Batman: The Escape
Encyclopedia
Batman The Escape is a steel
stand-up
roller coaster
in storage at Darien Lake Theme Park Resort. Previously it was located at Six Flags Magic Mountain
from 1986 until January 1989 (where it was known as Shockwave); Six Flags Great Adventure
from 1990 until the Labor Day Weekend of 1992 (where it was known as Shockwave); and Six Flags AstroWorld
from 1994 until 2005. Batman: The Escape was designed by Intamin and featured one loop. This loop was followed by a diving turnaround, a midcourse brake run, and a helix through the loop before returning through a straight away back to the final brakes.
where it was known as Shockwave. It was one of the first stand up roller coasters in the world. The coaster was a very popular attraction at Magic Mountain regardless of its roughness due to the positions of the restraints. At the time, Six Flags had a ride rotation program, in which some coasters would remain at a park for a couple years and then transferred to another park.
Late in 1988, the Shockwave was closed, in 1989 removed, and in 1990 relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure
and opened there. At Magic Mountain, the former Shockwave location would be where the California Psyclone wooden twister coaster would be built in 1992.
At Great Adventure, the Shockwave would open a month into the 1990 season and be plagued with many technical difficulties. The ride continued to be quite rough but would have some of the longest lines in the park. At times Shockwave would not even open until 12:00 noon while the rest of the park opened at 10:00 am. It was still a very popular ride at the park, like when it was at Six Flags Magic Mountain
. The ride was painted blue instead of its prior color, black. The restraints also had been changed while at Six Flags Great Adventure
, removing the padding.
In June 1992, it was announced that Six Flags Great Adventure would add Batman The Ride, a then-state of the art steel inverted coaster for the 1993 season and begin building it on the then-current site of Lightning Loops. Lightning Loops would shut down at the end of July to be disassembled and for construction of Batman to begin. Then in August, the park would be told they would also be losing Shockwave, which closed after Labor Day weekend. The site is now the location of the paid attraction, Slingshot.
Shockwave would be dismantled in September 1992, relocated to AstroWorld
in 1993, and reopened in 1994. The coaster was painted a blue shade of white and renamed and rethemed "Batman The Escape". A Batcave adjacent to the coaster was created out of a manmade mountain for a previous attraction and heavily themed as guests would prepare to ride the coaster.
In 1998, the theming at the Batcave would be eliminated.
On September 12, 2005, Six Flags CEO, Kieran Burke, announced that the company's legendary AstroWorld theme park in Houston, Texas, would be closed and demolished at the end of the 2005 season. The company cited issues such as the park's performance, and parking issues involving the Houston Texans football team, Reliant Stadium, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo leveraged with the estimated value of the property upon which the park was located. Company executives were expecting to receive upwards of $150 million for the real estate, but ended up receiving less than half of that amount. After spending $20 million to demolish the park and clear the land, Six Flags received $77 million when the bare property was sold to a development corporation in 2006 (reported in a corporate earnings report). This transaction contributed to the decision by shareholders of the company to remove CEO, Kieran Burke, from his position on the board. He was replaced by Mark Shapiro formerly of Disney and ESPN.
After being dismantled, Six Flags placed the coaster in storage at Darien Lake. It remained there in storage through the sale of the park to PARC Management
and CNL Income Properties
. Future plans under current park operator Herschend Family Entertainment
are still unknown.
(B & M) was formed by two former employees of Intamin. Their first project as a new company would be a stand-up steel looping roller coaster
. This coaster would be much smoother and had more comfortable restraints than Shockwave, eventually becoming the Iron Wolf at Six Flags Great America
. Bolliger and Mabillard then began designing steel inverted coasters as well as steel floorless coasters.
In 1996, Bolliger and Mabillard designed the Mantis
, a stand up coaster at Cedar Point
. The year after, the company built Chang
at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom
. In 1998, Bolliger and Mabillard built another standup coaster for Six Flags Magic Mountain
, the Riddler's Revenge, now the tallest, longest, and fastest stand up coaster in the world. All three of these were even larger and smoother than Iron Wolf. Though Bolliger and Mabillard perfected the stand up steel looping coaster, Intamin's Shockwave was the original which makes the coaster an important development. Without Shockwave/Batman The Escape, these other stand up rides might have never been made.
Steel roller coaster
A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world...
stand-up
Stand-up roller coaster
A stand-up roller coaster is a roller coaster designed to have the passengers stand through the course of the ride. These roller coasters are very intense, and generally carry taller height restrictions than other rides.-History:...
roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
in storage at Darien Lake Theme Park Resort. Previously it was located at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In...
from 1986 until January 1989 (where it was known as Shockwave); Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation...
from 1990 until the Labor Day Weekend of 1992 (where it was known as Shockwave); and Six Flags AstroWorld
Six Flags Astroworld
AstroWorld was a seasonally operated theme park located on approximately of land between Kirby Drive and Fannin Avenue, directly south of Loop 610 in Houston, Texas, USA...
from 1994 until 2005. Batman: The Escape was designed by Intamin and featured one loop. This loop was followed by a diving turnaround, a midcourse brake run, and a helix through the loop before returning through a straight away back to the final brakes.
History
The ride was originally built in 1986 for Six Flags Magic MountainSix Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In...
where it was known as Shockwave. It was one of the first stand up roller coasters in the world. The coaster was a very popular attraction at Magic Mountain regardless of its roughness due to the positions of the restraints. At the time, Six Flags had a ride rotation program, in which some coasters would remain at a park for a couple years and then transferred to another park.
Late in 1988, the Shockwave was closed, in 1989 removed, and in 1990 relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation...
and opened there. At Magic Mountain, the former Shockwave location would be where the California Psyclone wooden twister coaster would be built in 1992.
At Great Adventure, the Shockwave would open a month into the 1990 season and be plagued with many technical difficulties. The ride continued to be quite rough but would have some of the longest lines in the park. At times Shockwave would not even open until 12:00 noon while the rest of the park opened at 10:00 am. It was still a very popular ride at the park, like when it was at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In...
. The ride was painted blue instead of its prior color, black. The restraints also had been changed while at Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation...
, removing the padding.
In June 1992, it was announced that Six Flags Great Adventure would add Batman The Ride, a then-state of the art steel inverted coaster for the 1993 season and begin building it on the then-current site of Lightning Loops. Lightning Loops would shut down at the end of July to be disassembled and for construction of Batman to begin. Then in August, the park would be told they would also be losing Shockwave, which closed after Labor Day weekend. The site is now the location of the paid attraction, Slingshot.
Shockwave would be dismantled in September 1992, relocated to AstroWorld
Six Flags Astroworld
AstroWorld was a seasonally operated theme park located on approximately of land between Kirby Drive and Fannin Avenue, directly south of Loop 610 in Houston, Texas, USA...
in 1993, and reopened in 1994. The coaster was painted a blue shade of white and renamed and rethemed "Batman The Escape". A Batcave adjacent to the coaster was created out of a manmade mountain for a previous attraction and heavily themed as guests would prepare to ride the coaster.
In 1998, the theming at the Batcave would be eliminated.
On September 12, 2005, Six Flags CEO, Kieran Burke, announced that the company's legendary AstroWorld theme park in Houston, Texas, would be closed and demolished at the end of the 2005 season. The company cited issues such as the park's performance, and parking issues involving the Houston Texans football team, Reliant Stadium, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo leveraged with the estimated value of the property upon which the park was located. Company executives were expecting to receive upwards of $150 million for the real estate, but ended up receiving less than half of that amount. After spending $20 million to demolish the park and clear the land, Six Flags received $77 million when the bare property was sold to a development corporation in 2006 (reported in a corporate earnings report). This transaction contributed to the decision by shareholders of the company to remove CEO, Kieran Burke, from his position on the board. He was replaced by Mark Shapiro formerly of Disney and ESPN.
After being dismantled, Six Flags placed the coaster in storage at Darien Lake. It remained there in storage through the sale of the park to PARC Management
PARC Management
PARC Management, LLC is an operations company based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. which operates various parks, attractions, recreation and entertainment venues throughout North America.-History:...
and CNL Income Properties
CNL Income Properties
CNL Lifestyle Properties is an unlisted Real Estate Investment Trust . The Trust is managed by CNL Financial Group. The company buys resort properties across the nation, but has no day-to-day management involvement in the properties it owns.-Properties:...
. Future plans under current park operator Herschend Family Entertainment
Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation
Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation is a privately owned themed-entertainment company that operates several theme parks and tourist attractions within the United States....
are still unknown.
Influence on Future Coasters
Shockwave was one of the first standup coasters in the world. Another stand up looping steel coaster called Shockwave was built at Kings Dominion by TOGO International but has no association with this coaster at all. With the Intamin Shockwave Bolliger and Mabillard used a four across seating roller coaster train and a box shaped spine track that would become the trademark of their future company. In 1988, a roller coaster designing company called Bolliger & MabillardBolliger & Mabillard
Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, with Bolliger acting as president and Mabillard as vice-president...
(B & M) was formed by two former employees of Intamin. Their first project as a new company would be a stand-up steel looping roller coaster
Stand-up roller coaster
A stand-up roller coaster is a roller coaster designed to have the passengers stand through the course of the ride. These roller coasters are very intense, and generally carry taller height restrictions than other rides.-History:...
. This coaster would be much smoother and had more comfortable restraints than Shockwave, eventually becoming the Iron Wolf at Six Flags Great America
Six Flags Great America
Six Flags Great America is a Six Flags theme park in the Chicago metropolitan area, located in Gurnee, Illinois. It first opened in 1976 as Marriott's Great America. Six Flags purchased the park from the Marriott Corporation in 1984, making it the seventh park in the chain...
. Bolliger and Mabillard then began designing steel inverted coasters as well as steel floorless coasters.
In 1996, Bolliger and Mabillard designed the Mantis
Mantis (roller coaster)
Mantis is a Bolliger and Mabillard stand-up roller coaster at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. It had set several stand-up coaster records, including height [], speed [], steepest , and inversions - previously, this had been achieved by Shockwave at Drayton Manor Theme Park, UK...
, a stand up coaster at Cedar Point
Cedar Point
Cedar Point is a 364 acre amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, United States on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. Cedar Point is the only amusement park with four roller coasters that are taller than...
. The year after, the company built Chang
Chang (roller coaster)
Green Lantern is a steel Bolliger & Mabillard stand-up roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure. It was originally constructed at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky in 1997, where it was known as Chang. Upon opening in 1997, it set the world records for this type of coaster in...
at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom
Kentucky Kingdom is an amusement park located in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The park is located on of land which includes a collection of 27 amusement rides and a water park named Splashwater Kingdom...
. In 1998, Bolliger and Mabillard built another standup coaster for Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In...
, the Riddler's Revenge, now the tallest, longest, and fastest stand up coaster in the world. All three of these were even larger and smoother than Iron Wolf. Though Bolliger and Mabillard perfected the stand up steel looping coaster, Intamin's Shockwave was the original which makes the coaster an important development. Without Shockwave/Batman The Escape, these other stand up rides might have never been made.
Facts
- The ride featured a 66 feet (20.1 m) vertical loop.
- The ride was originally blue and black. It was painted white in 1994 but was re-painted yellow and black in 2004.