The Clown Prince of Crime will officially arrive in Lake County, Illinois next year as THE JOKER Free Fly Coaster comes to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee for the 2017 season. Continuing a long-running partnership with DC Comics/DC Entertainment, THE JOKER will also be built at parks in New England and Texas, while this year’s JUSTICE LEAGUE BATTLE FOR METROPOLIS 4D will be installed at three additional parks and the WONDER WOMAN LASSO OF TRUTH at two. THE JOKER is touted as being “one of the most unique rides in park history,” with riders flying high-above the park in “wing cars” that face other riders.
THE JOKER will launch riders from a 90-degree elevator-style lift that reaches 120 feet in the air. From there, they will flip over the edge and begin to somersault along the horizontal plane, dropping down two free-fall raven drops and experiencing at least six weightless head-over-heels flips.
The new coaster will be placed next to BATMAN: THE RIDE, and is set to displace a pair of rides in Yankee Harbor. Two previous installations of THE JOKER Free Fly Coaster currently exist – one at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey that opened this year, and one branded as BATMAN: THE RIDE that opened for 2015 at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
As much as I do love Batman and The Joker, my wife has suggested “taking a year off” from our season passes to Six Flags Great America following our upcoming visits to this Fall’s Fright Fest. While our family loves the park, the girls got stuck on The Whizzer earlier this season and I personally haven’t been back since being treated like garbage by park security this past July (I have since received an apology via email), which is something our daughters (4 & 7) still mention, and that really bothers me. But, like The Terminator, I’ll Be Back…
