I visited Parque Warner last weekend. It’s a nice park with some solid coasters. Superman and Shadows of Arkham are golden age B&Ms that don’t disappoint, and Stunt Fall, albeit a little rough, is so unique and has an incredible face first drop. The park feels like a sister park to PortAventura, but in areas it does feel a little run down and could do with some sprucing up.
It was super busy when I visited, but I did manage to get on all the major coasters. Operations were not the greatest, but I didn’t witness the queue jumping which is reportedly rife at this park. I also didn’t get a fast pass, and the staff seemed to be fairly feeding the rides from both queues.
I wanted to give some opinions on Batman Gotham City Escape. I will preface that it is an incredible ride and the crown jewel in their lineup, but I do also believe that it’s been somewhat overrated by the community. The overall theming is genuinely brilliant. I love the concept of the queue, with people being let into Wayne Manor for an open house tour. The preshow scenes build the atmosphere, and the animatronics help with immersion. Since this is a Batman-themed ride, I do think an opportunity was missed to have a Batman animatronic in the bat cave scene of the queue.
Where this ride falls down the rankings for me personally is the pacing and sequencing of elements. I rode three times in the front, middle, and back. The first launch has amazing acceleration, but the first corkscrew is taken so slowly that, rather than feeling weightlessness, the main sensation is hangtime. The second launch is great, but the acceleration is not as impressive as the main launch on Taron or Velocicoaster. Design wise, I would have meandered the track some more before the second launch so the acceleration felt punchier when you hit it. The top hat is good, but the trims felt way too strong for me and kill off the pace and excitement of the main launch. Conversely, the airtime hill and dive loop after the top hat are so aggressive that there is some serious thigh crush through the restraints. That airtime hill feels like the largest negative Gs I’ve ever experienced on a ride. It’s fun, but I feel the elements here could have been larger in scale to give a more prolonged sense of negative G. The second corkscrew over the path and the wave turn into the third launch are really fun and gave a great weightless sensation. The final stall element was a weak spot for me. Rather than flipping you up into it and experiencing zero G (like Zadra’s stall), the main sensation here is hangtime, which for me wasn’t the most comfortable, as you’re hanging for that long with your whole body weight resting on the restraint. I actually love the spike at the end, I thought this was a pretty unique way to finish the ride.
Batman GCE is so technically advanced and is a genuinely great ride, but since it’s made so many people’s top five coasters in the world, I was expecting to rate it a lot higher. I wanted to break down my rationale for why it didn’t make mine. It may seem like I'm unfairly critiquing the ride but when we're talking about the best in the world, I think it's good to look at the fine details! It would be great to know if anyone else has ridden it this year for the first time.
It was super busy when I visited, but I did manage to get on all the major coasters. Operations were not the greatest, but I didn’t witness the queue jumping which is reportedly rife at this park. I also didn’t get a fast pass, and the staff seemed to be fairly feeding the rides from both queues.
I wanted to give some opinions on Batman Gotham City Escape. I will preface that it is an incredible ride and the crown jewel in their lineup, but I do also believe that it’s been somewhat overrated by the community. The overall theming is genuinely brilliant. I love the concept of the queue, with people being let into Wayne Manor for an open house tour. The preshow scenes build the atmosphere, and the animatronics help with immersion. Since this is a Batman-themed ride, I do think an opportunity was missed to have a Batman animatronic in the bat cave scene of the queue.
Where this ride falls down the rankings for me personally is the pacing and sequencing of elements. I rode three times in the front, middle, and back. The first launch has amazing acceleration, but the first corkscrew is taken so slowly that, rather than feeling weightlessness, the main sensation is hangtime. The second launch is great, but the acceleration is not as impressive as the main launch on Taron or Velocicoaster. Design wise, I would have meandered the track some more before the second launch so the acceleration felt punchier when you hit it. The top hat is good, but the trims felt way too strong for me and kill off the pace and excitement of the main launch. Conversely, the airtime hill and dive loop after the top hat are so aggressive that there is some serious thigh crush through the restraints. That airtime hill feels like the largest negative Gs I’ve ever experienced on a ride. It’s fun, but I feel the elements here could have been larger in scale to give a more prolonged sense of negative G. The second corkscrew over the path and the wave turn into the third launch are really fun and gave a great weightless sensation. The final stall element was a weak spot for me. Rather than flipping you up into it and experiencing zero G (like Zadra’s stall), the main sensation here is hangtime, which for me wasn’t the most comfortable, as you’re hanging for that long with your whole body weight resting on the restraint. I actually love the spike at the end, I thought this was a pretty unique way to finish the ride.
Batman GCE is so technically advanced and is a genuinely great ride, but since it’s made so many people’s top five coasters in the world, I was expecting to rate it a lot higher. I wanted to break down my rationale for why it didn’t make mine. It may seem like I'm unfairly critiquing the ride but when we're talking about the best in the world, I think it's good to look at the fine details! It would be great to know if anyone else has ridden it this year for the first time.