Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom officially opens to the public tomorrow, Saturday May 25 in the afternoon, just in time for Memorial Day weekend. The park celebrated the opening with a media preview event this morning, letting us get our first rides on the new coaster.
Batman: The Ride
The Ride Experience
Batman is an S&S Free Spin model coaster, the seventh Free Spin in the Six Flags family. The ride consists of a two rail track that rises vertically, but in a 2-D plane. Cars have seats on both side of the track with freely spinning rows. As the train goes through the track, it sends you flipping head over heels. It’s one of the most disorienting experiences you can have on a roller coaster. However, thanks to the fact that each set of seats rotates independently, the ride isn’t very violent or uncomfortable.
“Batman: The Ride brings cutting edge ride technology to the West Coast,” Discovery Kingdom’s President Don McCoy said. “(It sends) our guests up a 120 foot tall, 90 degree vertical lift, before spinning freely through the air experiencing sudden drops and feelings of weightlessness.”
The ride also features sets of magnetic brakes that can force the seats into controlled inversions (or non-inversions). This helps make for a smooth ride that is never too extreme, but also ensures that guests will experience the disorienting flips that make 4D coasters fun. This also is a unique feature that makes the Free Spins different from each other.
Not Just a Clone
Charles Laureano, Maintenance Manager for Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, told me that they had input on the location of the fins, and that they can be mounted anywhere on the track. In the case of Batman: The Ride, there are even sections where there is a fin on the left track but not on the right, so that the experience could be totally different depending which side of the car you’re in. He also explained to me that they are able to tune these magnetic brakes to change how quickly the spins slow down and speed up, allowing them to slightly vary the ride.
The magnetic fins that help control the inversions on Batman aren’t the always in the same spots on the different Six Flags Free Spins. On Batman: The Ride they’re even different for the different sides of the coaster, so you can get a different experience on each side.
The ride also features a few other small differences from other versions based on lessons learned from the other parks. For example, the wheel assemblies have been updated based on lessons from other Six Flags parks to reduce downtime and maintenance costs.
Batman Theming
There was still some construction going on near the site, so while the ride is open the work isn’t completely done. It does feature a new gift shop and themed queue area, though. The queue includes blueprints of Batman’s tools (including the ride vehicle, his newest invention), and a replica Batmobile. I’m guessing there will be a lot of pictures in front of it.
I’m Batman
All in all the ride is a quick one, but the “out of control” experience makes it a blast. Plus, the seats and restraints are downright comfortable. It’s hard to describe the coaster in specifics because, well, it’s different every ride, and it’s really disorienting. For a smooth, unique experience, you can’t really ask for more. As always with Discovery Kingdom, it’s a great addition for a park that needs things in a compact space. I’m happy we’ve got one of these on the West Coast finally.
DC Universe and The Flash
Batman: The Ride is the capstone for the newly branded area of the park, DC Universe. The section of the park has been heading this way for awhile, since the opening of Superman: Ultimate Flight in 2012. The area has been refreshed with new shops, updated restaurants, and the refreshed Vertical Velocity, now known as The Flash: Vertical Velocity.
The Flash: Vertical Velocity is sporting a new coat of Flash-colored paint and a new sign.
The Flash is sporting a bright new coat of paint on the track, restraints, and trains. It also has new signs and some posters about The Flash. I am really happy to see it get this refresh, as it’s one of my favorite rides at the park and is unique among impulse coasters. It’s a good sign that Vertical Velocity won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Expect more work to continue to clean up this section of the park, and there are a few sad changes (like the dolphin discovery pool that no longer really fit in the area has been removed), but it’s nice to see it all finally pulled together.
If you want to learn more about why these new Free Spins are so much more fun than older 4D coaster models, check out our piece from a few years ago about the differences.
For more about Batman the Ride, and to go ride it yourself, check out the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom website. Have you ridden any of the Free Spin coasters at other Six Flags parks? Do you have a favorite? Let us know in the comments below. And, if you get a chance to ride Batman: The Ride, let us know what you think of it! You can also tell us on Twitter or on Facebook. As always stick with Coaster101 for more news on all of the new for 2019 rides opening this Spring and Summer.
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