Batman & Robin: The Chiller

Last updated

Batman & Robin: The Chiller
Chiller tower.jpg
The Chiller's main inversions, the 141 ft inverted top hat and the 113 ft cobra roll
Six Flags Great Adventure
Park section Movietown
Coordinates 40°08′12.16″N74°26′30.75″W / 40.1367111°N 74.4418750°W / 40.1367111; -74.4418750
Status Removed
Soft opening date June 7, 1997 (June 7, 1997)
Opening date April 4, 1998 (April 4, 1998)
Closing date June 28, 2007 (2007-06-28)
Cost US$15,000,000
Replaced by Justice League: Battle for Metropolis
General Statistics
Type Steel  Launched  Shuttle
Manufacturer Premier Rides
Designer Werner Stengel
Model Dueling LIM Shuttle Loop Coaster
Track layout Dueling
Lift/launch system LIM launch track
BatmanRobin
Height 200 ft (61.0 m) 200 ft (61.0 m)
Drop 139 ft (42.4 m) 105 ft (32.0 m)
Length 1,137 ft (346.6 m) 1,229 ft (374.6 m)
Speed 65 mph (104.6 km/h) 65 mph (104.6 km/h)
Inversions

1 (2007)

2 (1997-2006)

2 (2007)

3 (1997-2006)
Duration 0:32 0:48
Max vertical angle 90° 90°
Acceleration 0 to 65 mph (105 km/h) in 4 seconds 0 to 65 mph (105 km/h) in 4 seconds
G-force 5 5
Capacity 1360 riders per hour
Restraint Style Individual ratcheting lap bar, formerly individual shoulder harness
Height restriction 54 in (137 cm)
Trains 2 (one on each side) trains with 5 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 20 riders per train.
Batman & Robin: The Chiller at RCDB
Pictures of Batman & Robin: The Chiller at RCDB

Batman & Robin: The Chiller was a dual-tracked, launched roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Designed by Premier Rides, the ride was themed to the 1997 film Batman & Robin .

Contents

The coaster opened to the public on June 7, 1997, but after a series of setbacks shortly after its debut, it closed for much of its inaugural season and did not reopen until 1998. When it did, ride operation was changed to launch only one side at a time as a result of the amount of power required by the ride's linear induction motor (LIM) launch system. Although modifications were made over the years to improve the ride experience and limit the amount of downtime, the park decided to remove the attraction following the 2007 season.

History

Development and opening

In 1996, Six Flags Great Adventure announced the addition of a new roller coaster for the 1997 season. The new ride would be a dual-tracked, launched roller coaster called "Batman & Robin: The Chiller", featuring linear induction motor (LIM) technology for its launch system. [1] The theme was chosen to promote the Batman & Robin film, which was set to debut in mid-1997. [2] [3] [4] The 60-foot-tall (18 m) Observatory prop that loomed over the launch tracks and exit ramp was inspired by the film source material. [2] Each track represented one of the title characters, with the blue track for Batman and the red track for Robin. [1] The ride was fabricated by Dynamic Structures and Intermountain Lift, Inc. [5] [6] It was the most expensive single attraction ever developed by Six Flags Great Adventure at the time. [4] [7] Batman & Robin: The Chiller would also be the first LIM launched dueling coaster in the world, as well as the second Batman-themed coaster in the park (after Batman: The Ride). [4]

Following a series of delays, Batman & Robin: The Chiller opened to the public on June 7, 1997. [1] Among the first riders were 80 pairs of twins, [8] as well as members of nonprofit organization American Coaster Enthusiasts and 50 students who raised money for UNICEF. [4] The ride only operated for a short time, closing on June 18. [9] Six Flags Great Adventure cited "inconsistencies" with the LIM launch system and unsatisfactory ride quality. [10] [11] Early adjustments included changes to the LIM configuration and the installation of additional padding to the passenger restraints. [11] These changes failed to solve the issue and, on July 30, 1997, the park announced the possibility that the new coaster would be closed for the remainder of the season. [11]

Six Flags Great Adventure spent eight months modifying the ride. [10] The attraction originally had 400 LIMs, [7] but another 32 LIMs were added during the 1997–1998 off-season. [10] The Chiller did not operate on a full-time basis until 1998. [1] Six Flags Great Adventure invited 68 pairs of twins to attend the ride's reopening in May 1998. [10] The ride already had a negative reputation, having become a "200-foot reminder" of the Batman & Robin film, a box-office bomb. [9]

Ongoing issues and modifications

The Chiller faced excessive amounts of downtime due to a number of reoccurring issues. [9] [12] The most prominent issue was that the LIMs required massive amounts of power, which frequently caused the ride's computer to record an error and shut down the ride. Park guests frequently did not know whether the ride would be closed for the entire day. [9] Power shortages and low temperatures occasionally caused the trains to stall on the track in a low area, sometimes in the middle of an inversion. [9] [12] Incidents of stalling were so frequent that Six Flags Great Adventure added evacuation platforms in places where the ride was most likely to stall. [12] On one occasion following a power outage, the Robin (Red) side managed to stall in the zero-g roll itself, leaving 8 passengers stranded upside down, with 12 others stranded partially inverted. [13]

In addition, during the ride's test runs, the LIM motors had issues with overheating and Six Flags officials could not provide the full thrust necessary to operate the ride consistently at high speeds. [14] At the time, park management was not concerned, as Flight of Fear at Kings Dominion in Virginia also had issues with the launch system. [15] One of the trains suffered damage when the launch system closed onto the fins. The train was removed for adjustments and was later put back in place. [16]

The original over-the-shoulder restraints were reportedly uncomfortable, as riders frequently complained of hitting their heads. [12] Attempts were made to improve comfort by adding extra padding. [11] The restraints were eventually replaced with individually-ratcheting lap bars, with the Robin side receiving the change first in 2001, followed by the Batman side in 2002. [1] [12]

The Batman track was more prone to closure than the Robin track; it operated sporadically for only a few weeks during some seasons, and it did not operate at all during one season. [12] In June 2006, Six Flags Great Adventure closed The Chiller indefinitely following a major incident involving the Robin side. [9] [17] The third car's wheel assembly of the train's third car broke apart during the course of the ride, further damaging the track and train.[ citation needed ] It remained closed for the rest of the season, while the park considered a major overhaul of the ride. After several significant modifications the following off-season by Premier Rides, which included the removal of the zero-g rolls and a re-design of the wheel assembly system, the ride reopened briefly in 2007. [1] The ride's brief 2007 re-opening involved the former Batman train being painted red so as to supply the more reliable Robin side with a full train to operate with. [12] The Batman side never operated again. [9]

Removal and aftermath

Removal of the ride began late in the 2007 operating season. [9] The taller portions of its structure were removed in the months following the close of the 2007 season. The coaster was disassembled in a fashion that indicated the park had intentions of re-selling the ride, as the pieces were carefully brought down one by one in a non destructive manner. Pieces were labeled and shipped out of the park on flatbed trucks to a storage lot in the adjacent Plumsted Township in New Jersey. [18] [12] Once the steel structure of the coaster was removed, only the station, observatory and queue line remained. The following year, the remaining foundation caps under the observatory and the former exit ramp were removed.[ citation needed ]

The ride remained there for several years before Beto Carrero World, a Brazilian park, purchased the coaster. For unknown reasons, Beto Carrero never assembled the ride, and the track pieces instead sat unused. The Asbury Park Press reported that "there are dozens of unconfirmed anecdotes", including claims that Beto Carrero could not manufacture the LIM motors efficiently or that the park was missing track pieces or blueprints. [9] In December 2018, the Robin train was reused as a third train on Mr. Freeze at Six Flags Over Texas. [19]

Following the removal of the ride, the queue line was used for the "Escape From The Asylum" Terror Trail during Fright Fest. The Fright Fest exclusive attraction turned the former ride area into a Terror Trail maze for guests to walk through while costumed employees were hiding and frequently scaring guests. The remodeled observatory opened on July 3, 2009, as the "Xploratorium", a new attraction with many virtual and interactive features for park guests to enjoy.[ citation needed ] Justice League Battle for Metropolis, a dark ride, and The Dark Knight Coaster opened in the location where Chiller once stood, although the Observatory still remains and is used for various purposes. [9]

Ride experience

Batman & Robin: The Chiller's entrance and the two 200-foot Towers. Chiller entrance.jpg
Batman & Robin: The Chiller's entrance and the two 200-foot Towers.

The Chiller used a linear induction motor (LIM) launch system with 432 LIMs, [20] [21] which had a combined output of 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW). [7] The trains were launched out of the station, reaching 65 mph (105 km/h) in approximately 4 seconds. [1] The Batman track, measuring 1,137 feet (347 m) long, [2] featured an inverted top hat element with a 139-foot (42 m) drop. [22] [20] [21] The Robin track, measuring 1,229 feet (375 m) long, [2] contained a 105-foot (32 m) cobra roll, which counted as two inversions. [20] [21] After their respective inversions, both tracks originally entered a zero-g roll/heartline inversion. [2] The tracks ended at a 200-foot (61 m) incline with a 45-degree angle, which also featured a second set of LIMs that propelled each train close to the top. [2] [21] They rested momentarily before rolling backward down the incline, propelled by the LIMs and repeating the course in reverse. [21]

In its early days, both tracks ran their trains simultaneously as intended to provide a dueling scenario. [23] When operated in this fashion, the trains would reach the end of their respective tracks at approximately the same time. [23] However, the amount of power required by the LIM infrastructure led to the park only launching one train at a time. [23] The zero-g roll element on each side was removed prior to the 2007 season and replaced with small hills. [1]

Critical reception

When the ride opened, Lin Weisenstein of the Asbury Park Press wrote: "Even though you know it's coming, there's no way you can prepare for the tremendous acceleration that nails you to your seat at five times the force of gravity. [...] Another highlight is the top-hat loop on the Batman track. That plunge is unbelievable." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Six Flags Great Adventure</span> Theme park in Jackson, New Jersey

Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located approximately 20 miles southeast of Trenton in Jackson, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park complex is situated between New York City and Philadelphia and includes a water park named Hurricane Harbor. It first opened to the public as simply Great Adventure in 1974 under the direction of restaurateur Warner LeRoy. Six Flags acquired the park in 1977. The park is located right off of Interstate 195 and is along Monmouth Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingda Ka</span> Roller coaster in Jackson, New Jersey

Kingda Ka is a hydraulically-launched steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, United States. Manufactured by Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel, Kingda Ka opened as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world on May 21, 2005, surpassing Top Thrill Dragster. It is the second strata coaster ever built, exceeding 400 feet (120 m) in height. Both were made with similar designs, although Kingda Ka's layout adds an airtime hill on the return portion of the track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shuttle roller coaster</span> Type of roller coaster

A shuttle roller coaster is any roller coaster that ultimately does not make a complete circuit, but rather reverses at some point throughout its course and traverses the same track backwards. These are sometimes referred to as boomerang roller coasters, due to the ubiquity of Vekoma's Boomerang coaster model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Launched roller coaster</span> Modern form of roller coaster

The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power, along a launch track. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest roller coasters in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman: The Ride</span> Roller coasters at seven Six Flags parks

Batman: The Ride is an inverted roller coaster based on the DC Comics character Batman and found at seven Six Flags theme parks in the United States and at least one outside the US. Built by consulting engineers Bolliger & Mabillard, it rises to a height of between 100 and 105 feet and reaches top speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h). The original roller coaster at Six Flags Great America was partially devised by the park's general manager Jim Wintrode. Batman: The Ride was the world's first inverted roller coaster when it opened in 1992, and has since been awarded Coaster Landmark status by the American Coaster Enthusiasts. Clones of the ride exist at amusement parks around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great American Scream Machine (Six Flags Great Adventure)</span> Defunct steel roller coaster

Great American Scream Machine was a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. The 173-foot-tall (53 m) ride opened in 1989 as the tallest and fastest looping roller coaster in the world, reaching a maximum speed of 68 mph (109 km/h). It was designed by Ron Toomer and manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, which built two other coasters with similar layouts – Shockwave at Six Flags Great America and Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Great American Scream Machine featured seven inversions including a batwing and double corkscrew. Records set by the ride were succeeded by Viper the following year in 1990. It operated until July 2010 and was replaced by a stand-up roller coaster, Green Lantern, in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Lantern (Six Flags Great Adventure)</span> Steel roller coaster

Green Lantern, formerly known as Chang, is a stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Green Lantern stands 155 feet (47 m) tall and features a top speed of 63 miles per hour (101 km/h). The 4,155-foot-long (1,266 m) ride features five inversions and a duration of approximately 212 minutes. This steel coaster was designed and built by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Toro (Six Flags Great Adventure)</span> Wooden roller coaster

El Toro is a wooden roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Intamin, the ride opened to the public on June 11, 2006. Intamin subcontracted Rocky Mountain Construction to build the ride, and the coaster's track was prefabricated, allowing for quicker installation and lower construction costs. El Toro is the main attraction of the Mexican-themed section of the park, Plaza Del Carnaval. It replaced another roller coaster, Viper, which closed following the 2004 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suspended Looping Coaster</span> Type of roller coaster

The Suspended Looping Coaster is a model of steel inverted roller coaster built by Dutch manufacturer Vekoma. There are at least 39 different installations across the world. The minimum rider height requirement is 130 centimetres. Vekoma is now marketing a Suspended Thrill Coaster as a successor to the Suspended Looping Coaster. The Odyssey is the largest, fastest and tallest SLC ever built at Fantasy Island in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Bear (roller coaster)</span> Roller coaster at Hersheypark

Great Bear is an inverted roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, with additional design from Werner Stengel, the roller coaster opened on May 23, 1998, in the Minetown section of the park. Great Bear was the first inverted looping coaster in Pennsylvania and cost $13 million, the largest project Hersheypark undertook at the time. The roller coaster reaches a maximum height of 90 feet (27 m), a maximum speed of 58 miles per hour (93 km/h) to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h), and has a total track length of 2,800 feet (850 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Flash: Vertical Velocity (Six Flags Great America)</span> Inverted steel roller coaster

The Flash: Vertical Velocity is an inverted steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. The roller coaster is themed to the DC Comics character, The Flash. Originally named Vertical Velocity, the ride received a re-theme in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premier Rides</span> American amusement ride manufacturer

Premier Rides is an amusement ride manufacturer based in the United States. The company was the first to use Linear Induction Motors (LIMs) on their roller coasters. Jim Seay has been the sole owner and company president since 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultra Twister (Six Flags)</span> Defunct roller coaster

Ultra Twister was a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure from 1986 to 1988 and then at Six Flags AstroWorld from 1990 until that park was closed and demolished by Six Flags in 2005. The ultratwister-design is that of a pipeline roller coaster, created by Japanese company TOGO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman The Escape</span> Defunct roller coaster

Batman The Escape was a stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, the ride featured one inversion and originally opened as Shockwave at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 1986. After briefly operating at Six Flags Great Adventure, it was moved a second time to AstroWorld, where it reopened in 1993 as Batman The Escape. The coaster operated there until the park's permanent closure in 2005. The track was eventually moved to Six Flags Darien Lake, placed into storage, and never reassembled.

Lightnin' Loops was a pair of Shuttle Loop roller coasters that were originally installed at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. The ride consisted of two identical tracks, both of which were later relocated and renamed: the still-extant Diamond Back at Frontier City in Oklahoma City and the defunct Python at Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beto Carrero World</span> Amusement park

Beto Carrero World is a theme park located in Penha, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The park is part of Santa Catarina's signature amusement parks. It is the largest theme park in Latin America, occupying 14 km2 (5.4 sq mi) divided into seven different theme areas.

Amusement rides and stunt shows themed to the Batman franchise its derivative elements are commonly found at Warner Bros. and Six Flags amusement parks across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impulse roller coaster</span> Form of roller coaster manufactured by Intamin

An Impulse roller coaster is a form of a launched inverted roller coaster manufactured by Intamin. The first Impulse roller coaster appeared in Japan, and the ride type has since evolved to include four specific layouts, three of these varieties being built in the United States. It uses LIMs to launch a train out of the station and up a vertical spiral. The train then falls backward, is powered again through the station, and heads up a back tower. The train then falls forward, and continues in this fashion for a total of 2½ cycles per ride. On the final forward launch, with a slightly reduced speed, the train is sent up the front tower, and brakes then deploy on the launch track. The train then slows down and heads back into the station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Freeze (roller coaster)</span> Roller coasters at two Six Flags parks

Mr. Freeze is a launched shuttle roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas, with another installation known as Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri. The steel coasters feature a linear induction motor (LIM) launch system that accelerate riders from 0–70 mph (0–113 km/h) in 3.8 seconds. The two installations are mirror images of one another and are themed to the famous Batman villain Mr. Freeze. Originally, they were themed after the 1997 film Batman & Robin prior to a conversion in 2012 to operate backward. The Over Texas version returned to forward operation in 2022, but in July 2023, it started operating with one train launching backward and one train launching forward to offer different experiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Dark Knight Coaster</span> Roller coaster at Six Flags theme parks

The Dark Knight Coaster is the name of three enclosed steel roller coasters located at Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Great America, and Six Flags México. They opened in 2008 and 2009, timed closely to the theatrical release of The Dark Knight. All three installations were manufactured by Mack Rides.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Marden, Duane. "Batman And Robin: The Chiller  (Six Flags Great Adventure)". Roller Coaster DataBase . Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Weisenstein, Lin (March 28, 1997). "Dueling coasters to debut". Daily Record. pp. 19, 27 . Retrieved September 16, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  3. Makin, Robert (June 15, 1997). "Controlled Terror". The Courier-News. pp. 61, 68 . Retrieved September 16, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Garvey, Allison (June 4, 1997). "Icy adventure". Asbury Park Press. pp. 22, 19 . Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  5. Pryma, Kristy (October 4, 2001). "Engineer bridges gap between telescopes and roller coasters". IT World Canada. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  6. "Amusement". Intermountain Lift, Inc. July 30, 2011. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Weisenstein, Lin (July 4, 1997). "The Chiller's launch leaves heart in throat". Daily Record. pp. 39, 48 . Retrieved September 16, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  8. Weisenstein, Lin (June 19, 1998). "Batman and Robin ride defies gravity". Daily Record. pp. 25, 28 . Retrieved September 16, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Davis, Mike (December 12, 2019). "Six Flags Great Adventure's 'Batman & Robin: The Chiller' ride moved to Brazil". Asbury Park Press. pp. A6. Retrieved September 16, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Beckerman, Jim (May 8, 1998). "Batman & Robin, fast forward". The Record. p. 96. Retrieved September 16, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Garvey, Allison (July 31, 1997). "Six Flags keeping Chiller closed". Asbury Park Press. Toms River Bureau. Retrieved December 19, 2020 via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Batman & Robin: The Chiller At Six Flags Great Adventure". www.greatadventurehistory.com. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  13. Lueck, Thomas (August 19, 2004). "Stalled Coaster Strands 20, Some of Them Upside Down". New York Times . Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  14. Bunuel, Diego (August 1, 1997). "On Ice: Mr. Freeze Won't Be Opening This Summer". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Post-Dispatch Staff. Retrieved October 6, 2020 via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Square D solves a Roller Coaster's Voltage Sag Problem". Schnieder Electric. Archived from the original on September 23, 2006. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  16. "Coaster: Still out in the cold". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. June 29, 1997. Retrieved October 5, 2020 via Newspapers.com.
  17. "All US Premier LIM coasters are closed until further notice".
  18. Marden, Duane. "Beto Carrero World (Penha, Santa Catarina, Brazil)". Roller Coaster DataBase . Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  19. "Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast Six Flags Over Texas - SFOT Source".
  20. 1 2 3 "Six Flags unleashes its newest thrilling creation". The Ridgewood News. June 21, 1998. p. 13. Retrieved September 16, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Zalud, Todd (August 6, 1998). "Blasting Speed Into Amusement – Park Rides". MachineDesign. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  22. Futrell, Jim (2004). Amusement Parks of New Jersey. Stackpole Books. p. 196. ISBN   0811729737.
  23. 1 2 3 "90s Steel Coasters". ultimaterollercoaster.com. Retrieved June 20, 2018.