Dark Knight on track
Six Flags Great America prepares for wild ride in dark
GURNEE -- Stuck in Gotham City, surrounded by total darkness, the Joker and his cronies cause complete chaos.
You must escape by getting to Batman's roller coaster. The new Dark Knight ride is scheduled to open May 21 at Six Flags Great America theme park. The park opens for its 33rd season on Saturday.
(Slava Murphy/ Lake Forest High School Student)
Based on Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming movie "The Dark Knight," the $7.5 million ride is the park's first indoor coaster. It replaces Theatre Royale.
The two-minute ride features six 180-degree hairpin turns with special themed effects. Ten Gotham City subway rail cars carry four riders each while traveling the track simultaneously.
Six Flags wants people to experience an escape through another world while riding the Dark Knight coaster. Six Flags manager Brooke Gabbert called the ride a "sensory immersive experience."
The coaster can move 600 people per hour.
The park is promoting the ride through its Heroes store, where a new line of merchandise includes "One With the Knight" T-shirts, as well as Dark Knight hats, backpacks and necklaces sporting the Batman-themed ride.
The movie opens July 18. Promoters hope the coaster will entice Batman fans across Illinois, as well as New Jersey where the ride is also making its scheduled debut a week earlier, on May 15.
Construction on the ride in Gurnee began in November and has continued around the clock, Gabbert said.
Other new Six Flags attractions include an additional Johnny Rockets diner, as well as another Cold Stone Creamery to help park goers cope with summer heat.
For more information, visit www.sixflags.com or call (847) 249-2133, ext. 6100.
Noah Wagemann is a sophomore at Lake Forest High School