that is funny
for the non linkys JACKSON ? You're at a press conference in Gotham City Town Hall when suddenly the Joker, a criminal mastermind, interrupts the proceedings with vile threats. You escape into a subway station moments before the Joker destroys town hall.
But still you are not safe.
The Joker has vandalized the station, scrawling "HA HA" on the walls. And even as you flee on the Gotham City Rail, you hear the Joker's evil laughter and his mocking voice asking, "Why so serious?"
No, you are not having a nightmare. You are riding The Dark Knight Coaster, the first new coaster to come to Six Flags Great Adventure since El Toro opened in June 2006.
The ride is based on the upcoming Warner Bros. movie "The Dark Knight," in which the DC Comics superhero Batman, played by actor Christian Bale, takes on the Joker, played by Heath Ledger, who died after the film had been completed. The movie is set to open in theaters July 18.
Riders who board the ride before July will get a sneak peek at the movie while they transform for 120 seconds into residents of Gotham City.
"Throughout the ride, you're tormented by the Joker," said Angel Aristone, park spokeswoman. "Will Batman come and save you? Let's hope."
When the roller coaster opens in May, a month after the park opens for the season, it will join Skull Mountain as Great Adventure's only indoor, dark coasters ? though Skull Mountain is not as "heavily themed" as The Dark Knight Coaster, Aristone said. Wade Jackson, a coaster enthusiast from Deptford Township, approved.
Lately the coasters that Six Flags Great Adventure has introduced, such as Kingda Ka and El Toro, are only about thrills, he said.
"You go up a big hill and back down, and you go really fast," Jackson, 31, said.
The Dark Knight Coaster, though, will focus more on entertainment, making it a ride a parent can enjoy with a child, he said.
"They're taking a jab at some theming elements, along the lines of a Disney coaster," Jackson said.
Last year Great Adventure opened Wiggles World for young children. The new coaster will appeal to families with older children, said Mark Kane, park president.
"It's extending our family brand," he said. "We're trying to provide something for everybody."
Construction began last August on what will be the 13th coaster in a park that boasts more than 60 rides and attractions.
A crew has begun erecting the building that will house The Dark Knight Coaster in the Movietown section on the north side of the park. It will replace two other rides ? Batman & Robin: The Chiller coaster and the Water Effect water ride ? which have already been torn down.
When the seven-story building is complete, workers will lay the coaster track, said Alfred Rubano, director of facilities. They will use graphics and special effects to make the building feel like a subway station under the Joker's siege.
"To give you the impression there's bad things happening," Rubano said.
No major ride-related injury has been reported at the park in more than 20 years, noted Aristone, the park spokeswoman. The last fatality at Great Adventure occurred in 1987, when a park visitor died after riding Lightning Loops, which no longer exists at the park; a 1984 fire in a haunted house at the park killed eight people, Aristone said said.
However, many safety features and regulations are in place today that were not in place back then, Aristone added.
State inspectors are permanently housed at the park, noted Kane, the park president. Additionally, he said, Great Adventure assigns each ride its own maintenance team that makes sure nothing goes wrong.
"Every track and mechanism is inspected every day," Kane said. "Safety is definitely the main focus."
Topic: Asbury Park Press on the Dark Knight (Read 1527 times)