I went to Six Flags: Great America on my birthday this year. I had previously visited the park nearly a dozen times, and was excited to ride my favorite ride - Batman: the ride, as well as try the new X-Flight coaster.
"GO BIG OR GO HOME" is the slogan I hear on all the ads for Six Flags. Yet, for some reason, they do not live up to that slogan.
I stood in line for Batman, seeing all the (now rusty and dilapidated) set and props. I still wish they would bring back (even just once an hour) any of the original Batman film theme songs, or even play the soundtrack for the newer Batman films.
However, once I got into the "bat cave" I was disappointed beyond any ambition to have a blast on my birthday.
Being a tall man (6'3"), I have never had any difficulty fitting into the seats on Batman, Superman Ultimate Flight, or any of the other rides. For some reason this time, the seat harness would not fit. It came down to my shoulders, but would not go all the way down, because the harness hit my shoulder-blades and would go no lower.
After considerable effort, twisting and scrunching of my torso, I reluctantly got up and headed for the exit, unable to ride the coaster I had once ridden 13 times in a row, without ever getting off. (The park was dead on a Wednesday a few years ago so they let me ride nonstop.)
I asked one of the attendants why the seats seemed smaller, and she told me that these were new seats. Apparently, the seat design of Batman are the same seat design as the new X-Flight coaster, so Six Flags chose to just order in bulk and REPLACE the Batman seats with the newer, now SMALLER X-Flight seats.
This upset me even more, and I rushed over to the X-Flight coaster and tried out the sample seat at the entrance to that ride. It was the same situation as what I had just experienced on Batman: I am apparently too tall to ride hanging coasters now.
After wandering aimlessly and hopelessly depressed for a bit, my eye caught a new set of signs at different areas of the park ride queues. Some coasters now have a HEIGHT LIMIT! If you are over 6' tall, it's not worth even bothering to pay the parking fee once you arrive, because you will no longer be able to ride some of the best coasters in the park.
"GO BIG OR GO HOME" is a sorry theme for a park that refuses to allow people of taller stature to ride their newest, and best rides.
