C'MON 'N' RIDE IT - IF IT WORKS : JURASSIC'S JUMPIN' ON UNIVERSAL TOUR, BUT THRILL-SEEKERS AT MAGIC MOUNTAIN FIND SUPERMAN ATTRACTION GROUNDED.

Byline: Reed Johnson Daily News Staff Writer

It was supposed to be 30 seconds of pure adolescent bliss - faster than a speeding bullet (well, nearly). More powerful than a locomotive.

And - until further notice - deader than a doornail.

Alas, mixed metaphors are the least of the woes besetting Superman - The Escape, a $15 million would-be Wonder of the World that's trying to avoid becoming America's tallest white elephant.

When summer began, the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia was touting its new tubular-steel blockbuster as the last word in state-of-the-art, stomach-churning entertainment.

``There's Nothing Else Like It on the Planet

'' screamed the caption on Superman's official World Wide Web site. Be the first on your block to soar 415 feet into the ozone! Free-fall at 100 mph in a ``terrifying backward descent'' - preferably without hurling anything sticky onto the slack-jawed pedestrians below.

Clever marketing tie-ins raised expectations. You couldn't pick up a Coke can this summer without being reminded of the studly Kryptonian.

But as summer wanes, the 41-story Superman tower stands silent and riderless, less of an exclamation point than a giant question mark on the vast desert skyline. Three months after the ride's scheduled Memorial Day launch, Six Flags engineers have yet to bring Superman and its vaunted electromagnetic propulsion system up to the 100 mph needed to gain the tower's summit.

After insisting for months that the ride was being ``fine-tuned,'' Six Flags officials now concede that Superman probably won't go on line until late this year - if then.

Though the setback comes at an especially awkward time - this is Six Flags' 25th anniversary - the official corporate line betrays no embarrassment.

``We're disappointed it hasn't opened yet,'' says spokeswoman Bonnie Rabjohn, ``but I can tell you when it does open it's going to be one of the best rides anybody's ever been on.''

In the meantime, Six Flags' crosstown neighbor, Universal Studios-Hollywood, has been busy capitalizing on its new extravaganza, the $110 million Jurassic Park ride. Since its June 21 opening, the Spielbergian spectacle has exceeded even its promoters' breathless forecasts, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors and positioning Universal to top its single-season attendance record of 5.1 million, set in 1989 when its Earthquake ride premiered.

Even 90-minute lines on the weekend haven't turned back the mobs.

``There's no question it's going to be a record summer, also a record year for Universal Studios, much of it attributable to Jurassic Park,'' boasts theme park president Robert Gault.

Yet Jurassic Park has hit a few potholes, too. On June 29, the prehistoric pleasure dome had to be shut down for 90 minutes after a malfunction caused several riders to be doused with hydraulic fluid.

On Aug. 9, two Jurassic Park boats collided when a backup occurred near the bottom of the ride's climactic 84-feet drop. Seven people were taken to area hospitals as a precaution.

The consensus among a number of theme park operators, designers, analysts and hobbyists is that the contrasting fortunes of Superman and Jurassic Park illustrate the creative perils and fiscal imperatives shaping the modern theme-park industry.

Driven by ever-more-savvy technology and facing stiff competition for short attention spans, many theme parks now feel obliged to open a gee-whiz attraction every couple of years or so.

Particularly in Southern California, where local customers typically account for between one-third and 75 percent of revenues, theme parks are pressured to innovate constantly or risk losing market penetration.

``The market demands it, and the theme parks have stepped up to the plate,'' says Dennis Speigel, president of Cincinnati-based International Theme Park Services, which designs, runs and builds theme parks from Rio de Janeiro to Manila.

Increasingly, the incentive to have the biggest, fastest, scariest, steepest, grossest, costliest ride is turning the old-fashioned amusement park into a kind of walk-in Guinness Book of Records contest. That pressure was reflected in Superman's bid to beat its rivals to the mythical 100 mph barrier, the theme-park equivalent of the four-minute mile.

``From a marketing standpoint, if you've got a record-breaker, it's very easy to promote,'' says Brian Fauth, spokesman for the American Coaster Enthusiasts, a 5,000-member hobbyists group.

But with cutting-edge design comes cutting-edge risk. As theme parks keep raising the technology crossbar, more stumbles are inevitable.

``This is brand-new technology,'' says Fauth, referring to Superman - The Escape. ``It's not the least bit surprising to me that there would be start-up problems.''

Six Flags' miscue comes as other Southland theme parks are reporting record crowds. Not only Universal but also Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm expect to set new attendance marks this year.

Though Six Flags naturally downplays the Superman snafu, some park patrons do not. As two men from the Bakersfield Christian Life Center strolled past the ride's sealed-off entrance a couple of weeks ago, they voiced frustration that the Man of Steel had developed feet of clay.

``We kind of planned our trip thinking they'd worked the bugs out of it,'' says Chuck Adkins, a youth pastor who frequently shepherds busloads of high school and college students to Six Flags and Universal.

``We use this as an outreach event, `God's not boring,' that kind of thing,'' Adkins continues. ``Our high school group's coming here on Friday, and they're going to be upset this (Superman) isn't running.''

Six Flags has suffered a decade's worth of bad luck over the past few months.

On March 28, 11 Latino customers filed a $5 million lawsuit against Six Flags, claiming they'd been harassed by Magic Mountain security staff (the company denies the allegations).

Then on May 30, ride attendant Cherie La Motte was killed after she reportedly slipped and fell in front of the 6-ton Revolution roller coaster. Seven weeks later, a prop being used in a Batman stunt show caught fire, forcing the evacuation of 300 people from a park theater.

In the long term, analysts said, the park will shrug off these setbacks. Its parent company, Time-Warner Entertainment, has very deep pockets. The 12 Six Flags theme parks strung across the United States draw a combined 26 million visitors a year.

Whether Superman opens next month or next year, pent-up demand will make it a must-ride for true connoisseurs of negative G-forces.

``People will forget, once it's up and running,'' says International Theme Park Services' Speigel.

Meanwhile, the masses have found other ways to amuse themselves.

On one recent, scorching afternoon, Seattle businesswoman Kathy Stevens was taking time away from a work-related junket to cruise Six Flags and Universal Studios with her teen-age son and his friend.

Though the boys were crestfallen to find Superman out of order, they consoled themselves by riding Jurassic Park five times in a single day.

``One of their friends said it (Jurassic Park) sucked,'' Stevens said, ``so they're going back to level him.''

Randy Smith and his fiancee Desireree Franks had driven down from Bakersfield to cool off at Hurricane Harbor, the water-themed companion park to Magic Mountain that Six Flags opened last year. They brought along their two preteen children from previous relationships, Cayli and Joshua, plus Smith's 9-year-old nephew Dustin Bracken.

``It's been pretty hellaciously hot in Bakersfield, like 104, 105,'' Smith notes as the family digs into a lunch of Fritos, salsa and peanut butter crackers.

Cayli is disappointed not to ride Superman, because ``it's really fast and it goes backwards.''

When it comes to theme parks, some kids never grow up.

Take Fauth of the American Coaster Enthusiasts. The 37-year-old Chicagoan, who edits financial textbooks when he's not hurtling through space, is eager to add Superman to the other 250 coasters he has conquered. Fauth says his count would be even higher if he stooped to the level of some ACE members.

``There are people who are so desperate to inflate their coaster count that they actually debate whether a flume ride counts as a roller coaster. This I do not think is healthy.''

Of course, if you want to get technical, Fauth says, Superman really isn't a roller coaster either. It's closer to ``free fall'' rides, those dizzying contraptions that are like bungee-jumping in a Honda Civic.

Whatever. When Superman opens, Fauth says he'll be among the first in line.

``Whether it's a roller coaster or not, you can bet I want to ride it.''

CAPTION(S):

6 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) Summer's big splash

Jurassic Pa rk is making Universal Studios scream with delight, but Magic Mountain's Superman just can't get off the ground.

(2--3) The Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios, left, is packing them in, while Superman - The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain, right, remains closed due to technical problems.

(4) Even without the 41-story Superman ride, Magic Mountain visitors can still find plenty of thrills on roller coasters such as the Viper.

(5) Universal Studios expects to top its single-season attendance record of 5.1 million, set in 1989.

(6) Universal Studio's $110 million Jurassic Park ride is based on Stephen Spielberg's blockbuster movie.

Phil McCarten/Daily News