The Jester (roller coaster)

{{Short description|Former roller coaster}} {{Infobox roller coaster | name = The Jester | image = SFNO-Jester.jpg | caption = | previousnames = The Joker's Revenge at [[Six Flags Fiesta Texas]] (1996-2002) |location=Six Flags New Orleans |section=Mardi Gras  |subsection=  | coordinates={{Coord|30.054485|-89.936552|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |status=Removed |opened={{Start date|2003|04|13}} |closed={{End date|2005|08|21}} |cost= |extend={{Infobox roller coaster extend |name=The Joker's Revenge |location=Six Flags Fiesta Texas |section= Fiesta Bay Boardwalk  |subsection= |status=Removed |opened={{Start date|1996|05|10}} |closed={{End date|2001}} |cost=$4,300,000 USD |replacement=[[Pandemonium (roller coaster)|Pandemonium]] |rcdb_number=206 |coordinates={{coord|29.5995|-98.6094|display=inline}}  }} | type = Steel | manufacturer = Vekoma | model = [[Hurricane]] | designer = | track = | lift = [[Chain lift hill]] | capacity = 1200 | length_ft = 1936 | height_ft = 79 | drop_ft = 69 | inversions = 3 | speed_mph = 40 | duration = 1:24 | angle = 40 | restriction_in = 48 | acceleration = | gforce = 3.5 | trains = 2 | carspertrain = 7 | rowspercar = 2 | ridersperrow = 2 |location_rcdb_number = 2217 }}

'''The Jester''' was a [[steel roller coaster]] located at the now demolished [[Six Flags New Orleans]] amusement park in [[New Orleans]]. Built and designed by [[Vekoma]], the ride originally opened at [[Six Flags Fiesta Texas]] in 1996 as '''The Joker's Revenge'''. After its closure in 2001, the coaster was sent to Six Flags New Orleans where it became The Jester. The ride opened to the public at Six Flags New Orleans on April 13, 2003. Following the devastation to the amusement park in August 2005 by [[Hurricane Katrina]], the roller coaster ceased operation following the park's closure but remained standing until its demolition in 2024.

==History== ===Six Flags Fiesta Texas (1996–2002)=== {{See also|Six Flags Fiesta Texas}} When Fiesta Texas in [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]] was bought out from [[Time Warner]] in 1996 (the owner of [[Six Flags]] at the time), they helped rebrand the park into [[Six Flags Fiesta Texas]]. Time Warner saw the opportunity to advertise and promote their latest movies through their Six Flags parks, so they added ''The Joker's Revenge'', the first ''Vekoma'' ''Hurricane'' roller coaster in the [[United States]] and the first Vekoma roller coaster to run backwards a full circuit. It would be placed towards the back of the park in the ''Fiesta Bay Boardwalk'' section next to the [[quarry|quarry wall]].<ref name="Joker">{{Cite RCDB|name=Joker's Revenge|location=Six Flags Fiesta Texas|rcdb_number=206}}</ref>

Construction of Joker's Revenge began in late 1995 and was completed in April 1996.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}} On May 10, 1996, the ride officially made its debut.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Straach |first1=Kathryn |title=Amusement parks beckon thrill seekers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111788976/amusement-parks-beckon-thrill-seekers/ |accessdate=March 27, 2023 |work=El Paso Times |date=May 5, 1996 |pages=57}}</ref> It was the park's first roller coaster to be themed to a [[DC Comics]] character and feature inversions. During the opening week, park employees were dressed in yellow jackets and green colored hair.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 14, 1996|title='Joker's Revenge' has its ups and downs|work=Fond Du Lac Commonwealth Reporter|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54381214/jokers-revenge-has-its-ups-and-downs/|access-date=July 5, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> One defining feature of the ride was its funhouse queue line, which featured flashing lights and upside down furniture. It had magenta track, magenta supports and light yellow trains manufactured by [[Arrow Dynamics]].

While it was one of the best rides at Fiesta Texas when it opened in 1996, Joker's Revenge would not fare well by the early 2000s as guests would complain about how rough the ride experience had become.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}} Plus, the ride was facing mechanical issues.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}} The coaster was closed down in 2001 and did not operate at all during the 2002 season. Then in late 2002, it was dismantled and moved to [[Six Flags New Orleans]]. The funhouse queue line was reused for the park's Brutal Planet Haunted House during [[Six Flags Fright Fest|Fright Fest]] that year.<ref name="Joker" /> In 2007, [[Pandemonium (roller coaster)|Pandemonium]] opened in the former spot of Joker's Revenge. The attraction would reuse its predecessor's queue bridge and funhouse. The latter was used as an extended indoor queue area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sfftsource.com/rides/pandemonium|title=Pandemonium Six Flags Fiesta Texas - SFFT Source}}</ref>

Another Joker-themed attraction opened in 2019 called The Joker: Carnival of Chaos. It is a [[Zamperla]] Giant Discovery [[frisbee (ride)|frisbee ride]] that features a funhouse queue just like the original attraction.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kens5.com/article/news/joker-carnival-of-chaos-debuts-at-six-flags-fiesta-texas/273-21a463d1-4947-46f8-8452-50fcacda1166|title=The Joker: Carnival of Chaos debuts at Six Flags Fiesta Texas|date=9 August 2019 }}</ref>

===Six Flags New Orleans (2003–2005)=== [[File:The Jester - Six Flags New Orleans.jpg|thumb|left|One of The Jester's trains going through a corkscrew]] [[Six Flags]] took over the lease of Jazzland in 2002, operating it as "Jazzland" for the 2002 season, before changing the park's name in 2003 to [[Six Flags New Orleans]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Six Flags to Fly Over The Crescent City in 2003|url=http://www.rcdb.com/4747.htm?dt=126&d=79|work=Press Release|publisher=RCDB|accessdate=13 November 2010|author=Six Flags New Orleans|date=14 November 2002|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919161131/http://www.rcdb.com/4747.htm?dt=126&d=79|archive-date=19 September 2012}}</ref> for the 2003 season. Before the 2003 season, the park opened a whole new selection of rides including moving ''The Joker's Revenge'' roller coaster from Fiesta Texas in San Antonio to the park in New Orleans and renamed it ''The Jester'' in the Mardi Gras section of the park.<ref name="Jester">{{Cite RCDB|name=Jester|location=Six Flags New Orleans|rcdb_number=2217}}</ref> The coaster, which still ran backwards, was given a new color scheme of Green and Blue.

When [[Hurricane Katrina]] hit the park on August 29, 2005, the park was severely flooded, causing Six Flags New Orleans to permanently shut down. It is now owned by the city of New Orleans.<ref>{{cite news | title=Six Flags Wants Out | date=July 1, 2006 | url =http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1151735344140970.xml&coll=1 | work =Times Picayune | accessdate = 2007-08-09 }}</ref>

[[File:Six Flags New Orleans - Jester.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Ruins of The Jester in 2009.]] In 2007 ''Six Flags'' began the process of moving rides from the park to their other properties. While ''[[Goliath (Six Flags Fiesta Texas)|Batman: The Ride]]'', ''[[Sasquatch (ride)|Bayou Blaster]]'', ''[[Sasquatch (ride)|Sonic Slam]]'' and ''[[Road Runner Express (Six Flags Magic Mountain)|Road Runner Express]]'' had all been removed by 2009 and sent to other Six Flags parks, ''The Jester'' stood abandoned at the New Orleans park until its demolition in 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nola.com/news/politics/demolition-new-orleans-six-flags/article_1a1f846e-9ac5-11ef-b4a7-8bcf68c37a4c.html|title=Demolition begins at abandoned New Orleans Six Flags site. Here's the timeline.|last=Finn|first=James|website=nola.com|date=November 4, 2024|access-date=January 2, 2025|publisher=[[The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate]]}}</ref>

==Ride experience== Once riders would board one of the Jester's two trains, a train would then take riders up a {{Convert|79|ft|adj=on}} tall [[lift hill]]. After the train went up the lift hill, it would then loop around and drop at speeds up to {{Convert|40|mph|km/h}} through a {{convert|58|ft|m|adj=on}} [[vertical loop]] and then the train would loop around over the station to the ride's {{convert|24|ft|m|adj=on}} double [[Corkscrew (roller coaster element)|corkscrew]]. Once the train passed the double corkscrews it would then take riders through a double helix's before entering the [[brake run]] that took rides back to the station.<ref name="Jester"/> There are two Vekoma Hurricane's in the world and ''The Jester'' was the only one to take riders backwards throughout the whole course of the coaster. The other Vekoma Hurricane is located at [[Walygator Parc]] as [[Comet (Walygator Parc)|The Comet]] which only travels riders forwards and not backwards.<ref name="Waly Coaster">{{Cite RCDB|name=Waly Coaster|location=Walygator Parc|rcdb_number=940}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jester, The (roller coaster)}} [[Category:Roller coasters operated by Six Flags]] [[Category:Six Flags New Orleans]] [[Category:Roller coasters in Louisiana]] [[Category:Batman in amusement parks]]