Batman The Escape

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Batman The Escape

Batman The Escape in 2004.
Six Flags Darien Lake Location Darien Center, New York, USA Status Defunct
Six Flags AstroWorld Location Houston, Texas, USA Operated April 24, 1993 to October 30, 2005 Six Flags Great Adventure Name Shockwave Location Jackson, New Jersey, USA Operated April 21, 1990 to September 1992 Replaced by Slingshot Six Flags Magic Mountain Name Shockwave Location Valencia, California, USA Operated May 16, 1986 to 1988 Replaced Sarajevo Bobsleds Replaced by Psyclone
Statistics
Manufacturer	Giovanola
Product	Stand-Up Coaster
Designer / calculations	Intamin
Type	Steel - Stand-Up
Riders per train	20
Propulsion	Chain lift hill
Height	90 feet
Drop	85 feet
Top speed	55 mph
Length	2300 feet
Inversions	1
G-Force	3.4
HELP

Batman The Escape was a steel stand-up roller coaster at Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, USA. The ride previously operated at two other Six Flags parks as Shockwave. The roller coaster was designed by Intamin and manufactured by Giovanola.

History

Six Flags Magic Mountain (1986-1988)

On May 16, 1986, Shockwave opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The ride was located on the spot where Sarajevo Bobsleds stood for the previous two seasons. It was painted entirely black. The motto for the ride, featured in commercials, was "If you think you can take it... Stand up." Due to Six Flags' ride rotation program, like Sarajevo Bobsleds and several other Six Flags coasters at the time, Shockwave operated briefly, lasting three seasons before being dismantled and sent to another Six Flags park. Shockwave was replaced by Psyclone in 1991 which closed in 2006, which in turn was replaced by Apocalypse in 2009.

Six Flags Great Adventure (1990-1992)

In 1989, land clearing began at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and towards the end of summer parts began arriving. Meanwhile, a competition was held asking guests to "Stand Up and Name It", with the winning contestant receiving a $250 premium bond, a family season pass for 1990 and an invitation for the ride's media day. In the end, the roller coaster was called Shockwave, the same name it operated under at Magic Mountain.

Shockwave had a press preview on April 20, 1990 and opened to the public the following day. It was painted blue with white supports. Shockwave suffered many mechanical issues like Ultra Twister and was so loud that the noise could be heard throughout the area. After operating for three seasons, it was dismantled in 1992 with the plot left vacant. The queue line and walkways remained until the openings of Dare Devil Dive in 1997 and Houdini's Great Escape in 1999. The attraction was sent to Six Flags AstroWorld, which was also where Ultra Twister was sent to. In 2011, another stand-up roller coaster, Green Lantern, opened at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Six Flags Astroworld (1993-2005)

The roller coaster opened at Six Flags AstroWorld on April 24, 1993. It was painted entirely white and called Batman The Escape. The ride's queue line had immersive theming, which included the Batmobile and a Batcave. This was the second Batman/DC coaster to open at a Six Flags park, and was the first Batman-themed ride not to be called Batman: The Ride. Regardless of its roughness, the ride remained a very popular attraction at all three of the parks it operated at. For unknown reasons, the Batcave and Batmobile theming was removed in 1998. In 2004, it was later painted with yellow track and black supports. It closed with the park on October 30, 2005 and was subsequently dismantled.

Six Flags Darien Lake (2005-2017)

During the 2005-2006 off season, Six Flags placed the roller coaster at Six Flags Darien Lake, which Six Flags owned at the time. However, shortly after, Six Flags announced plans to sell Darien Lake due to their financial problems, and Darien Lake was acquired by PARC Management in 2007. While the ride remained in storage outside in a field opposite the park, many mechanical components were missing. In 2017, the general manager at the time said there were no plans to reopen the roller coaster and it would be scrapped in the future. Not long after, the parts were removed from Six Flags Darien Lake and sold for scrap after years of rusting in the sun.

Design

Elements
Chain lift hill 66 foot tall vertical loop

The ride had a curved first drop which led immediately into the 66 foot tall vertical loop, the only inversion on the ride. This was followed by a twist reminiscent of an inclined loop and a rise into the mid-course brake run. The second half of the ride had more twists and turns, with the track passing through the center of the vertical loop. Le Cobra at La Ronde opened in 1995 and was a clone of this ride. Le Cobra was removed in 2018. Of the three stand-up roller coasters Intamin built, only Shockwave at Drayton Manor still operates.

Theme

Shockwave did not have a theme when it operated at Magic Mountain and Great Adventure. While at AstroWorld, the roller coaster was based on Gotham City. Guests journey through Arctic Park and Gotham City Cold Storage before boarding the roller coaster to make their escape. With Batman Returns out at the time, the villain in this ride was The Penguin.

Trains

2 trains with 5 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 4 across in a single row, for a total of 20 riders per train.

Photo Gallery

Queue line

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  The tunnel.

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  Arctic Park plaque.

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  The police car.

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  The brake run.

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  Arctic Park structure.

Exterior

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  Riders on Batman The Escape in 1996.

External links

• 
  Batman The Escape on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

Articles on Six Flags Darien Lake
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Other attractions	Present Bear Valley Bumper Buggies Beaver Dam Explorer Blast Off Bucky's Barrels Chucky's Mud Buckets Corn Popper Critter Chase Grand Carousel Grand Prix Speedway Haymaker Hornet's Nest Lasso Moose on the Loose Pirate Raccoon Rally Red Hawk Rowdy's Heave Ho Scrambler Shipwreck Falls Silver Bullet SkyScreamer Sleighride Slingshot Tin Lizzy's Tree Stump Turnpike Wally's Weather Balloons Woody's Whirlers Former BMX Motocross Crazy Quilt Critter Chase Giant Wheel Grizzly Run Raft Adventures Raging Seas Ranger Red Baron Scrambler Thrillbilly Thunder Rapids Twister UFO

Articles on Six Flags Great Adventure
Coasters	Present Batman The Ride Bizarro Dark Knight El Toro Green Lantern Harley Quinn Crazy Train Jersey Devil Coaster Joker Kingda Ka Lil' Devil Coaster Nitro Runaway Mine Train Skull Mountain Superman Ultimate Flight Former Alpen Blitz Batman And Robin: The Chiller Big Fury Great American Scream Machine Jumbo Jet Lightnin' Loops upper track lower track Lil' Thunder Rolling Thunder Sarajevo Bobsled Shockwave Ultra Twister Viper Wild Rider
Other attractions	Present Air Jumbo Air Safari Big Wheel Buccaneer Carousel Congo Rapids Cyborg Cyber Spin Dare Devil Dive Déjà Vu Enchanted Teacups Fender Benders Great American Road Race Houdini's Great Escape Jolly Roger Justice League: Battle for Metropolis Parachute Training Center: Edwards AFB Jump Tower Saw Mill Log Flume Slingshot SkyScreamer Skyway Swashbuckler Tango Twister Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom Former African Rivers Antique Cars Asian Rivers Autobahn Calypso Chaos Condor El Diablo El Sombrero Eruption Evolution Fender Bender Flying Wave Gondola Grand Prix Jumpin' Jack Flash North American Rivers Matterhorn Monster Spin Movietown Water Effect Musik Express Pendulum Phileas Fogg's Balloon Ride Pirate's Flight Riptide Rodeo Stampede Scrambler Six Flags Great Adventure Railroad Sky Pilot Space Shuttle Spin Meister Spinnaker Stuntman's Freefall Super Sidewinder Swiss Bob Swiss Bob Taz Twister Tilt-A-Whirl Time Warp Traffic Jam Wild Rider

Articles on Six Flags Magic Mountain
Coasters	Present Apocalypse Batman The Ride Canyon Blaster Full Throttle Gold Rusher Goliath Magic Flyer New Revolution Ninja Riddler's Revenge Road Runner Express Scream! Speedy Gonzales Hot Rod Racers Superman: Escape From Krypton Tatsu Twisted Colossus Viper West Coast Racers Wonder Woman Flight of Courage X² Former Colossus Déjà Vu Flashback Green Lantern: First Flight Mountain Express Psyclone Sarajevo Bobsleds Shockwave
Other attractions	Present Buccaneer CraZanity Daffy's Adventure Tours Dive Devil Elmer's Weather Balloons Flash: Speed Force Grand Carousel Jammin' Bumpers Jet Stream Justice League: Battle for Metropolis Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom Merrie Melodies Carousel Pepe LePew's Tea Party Roaring Rapids Pacific Speedway Scrambler SlingShot Swashbuckler Sylvester's Pounce and Bounce Taz's Trucking Co. Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth Yosemite Sam's Flight School Former Condor Crazy Barrels Freefall Log Jammer Scrambler Thrill Shot Tidal Wave Z-Force