Astroworld Batman Intamin Stand-Up Coaster at Darien

So I wanted to just write about the Batman: The Escape, Intamin Stand-Up Coaster that sits in pieces at Darien Lake, but realized I wanted to do a little primer on the genre of coaster as well, so here goes!

The standup roller coaster made its first appearance in Japan in 1982 with the addition of stand up trains to two coasters that were previously sit-down attractions. Both of them were built by the Japanese coaster company, TOGO.  This company would go on to retrofit one other coaster to have these stand up trains. In 1983 and 1984, Arrow Dynamics attempted to convert several of their coasters, including the Corkscrew Coaster, Extremeroller at Worlds of Fun, and the Railblazer at Six Flags over St. Louis. Neither of these attempts would stick, and Arrow would pull their hat out of the ring soon after.

TOGO took it to the next level in 1984 and built the now defunct King Kobra at Kings Island, as a coaster built to be a stand-up coaster. They would go on to build five more stand-up coasters, with three of them in Japan and two more in America at two of the other Kings Entertainment Company* parks, Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland. Below you can see the Shockwave at Kings Dominion, a ride that is actually running really well these days. Since I started writing this post, Canada's Wonderland actually announced that they are removing their stand-up coaster SkyRider.

*KECO: precursor to Paramount and Cedar Fair

Anyways...onto what I initially attempted to write this post about:

In 1986, Intamin threw their hat into the ring and contracted with Giovanola to build a stand up coaster for Six Flags Magic Mountain. It was named "Shockwave," and it was an extremely popular ride, despite the uncomfortable restraints. (Photo Credit to RCDB)

At this point in time, Six Flags had a corporate "ride exchange program" and would pass rides back and forth between the parks. This ride was put into the program and would only spend two years at the park. It was sent to Six Flags Great Adventure to open for the 1990 season and given this nice aqua-blue paint scheme. (Photo Credit to RCDB)

It continued onto the "ride exchange" carousel and ended up at Six Flags Astroworld in Houston Texas, where it was renamed Batman: The Escape. It opened for the 1993 season and it appeared to have some stability in location once the "ride exchange" program was ended.  (Photo Credit to RCDB)

But come 2005, Six Flags opted to close their 8th largest attended park for a lucrative real estate deal, right in the midst of the housing bubble, something that several other parks that were closed in that era dealt with, including Cedar Fair's Geauga Lake, and the Myrtle Beach Pavilion. As was the case with these other two parks, the land deals either fell through or were non-existent, leaving Astroworld, once an accompanying attraction to the world famous Houston Astrodome, as a field for overflow parking.Many of the park's rides, including the Arrow suspended coaster, XLR8, the Texas Cyclone wooden coaster, the world's first rapids ride, and many others, were ripped apart mercilessly. The Mayan Mindbender coaster was reassembled the next year at Wonderland Park in Amarillo, Texas. Serial Thriller, a Vekoma SLC, was moved to another Six Flags Park, the Great Escape, near Lake George, New York, where it remained in limbo for a number of years before it was reassembled at La Ronde in Quebec. Greezed Lightnin' a Schwarzkopf launched shuttle loop coaster, was moved to Joyland park in Lubbock, Texas, where it sits in limbo because the planned location will be unable to built upon. Ultra Twister is a Togo Ultra Twister that also sits in limbo at Six Flags America, near Washington, D.C. 

Batman faced and still faces a similar fate. It was moved to the then Six Flags owned, Darien Lake, near Buffalo, New York where it still sits today, unlikely to be resurrected. We drove by Darien on the way back from Seabreeze. We pulled over on the side of the road to get an awesome view of their Intamin built hyper coaster, Ride of Steel and the rest of the park. We just happened to spot these, still sitting in a yard across the street from the park. I thought they had been scrapped but apparently some pieces remain. I thought they looked pretty cool so I took some photos. These were taken in August of 2014.

I could not help but stop and take a picture of this awesome view! Predator is on the left, Ride of Steel is in the middle, and the rest of the park's rides are on the right. I love taking in rides as they are going.

Pretty rusty, but really not looking too bad for sitting in a field for nearly a decade. 

It looks like the inside of this track tube is the bees knees, literally!

This decent sized young tree growing through the track tells me these have not been moved in a while!

At one point this section of track was where the train crested the lift hill. I heavily doubt that this ride will ever be brought back, but who knows. I think the closest thing this ride will do to coming back is heading to the local scrapyard to get recycled into your next refrigerator, car, or other steel item. It would be cool to purchase a few of these to use as props for something, or maybe as a garden ornament. I think having to use a crane each time you move them would make this plan not very practical.

Now back to Ride of Steel. Some view to see as you drive into the park! Talk about an awesome placement!

I hope you enjoyed my little primer on the beginnings of the stand-up coaster as a lead in to the status of the former Shockwave/Batman stand up coaster!

Seabreeze, Rochester, NY, August 4th, 2014

So yesterday we had the honor of visiting a wonderful old park in Rochester, New York, Seabreeze Park! This charming park is located on the shores of Lake Ontario. My favorite places to be are along the Great Lakes. Waldameer Park and Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Geneva-On-The-Lake in Ohio, or Cedar Point, being on the Great Lakes is the place to be. Each of these places offers some real character and amazing views of the lake, each with their own special aspects about them. Seabreeze offers some great and unique rides, including the coaster tied for fifth oldest in the world, the amazing Jack Rabbit, and a spectacular carousel. Seabreeze offers a little bit of everything, with a decent balance of rides and attractions to satisfy everyone. Below you can see the main entrance to the waterpark. On the right you can see the barely used. new for 2014 swing ride, that took a detour to the park from the factory for a few years by way of Hard Rock Park/Freestyle Music Park in Myrtle Beach. 

 The park is on a bit of an expansion clip as well. They recently added this set of mat racing watersides into the extremely popular water area.

 The views of Lake Ontario are just beautiful. If you love Waldameer, this is another park that you would love as well. It really has that awesome character to it that you cannot quite put your finger on.

 Here you can see the literal centerpiece of the park, the log flume. This is one of the most unique flumes I have seen. It is an early Hopkins model, yet it utilizes one of the steepest drops on any log flume. It was built in 1984 as a replacement for the park's original Mill Chute ride.

 The screams from every log dropping tell the story of how fun this log flume is. The drop does not look intimidating, but do not let looks deceive you!

 Right in the center of the midway is this beautiful concourse with games and food. It adds a lot of character to this bustling section of the park. There is also an acrobatics show that pulls it all together. 

 The park's set of flying scooters is great. They run fast and the tubs and rudders are very lightweight. I really enjoy them!

 Now for what we came to ride, the Jack Rabbit!

 This 1920 Miller and Baker creation is beautiful and provides a decent ride. It is tied for the fifth oldest coaster in operation with the Kennywood Jack Rabbit. Aside from the replaced rolling stock, the coaster is kept to form, even retaining a hand brake operator. 

 The park's midways really give off an aura of Americana. This is is a wonderful hometown park.

 The ride operator still utilizes the old hand braking system. It amazes me the great job the operators do in this park. Only one op is necessary to operate this coaster, working both sides of the station. The park was pretty busy, with both main parking lots filled to capacity and the rides all having some lines. The ride operators did a great job and maintained excellent capacity. 

I was not sure what to expect with these Morgan trains. I always heard awful things about them from different enthusiasts, and I cannot stand the Gerstlauer wood coaster trains, but I always like to give things my own take before I pass judgment. I am glad I did! These Morgan trains were excellent on the ride. While PTCs, NADs, or Vettel rolling stock will always be my favorites, these trains were really not too bad. This coaster is a front car ride to me, giving some cool pops of airtime throughout the course.

 Near the end of the ride is a pitch black tunnel, something that I did not expect. Overall, this coaster has a very fun layout, with some fun pops of airtime, and nice pacing.

 This coaster definitely lived up to its ACE Landmark Status as an important coaster in the preservation of history, and a testament to the joy that it has brought to folks for nearly a century. 

 The train offers a pretty cool ride around the park in addition to having this neat station.

 Heading down to the other end of the park, there are these two awesome rides. On the left is a Maurer Sohne Spinning Coaster, the Whirlwind, and the Bobsleds, an in-house creation that was initially built in 1952 as a junior wood coaster, and then converted to have a steel track in 1968. This is a one-of-a-kind ride, similar to a hybrid between a wild mouse and a mine train. I have never experienced something quite like this coaster.

 First off, Whirlwind. These Maurer Sohne spinners take my breath away every time! I wonder why more parks have not built these. They provide a terrific thrill.

 They have a super-twisted layout

 And these beyond vertical curves are breathtaking.

 It is tough to think of another steel coaster that provides this much thrill in such a small footprint.

 Now over to the Bobsleds! You can see the lake in the background.

 They had bobsleds representing the USA, Jamaica, Switzerland, and Italy.

 Almost to saving the best for last....the carousel is calling my name!

 We had to make the obligatory stop in the arcade for Brit! They have a beautiful building for the arcade, something that I would like to see other parks do as well.

 Getting closer to the carousel...

 Stunned and I have not even entered the building yet!

 In motion!

 This carousel and the building are just spectacular

 Complete with a Wurlitzer frame with a replaced organ, sadly due to a fire that consumed the park's classic 1915 Number 36 PTC Carousel. The carousel and everything in the building was completely destroyed in 1994. This video may be one of the most depressing things you see today, especially if you are a carousel lover. 

 They did not let it just die though, they built a no-holds-barred, exact replica of the original, and it just may be one of the most spectacular and well-taken care of units I have ever had the privilege of experiencing. The carousel shelter is stunning, the lights are bright, the paintings and paint are vibrant, the horses are carved beautifully, the floorboards are hardwood, the organ is booming and emanates throughout the park, and there is a wrap around deck with rocking chairs surrounding the beautiful machine. I wish all carousels were taken care of with this attention to detail and expertise. This machine is exquisite and stunning. I wish all parks took care of and preserved their rides as well as Seabreeze does.

 

Heading out of the park we stopped at the wonderful burger and custard stand at the bottom of the hill. They were fantastic and very affordable. On the way out we drove around to get a better vantage point of the Jack Rabbit. It is really cool how Miller utilized the terrain for this wonderful ride like he did with his Kennywood Jack Rabbit that was also built in 1920. You don't realize how much of a terrain coaster the Jack Rabbit is until you see it off-ride. Unique placement and a really fun ride.

I highly recommend going out of your way to visit Seabreeze. The park takes pride in their rides and makes sure they are running and looking great. Through this and the park's great all-around pride in appearances and planning, the park has a wonderful environment and character. I heard great things about this park before I went, but my expectations were exceeded. Take the trip!

Be sure to vote for your favorite ACE Landmark coaster on the right-hand side of the page. The Seabreeze Jack Rabbit is one of them!