Batman: The Ride original themeing?

[cliffhanger]

We all know that BTR is the most themed coaster at the park, but I'm wondering how much more it was themed when it first opened. I have read online that there used to be a "dumpster" somewhere in the queue to add to the run down look of Gotham. Does anyone have pictures or can describe where it was exactly in the line? Anyone that remembers when BTR first opened, could you describe what the experience was like? Just curious!

[great america fan]

there was graffiti on the wall behind the police car I couldn't find a picture though sorry.

[jmanporty7]

All i know is that BTR's color scheme for the track was all black. But it would be nice to see some of the original color scheme's and other stuff be thrown the coasters like BTR with black paint job, Eagle's blue train running backwards, Demon white color scheme, etc.

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

Demon white color scheme

Demon never had a white color scheme. That was back when it was The Turn of the Century, pre loops and tunnel and back when it had camelback airtime hills.

[Porkchop23]

The theming for Batman was the best and is still the best I had ever seen. The park in front was serene and foreboding. I always check to see how much erosion the water has done to the fountain since it opened. Once you enter "Gotham City", it was like someone flipped a switch. Dark, loud and exciting. The Prince music blaring, the graffiti, the busted up police car...it was great. Once I got through the tunnel to the "Batcave" the first time, I was blown away. Those crappy by today's standard graphics that play on the screens was high tech back in '92. It was just cool to see. The whole experience was very well done. Now, it's just....meh.

[CoasterCale]

Once I got through the tunnel to the "Batcave" the first time, I was blown away. Those crappy by today's standard graphics that play on the screens was high tech back in '92. It was just cool to see. The whole experience was very well done. Now, it's just....meh.

Those old TVs were replaced with Flat Screens. I liked how the Screens took us back. Whatever.

[acer711]

I remember there being some sort if junkyard if I remember correctly

[[jonrev]]

Magic Mountain's BTR queue is much like how ours was; graffiti and wrecked cars/junk here and there. They're missing the copcar, though...

[CoasterNick3157]

Here's a pic I took in 98'

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[diggerg56]

I honestly haven't paid much attention lately but with the police car the lights used to be on flashing with radio traffic coming from the speaker. They also had "steam" (fog) coming from under the hood because it had crashed into a fire hydrant and there was water streaming from around the hydrant.
I seem to remember some fog effects at different times in the tunnel as well.
I think they should have left it all black as well, just personal preference.

[skibum101184]

This has to do with B:TR (somewhat) but it's also somewhat off-topic, so my apologies if I irritate anyone

At one point, SFGAm had B:TR, V2 and Deja Vu. Was this a record for most inverts in one park? Can't seem to think of any or find any parks with more than two (such as CP with Raptor and Wicked Twister).

[super7]

The theming of this ride is the poorest theming in the park. Who wants to go to a theme park to look at run-down, inner city, trash-type theming? Look at what it replaced. Tidal Wave which was themed to the coast. The area was much nicer then.

[tp41190]

I have always wanted to wait in the full que line. And by full, I mean that second (or third) entrance that is all the way back by the Mardi Gras stage near Jester.

Random drawing of the different entrances.

[Iron Wolf 90-11]

Any idea when the last time the full queue was used? Sometime during Fright Fest?

[AirTimeDaz]

I remember the ride ops and dispatchers were dressed like Alfred with black pants, white tuxedo shirts and black bowties. That was definitely keeping with the theme. The entire experience was well thought out.

[[jonrev]]

I honestly haven't paid much attention lately but with the police car the lights used to be on flashing with radio traffic coming from the speaker. They also had "steam" (fog) coming from under the hood because it had crashed into a fire hydrant and there was water streaming from around the hydrant.
I seem to remember some fog effects at different times in the tunnel as well.
I think they should have left it all black as well, just personal preference.

The copcar got a new LED lightbar and strobes all around last year, and as of a week or so ago they were running fog/mist in the tunnel. It's actually looking much better than it has over recent years.

The theming of this ride is the poorest theming in the park. Who wants to go to a theme park to look at run-down, inner city, trash-type theming? Look at what it replaced. Tidal Wave which was themed to the coast. The area was much nicer then.

Watch Batman/Batman Returns - might make a little more sense then...

[Sporlo]

I think St. Louis' Batman has red lights in the tunnel to make it really dark. Has GAm ever had it that dark?

[diggerg56]

Yes, they've had red or blue lights at times in the past plus even an ultraviolet or two. I actually haven't paid that much attention recently. Lines were short so I wasn't in the queue for any length of time.

Glad to hear they brought some life back to the police car and put some fog back in.

[sfgam-fan]

I got in the Batman line when it started at East River Crawler. That's when Whirligig was at V2 and the Batmobile was at the current Whirligig spot. Waiting 3 hours for a 90 second ride...crazy stuff. Theming was awesome in the queue line though. Lots of strobes, smoke, etc. If I remember right, the wait was 1 hour from when you hit the themed part of the queue.

[RollingCoasting]

I have always wanted to wait in the full que line. And by full, I mean that second (or third) entrance that is all the way back by the Mardi Gras stage near Jester.

Random drawing of the different entrances.

Today I saw some kids going through the full queue. I don't think they got there from the Mardi Gras entrance though, because for some reason, the gate leading into the outdoor switchbacks by Jack's Snacks was open. Weird, because the line was only 15 minutes.

[GreatAmerica1995]

Long time lurker, first-time poster.

I was at the opening day of Batman in 1992. I also went just about every Monday and Thursday that summer, and I had no problem (at that young age) waiting in long lines.

On opening day in 1992, all of the themeing was there, except the GCPW grey wooden switchbacks were not yet installed behind the foodstand in front of BTR. The line snaked all the way back to Shock Wave. It was fun to watch the ride do the flyover of the Orleans Place area as we stood and waited.

The wait was four hours that day, mostly because ride ops stopped when it started drizzling.

I remember being very sad that Tidal Wave was gone, because I had just begun to enjoy that ride during the 1991 season, and I would have gone on a few more times had I known it was leaving.

I remember seeing the loop for BTR and I was so young and uninformed I wondered if Batman's loop was the same loop from Tidal Wave, just turned inside out. At the time, I liked to believe that it was.

Well, this is about the original themeing for BTR. As you know, the 1992 sequel was coming out that year, yet this ride played the soundtrack from the 1989 Batman movie (and still does at times).

The switchbacks behind the foodstand were put up in early summer 1992. They were always always full. Then the walk through the Gotham City Park was fun, and I can remember looking at the fountain and thinking that it was not going to age well. The speakers all worked well and blasted sounds of birds and children playing. The back wall of the park used to have the path right up next to it. The logo of the man pulling a lever (or whatever) right at the end of the Park section of the line was messed with quite a bit. People used to put gum all over that whole back wall, and they light grey paint on it made it perfect for people to write their names or scratch in messages. And the poor guy pulling the lever almost always had his missing ummm anatomy drawn in, or sometimes shaped into a piece of male anatomy with gum. There was always something in the crotch area.

When you walked into the dark area, there was a junkyard to the left. There were several large appliances: stoves, refrigerators, sinks, washers, etc. The police car to the right had water spraying and flashing lights. When you walked into the Storm Drain, the fan in the back seemed to be blowing chalk into the air. Everybody was always coughing and rubbing their eyes. The open sewer below your feet had water running through it and glowing lights for only about the first few weeks of operation. I remember sometimes people would open the door at the end of that hall out of boredom and I would crane my neck to see if there were any Tidal Wave remnants back there. I always convinced myself I had seen something.

Then the walk up the stairs was only interesting because of the cameras, and because nobody knew how far the stairs went. It was like waiting to get into an exclusive club---and still is I guess.

[Guy_With_A_Stick]

Long time lurker, first-time poster.

I was at the opening day of Batman in 1992. I also went just about every Monday and Thursday that summer, and I had no problem (at that young age) waiting in long lines.

On opening day in 1992, all of the themeing was there, except the GCPW grey wooden switchbacks were not yet installed behind the foodstand in front of BTR. The line snaked all the way back to Shock Wave. It was fun to watch the ride do the flyover of the Orleans Place area as we stood and waited.

The wait was four hours that day, mostly because ride ops stopped when it started drizzling.

I remember being very sad that Tidal Wave was gone, because I had just begun to enjoy that ride during the 1991 season, and I would have gone on a few more times had I known it was leaving.

I remember seeing the loop for BTR and I was so young and uninformed I wondered if Batman's loop was the same loop from Tidal Wave, just turned inside out. At the time, I liked to believe that it was.

Well, this is about the original themeing for BTR. As you know, the 1992 sequel was coming out that year, yet this ride played the soundtrack from the 1989 Batman movie (and still does at times).

The switchbacks behind the foodstand were put up in early summer 1992. They were always always full. Then the walk through the Gotham City Park was fun, and I can remember looking at the fountain and thinking that it was not going to age well. The speakers all worked well and blasted sounds of birds and children playing. The back wall of the park used to have the path right up next to it. The logo of the man pulling a lever (or whatever) right at the end of the Park section of the line was messed with quite a bit. People used to put gum all over that whole back wall, and they light grey paint on it made it perfect for people to write their names or scratch in messages. And the poor guy pulling the lever almost always had his missing ummm anatomy drawn in, or sometimes shaped into a piece of male anatomy with gum. There was always something in the crotch area.

When you walked into the dark area, there was a junkyard to the left. There were several large appliances: stoves, refrigerators, sinks, washers, etc. The police car to the right had water spraying and flashing lights. When you walked into the Storm Drain, the fan in the back seemed to be blowing chalk into the air. Everybody was always coughing and rubbing their eyes. The open sewer below your feet had water running through it and glowing lights for only about the first few weeks of operation. I remember sometimes people would open the door at the end of that hall out of boredom and I would crane my neck to see if there were any Tidal Wave remnants back there. I always convinced myself I had seen something.

Then the walk up the stairs was only interesting because of the cameras, and because nobody knew how far the stairs went. It was like waiting to get into an exclusive club---and still is I guess.

That was the most descriptive Batman the Ride story I have ever read. Kudos to you.

Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk

[DeathbyDinn]

This is really nit-picky, but the one bit of the Batman theming that I've never quite understood, and this could just be because I haven't seen the movie, is the led signs above the stairs that flash "Escape the Batcave." I'm not sure if those have been there from day one, but you keep getting told to escape the Batcave and then there's no real reason why. I think it would have been so cool if they had somehow simulated that the Batcave was under attack and give a real sense of urgency as to why you had to get out.

[Sporlo]

Hehe without fail, if I happen to see that sign, I ALWAYS have to make a stupid comment about ending back in the cave, so it's not much of an escape, etc. etc.

[sfgam-fan]

It's a round trip. When you come back 2 minutes later, the bat cave is safe again