New and exciting? Yes.
Cutting-edge, '4D', and "first of its kind"? Hardly.
Six Flags touted their most recent installation of a Batman themed roller coaster as being unlike anything else anywhere on the planet [more on that later]. What makes this ride unique is that you're situated on either side of the track, not above or below it. At certain points along the (short) course, magnetic kickers induce rotation which provides riders with 6 or more flips per go. Each 2-person car is free to rotate on its axis, completely independent of the other car's motion, so in a sense every ride is different.
But because I'm a roller coaster enthusiast, I know that nothing at all makes this coaster '4D', like the promotional materials state. The track layout is planar and the cars only have uniaxial rotation........so where do the other 'D's' come into play? Also, this isn't the first of its kind, since coaster manufacturer Intamin has 3 of these 'freespin' models scattered around the world and 1 in California. There's essentially nothing new or ground-breaking with this variant of Batman: The Ride, even though Six Flags marketing states otherwise. Don't buy into their nonsense propaganda!!
That being said, it's a fairly intense ride, great for teens and adrenaline junkies like yours truly. Riding this was one of the ONLY times I've ever had to remove my sunglasses, for fear of having them knocked off my head from the jarring motions. The elevator-style lift was enjoyable, and the randomness of the rotations keeps you on your toes. As luck would have it, I wound up oriented noggin-first during the coaster's biggest drop, so all the blood rushed straight to my head. That was pretty wild.
Few people will notice, but early on in the queue line is an indoor area with various Batman stuff, among them a legit hologram of the coaster car. It was one of the only times I saw ride theming at SFFT, and the refined hologram was a very sleek touch. The Batmobile was nice and shiny, too.
Definitely worth a ride on your trip to Fiesta Texas. Just don't go into it thinking that it's the only one of its kind in the world, cuz, well......it's not. read more