Say goodbye to the Southwest Amphitheatre at Six Flags Great America Park in nearby Gurnee, Illinois. The building opened in 1993 as the venue for a Batman-themed stunt show. The building has been reduced to rubble in recent days to clear space for an even cooler ride coming in 2016. Are you ready for this?

 

Space has been cleared and construction is starting on a new modern-day twist on a new ride with DC Comics roots. It's an indoor, 4D "dark coaster" ride dubbed "Justice League: Battle for Metropolis."

According to The Chicago Tribune, Great America officials ended weeks of social-media speculation about a major addition for next season with a predawn Thursday announcement about the ride, touting it as providing "the next generation of interactive thrills."

Tim Boyle, Getty Images
Tim Boyle, Getty Images
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"Guests will become members of the Justice League Reserve Team and engage in a full-sensory journey as they battle alongside Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern against Lex Luthor, The Joker and his henchmen," according to the theme park's statement detailing the ride's specifications.

Park officials said the ride will have guests traveling through an enclosed 22,000-square-foot space in six-passenger vehicles while participating in "state-of-the-art gaming elements," including shooting beams of light at three-dimensional targets on high-definition screens.

Getty Images
Getty Images
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The "4D" aspect of the ride will involve "wind, fire, mist and fog effects (and) life-like animatronic characters" dispersed throughout 10 different scenes. Special effects are to include virtual loops that gives "riders the feeling of going head over heels" while riding on a flat track.

Great America's parent company debuted two interactive dark rides under the same name and with similar elements earlier this year at Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St. Louis.

All the fun will be in the dark similar to rides in Universal and Disney. It's going to be a long Winter waiting for new Spring.

 

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