Roller Clone-ers: Batman & SLC
Sometimes instead of building a roller coaster with a unique layout, an amusement park or entertainment center will opt to copy a preexisting roller coaster design. This is done for a variety of different reasons. It’s more affordable than paying a company to design a brand-new layout. Maybe the business is just looking for simple additions as opposed to complicating a project with a new design. It could also be that the business only has a small plot of land they are looking to fill and a small preexisting roller coaster layout would offer a better solution. Preexisting roller coaster layouts are also more reliable in terms of both guest satisfaction and mechanical operation. For all of these reasons and more, roller coaster manufactures offer generic roller coaster models. Today we will be going over 2 well known roller coaster clone layouts, the B&M Batman and the Vekoma SLC.
The first inverted looping roller coaster in the world was Batman The Ride at Six Flags Great America located near Chicago, IL. Opened in 1992, This ride is known for its intense positive g forces and twisted 5-inversion layout. This ride is an ACE coaster landmark for those reasons. At 2,683 feet long, this rollercoaster is not exactly small, although not huge either, but this did not stop the Six Flags chain from ordering 8 additional exact copies of this ride for various different parks (7 of them being named exactly the same, Batman The Ride (relevant Daffy Duck clip)). Seaworld San Antonio operates a clone of this ride under the name Great White. The version of this ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas also has a unique name, Chupacabra. This ride was salvaged from the destroyed Six Flags New Orleans, where it operated as Batman The Ride. A few more of these clones were built internationally. B&M has built more custom layout inverted roller coasters than Batman clones, and these include the likes of Great Bear at Hershey Park and Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
Vekoma would introduce their own inverted design in 1995 with 6 identical copies of their Suspended Looping Coaster, or SLC for short. Their prototype was T2, later called T3, at Kentucky Kingdom. There are about 20 of the standard layout Vekoma SLC’s designated “689m Standard”. There are also about a half dozen Vekoma SLC’s with the standard layout but an additional helix at the end, designated “765m Standard with helix”. 5 of the 689m Standard models were ordered by various Six Flags parks but they were not all named Batman The Ride this time. These models are also known for often being sold and moved from their initial place of construction to different locations. The Vekoma SLC at La Ronde in Quebec started its life at AstroWorld in Texas and was in storage at Six Flags Great Escape in New York for 4 years before finally being rebuilt at La Ronde. Lost Island Theme Park, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, and Michigan’s Adventure all also feature relocated Vekoma SLC’s. Vekoma only built 2 custom layout SLC’s, one of which only has minimal changes from the 689m Standard layout.
Although Vekoma SLC’s all also feature 5 inversions, the layout and inversion types are completely different than that of the B&M Batman clones. Within the roller coaster enthusiast community typically the B&M Batman clones are held in higher regard than the Vekoma SLC. I believe this is both due to B&M Batman clones being considered better rides and also because they are somewhat less rare. They’re considered better rides for being less rough and for doling out more positive G’s. Vekoma does have a next-generation SLC train that parks can decide to purchase. The new Vekoma trains are less bulky than the old trains, which leads to less head banging and generally speaking a better ride experience. Six Flags New England runs these new trains on their 689m Standard SLC named Riddler Revenge. That is not to say though that B&M Batman clones won’t also rough you up a little, but generally speaking they are less rough than Vekoma SLC’s. B&M also has newer and leaner restraints that could also reduce head banging, but as far as I know these are only featured or new B&M installations such as the custom invert Banshee at Kings Island which opened in 2014. I could be wrong but I don’t know of any B&M’s that have changed from the older bulkier restraints to the newer more sleek restraints. Even the retracked Nemesis Inferno at Alton Towers reopened with the old classic style bulky restraints.
I like both the B&M Batman clone and the Vekoma SLC. In my personal opinion the hate for Vekoma SLC’s is a little overblown. Maybe I’ve just had some lucky rides compared to others. Also I feel like while the B&M Batman clones are good, the custom layout B&M inverted roller coasters are better. My favorites are the aforementioned Banshee, Alpengeist at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Afterburn at Carowinds. Feel free to tell me exactly how you feel about Vekoma SLC’s, B&M inverts, or send any other comments or questions to me in an email to bumpersky@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading!
