Volume 3, No. 9. May 9, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
a roller coaster!
Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, announces the arrival of Superman—Ultimate
Flight, April 29, 2003. Measurements: 115 feet high (35 meters), 109-foot
(33-meter) first drop, 2,798 feet long (853 meters), two 32-passenger trains.
Delivered by Bolliger & Mabillard.
Metropolis is one super city. We’re not talking the fictional home of Clark
Kent aka Superman but the real 6,734-population Illinois town near the Kentucky
border at the opposite end of the state from Six Flags Great America north of
Chicago. The town cashes in on its name every June when it hosts a Superman
Celebration that attracts 20,000 people annually, and as part of the festival
the town honors community heroes with a Superman of Metropolis Award.
The town’s name also attracted Susie Storey, Six Flags Great America’s
public relations manager, as she was planning the media event for the opening
of her park’s new B&M flying coaster. At the time she was looking for
any Superman-related hook. She already was conducting a “Search for Heroes”
essay contest in conjunction with the ride’s opening, and she had invited
anybody named Clark or Kent to share in Superman’s official inaugural ride.
Doing something with a real Illinois town named Metropolis would be a cute touch,
she thought; but the Metropolis connection proved particularly special.
“We wanted to do some kind of partnership with them,” Storey said.
“They said they were interested in coming to be part of media day, and
we’ll try to do some partnership with their celebration in June.”
The park’s contributions will include the comic books Storey had used as
promotional gifts for the new ride (THE
LOOP March 28, 2003), a coupon in the celebration’s official program
and a basket of Superman merchandise to be auctioned in a fund raiser.
The Metropolis mayor had intended to attend Six Flags’ media day, but she
had to send the town’s public relations specialist, Neal Pankey, and the
chairwoman of the Superman Celebration, Karla Ogle, in her stead. In a twist
of irony, one of the “Search for Heroes” essay winners had written
about her grandmother, who happened to reside in Metropolis. That prompted the
Metropolis officials to bring their own Superman of Metropolis Awards and, in
a surprise for the Six Flags staff, bestowing them upon the essay winners as
well as park General Manager Jim Wintrode, his heroic achievement cited as bringing
Superman to the park.
With the honors handed out, Wintrode, Pankey, Ogle and Walter Bolliger occupied
Superman’s first row, and the rest of the train filled up with 25
Clarks and Kents for the inaugural run.
The real test of Superman’s strength came on Saturday when the ride
opened to the public. Under sunny skies but chilly temperatures the park’s
gates opened to an almost total rush to the new ride, which replaced the venerable
Shockwave at the front of the park. “Everyone went straight to Superman,”
Storey said, and reaction was wholeheartedly positive, she said. “It is
definitely going to become a park favorite, if not the park favorite.”
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved
