Loop 030 printable

Volume 2, No. 8. April 26, 2002

New Arrivals

It’s a roller coaster!
Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts, announces the arrival of Batman—The Dark Knight, April 18, 2002. Measurements: 117 feet high (35 meters), 2,620 feet long (794 meters). Delivered by Bolliger & Mabillard.

Things got hot for Mary Ann Stebbins, Six Flags New England’s marketing communications manager, when media day arrived for her park’s new floorless coaster. And that was a good thing.

With near freezing temperatures settling in early in the week, Stebbins began planning the procurement of heaters to warm the tents at that Thursday evening’s VIP event. But Wednesday blistered to a humid 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), and Thursday enjoyed the same heat without the humidity. “I was so lucky, I was so blessed,” Stebbins said. “It was like a July day.”

For the media preview that morning, A-10 fighter pilots from a nearby Air National Guard unit enjoyed the unveiling ride and, wearing their flightsuits, put on quite a show for the press, Stebbins said. That evening for a crowd of some 300 dignitaries and invited guests, Batman itself put on a spectacular show for its official grand opening, the train passing through pyrotechnics and lighting effects.

Saturday the ride was available to the public for the first time and, highly visible from the parking lot, drew a quick line at the start of the day, Stebbins said. However, this Batman—and just about any ride Six Flags New England introduces henceforth—will have a hard time competing against its two-year-old comic book hero cousin, Superman—Ride of Steel. Even on Batman’s opening day, Superman, widely regarded as one of the best coasters on the planet, had longer lines.