GAcoaster Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 From the Asbury Park Press: A Great Adventure on a Bizarro ride Theme park bases coaster on supervillain JACKSON — For nearly seven months, roller coaster buffs nationwide have been trying to piece together the new theme of Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park's floorless thrill ride. To those detectives who had Bizarro in the office pool, you win. Appropriately, executives at Six Flags Inc., the parent company of Great Adventure, chose to unveil its new roller coaster theme and design on April Fool's Day. And the announcement culminates a months-long viral marketing campaign that captured the fancy of thousands of Internet detectives and amusement park aficionados. "It's a way to get a buzz among coaster enthusiasts," said Jim Futrell, author and historian for National Amusement Park Historical Association. "This did create quite a buzz." Since closing the Great Adventure and Six Flags New England theme parks last fall for the season, the company spent the winter months transforming the popular Medusa roller coasters. The company hired the innovative marketing firm 42 Entertainment to help promote the ride's reopening. Part of the strategy was to release clues to the new theme through Twitter, Internet blogs and chat rooms. Copies of The Daily Planet were inserted in weekly and daily publications in the eastern region. The Daily Planet, the newspaper featured in the Superman comics series — provided clues to the thematic transformation of the roller coaster. The end result of the transformation was a closely guarded secret among park officials. According to 42 Entertainment CEO and President Susan Bonds, about 500,000 people were exposed to the Internet-based campaign. The firm estimates about 15 to 20 percent of those have been playing along in the alternative reality game. Futrell said the same strategy was used successfully in 2007-08 by Hershey Park (Pa.), management to promote it's new roller coaster — Fahrenheit. Bizarro has been one of the central characters in the Superman comics series since 1958. DC Comics, the creator of Superman, worked in conjunction with the promotion. Riders of the roller coaster will get briefed on the mysterious background of the Bizarro character prior to stepping onto the roughly 3 1/2-minute trip. "What better way to represent such a twisted, exciting character like Bizarro than with such a twisting, exciting roller coaster?" said Cheryl Rubin, DC Comics senior vice president of brand management in an e-mail. Great Adventure spokeswoman Angel Aristone said some of the refurbishing includes a new sound system to enhance the ride. The park opens for the season on Saturday. However, the coaster won't be open to ride until a still-to-be determined date in May, said Aristone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted April 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 So, now it's official, Medusa is Bizarro! More details may be coming later today. I wonder if they'll be moving a merch cart there and calling it the Bizarro Bazaar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Up_Up_and_Away Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 ^ or Bazaar-o! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcji Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 I saw these 2 links from the SF facebook page. It says check back April 3 for the full details. Maybe they will tell us what they are doing exactly to the ride? http://www.bizarroishere.com/ http://www.loislanereports.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railer Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 There is also a new Edition of the Daily Planet Special Edition up as well. It's pretty neat actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pashacar Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 The thing on bizarroishere.com sounds like it's going to be some sort of photo contest for people who visit the park on opening day. Exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CycloneMan Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 April 3rd according to bizarroishere.com is when we'll find out full updates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcji Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 ^^^Nice that's what I was hoping for! Then we'll know what to expect and see on Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 Bizarro eh. I wish it was a improved western theme for Medusa not a out of place theme about an obscure villan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pashacar Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 It seems like a good idea to me. Although it is funny to see "Bizarro" right next to "Frontier Adventures" on the website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsDevs4Lyf Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 Well I'm officially turned off from this revamp at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CablesEric Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 It's the perfect theme!! What is more bizarre then a Bizarro themed coaster in a Western Themed section? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcji Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 I just read this on Six Flags web site: Known for his clumsy and destructive attempts to emulate Superman, everything in Bizarro's world is twisted and backwards. The Bizarro experience begins the moment you enter the ride queue line through a custom-created comic book story. Climb aboard the newly-designed coaster cars with custom built audio in the headrest. Experience the sensation of flying as your feet dangle above the track. Plummet at 60 mph through Bizarro's freeze vision "cool zone." Twist and turn through seven loops, then blast past bursts of Bizarro 's fire breath and race by bizarre scenes and illusions. This mind-boggling 3,985-foot twisting journey of storytelling and high tech elements will take your imagination to another dimension. http://www.sixflags.com/greatAdventure/rides/bizarro.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southview2 Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 So where is the april 3rd, today, update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcji Posted April 4, 2009 Report Share Posted April 4, 2009 I think the April 3 update was for to submit your video or image for the contest they are holding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillerChiller Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Heh, I love how the back-story makes perfect sense and has a hint of Time Warner's theming attentiveness for SFNE but is the most lame-brained move for GADV. It's right along the lines of something Premier Parks would've pulled when they owned the parks before they caught on with Ka and Toro. I mean, the "crown jewel" park of the chain can't even get a legit back-story for it's ride refurb? Did it really have to be Bizzaro Superman? Priority failure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrill-Pics Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Am I the only won who is having trouble uploading stuff to the site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Sometimes the file size limit drops back to the default and only smaller files can be loaded. I'll look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Kick-outs usually occur with photos larger than 1MB. Photos smaller than 1MB and video less than 50MB should load without errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 There does seem to be a problem with uploads for the moment. I'll do some investigating and get it all working gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrill-Pics Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 I think there might be some confusion.........im talking about having trouble uploading to the Bizarro site. Or is this what you were talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Ohhhhhhh, duh! Well, our site uploads seem to have a hiccup too. Maybe it's that Cornficker worm bringing down people's upload capabilities or soemthing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrill-Pics Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 Maybe. But can you upload to Bizarro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CablesEric Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 While on El Toro today (4/9/09), I was looking over my shoulder during the trip up the lift towards Medusa, sorry Bizzaro and could see trenches dug in the corkscrew and the turn right after the MCBR, so I think it's safe to say there are some type of effects going in those locations. Also, there was no tunnel on the lift! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrill-Pics Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) I walked arounf the backside of the northern star arena and saw a really good view of those trenches yesterday! I also noticed black boxes on the MCBR and lift and I cant remember if these were here before. Anyone know? Also on the LexCorp securtie site at www.LexCorpInternational/security, there is a new login page asking for username/password. I also noticed u can enter your phone number at the bottom and lexcorp will call you about the security status! Edited April 10, 2009 by Thrill-Pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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