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Author Topic: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???  (Read 13378 times)

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Offline VinnyFresh

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Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« on: April 04, 2009, 11:15:30 PM »
Alright... This will stir up the forums a little bit. LOL. Now i know that The Dark Knight was advertised as a family ride and I Have nothing against that! But Could a better ride have been built in place of Dark Knight? What do you think? I would love to know your feelings. Here are my personal feelings...

I think that six flags made alot of money in the 2008 season because of this ride. I mean their advertisements were everywhere, the movie was going to come out that summer, and six flags got evry one all hype about it through online updates and teasers. The Teasers made me want to ride it so bad it wasnt even funny. But I think that the ppl that were hype about this ride were disipointed in the end. The ride itself wasnt all that exciting which is okay because it is a family ride. But the theme elements while on the coaster were advertised to be amazing, meanwhile they were terrible. I enjoy watching the big screen before entering the gotham city transit. I think that this might come back to haunt six flags this year (2009).... we all know the chiller had to go, but would the idea to put a new steel coaster give six flags extra fans and money for years to come?? Such as Kingda Ka and El Toro are still doing???
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Offline jglonek

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2009, 11:24:02 PM »
Well, I know I personally feel that the pre-show is a lot more entertaining than the ride itself. And I hate to say it but it almost seems like the ride was slapped up as a prefab Mouse coaster in a box so it was ready to cash on The Dark Knight movie hype last year.

I have a feeling we're going to see the effects on Medusa this season and wonder why the park didn't go that extra step and put those effects on TDK. You don't need a crazy coaster to keep things interesting as long as the effects/"story" are good, and I think TDK could have been thought out a bit more.

That said, it will be interesting to see what kind of crowds it draws this year. But also remember that it's a "family coaster", something we don't have too many of. I think one line of thought is that the enthusiasts, us, got two amazing coasters in recent years (Ka and Toro) and this one was for the rest of the family.

Although, I would have rather had a Pandemonium / Tony Hawk coaster instead! Still family, more fun! But that's my opinion.

Offline VinnyFresh

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2009, 08:28:41 AM »
i agree 100%
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Offline Bubba Z

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2009, 08:38:51 AM »
I thought the ride effects would be better.  But as far as the ride, I knew it was going to be a mouse in a box so I wasn't  disappointed.    In fact, I think for a mouse it's a  pretty good ride.  The problem is  everyone was expecting Chiller part two.

Offline coasterfreak23

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2009, 04:45:38 PM »
i think that tdk is a waste.. they took out 2 good rides to put a wild mouse coaster in.. the chiller was a good ride, they should have left the corkscrews alone and just replace all the linear induction motors.. also they got rid of movietown water effect.. y?? i mean the best part was standing on the bridge waiting to get soaked but not anymore.. they could have put the dark knight somewhere else in the park but hey what can i say..

Offline rjholla2003

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2009, 10:07:51 PM »
Chiller's footprint is intact.  It was removed because it was a lemon for 10 years.  Was it a good ride, yes!  But how often did it run?  It just wasn't worth it anymore.

Dark Knight is exactly what the park said it would be...until they broke stride and used the "thrill" word. It's a great family ride, and by far the best Wild Mouse coaster I have ever ridden, with the most comfortable cars I ever experienced.  This isn't counting the building, or anything in it.  The stated goal was for it to match Space Mountain in terms of theming and ride experience.  I would say that the goal was met.  Keep in mind I worked Space Mountain, love Space Mountain, and miss it a lot.  I'm not just saying that to say it.  It does it's job well, and I enjoy it for what it is.  Is it my favorite?  No.  But I'd rather have Dark Knight than Skull Mountain to be honest.
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Offline chilled182

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2009, 11:17:52 PM »
i think that tdk is a waste.. they took out 2 good rides to put a wild mouse coaster in.. the chiller was a good ride, they should have left the corkscrews alone and just replace all the linear induction motors.. also they got rid of movietown water effect.. y?? i mean the best part was standing on the bridge waiting to get soaked but not anymore.. they could have put the dark knight somewhere else in the park but hey what can i say..

It was incredibly and unreasonably expensive to replace the Linear Induction Motors, and I'm almost positive that was another big influence in the final decision to axe it. 

Did you ever ride it with just the lap bars while it still had the inline's on it?  It gave you pretty good whiplash.

I have to agree with not having a decent soak ride in the park, but at the same time, Water Effect was a 30 second ride that was not reliable as well. 

Reggie, I kind of like skull mountain.  I think it's probably more interesting of a ride than TDK.

Has anyone ever been on the Exterminator at Kennywood?  It is a spinning wild mouse with some great theming, and it is awesome.
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Offline Steve

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2009, 11:36:52 PM »
If we had a ride like Exterminator I would be so happy.


Offline rjholla2003

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #8 on: April 06, 2009, 09:06:10 AM »
If TDK spun, I would have 0 problems with it.

Also, I don't dislike Skull Mountain either (except for that wonky front-row ride).  But I only truly enjoy the first drop on that ride, and only in the back row.

*edit*
Whoops!  Meant to say back row!
« Last Edit: April 06, 2009, 10:51:30 AM by rjholla2003 »
Peep the concept, you've got progress, you've got congress
We protest in hopes they confess, just proceed on your conquest
I ain't got no gavel, I ain't finna fight nobody battle
I just wanna be free, I ain't finna be nobody's chattel

Offline Bubba Z

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #9 on: April 06, 2009, 09:15:17 AM »
Front row on Church, Really ?   I always run to the back.  Looks like I'll  wait for front row next time.

Offline darkridedan

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #10 on: April 06, 2009, 09:44:04 AM »
I like my way of riding Skully best. ;)
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Offline ChuckR

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2009, 09:55:40 AM »
Re-build Chiller...

Or better yet send it over to Europe!

Offline rjholla2003

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #12 on: April 06, 2009, 10:52:14 AM »
I fixed my last post Bubba.  Front row is EVIL!  The ride was simply all wrong. It needs a shorter train.
Peep the concept, you've got progress, you've got congress
We protest in hopes they confess, just proceed on your conquest
I ain't got no gavel, I ain't finna fight nobody battle
I just wanna be free, I ain't finna be nobody's chattel

Offline kingdakafan

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #13 on: April 06, 2009, 11:59:45 AM »
I think an inverted impulse coaster would be nice, like Wicked Twister or VooDoo ;D. But then again great adventure does need a good tower drop ride R.I.P freefall (even though i never got to ride you!)


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Offline darkridedan

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #14 on: April 06, 2009, 12:08:03 PM »
This park does not do well with launched coasters. Hopefully the third time is the charm with learning this lesson. Had the park kept some flat rides and passed on Kingda Ka, allot more rides would be available on windy days, like Opening Day. The park never built a 4D, ball coaster or Dive coaster and not building Kingda Ka would have been a case of "what the GP never rode won't hurt them."
« Last Edit: April 06, 2009, 12:11:08 PM by darkridedan »
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Offline darkridedan

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #15 on: April 06, 2009, 01:08:03 PM »
I like The Dark Knight coaster. It's a nice way to escape the heat, just like the ride it replaced, Movie Town Water Effect. The gun effect is a bit lame for my taste. The second half of the ride seems to be missing a storyline, or anything. It could use more background scenery and better effects, but the layout is fun and it's something to do. Perhaps someday another owner will take it to another level.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2009, 03:24:47 PM by darkridedan »
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Offline me23

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #16 on: April 06, 2009, 02:52:25 PM »
ESCAPE THE HEAT WTF before you get on it you have to wait on a 3 hour line with the sun while every walks out giving it thumbs down on you the preshow was cool then you wait on other line but im ok with that cause you have to have some way to get people on the ride and the senarys cool and its air condition you get on the ride and this is every thing that happens hahaha jhjfhgbnjfdkbueyrgtrf hahaha hgkjhgiuesrdgfuyerger hahaha jvhjfhgurgherv hahaha then you get off and give it thumps down

Offline rjholla2003

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #17 on: April 06, 2009, 02:57:33 PM »
What is a "jurgenfurger", or whatever you're typing between "haha". Also, the queue is shaded to alleviate some of the heat. I'm not saying it's cool, but cooler than the midways are.
Peep the concept, you've got progress, you've got congress
We protest in hopes they confess, just proceed on your conquest
I ain't got no gavel, I ain't finna fight nobody battle
I just wanna be free, I ain't finna be nobody's chattel

Offline me23

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #18 on: April 06, 2009, 03:15:55 PM »
"Gdeydfcye" stands for the clutter of words and how you can't understand anything idk what it is but, El Toro feels a lot cooler then TDK (both shaded).  Ooooo i know 'cept Six Flags wants to make a few bucks with commercials on monitors which you have to listen to for 2 hours. Commercials suck at home, and they're even worse in the heat. It might be great for kids, but for me this ride can rot for all I care

*edit*
Please use proper punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure.  It makes the post much easier to comprehend.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2009, 05:05:36 PM by rjholla2003 »

Offline nitrorox1414

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #19 on: April 06, 2009, 04:12:45 PM »
I think they wanted a family ride because not a lot of kids were going into that part of the park ^-^
« Last Edit: April 06, 2009, 05:07:45 PM by rjholla2003 »

Offline me23

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #20 on: April 06, 2009, 04:14:20 PM »
Because The Dark Knight was a really good family movie.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2009, 05:08:24 PM by rjholla2003 »

Offline darkridedan

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #21 on: April 06, 2009, 04:24:59 PM »
It was a win/win situation. A certain chunk of people only come to GA for (new) coasters and with the removal of 4 great rides and the closure of 3 other rides, the park was in need of a new family ride.

The line lasts no longer than 20 minutes on an average day, 45 minutes when full and took only an hour with a breakdown on my visits. The shading cools the line down enough for me.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2009, 08:11:39 AM by darkridedan »
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Offline nitrorox1414

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #22 on: April 06, 2009, 05:02:37 PM »
learn to spell its real not rel and i never said it was a family moviequote author=me23

Offline rjholla2003

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #23 on: April 06, 2009, 05:11:58 PM »
Me, are you being sarcastic?  Even though I like the ride as far as it doing the job it was designed to do, as well as being an amazing Wild Mouse period, I think the major problem the coaster had, which caused the reception issues, was it's theme.

The Dark Knight was not a family movie.  It was a very dark, very involved superhero movie that was definitely not for children.  Besides the violence, the plots and the deep dive into the psychology of the ride really didn't cater to children.  Because of the movie, people were expecting a ride that was just as "thrill" as the movie.  That turned out to be a big problem, seeing as guests were walking around the park with "No Dark Knight" T-shirts on.

Nitrorox: Before calling someone else on their spelling, you may want to say hello to your shift key. ;)
Peep the concept, you've got progress, you've got congress
We protest in hopes they confess, just proceed on your conquest
I ain't got no gavel, I ain't finna fight nobody battle
I just wanna be free, I ain't finna be nobody's chattel

Offline nitrorox1414

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Re: Could a better ride have been put in place of Dark Knight???
« Reply #24 on: April 06, 2009, 06:09:16 PM »
Hi shift key haha(Not sarcastic)
Me, are you being sarcastic?  Even though I like the ride as far as it doing the job it was designed to do, as well as being an amazing Wild Mouse period, I think the major problem the coaster had, which caused the reception issues, was it's theme.

The Dark Knight was not a family movie.  It was a very dark, very involved superhero movie that was definitely not for children.  Besides the violence, the plots and the deep dive into the psychology of the ride really didn't cater to children.  Because of the movie, people were expecting a ride that was just as "thrill" as the movie.  That turned out to be a big problem, seeing as guests were walking around the park with "No Dark Knight" T-shirts on.

Nitrorox: Before calling someone else on their spelling, you may want to say hello to your shift key. ;)