Batman: The Ride has been operating at Six Flags St. Louis since 1995. It was the fourth installation of this Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M) Invert Clone. The original, which premiered at Six Flags Great America in 1992, opened to rave reviews. Regardless of Batman: The Rider’s many installations, it consistently is one of, if not the most popular ride at Six Flags St. Louis.
Batman: The Ride Experience
You walk through a long queue line that is well-themed. At least for a Six Flags park, that is. The line queue consists of a stroll through Gotham City Park, into a bad part of Gotham City, and into the sewers, where you will finally find your way to the Batcave.
Greeting you is a large lit-up Batman sign once you enter the Batcave. I recommend the front row for Batman since the forces that it gives are more intense in the front. The trains have four seats per row, with eight rows. You will be kept safe with an over-the-shoulder restraint and a belt that must lock to ride.
Batman: The Ride has the standard chain lift hill. While the first drop isn’t the biggest, it gives more than enough momentum for traversing the track, which consists of two loops, one Zero-G roll, and two wingovers. The wingovers are forceful corkscrews with a fancy name.
Batman: The Ride The Good
Batman: The Ride’s forceful inversions are the best that Six Flags St. Louis has. My two favorite elements are the Zero-G roll (the second inversion right after the first loop) and the helix-like elements coming off the second loop. Sitting in the front seat during that upward helix, it will feel like the train is trying to rip your legs off! B&M, in recent years, has been accused of making rather force-less roller coasters. Fortunately, that is not the case with Batman: The Ride.
The pace of this roller coaster is incredible. There is no mid-course brake run to kill the momentum, so once it picks up speed, it is an unrelenting ride! It flows flawlessly from one whippy element to the next.
The Bad
I only have two complaints with Batman: The Ride. The first is the over-the-shoulder restraints. I understand why they’re there. Yet, over-the-shoulder is my most disliked type of harness on roller coasters. No matter how smooth Batman: The Ride is, you will still hit your head on these restraints.
The second issue is how most of the immersive theming that Six Flags St. Louis spent a lot of money on has gone by the wayside. They used to have a Batmobile from the classic Tim Burton films out and ready for your family to take a picture. Also gone is the police car that used to sit totaled in the sketchy part of Gotham city. Then the smoke effects, and on and on. More of a complaint with the Six Flags business model compared to parks like Universal and Disney. Why spend all the money setting up that queue, as impressive as it was, only to abandon it? Regardless of how down I am on how cool the queue line used to be, it is still, to date, the best queue in the entire park because of the thoughtfulness and the money spent early on.
Six Flags St. Louis is known for having long queue lines to walk through. Batman: The Ride is no exception. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes for your walk through Gotham since you will be getting a lot of steps.
Final Verdict
Batman: The Ride is a fantastic experience. It has forceful inversions that are even more fun when I can ride with three other friends or family. I ride this almost every time I visit Six Flags, St. Louis. Also, this is one of the most reliable Coasters in the park. Yes, it may not have the effects and cool props it used to do, but the coaster itself is still running great. I find it to be one of the smoother Batman clones out there. It’s not worth a trip to Six Flags St. Louis just for Batman since most Six Flags have this exact coaster. Because of these reasons, Batman: The Ride at Six Flags St. Louis gets a nine out of ten.
Pros: Great forceful inversions, each row has four seats, the pacing never lets up
Cons: theming cutbacks
Fun fact: this was the first Batman where, after leaving the chain lift, the coaster falls to the right instead of the left.
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