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Author Topic: Dark Knight Media Day  (Read 18088 times)

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Offline Millennium Force 44

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #25 on: May 16, 2008, 09:50:46 PM »
Looks like a great time!

I rode the Dark Knight for the first time this morning. I ran there when they let you pass the fountain. I only waited about 5 minutes, so if you get there at opening you should be fine. I will have a quick review of the ride later, but for right now, I will say that it's a great coaster for the entire family to enjoy, something the park needed.

Offline PcMan

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #26 on: May 16, 2008, 10:34:02 PM »

Yes a great Family ride.
almost makes you think your in Florida

Six Flags Maybe we can see more "rides in a Box"   ?

Like some flats in a box

Yo

Offline Dubya91

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #27 on: May 17, 2008, 10:30:01 PM »
Great Reports by everybody! Looked like one heck of a fun event :D
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Offline peterpjr

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #28 on: May 18, 2008, 01:27:05 AM »
I rode it today twice.  It was much better the second time around.  I got to see things I missed the first time around.  I liked it.  It is a great family attraction addition.

Offline Bubba Z

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #29 on: May 18, 2008, 11:28:36 AM »
Peter . How many man hours went into getting this ride ready. How many sq ft is it?  Do you know which is longer ? The pre-show or the ride itself ?  Can I take an on-ride video?  Can I chew gum while riding?   Lol....   I can't wait to hear  what questions you are asked !!!

Offline PcMan

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #30 on: May 18, 2008, 01:06:04 PM »

Is it a water ride  ?    :P ::) :o
Yo

Offline summahboy

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #31 on: May 18, 2008, 05:05:34 PM »
Heres My Honest Review of The Dark Knight Coaster:

Now, because I visit Six Flags fan sites I knew we were getting a wild mouse. So I wasn't expecting an El Toro in a box and I'm tired of the people who love the ride to use that as the reason why the people who don't like the ride, dont like it.

Ok so I knew what kind of coaster I was getting but I thought it'd be an overall experience ride so I excused that fact.

- The preshow wasn't all that good. Why? Because it's treated more like background noise. The preshow starts without the entire crowd even being in the room and half of the people don't know whats going on. It's hard to hear what Harvey Dent is saying. The glitches and stuff make it get interesting. But nothing happens. The Joker just puts HAHAs and says why so serious? A good preshow would be able to immerse the audience but this didn't do it. No one really paid attention because it didn't seem like there was a reason to. There was no real info. or story given in the preshow other than what we already knew we were going to experience. The preshow has good intentions but needs to be improved. 6/10 +/-

- Queue: Outside theming lacked. Skull Mountain's theming is a lot better. (-)
- Queue: indoor theming was better, it was a good subway theme. Liked the TV with clown faces (+)
- Subway cars were very cool looking and comfortable (+)

- Lift hill was cool however, going up, look to your right...you see the entire ride (-)
- The hairpin turns were nicely taken at fast speeds
- The "theming" was nothing spectacular. These were just scenes that light up along the way. I wasn't expecting The Mummy but I expected something more with movement audio and visuals. (-)
- one part of the ride that was very nicely done was the Joker clowns moving in the glass and then shooting at the very badly done burning building (+)
- After the burning building the ride continues a blank course where we can see the rest of the ride in front of us. It's not dark enough and too wide open.
- There is no ending and no real plot other then we're being attacked by the Joker

The ride made an attempt and failed. There was a strong lack of story. There was a general story of the Joker hijacking the subway.

I call it a more improved Batman version of Skull Mountain. Honestly theres nothing more to it than that. The difference between the 2 are:
preshow, one technologically advanced effect.

I believe they're too similar. The Dark Knight needs more to differentiate it from SKull Mountain.

While waiting on the 35 min. line all I saw were people coming out saying "boo." And no, it wasn't older people and teens. Young kids didn't like it either.

The six flags employees understood too because while we were approaching the boarding area of the cars they asked everyone getting off if they liked it and no one did, cars full of children, especially one I particularly remember of 4 little 8 year old blond girls saying "that stunk."

The ride was an attempt, but didn't make it. HOWEVER it can be improved. Turn the lights down, enclose the track more, add more effects and improve the story.

It doesn't make me think I'm in Florida. It makes me wish I was in florida because I know they have better ones, it reminds me I'm in six flags and shouldn't have gotten excited for the ride. It's a good family ride, but even the families weren't satisfied.

This was a crowded Saturday and The Dark Knight was really receiving a lot of negativity. Obviously no one expected an El Toro indoors so shut up with that.

Offline coastermom

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #32 on: May 18, 2008, 07:03:24 PM »
I have to say we rode it twice on Saturday . On our first ride we rode and were very dissapointed in the ride. On the second ride I notice so much more then I did even in the pre-show and it was slightly better. My son who is 6 however LOVED it. Though he was slightly frightened by some of the pre-show . I enjoyed it with him and will be on it often I am sure . My son keeps asking to ride . I think they pinned this on little boys and well if they did it sure worked on my son. The only thing is there was NOT ONE t-shirt that said The Dark Knight coaster in his size . They were all adult shirts now they just lost the 14.99 sale  because nothing fit him. I hope to see them get some kiddie shirts in .

Offline WadeJ

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #33 on: May 18, 2008, 09:09:27 PM »
This ride is aimed at the 4-10 year olds folks.  Not the teens.  That is the only beef I have since The Dark Knight is a very PG13 movie and the pre-show is even a little scary while the ride and its height requirement are geared for the little ones.  This is a GREAT beginner ride just like Skull Mountain.

Yes, the ending needs more work but as others have mentioned earlier in this thread, they aren't done yet.

And no, I'm not bashing you Summahboy.  In fact, I appreciate your honest opinion as it even more clearly points out the flaws in the ride; not the ride system.  This ride just by its very name and theme is marketed towards teens (tweens?) but the ride system itself is for the younger crew.

My 5 year old has not been on it yet but I guarantee he will think it is the best ride he has ever been on :)

Offline summahboy

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #34 on: May 18, 2008, 09:41:19 PM »
Thank you. I know who it was aimed for, however a lot of the elements of it where adult. The entire theme of it was older. Even the trailer for the new movie looks not very kid friendly. The ride's entire story needs a plot. It needs audio to guide us through the fast paced scenes and it needs action in the lower half of the ride.

After you pass the burning building, theres a wide sloping turn, a drop, a few turns and 2 hills that can use a lot of theming and action. There is not plot to this ride, idk what anyone sees. I saw The Gotham Times, a few lighting effects, a subway tunnel, Jokers on top of the building and then a burning police building. How does any of this connect into a plot.

Now, story wise I'm going to compare this to the Mummy, not the ride, anyone can come up with a story. The Mummy guides us through. Each scene is a plot point. We travel through the tomb, he tells us our two options and then sends us to be killed basically. He sends us through the tomb on a frantic chase where his minions try to take us. The Madji symbol shows up and he's destroyed for now.

Green and blue lights? Gotham Times? Back to a subway? Top of a building, burning police station? Connect it six flags. Its not a story. The preshow creates a reason but doesnt even introduce us to our villain.

Wade you're right about that. It's audience is too old for the type of ride it actually is and thats a problem. And unlike people on this site, no one is gonna ride it again to say "maybe I missed something." They're gonna get off, hate it and won't bother doing it again especially since the lines are gonna be long.

What I've been hearing is. It's worth it the first time because...it's the first time. But after that, no. They didn't make a ride that you wanna ride over and over again.

So Six Flags didn't accomplish what they described the ride to be, and they can't build anymore thrill rides, and they really wanna be Disney....so theres no happy medium.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2008, 09:51:39 PM by summahboy »

Offline peterpjr

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #35 on: May 18, 2008, 11:36:11 PM »
Peter . How many man hours went into getting this ride ready. How many sq ft is it?  Do you know which is longer ? The pre-show or the ride itself ?  Can I take an on-ride video?  Can I chew gum while riding?   Lol....   I can't wait to hear  what questions you are asked !!!
ROFL.......How true. I have to work on getting my ride stats down for Dark Knight.

Offline darkridedan

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #36 on: May 19, 2008, 02:59:52 PM »
The Dark Knight was coming close. The park was opening a new ride using action scenes! It was a long time-a-coming. I couldn?t sleep much the night before and when I woke early, I tried to feel the weight of it all. I was tired!



     Make no doubt about it; An indoor attraction is my favorite type of ride. Epcot was a favorite park as a kid, outside of Great Adventure. I liked riding the slow-moving vehicles to travel past dinosaurs in the tropics, the pyramids in Egypt, and a farmhouse in the early 20th century to see what life would be like in the late 21st century. Six Flags focused on thrills, and any change in direction toward indoor rides with scenes would have to come in the form of a coaster.



     I arrived at the park late and it felt like it was time to clock in. When I saw Wade, Tom, Bubba and his friend Tom, my focus changed to riding that new type of coaster!



     Before I posted about Great Adventure on the net, I wished Six Flags would build a big indoor-attraction for families. Between Ultra Twister, The Scream Machine, Shockwave, Batman and Viper, I was inverted-out. I thought the park may refurbish The Runaway Train with a new, large indoor-addition but the park introduced Skull Mountain. I was happy with it, but the novelty wore off in time. Mach 1 and Houdini helped the park revolve toward making the indoor family attraction a staple at the park, but Six Flags  changed focus at the start of this new decade. Skull Mountain was a fun family-ride but its lack of scenes couldn?t allow the ride to compare in scale to the new thrill rides built in Premier Parks' time.



     Excitement over The Dark Knight Coaster wasn?t so much for me as it was for the park to attract more families. Great Adventure has five major thrill coasters, all built within the last 10 years. That's reason alone for a Type-T personality like me to be lured out of his sleep. The families with children under 48?? have allot of rides to enjoy in the park?s four children areas and on 15 older big rides throughout the park (eight of those rides are height-required.) Now the park needed a big new marketable ride for everybody, yesterday.



Thank you Wade and Angel for the invite to the opening ceremonies.

(I should have posed you guys.)

Here are Diana and her sons Austin and Dane, who you will see shortly.

 
Rob and Melissa made it!


I met Flyin? Phil and a few other people who I will go up to the next time I see them.

Not this guy?


Diana and Wade in their Dark Knight shirts

(The pose shot doesn?t always work)





^Should have had a V8

Ride supervisors Marc and Dom are dressed for the occasion too.


Dainan was the warm up act


Six Flags Great Adventure?s President Mark Kane


Dainan captured Mr. Kane?s speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHLhFjQFAhg



TDK?s first line cutter couldn?t wait!


Angel started speaking


And the crowd erUpted




I felt so fortunate to witness all of this!

The ribbon-cutting ceremony


Bubba said these were deleted scenes from the movie


?It?s the Dark Rat. Snicker. Snicker. Snicker.?


There?s Bubba and his friend Tom! (My camera took too long to capture their other smile)


Mel, Rob and my on-ride photo

(I?ll scan it later)

And their after reaction?


FROM THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE?


Came these guys looking for their on ride photo?


They posed with Dane and Austin


(Someone asked Robin what he thought about his ride coming down for the Dark Knight! I let him know that we were glad we could ride this one.)

Dom shows the Batman symbol from the ribbon-cutting ceremony


Ken, Nick and Wade share their Dark Knight Coaster experience


It?s the public?s turn


Dark Knight?s first park guest


The ride?s first Flash Passer


The preshow is hilarious


The overflow of opening day guests


     I loved the ride. It was a modern version of the scenic railway, with new technology behind the effects. I like the ride as much as my top five coasters in the park: Rolling Thunder, Nitro, Batman, The Great American Scream Machine and El Toro. It?s in there with my all-time favorites, too many too mention. The Dark Knight is something to do while it is raining, and it almost did.

     I like the pre-show. I can tell we are going to be all ?Rocky Horror Picture Show? by the end of the season. I don?t understand the random movie images, but I like it. Perhaps The Dark Knight movie will explain it.

     The scenery in the ramp is cool. I can?t believe I didn?t take my camera inside! The station doesn?t look very ?in disarray,? and I like it. I love the cars moving through the station. The lift hill seems to move so quickly since it is indoors.

    I don?t like that I don?t work there, or else we could ?Guess the number of rats? or, ?What are all the locations of the Joker cards??

     I like hairpin turns! Arrow-esk! The holograms were interesting. I missed them the first time. The Batman shoot-out scene at the burning building didn?t quite work correctly each time, but I did see it work every time when we went up the lift hill. I like the curving swoop. The big bright box shooting at us was the back of a truck! Perhaps they can get this thing to back up toward us, or pull away! I couldn?t make out the scene at the bottom of the ride across from the truck, but that gives me all the more reason to come back. I like the dips. They came out of nowhere. Hills were something sorely missing in Skull Mountain. A scene towards the end of the ride was not working, but they will get it working.

     It?s a dark ride/ mouse in a box, and I like it as much as Exterminator. It has better scenes and Exterminator has spinning. Will Six Flags install a ?B SIDE? with spinning cars for the thrill riders?


* I moved the rest of the TR here  http://gadvupdates.com/forums/index.php?topic=2324.new#new

Thanks for reading thus far! 
« Last Edit: May 20, 2008, 12:54:23 PM by darkridedan »
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Offline ChuckR

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #37 on: May 19, 2008, 08:14:43 PM »
Ehh, boo that!

Offline Robert T Ackerman

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #38 on: May 19, 2008, 10:56:06 PM »
It was certainly a fun day. I can't really add much that hasn't been said about the coaster. I love it. I almost wish the brakes were on harder so that you could enjoy all of the scenery. I may also be the only person who would say it may have been better off as a dark ride... but what do I know. Either way, SF has a hit.

I won at Mini Golf by the way, somehow. I must've played the worst round ever! LOL. It was a fun day at the park, and I have yet to walk out of the park this year with a sour taste in my mouth.


Yeah, that sucks about Chiller...I hate to see it like that. Hey, so we should get a group picture or something ok. I'll call you later!

Offline Bubba Z

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #39 on: May 19, 2008, 11:00:38 PM »
I would own you both in Mini Golf !!! Too bad I'm at work I can't see the pictures !

Offline Millennium Force 44

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #40 on: May 19, 2008, 11:01:47 PM »
Great pictures everyone. I think that a wild mouse in complete darkness would be really cool because you woulgn't know what was coming next witht eh quick direction changes and dips.
The Dark Knight soars through the beginning. I was not expecting it to go so fast! I still have to ride it a few more times to catch all of the effects.

Offline CycloneMan

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #41 on: May 19, 2008, 11:44:17 PM »
« Last Edit: May 20, 2008, 10:50:44 PM by CycloneMan »

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Offline darkridedan

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #42 on: May 19, 2008, 11:59:51 PM »
Nice review Dainan.

I saw Wade and Tom, and well all of us in those stills.

I'll save the rest for private late night talks.
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Offline Dubya91

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #43 on: May 20, 2008, 12:44:00 AM »
Haha, You know I cant stop laughing while reading these trip reports, this site we really do have a cast of characters. Great Trips reports by all, i am loving the attention to detail. Looks like a great time and an overall great time! Looks like the Dark Knight did well on its opening too :)!

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Offline darkridedan

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #44 on: May 20, 2008, 01:20:34 AM »
BIG STUD
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Offline David Jr

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #45 on: May 20, 2008, 04:49:20 PM »
I was wondering, if this screen is only able to do 2 people at a time, how come i see 4 clowns? :P
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g33/CycloneMan/TDK%20Media%20Day/cap0069.jpg
Are you ready to send those commies running back to their mommies?

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Offline CycloneMan

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #46 on: May 20, 2008, 07:34:18 PM »
Are you calling me a clown Dave? :P

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Offline Robert T Ackerman

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Re: Dark Knight Media Day
« Reply #47 on: May 20, 2008, 07:35:43 PM »
^ LOL... I think he may have been hinting at that :)


Yeah, that sucks about Chiller...I hate to see it like that. Hey, so we should get a group picture or something ok. I'll call you later!