DC Rivals HyperCoaster is a steel

hypercoaster A hypercoaster is a roller coaster with a height or drop measuring at least . The term was first coined by Arrow Dynamics and Cedar Point in 1989 with the opening of the world's first hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200, which features a height of . Th ...

Warner Bros. Movie World Warner Bros. Movie World is a theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Owned and operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the park opened on 3 June 1991. It is part of a entertainment precinct, with the ...

on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

, Australia. Manufactured by

Mack Rides Mack Rides GmbH & Co KG, also known simply as Mack Rides, is a German company that designs and constructs amusement rides, based in Waldkirch, Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Ge ...

, it is the fastest, and tallest hypercoaster in the Southern Hemisphere. It officially opened on 22 September 2017, becoming the newest attraction added to Warner Bros. Movie World since Doomsday Destroyer in 2016 and the latest roller coaster addition since Green Lantern Coaster in 2011. The roller coaster reaches a height of with a maximum speed of and has a total track length of 1.4 kilometres (4,593.2 ft).

History

In September 2016, crates from

began to appear on groundwork that was ongoing in the park. In March 2017, construction blueprints were published about the roller coasters layout and station, and construction began in April. In late-May 2017, the park sent out email teasers to its guests indicating a new ride was going to be announced with varying quotes alongside a 3D rendered track. In the forthcoming weeks on 4 June 2017, the park formally announced the roller coaster as 'DC Rivals HyperCoaster' which was initially scheduled to be opened in October 2017 and would be themed to the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

. In July 2017, it was reported that the ride cost the park A$30 million to build. On 4 August 2017, the final piece of track was put into place, with testing beginning later on 19 August. On 11 September 2017, Warner Bros. Movie World launched advertisements for the ride, one in the form of an online website about the ride's statistics and another in the form of a

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

centred around characters from the DC Universe. Around this time, it was initially detailed by the

Gold Coast Bulletin The ''Gold Coast Bulletin'' is a daily newspaper serving Australia's Gold Coast region. It is published as ''The Gold Coast Bulletin'' on weekdays and the ''Weekend Bulletin'' at weekends. It is owned by News Corp Australia. History The ...

that the ride would be formally launched on 21 September 2017 during a VIP event. On 16 September 2017, the ride soft-opened to the public for

technical rehearsal The technical rehearsal or tech rehearsal is a rehearsal that focuses on the Stagecraft, technological aspects of the performance, in theatrical, Musical theatre, musical, and filmed entertainment. It involves integrating Lighting design, lighting, ...

s, and officially opened on 22 September 2017. Shortly thereafter, in October 2017 Warner Bros. Movie World reported that the ride had made 6.9 million impressions through media coverage and 9.3 million impressions through social media. In addition, the opening day brought in 11,500 visitors to the park as a whole. During annual maintenance of the roller coaster in August 2018, the track was replaced on the camelback element to make the ride smoother.

Ride experience

Queue

DC Rivals HyperCoaster has two main queues: a general admission queue for guests who do not own a pass and a Fast Track queue for those who have purchased to bypass queues for the major attractions at the park. Upon entering the station, riders—depending on their status—can choose from either four queues: general admission, backwards, Fast Track or single riders.

Layout

After it is dispatched from the station, the train takes a right turn into the

lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from t ...

. Upon reaching its maximum height, riders take a twist down the 85-degree-drop. At the bottom, the ride reaches its maximum speed of . Then, the train ascends the ride's tallest camel back hill before descending left to follow into the non-inverting loop. Next, the train goes through a Stengel dive to the right before entering its left bank turning the train's direction back towards the station and then entering a series of twisted camel back hills. Following, the train enters a 480-degree-helix, then exits into a series of S-bend curves. Subsequently, the train rises and dips into two bunny hops before descending left towards a third bunny hill and into the final

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track that utilizes some form of brakes to slow or stop a roller coaster train. There are various types of braking methods employed on roller coasters, including friction brakes, skid brakes, a ...

leading riders back into the station after a right-hand turn.

Characteristics

Trains

Each train has six cars with two rows of two seats. The last car has only one row with backwards facing seats. In total, each train seats 22 passengers. Each of the ride's two trains are themed to the

Batmobile The Batmobile is the fictional land vehicle driven by the superhero Batman, used both to patrol Gotham City looking for crime and to engage in car chases or vehicular combat with the city's criminal underworld. The Batmobile is one of a suite o ...

Reception

DC Rivals HyperCoaster was acclaimed for its long, forceful layout and smooth ride experience. '' Finder.com.au'' Chris Stead cited the roller coaster as Warner Bros. Movie World's highlight attraction.

References

{{Warner Bros. Movie World Roller coasters introduced in 2017 Steel roller coasters Roller coasters manufactured by Mack Rides Hypercoasters Warner Bros. Movie World DC Comics in amusement parks Roller coasters in Australia Roller coasters operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks 2017 establishments in Australia