“4D” is forever being abused to sell theme park experiences, but none of them seem to agree about what it means exactly. In the case of this “Free Fly” Batman rollercoaster, it means that the carriages have their own spinning movement as well as being set to rattle around on rails. It’s a very imprecise use of the term to say the least.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Anyway, let’s just chalk the marketing waffle up to the PT Barnum tradition. The ride at least looks fun, if you’ve got the constitution. There are six flips and a bunch of sharp drops, and I know for sure that I’d have a heart attack somewhere along the line so I won’t be getting on for love nor money.
That was all a CG simulation, of course. Shame they didn’t upload a 3D version just make us all really nauseous.
Now, there’s nothing about this that’s particularly Batman, they’ve just slapped his logo on there. I’m not saying I want mannequins of The Joker to pop out like some sort of haunted house gimmick but, really, couldn’t it have gone through a Batcave or something? It’s almost perverse, the amount of rollercoasters that do plunge into caves and this isn’t one of them.
Six Flags’ other superhero ridesย at least have more concept-driven trailers that suggest the riders will engage with rather more of a plot. We ran details and footage concerning those before the weekend.
The Batman ride will open next summer at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. The GoPro POV videos will follow just minutes later.
