Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread

[jfruge]

Has anyone been on the ride yet? I'm thinking about making the jog to Chicagoland to try Batman and X Flight during Memorial Day Week.

[Brassinthegrass]

^ Really memorial day... you crazy bro?

[GayCoasterGuy]

LOL, I don't know if this batman used to have fog there, but the one at Magic Mountain did.

 

Yup, the one at Great America sure did have the fog. So did the Demon. sighs...

 

There was also some graffiti in the queue that said very large and clearly "what's the Point?" It was a couple years after Magnum (which was the year after Shockwave/the year after Iron Dragon/the year after Z-Force, for those keen on the industry back then). The Point came a couple years later in the form of Raptor. I'm not the biggest fan of Batman (but I do love an occasional ride), I think it's still better than Raptor

[B&MBoy1982]

Has anyone been on the ride yet? I'm thinking about making the jog to Chicagoland to try Batman and X Flight during Memorial Day Week.

 

Yes, people have ridden. Read back a few pages.

[angrynerdjosh]

^ Really memorial day... you crazy bro?

 

I went Friday before memorial day last year and the only insane line was raging bull. Still it was 30-40 minutes. I take that back. Waited an hour for american eagle.

[traincrossin]

^ Simply put, they weren't ready. Limited capacity on most rides plus the crowds that $20 tickets and good weather brings are not a good mix. Orbit, ERC and HTFM were still in pieces, AE blue was closed, and only AE Red, Demon, Viper and Bull had two trains. And then on top of all this you have new employees who are still getting used to the job. It was still an enjoyable day, but they've still got a ways to go to be ready for summer.

Bummer, usually they're pretty good on opening.

[Commando]

^Last year almost everything was one train except for X Flight. Bull didn't have 3 trains until half through the season and Eagle usually only ran one side.

[supkarma]

Who is going to be at the Batman: Backwards media day tomorrow?

 

I am!

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Me Too!!!

[kumba830]

I will be there as well.

[Jerrykoala2112]

I'm gonna try to sneak in!

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(Kidding!!!)

[bludowise68]

I have a wonderful time too riding backwards of Batman for a comical.

[GayCoasterGuy]

Had a great time at Media Day yesterday! The ride is GREAT. I don't think there has ever been a B&M ride that I've wanted to ride so much, I can take or leave most of them. This is a breath of fresh air, it's gonna be a big WIN for the park - and hopefully other parks in the future.

 

I figured the ride may be too much for me, but that wasn't the case at all. For some reason (perhaps that your back isn't being pushed into the backrest, feeling all the vibration, and is in more of a neutral position?) the ride feels a hair less intense to me. You get GREAT tummy-tickle sensation upon exiting the 2 vertical loops (best felt in the front, or formerly the back, seat). That feeling reminds of going through a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop backwards (when exiting the loop, backwards), one of my favorite things ever.

[stricklandCC]

I would thoroughly enjoy to ride a Batman backwards one day, It will be interesting to see where this new chassis goes after SFGAm. I also remember the PR lady talking briefly, about the conversion back to forwards, where she mentioned there is another surprise to be had, something along the lines of "...it will be almost exciting as the backwards transformation". I believe they sent off the original chassis for this change, and B&M supplied the backwards chassis in the interim, any guesses or ideas?

[Jerrykoala2112]

Six Flags Great America premiered their 'new' ride this morning... BATMAN The Ride Backwards. It's not exactly a 'new' ride, but it is a new experience! A nice twist to a classic ride at the park. You still get that crazy, intense, TWISTY Batman that everyone has always loved, but backwards!

 

It debuted at opening weekend (May 4th) to very positive reviews from the public. People enjoyed the ride a lot and the queue filled up very fast. It's only on one train operation at the moment and Great America is working hard on getting the second train running as soon as they can! Everyone must plan their visits as quick as possible. This ride is only backwards for a limited time.

 

Nathan, Tom, and I came to event to try the ride out for ourselves. The ride itself is really bizarre backwards. For the conversion of the train, they had to remove a row to have room in the station for a zero-car. You start out the ride going backwards up the lift hill. No matter what row you sit in, dropping from the first drop into that loop makes you disoriented. Most of you are accustomed to riding backwards normally, but that floater airtime you get in the zero-g is amazing. Going through the second half of the layout with all of the low to the ground elements adds to the thrill. You might think you know the layout going forwards, but you're always second guessing yourself is the helix is coming up, or the other corkscrew? You just never know (or you're too disoriented to remember). And because your back isn't pressed against the seats, the ride is a lot smoother than it use to be, even if it was smooth before.

 

Many people at the event were riding Backwards Batman over and over again, so it is very re-rideable. As for my own opinion on the ride, I think it is a great idea to change up a ride like Batman after getting the major addition of X-Flight last year. Batman opened as the first inverting looping roller coaster and has been cloned all throughout the world. Reversing the trains separates this ride from all the others.

 

And lastly, I'd like to thank Six Flags Great America for being very helpful and for hosting a great event! I'm sure Backwards Batman will be a hit!

 

Check out a POV of Batman the Ride Backwards!

Welcome to Batman the Ride!

Everyone was always asking how they are going to re-theme Batman now that it's backwards. But honestly, why do that if it already has great theming?

.worromot retteb a sdrawot gnidliuB ytiC mahtoG

OoooOooooOoooh.... What is that I see?

Sorry guys! Batman is still running forwards.

PR Manager Katy Enrique introduces the park president Hank Salemi.

Mr. Salemi explained why they decided the change for Batman. Guests wanted something new, and unique, and this is exactly that.

Now, are all these people here for the actual ride or the Batman cookies they served at lunch?

Batman himself turned the trains around! He's always here to save the day.

It's not a media day without the pyro! (Hard to see because of the rain clouds that were passing by all day)

CONFETTI STREAMERS!!

Batman the Ride backwards has finally opened backwards! Here's the first train of happy riders.

!pooL

It's worth riding for the floater air given by the zer-g roll.

Back row is now the front row! Hard to get reaction faces of riders.

This is what the car looks like during the day.

But at night, it's totally transformed.

Better fog was placed in the Bat Cave.

People never see this one coming!

These Batman cookies and cupcakes were attracting quite the crowd.

There was a Batman impostor trying to cause a ruckus in Gotham, but the real Batman stopped him immediately.

Like I said earlier, it's only for a limited time! It will be running backwards by at least July 6th, but I'm not sure about anytime after that.

Meeting the man of the hour.

Many camera crews were dying to get an interview with the famous Nathan.

The drop heading into the the next loop.

Leave a comment for randomly taking a picture of a train with Batman riding in the 2nd row!

[deathbydinn]

Great pictures Jeremie! Looks like a great event, still sad I couldn't make it. I love how they're adding new effects to the ride as well, I hope those stay once the ride runs forward again. I really gotta get down again soon for some more rides on it, hopefully the second train gets put on soon!

[Mr. Starr]

Awesome report Jer! I can barely handle Batman forwards (as many of you know), so I'm not sure how going backwards will treat me. Can't wait to get out to the park soon!

[Commando]

Soooooooooooooooo

 

Is there still only one train?

[deathbydinn]

^

It's only on one train operation at the moment and Great America is working hard on getting the second train running as soon as they can!

[sfgam#1]

^ Yep, I went yesterday, it was cold and raining. The parking lot was empty but there were a lot of school groups. The only rides that wasn't a walk on was Superman, Batman, and X-flight only because they were running one train, because of that the lines were moving really slow. But I did marathon on V2, viper(Which was running fantastic ) and American Eagle (also running good)

[CoasterNick3157]

That Batman imposter is Patrick Elwood from Fox 32.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

That Batman imposter is Patrick Elwood from Fox 32.

 

I talked to him twice and he was able to remain in character the whole time. Good job.

[Woodie Warrior]

Im planning to get down to SFGA in June.

 

I can't wait to ride Batman Backwards and see Ignite

[Erik Johnson]

Nice pictures from the event!

[Cameron]

Damn - I want a Batman cookie!

 

Seriously though (actually I was serious - I really do want a Batman cookie) it looked like a fun day. Thrilled to hear that a second train is in the works! Running backwards is really a surreal experience - I used to joke "Oh I know the Batmen backwards", how wrong I was

 

Thanks for the awesome coverage, Jeremie.

 

Cameron.