The Jester (roller coaster)

Joker's Revenge when it was at Six Flags Fiesta Texas

The ride was originally planned to open with the park in 1992. The ride was then canceled until 1993 when the ride was announced to open in 1996 to be called "The Wacky Twister". 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 – in the Fiesta Bay Boardwalk section next to and along the park's quarry wall.[1]

Construction of Joker's Revenge began in late 1995 and was completed in April 1996. On May 10, 1996, the ride officially made its debut. It was the park's first roller coaster to be themed to a DC Comics character. During the opening week, park employees were dressed in yellow jackets and green hair to resemble the Joker.[2] 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. Plus, the ride was facing mechanical issues. The coaster was closed down after the 2001 season and did not operate at all during the 2002 season. Then in late 2002, it was dismantled and moved to Six Flags New Orleans.

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, changing the park's name in 2003 to Six Flags New Orleans[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

Ruins of The Jester in 2009.

In 2007 Six Flags began the process of moving rides from the park to their other properties. While Batman: The Ride, Bayou Blaster, Sonic Slam and Road Runner Express had all been moved by 2009, The Jester still stands abandoned at the New Orleans park, along with Mega Zeph and other coasters and attractions. Some of the Jester's green and blue paint is peeling away, revealing the old Joker's purple paint scheme.