Six Flags Magic Mountain passes on Dark Knight coaster

Six Flags Magic Mountain came thisclose to landing a Dark Knight roller coaster after a sister amusement park decided at the eleventh hour against installing the indoor ride.

Magic Mountain was offered the Dark Knight — and even had a location picked out for the coaster — after Six Flags New England ran into bureaucratic red tape during installation of the $7.5-million family ride this spring. Because of building-permit issues, the Massachusetts amusement park was forced to abruptly halt construction of the Batman-themed coaster in April 2008 and completely dismantle the ride.

Screamscape broke the news in May that Six Flags New England’s unused Dark Knight coaster might be heading to Southern California.

Magic Mountain ultimately decided to pass on the Dark Knight and focus instead on another family coaster planned for 2009.

Timed as a tie-in to “The Dark Knight” movie opening this weekend, a pair of identical Dark Knight coasters debuted in mid-May 2008 at Six Flags Great America (Illinois) and Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey). During the two-minute ride, the Joker torments riders aboard a Gotham City subway car as they experience video, sound and special effects while hurtling through the dark on the classic Wild Mouse coaster. Naturally, Batman saves the day.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the

Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photo: Associated Press]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 6:00 pm by Brady MacDonald and is filed under East Coast, Family & Kids, Los Angeles, Magic Mountain, Midwestern States, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.