The Dark Knight Coaster is the name of three enclosed

steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated whee ...

s located at

Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located 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 o ...

Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great America is a amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built by the ...

, and

Six Flags México Six Flags México is a amusement park located in the Tlalpan forest and borough, on the southern edge of Mexico City, Mexico. It is owned and operated by Six Flags, and is the most visited theme park in Latin America with 2.8 million annual visi ...

. They opened in 2008 and 2009, timed closely to the theatrical release of ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan, Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and t ...

''. All three installations were manufactured by Mack Rides.

History

Six Flags Great Adventure

Jackson Township, New Jersey Jackson Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township population was 58,544. A portion of the township is located within the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Roughly equidistant b ...

, Batman & Robin: The Chiller and Movietown Water Effect were removed to make way for the construction of ''The Dark Knight''. The roller coaster primarily occupies the previous location of the Movietown Water Effect, with the queue area placed in front of the building. Original plans called for the demolition of the Batman & Robin: The Chiller station and observatory but were later excluded from demolition plans. The exit was originally slated to go through the present

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...

gift shop adjacent to the ride, but this turned out not to be the case. On May 15, 2008, ''The Dark Knight'' officially opened to the public.

Six Flags Great America

Gurnee, Illinois Gurnee ( ) is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 30,706 as of the 2020 census. It borders the city of Waukegan, and is a popular tourist attraction within the Chicago metropolitan area. Best known for being t ...

, the building housing Theater Royale was extensively modified and themed as a Gotham City Rail terminal in preparation for ''The Dark Knight''. The new ride officially opened to the public on May 21, 2008.

Six Flags New England and Six Flags México

In February 2008, construction on the ride had started at

Six Flags New England Six Flags New England, formerly known as Gallup's Grove (1870–1886), Riverside Grove (1887–1911), Riverside Park (1912–1995) and Riverside: The Great Escape (1996–2000), is an amusement park located in Agawam, Massachusetts, a western s ...

before all of the necessary construction permits were in order, leading building inspector Dominic Urbinati to issue a stop-work order. Without the proper construction documents, according to Urbinati, there was no way he could ensure the project met state building and safety codes. In March, the park was still faced with having to seek a new set of permits after several changes were made to the plans previously approved by city boards. Park management still hoped to open The Dark Knight Coaster by Memorial Day weekend, but still faced hurdles from the town of Agawam due to changes in design from the original plans. The Planning Board and the Conservation Commission later approved the proposed changes, such as a shift in the building's footprint to meet state fire safety codes, but the plans were rejected by the Zoning Board, which had previously granted a special permit for changes in height to the original plans. References to the ride were later removed from the Six Flags New England website. In April 2008, it was announced that construction on The Dark Knight Coaster had been cancelled, and that the coaster itself would be sent to another park in the future. The coaster was removed from the park and relocated to Six Flags México in

Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Me ...

, where it opened during the 2009 season. It has been operating at that location since March 19, 2009. Gotham City Gauntlet: Escape from Arkham Asylum took over the area at Six Flags New England in 2011.

Theme

The Dark Knight Coaster is inspired by the 2008 film ''

''. Costing $7.5 million, the ride is an indoor

Wild Mouse A wild mouse is a type of roller coaster consisting of single or spinning cars traversing a tight-winding track with an emphasis on sharp, unbanked turns. The upper portion of the track usually features multiple 180-degree turns, known as flat ...

coaster that puts guests through the premise of being stalked by the Joker. It is considered a family ride rather than a thrill ride.

Summary

The Dark Knight Coaster entrance - Six Flags Great America

Queue and pre-show

After an outdoor, lightly themed

queue area Queue areas are places in which people queue ( first-come, first-served) for goods or services. Such a group of people is known as a ''queue'' ( British usage) or ''line'' (American usage), and the people are said to be waiting or standing ''i ...

, riders enter a pre-show room where they view a TV broadcast of a

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

hosted by

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a ...

Harvey Dent Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman' ...

( Aaron Eckhart). One of the reporters asks about the Joker cards found at recent crime scenes. Almost immediately,

The Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...

himself hijacks the TV broadcast and his messages (such as "HA HA!") appear all over the walls of the room. Guests then enter the secondary queue area, which features a TV screen in which guests can see themselves. The two guests closest to the camera have joker

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

s digitally superimposed over their faces.

Ride

At the loading station, the cars normally move through continuously. Guests unload at the rear of the platform, after which guests from the queue immediately load. Unlike almost all the other coasters in the park, there are no gates on the loading platform. Lapbars are locked and checked as the car approaches the front of the platform, then it proceeds onto the lift. The ride itself consists of several sharp hairpin turns and sudden drops, accented by various eerily lit

buildings placed alongside the track. The ride layout is a standard

roller coaster layout.