Batman and Robin: The Chiller

Six Flags Great Adventure

In 1996, Six Flags Great Adventure announced that it would be adding a new roller coaster in 1997, bringing their coaster count back up to seven. It was then announced that the coaster would be a prototype linear induction motor (LIM) launched dual tracked shuttle coaster dubbed "Batman & Robin: The Chiller". The theme was chosen with the intent of promoting the Batman & Robin film, which was set to open in summer that year. The Observatory scenery piece, that eventually loomed over the launch tracks and exit ramp, was taken directly from the film source material. A track was devoted to both title characters, with the icy blue track being christened Batman and its fiery red companion being labeled Robin. The coaster was located in the Movietown section of the park, adjacent to Batman The Ride, Stuntman's Freefall and "The Batman Stunt Show Arena", while sitting next to the Movietown Water Effect water ride.

Since it was a prototype (like X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hypersonic XLC at Kings Dominion) it suffered from many problems and flaws. After several delays, the coaster opened briefly in June 1997 before shutting down due to further technical difficulties. It opened full-time in April 1998, although power shortages prevented "dual launches".

With the original shoulder restraints, riders experienced some discomfort during the ride. The restraints were converted to individually ratcheting lap bars in the 2001 and 2002 seasons on the Batman and Robin trains, respectively.

During the 2004 season, the LIMs on the Robin side of the tower failed causing the train to stall in the zero G roll. The cause of the LIMs' failure is still unknown. The Batman side was also closed for most of the season.

Chiller was repainted before the 2005 season began, giving a new dark blue color to the Batman side while touching up the Robin side's fading red. Batman did not operate at all due to problems with the LIMs on the tower. The Robin side operated for most of the season.

During the 2006 season, Batman reopened on May 5 and ran along with the Robin side on and off until June 2, when a wheel bogie on the third car of the Robin train suffered a mechanical malfunction. While the cause of the malfunction is still unknown to most people, it has been reported that the train came to a halt on the lowest part of the track (between the Cobra Roll and Zero-G roll) after the launch. This problem is speculated to have happened because of wheel modifications that Premier Rides made on Chiller as well as all other Premier LIM coasters. Although the train was loaded, no one was seriously injured and all riders were evacuated. Both sides remained closed for the rest of the season.

During the 2007 season, the Zero-G Rolls were removed from the ride and replaced with banked hills. Robin's hill was installed in March and Batman's in April. Batman's train was painted red so that Robin could use it, because Robin's train was damaged during a previous incident. The Robin side re-opened on April 7 and ran until June 28 when it was closed for the rest of the year. The Batman side did not operate at all, but three of the five cars from the original Robin train were placed on Batman's maintenance track. Because of all of the problems the coaster had and the numerous failed attempts to fix the coaster, Six Flags decided to cut their financial and technical losses and dismantle the ride.

During the 2008 season, the ride was completely removed, leaving only the station, observatory and queue line behind. The following year, the remaining foundation caps under the observatory and the former exit ramp were removed. The parts of the ride were relocated to the adjacent Plumsted Township in New Jersey where they sat in storage for many years.

Following the removal of the ride, the queue line was used for the "Escape From The Asylum" Terror Trail during Fright Fest. The Fright Fest exclusive attraction turned the former ride area into a Terror Trail maze for guests to walk through while costumed employees were hiding and frequently scaring guests. The remodelled observatory opened on July 3, 2009, as the "Xploratorium", a new attraction with many virtual and interactive features for park guests to enjoy.

Ride

"Chiller" used a LIM launch system that propelled the trains from 0 to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) in roughly 4 seconds. In its first season, the ride originally ran dualling as intended for a short time. Due to the amount of power used by the LIMs straining the infrastructure with a dual launch, operations were changed so that a train could only be launched after the other train had cleared the LIMs on the tower. Batman was launched into a 140-foot (43 m) top hat inversion. It then went through a banked inclined S-curve (formerly a zero-g roll) and then repeated the entire process in reverse. Robin had a similar track layout, except it had a 105-foot (32 m) cobra roll instead of a top hat. Because of the differentiating heights in the main elements (and therefore the speed required to return through the course) Batman required 14 LIMs on the tower while Robin usually only needed 6 or 8.

The original ride layout had a zero-g roll on each side after first pair of main elements. Batman came out of the top hat and Robin out of the cobra roll and they both went through the zero-g roll before climbing the 200-foot (61 m) tower. After the tower, the trains would travel in reverse down the tower and through the main elements (inverted top hat for Batman, cobra roll for Robin) before returning to the station platform.

Ride modifications and changes

In September 2001, the train on the Robin track was retrofitted with lap bars in place of the shoulder restraints. Both sides operated with lap bars by June 2002.

Several modifications were made to the number of LIMs on the Robin tower. From opening day to 2004, Robin operated with 7 LIMs on each side of the track. Before the 2004 season, 3 LIMs were taken off on both sides of the Robin tower, leaving 4 LIMs per side. Then two more LIMs were taken off (one per side) the Robin side's tower, leaving three per side before the 2005 season began. A few weeks after the Chiller re-opened in 2007, two more LIMs were added back to the tower, bringing the total back to 4 per side.

In December 2006 and January 2007, during the off-season, both zero-G rolls were removed from the ride. The rolls were a problem due to concerns of occasional stalling caused by a failure of the tower's LIMs. The rolls were replaced by a slightly banked inclined S-curve. Batman's train had its shells painted red so Robin could be ready to open first before Batman. This was done because Robin was more reliable than Batman and the track replacement for Robin was completed first on March 13. It re-opened on April 7. Batman's track was replaced between April 16 and April 20, while the park was closed. However, Batman never re-opened.