sfne2005 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I was invited to attend the Bizarro Media Day at Six Flags New England on behalf of Theme Park Review. The event itself was amazing. It was basically ERT from 9am until 6pm and they opened up a few rides in the superhero area of the park (Catwoman, Joker, and the new Blitz slingshot tower). Johnny Rockets was open with complimentary, well, everything! Food, drinks, milkshakes and more. The event was open to media, Ace members and winners of both radio contests and the golden ticket scavenger hunt. Onto the photos! Last detail at the exit. In all seriousness, the additions made the number one steel rollercoaster in the world better. It is now more of a ride "experience", similar to what you can find at a Universal / IOA / Busch / Disney type park. For hardcore enthusiasts, I can assure you that it actually rides better (smoother, maybe faster, and possibly even more ejector air, if that is possible) than Superman did before. For the general public, who may not know what air time is, never mind the kinds of airtime, are sure to walk away with more fulfillment of waiting in line than ever before. Good Job Six Flags. Thanks for holding the event. Hot Fuzz gives two thumbs up (the other is behind me ) for Bizarro! View from the exit ramp. Last of the exclusive shots. Again, the changing audio effects through this tunnel are right on the mark. Second of three mist tunnels. The lights on this section are bright in the day. Look forward to riding at night. We interrupt this Media Event for a service road advisory....."Dump bodies"...LOL On the return trip. There is really so much going on it is hard to take everything in between the ride itself, the themeing and the audio. I cannot wait to see this ride at night...I was told by many a staff that it will be amazing. Lights have been added everywhere. These fit in very nicely in this section of the ride. The attention to detail is astounding as you can see those are real flowers in the upside buildings. Something I didn't notice while on the ride. Ninety degrees! Though tough to see, Bizarro has punched a crater in the earth....the raised art are the continents or Htrae. Here is what you look at entering the first tunnel from the first drop. I would like to thank the creator of "burst mode" as a camera setting for being able to capture choice photos. Hi Steve. Good stuff right? No, I did not suddenly go to Cedar Point. This is an exclusive view from the service road. Thank you Melissa Pinkerton for setting this up. You are awesome. I like this picture. Everyone is wearing Bizarro tshirts. I still have the old newspaper clipping of the first riders wearing the old Superman tshirts back from way back. Funny though, these riders were declared the first riders despite the coaster being open for two hours....(shrugs) The wind picked up in the afternoon stopping the nukes from firing....so you will have to settle with the "through the trees" version instead. At SFNE we can have our cake and eat it too. He is a portion of the group with many costumed heros and villains. Park President Larry Litton addressed the crowd at 11am. He is so happy to have this coaster in his park. He thanked the coaster enthusiast community for their (our) continued support for the park and his award winning coaster. You can notice two things here: Derry sitting with all of her friends and the new speakers. The sound is a bit too loud while sitting on the transfer track however and seemed to be the consensus of many who road. A small issue I am sure will be addressed over time. To counteract the heat, there are now three misting areas...not fog, mist. One in the first tunnel, one in the new "S" tunnel and the last in this tunnel. It is nice to see it return after being off for so many years. The sounds playing on the train change and coincide nicely with each of the integrated effects. Oh yea, and you can bet your intamin butt you can feel the nuclear blast while riding too. The heat from these things are immense. They can be felt in the queue line on the ground and inside the station if waiting for the seats near the back of the train. And as Bizarro dives into the first helix, the LAVA throwers kick on if it its not too windy. The new slingshot tower Blitz in the foreground. Only $6 bucks for us to ride and the money went to charity. Oh, and it's painted purple now, in case I needed to mention that... You always were number 1.....always. The attention to detail is really superb. Here is the 100,000 megawatt sound system control for the trains. Putting it in the middle of the train was absolutely a great move as putting in the last car would take away from the best seat in the house. Here are the new restraints on the new trains. Gone are the days of the leg shackles. If I had hair, it would be standing up on end....should have seen Christiana's 80's hair though afterwards Many monitors were playing in the queue but unfortunately didn't spend any time watching them as there was NO LINE! Me Bizarro now at Xis Sgalf. Auger of doom! No auger here in Agawam as it is an auger free town, or state for that matter. (Oh, there is one more story board but that pic didn't come out.) Too bad the blast didn't hit El Toro.....calling it El Bizarro. More...but hopefully you won't be this far back in line to have to read this. Ninjas make everything cooler. The first of many queue line story boards. Here is the ceiling image inside the locker area just after the entrance. Loose articles bad! Store them or me smash you. First change would be the signage over the station. I didn't notice the stupid tree limb until just now...sorry. Empty midways are becoming synonymous with things related to TPR. Gotta love that. My media pass and a Bizarro pin were given to, well, the media...duh. I have found all you need is a TPR bag to become a VIP! (kidding, don't go and try that) Maybe something for you all to look forward to? Arrival at Agawam, home of the #1 Steel Coaster in the world.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil jimmy norton Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 So... many..... media.....days...... This looks awesome. I'm pushing to take a trip here next Saturday, the 30th. But only time will tell if that actually happens. Anyway, thanks for the awesome pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em-Z Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Great report! I'm even more excited to ride it this summer now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superman06 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Wow...Awesome pics! Event looks like it was amazing. This is my #1 coaster, I've been going up there every year for the last 3 years just to ride this. But this year it doesn't look like I'm gonna make it up there. You have officially made me jealous! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Just....wow. Wow. I need to get up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdillaman Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 ^Yes you do! Great pictrues!!!! Glad to hear it's still running in good form! -James Dillaman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollin_n_coastin Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Rich, great report man. The ride looks fantastic. So glad to hear that the ride is enhanced rather than changed. What music was playing through the speakers, was it more like a movie soundtrack? Oh, somewhat as important, how was the free food at Johnny Rockets? Cheers, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacups Make Me Sick Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Great report! So...this makes me wonder, would if Cedar Point redid and operated Bizarro would it have to close the ride down due to the misting machines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCW_Nut Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Awesome photos...It looks like they made a great ride even better...never thought that'd be possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Can't wait for my next trip to 6FNE to get back on this monster. It seems all the themeing turned out great! Good for 6F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Great work, Rich! I still don't care for the Bizarro theme/colors, but the actual enhancements to the ride itself seem to have turned out good....especially the lack of leg shackles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Arrival at Agawam, home of the #1 Steel Coaster in the world.... Hey--when did they move Expedition GeForce to New England? (Er, Rich? What are you doing with that nightstick and those hand cuffs? Don't hurt me, please!) But, seriously, Bizarro looks great--nice work, Hot Fuzz. From the looks of things, Bizarro has a pretty good shot at staying number 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speeddeamon128 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Awesome report! I rode GADV's Bizarro & it has the same mist tunnel at the bottom of the first drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterperson Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 SFNE did a really great job with this coaster I'm very impressed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Great report Rich! I love this ride, and I'm sure it will only be better now! Interesting though that you mentioned the audio is too loud. It is also WAY too loud on Terminator as well. Do they have someone with a hearing problem programming the volume or what!?!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinTheAttendant Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Excellent report. I rode it last week for the advertisement photos and I agree with everything you said. I highly recommend it. Those who loved Superman will love this ride even more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I was quite sceptical about the color scheme when they started repainting it, but now I think it looks awesome. Theming looks pretty good too and the sound system in the middle of the train is just a brilliant idea. Is the ride running any better than it did with the old trains last year besided the special effects? It didnt live up to the hype for us and several people have said it was a bit slow last year. It was still a great ride and although I cant see myself riding it again in a very long time, I still hope that the ride can improve furthere as its something all coaster enthusiasts deserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillerman1 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Right on Rich! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see a full on POV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike541x Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Cool TR. Bizarro looks great. They did a great job on the theming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allena.k.a.Alan Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Great report. Bizarro looks sick in purple! Nicely themed too, it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atem122 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Six Flags has finally really understood what they need to do to drive attendance, even moderate theming like what they've done here makes their rides so much better and more fun to re-ride. It's funny that both this ride and Terminator's audio systems are way too loud, I'm betting they'll be toned down though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CloneCaptain38 Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 This coaster looks like alot of fun, great detail, loving the fire, the superman logo tunnel. I actually have never been on a Intamin coaster before, not even Xcelerator at Knotts Berry Farm in Ca. When I did go, the line was too long, and haven't been back. I think Six Flags Magic Mountain in Ca, should build a Intamin coaster as this, looks awesome. Is Superman: The Escape at Magic Mountain by Intamin? I have been on that many times, but doesn't go as high as it once did, when it first opened. I take it Bizzaro is the evil version of Superman, and he's taking over the world? I don't read superhero comics, so I wouldn't know the character, but this ride looks really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercellcoaster Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 When this was first announced I thought it was basically going to be a waste of money for SF, but I guess it turned out better than I thought it would. I still don't understand switching up Medusa, though. I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to try and boost attendance at a smaller park that doesn't have fanboys and heavy attendance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayjay719 Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 I was at Media day as well, and I agree with you Rich. Bizarro is a way better experience. The only bad part, for me...was the thickness of the lap bars. The lap bars sit on my thighs making it a bit uncomfortable. Other than that, this blew me away. Not to mention the FREE everything at Johnny Rockets, Thanks Larry and his crew. BTW, Lindsey and I are in the photo of the press conference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sros1fan Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 The ride is awesome at night you can see pics and videos of it from tonight here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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