Batman & Robin: The Chiller

[batmanrobinchiller]

I was thinking today. What about asking Premier Rides about the design of the Chiller? Going directly to the source! I'd write them a letter asking about the problems of their prototype (stress, engineering flaws, etc.). I would really want to know how'd they improved their designs since then and how would they be able to redesign the Chiller to be acceptable to operate again? With GAcoaster's comments, it's 99.9% truth that the ride is not going to return. Asking Premier Rides this question is more closer than anything.

[Mike13]

I agree that the 0g roll was "tight" but if you look at it it is kind of lopsided. I definitely think thta they can kind of smooth this out in a way by stretching out the twist so it is not as high and turn it into a straighter twist, or put more arc or it and even it out. If you watch a POV video of it in slow motion, as it goes over the 0g rolls, it kind of pauses at the top of it. Stretching it out or rounding out the whole thing will elimintate the sharpness to it, which will also get rid of the forces going in reverse(obviously), making it a smoother ride. Also, on the topic of poor engineering, you must remember that it was a prototype, and that the ride was made 15 years ago. This was ground-breaking back then, and of course there are going to be flaws. Now, we know how to fix them, so why not do this in a newer ride. And, this ride costs 15,000,000 dollars in TOTAL. Disregard the station, the observatory (though it already has something in it). It definitely costs less money due to the subtraction of what is already left. They can put some money into this ride which isn't all that expensive for 2 coasters really. It was a dual launch, so for one would be 7,500,000 dollars. This costs less than the Dark Knight did. I would personally rather them rebuild this ride which is a classic among the people, and if you didn't realize, most of the people who want to see it back and have their own ideas and opinions don't write on this website, so its not like I am a lonewolf out here. There are thousands of people who would love to see this ride back. And, this ride would definitely bring in more money if it was reopened.

 

Why do you never give up?The last two sentences are complete fallacies.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Mike13

[The Master]

As much as I loved Chiller, I don't see it ever coming back. Sadly it did have design problems and SF just didn't want to spend any more money on it, the chain was in really bad shape at the time and they probably didn't have the money if they even wanted to try to fix it more. However I don't see Chiller being a piece of crap and that kind of statement is like hanging out bait for a flame war, it's a very antagonizing, disrespectful, and unneeded statement torwards people who do miss the ride. But it did have many design flaws that probably would not have been rectifiable. GADV also has another launch coaster that also eats alot of money but still draws people for the time being. To the management at the time, it didn't make sense to spend any more money into a ride that was probably never going to work right while they had a newer, similar, and more advanced ride.

 

Chiller was not Premire's first LIM coaster, The Flight of Fear coasters at the two King's parks are but Chiller was the first shuttle LIM coaster. A big difference I noticed between Chiller and the two Mr. Freezes and Speed: The Ride is that unlike Chiller, they had taller 90 deg spires instead of a 45 deg spire. I believe this was one of the major design flaws for Chiller. I agree that Chiller's layout while fun, was also deeply flawed sad to say.

 

If I was selling an old car that the trans was about to drop out of, I would replace the trans mount, a $15 part and use a floor jack to hold the trans up while I replaced the mount. Replacing a worn out part is not the same as correcting a design flaw. If that model car used a poorly designed trans mount that had a high failure rate, there is not much the seller can do in that case. Thankfully cars have been using interlocked safety mounts since the 70s to prevent that kind of problem.

 

Now the online GADV fanbase is split about their opinions on Chiller, some fans liked the ride and miss it very much, many of them would like to see the coaster come back though most know it will never happen. Then there is the other side of the fan base who hate Chiller, and see anyone who liked the ride as a fool that they must "correct" that fool's opinion. Many just parrot whatever they read online and just join the bandwagon. It's like with Viper, some liked it and miss it, while others hated it and are glad it's gone, both sides should be more respectful to the other, but probably never will be. This sites seems to lean torwards the hate side for Chiller, though not everyone here hates Chiller but most on both sides agree it's not coming back to GADV. Mike13, your post is also a fallacy.

 

In the end, Chiller's story is a tragic one, a ride that should have been great, but due to design flaws it was never reliable as it should have been. I hate to say this but I think this thread is turning ugly and should be locked before there are anymore hard feelings.

Edited March 2, 2012 by The Master

[truepolak90]

Your definately not a lonewolf when it comes to seeing this ride reborn. Unfortunately from a business perspective the ride had a Notorious reputation for always being down and a new coaster would bring in a lot more profit for the company then taking the chance of spending the money to rebuild the chiller and taking the chance of people complaining like they did with Bizarro, along with possible further downtime which ...just picture the possibilities. I have my version of chiller with the extended coaster on RCT3....(yes ill admit to it and im not ashamed!) It would be a miracle and dream come true to see this beautiful machine come back to life but unfortunately, it won't ever be in a six flags park. Great Adventure has moved on, like they did with my beloved space shuttle. :'(

 

Edit: The master beat me to it!

Edited March 2, 2012 by truepolak90

[The Master]

Building a new 3rd Mr. Freeze or buying Speed would make more sense than trying to rebuild Chiller, and I think Mr. Freeze is a better ride too. It's one of my favorite coasters. But since GADV already has KK, it doesn't need another launch coaster, KK is enough of a handful.

 

One more thing I would like to bring up is how well the parts for Chiller's trains were stress relived. All manufactured items have internal stresses build up in them from being made which of course weakens the item. Many manufactures don't relieve stress as well as they could, if at all. There are many ways to reduce and relieve stress such as shot peening. In recent years a new process is starting to become popular to relieve stress to almost zero. It's a two step process, first step is to mount the item on a shaker table and shake the hell out of it. Second step is to cryogenically freeze the items them quickly heat it up. Engine buildes who have tried this have said how amazed they are from seeing how the parts are so much stronger and easier to machine after stress relieving them this way. Does anyone know if any of the coaster manufactures use this type of stress relieving?

Edited March 2, 2012 by The Master

[Andrew M]

i still play with RCT3 too!!!!!!!!!!!! ive built chiller too many times its embarrassing.. but thats where i go to relive it.

 

and i love launched rides and i feel cheated out of them bc KK is always down so when i go to Dorney i go on Possessed over and over its such a simple but fun ride.

i just read about it was originally installed in 2000 at SF worlds of adventure in ohio which is not a SF park anymore. so thats a 12 year old coaster still running perfectly.

 

you hear me GA? INTAMIN INVERTED IMPULSE COASTER!!!!

[Thunderbolt]

The other Premier LIM launched coasters are better designs. I really can't elaborate further, but to say the forces required with Chiller's layout were more stressful. The layout was poorly engineered which meant more force was needed than initially planned which burned out LIMs constantly. Many solutions were tried and nothing worked. I cannot explain the problems beyond that, but that is why the ride will never come back.

Weren't issues with Great Adventure's Power Grid and conduit also a problem? I could have sworn this was largely the reason the ride stopped being launched simultaneously. The fact Six Flags got Premier Rides to engineer a remedy, and repair it at the manufacturer's expense, says everything to me about the 10 year old (at the time) attraction. Vince Lupinacci's Lawn Ornament indeed.

 

As "Kingda Ka's" popularity wanes, I wonder how long it will remain at the park?

Edited March 4, 2012 by Thunderbolt

[The Master]

As "Kingda Ka's" popularity wanes, I wonder how long it will remain at the park?

I doubt it will make it to the 20 year mark.

[batmanrobinchiller]

As "Kingda Ka's" popularity wanes, I wonder how long it will remain at the park?

 

Better ride it while you have the chance

[chillerrocked]

Im sure most people know this, but there is also a new owner of the park. It seemed like Shapiro would take out a ride before doing anything else, and it seems like that was his favorite thing to do as well--take out rides. However, it seems as if the new owners, Weber and Anderson, would rather bring in a new and improved ride to the park. Yes, they did remove the Scream Machine which I truly miss, but I think the Green Lantern is a much better ride. My rides on the Scream Machine are easily in the double-digits, but I just think the Green Lantern is a better ride. Does anyone think that having a new owner will have anything to do with the future of this ride? I HIGHLY doubt it, but hopefully Weber and Anderson will realize that this ride is truly missed by the people and will combine the new technology with the old Chiller and re-open it. I also doubt it because after Anderson and Weber became the owners, they tried to sell it, but it could have been an advisory team or someone/something else telling them to do this. What do you all think? Could a new owner mean something different for the ride?

[Mike13]

Im sure most people know this, but there is also a new owner of the park. It seemed like Shapiro would take out a ride before doing anything else, and it seems like that was his favorite thing to do as well--take out rides. However, it seems as if the new owners, Weber and Anderson, would rather bring in a new and improved ride to the park. Yes, they did remove the Scream Machine which I truly miss, but I think the Green Lantern is a much better ride. My rides on the Scream Machine are easily in the double-digits, but I just think the Green Lantern is a better ride. Does anyone think that having a new owner will have anything to do with the future of this ride? I HIGHLY doubt it, but hopefully Weber and Anderson will realize that this ride is truly missed by the people and will combine the new technology with the old Chiller and re-open it. I also doubt it because after Anderson and Weber became the owners, they tried to sell it, but it could have been an advisory team or someone/something else telling them to do this. What do you all think? Could a new owner mean something different for the ride?

 

NO.

[SFGA=awesome]

Youtube link removed.

Edited March 5, 2012 by Up_Up_and_Away
WE DO NOT CONDONE TRESPASSING OF ANY KIND

[The Master]

NO.

 

 

I have to agree with Mike, Chiller is never going to come back to GADV. Would I like it to come back? Sure I would but it's not going to happen ever and I don't kid myself that it could. Hate to say it but Chiller is dead. I am sure Chiller could be rebuilt and the bugs worked out, but it would probably be cheaper just to build a new, more well designed coaster than to try to save Chiller. It is clear SF is unwilling to spend anymore money on Chiller and since they have KK, there isn't a reason to install another launch coaster into GADV. The park has just about each coaster gimmick there is.

[Up_Up_and_Away]

Now please, NO MORE discussion of "Chiller should come back" or "Chiller will come back" or even "I wish Chiller would get rebuilt so I can ride it". We don't know where Chiller is going or who owns it right now, but we know with a great deal of certainty that it will never come back to Great Adventure.

 

Does anyone think that having a new owner will have anything to do with the future of this ride? I HIGHLY doubt it, but hopefully Weber and Anderson will realize that this ride is truly missed by the people and will combine the new technology with the old Chiller and re-open it. I also doubt it because after Anderson and Weber became the owners, they tried to sell it, but it could have been an advisory team or someone/something else telling them to do this. What do you all think? Could a new owner mean something different for the ride?

ENOUGH. Let it go.

Going forward, discussion will be limited to:

1. The ride during its existence
2. The spotlight
3. The poll

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

[ThemeParkRider]

I never got the chance to ride this one. I remember looking at it and saying "No way, theres just no way." I also remember when they started to remove it, although I may be confusing that with the replacement of the barrel roles.

[batmanrobinchiller]

I never got the chance to ride this one. I remember looking at it and saying "No way, theres just no way." I also remember when they started to remove it, although I may be confusing that with the replacement of the barrel roles.

 

Oh what a rush The Chiller was! You missed out buddy:(

[The Master]

Chiller was great, sitting in the front row you saw the launch track go though a dark tunnel and they curve up into the bright sunlight. You could see the brakes open right before the launch and then voom! Both sides were fun but the Batman side was the best of the two, and the side that hardly ever ran. On a crowded day, the narrow station was a PITA since all the row lanes backed up to the wall solid. The station was well themed, had heat and A/C, but was poorly designed.

[truepolak90]

I'll never forget the one time I rode the batman side back in 2002 almost ten years ago, best side out of the two. Going through that top hat in the front row was just beyond awesome!

[29yrswithaGApass]

Sitting in the front row use to freak me out a little when the cars approached the ends of the spikes. I couldn't help but think "I hope those LIMs are working properly today!".

[ThemeParkRider]

Did the Chiller also have a computer that would calculate the weight of the passengers?

[MarioSonic94]

For you fans of B&R:The Chiller.

[batmanrobinchiller]

^I watched the whole movie the other night!

[Andrew M]

i hate to beat the dead horse but...

 

Screamscape : (4/16/12) Screamscape sources tell us that work has started to pack up the pieces of The Chiller from the nearby storage site, where it will be shipped off to a new home and a new life. (The ride’s online for sale add was updated to say that it had been sold back in mid-February.) No word yet still on where it is going however, but with the pieces on the move, I’m sure they’ll be spotted somewhere.

 

let the arguing and personal opinions commence

[batmanrobinchiller]

i hate to beat the dead horse but...

 

Screamscape : (4/16/12) Screamscape sources tell us that work has started to pack up the pieces of The Chiller from the nearby storage site, where it will be shipped off to a new home and a new life. (The ride's online for sale add was updated to say that it had been sold back in mid-February.) No word yet still on where it is going however, but with the pieces on the move, I'm sure they'll be spotted somewhere.

 

let the arguing and personal opinions commence

 

^The Chiller will find a great home! Wherever you go, I will find you and ride you once again!

[gafreak]

ill try to find out where its going , i have some friends in freight brokerage...