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The Dark Knight is an indoor steel roller coaster designed by MACK Rides. It opened on May 15, at Six Flags Great Adventure. A similar roller coaster with the same name is slated to open this spring at Six Flags Great America.
[edit] The ride
The Dark Knight is inspired by The Dark Knight. Costing $7.5 million, the ride turns guests into citizens of Gotham City - caught in the middle of a city under siege and torn apart by The Joker. Guests then board a Gotham City rail car and careen through demented hallways of twists, turns, unseen hills and hallucinatory images, and continue to be tormented by The Joker as they are thrust onto the battlefield of good vs. evil. It utilizes storytelling, physical movement, video, sound and special effects to bring guests a one-of-a-kind dark ride thrill mixed with a roller coaster.[1]
The Six Flags Great Adventure ride replaced Batman & Robin: The Chiller and Movietown Water Effect. It primarily occupies the location of Movietown Water Effect, with the queue area placed infront on the building. Original plans called for the demolition of Batman & Robin: The Chiller station and observatory but were later excluded from demolition plans. The exit was originally slated to go through the present Justice League gift shop adjacent to the ride, but this turned out not to be the case.
After an outdoor, lightly themed queue area, riders enter a pre-show room where they view a TV broadcast of a press conference hosted by Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). One of the reporters asks about the Joker cards found at recent crime scenes. Almost immediately, The Joker himself hijacks the TV broadcast and his messages (such as "HA HA!") appear all over the walls of the room. Guests then enter the secondary queue area, which features a TV screen in which guests can see themselves. The two guests closest to the camera have joker masks digitally superimposed over their faces.
At the loading station, the cars normally move through continuously. Guests unload at the rear of the platform, after which guests from the queue immediately load. Unlike almost all the other coasters in the park, there are no gates on the loading platform. Lapbars are locked and checked as the car approaches the front of the platform, then it proceeds onto the lift. The ride itself consists of several sharp hairpin turns and sudden drops, accented by various eerily-lit Gotham City buildings placed alongside the track.
[edit] See also
Dark Knight (film)
[edit] External links
Dark Knight press release
Official Dark Knight webpage
Official Dark Knight construction blog
[edit] References
