.

^ What about meatloaf?

^ You probably should re-read the posting rules: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21962 When it comes to making a post, please be sure to make quality posts. You've already had threads locked, and this reponse makes no sense. The Bantron is watching.

^ I think Joe is saying that he thinks they'll try and say it's "wear and tear" to avoid it being considered warranty work.

Exactly. A products and negligence claim.

^ Except that elevators and escalators are inspected by the municipality in which they are in. There's accountability.

Those are this year's trips. Korea was an add on for last year's Japan trip. Elissa can fill you in on the Korea add on this year. I'm not familiar with it.

Jim, I'd be interested in you doing Photo Trip Report and your experience seeing it for the first time in so long. That would be interesting.