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Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (SFDK) Discussion Thread


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^ Speaking of height for SFDK. I was wondering recently if the whole fairgrounds deal still stands?

 

From what I remember years ago Vallejo offered to up the hight limit on the park if Six Flags would buy the fairgrounds across the street, though I could be misremembering this.

 

So, if this is correct, then this whole height limit thing is just a way for Vallejo to have control. I thought this height limit was for a supposed nearby airport.

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As for current plans, I don't really keep in touch with anyone at the park anymore so I honestly have no clue on whats planned now-a-days. If something is planned up there, I don't know anything about it.

That log flume sounded totally rad. Too bad it didn’t happen.

 

Last year at BAB during the Q&A session they hinted about some plans for the area. It was very vague and it sounded like it might be a while before we see anything happen. I was just glad to hear there was some talk. I’m still hoping that area might be used for an awesome custom coaster.

 

I know it's the past now and a thing of 'not going to happen' but that log flume would have been very interesting. Would have been a very unique attraction, could see it being featured as one of those 'must ride' attractions on the Travel Channel along with TTD, Kingda Ka, and so on.

You never know. The animals aren’t going anywhere any time soon and SFDK could totally capitalize on combining rides and animal exhibits as Seaworld has. Actually, I’d be surprised if they didn’t.

 

That height variance was there before the park. It's unlikely anything official could be made that high.

Unlikely, but not impossible! I was really happy to hear during Q&A that the height restriction could be negotiated. However, it sounded like a complicated and expensive process and SFDK would need a good reason for wanting to go through it.

 

Agreed. Currently, I head straight to Medusa when the gates open. Once S:UF opens, I will run for that for likely my only ride on it for the day (I really hate waiting in excessive lines).

I’ve found that Medusa gets really short lines toward the last hour or two of operation, regardless of how busy it was during the day. Maybe this coaster will fare similarly?

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^ Medusa has such good capacity that, even if not operated optimally, the people that wanted to ride it could easily get several rides in during a day at the park. S:UF on the other hand, figures to have such bad capacity that all those who would ride it would not likely be able to do so without a very lengthy wait. I doubt you'll see a short line for it on anything but the least crowded weekdays of the late 7 day a week operating season and during Holiday in the park.

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An interesting observation I'm seeing here...

 

The first time I ever drove by Discovery Kingdom was in 2003 when Zonga was still dominating the front Skyline of the park. The ride was very much visible from the freeway and looked quite attractive.

 

In a way I'm actually quite happy that this location, even though we had to sacrifice Pandemonium.

 

This location will cause the ride to be extraordinarily striking and visible to all those passing on the freeway. Since the park is relatively large you have a good chunk of time for people riding in vehicles to the look over and say "What the hell is that? That looks awesome! We totally need to go back to discovery Kingdom since they have and awesome new ride!" The coaster is literally a giant advertisement saying: Hey look! we added this amazing new attraction! Come and ride it!"

 

I cannot wait to see this once it is completely built. Being as tall as Medusa, and much more vibrant, it'll be the first thing you see as you get near the park, and one of the first coasters you see as you walk towards the park entrance.

 

The location is just brilliant, and I think they chose it quite well.

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My thoughts on Superman, is yes it will get long lines at first, but what if it gets the V2 effect. People are intimidated by V2 which leads to more people choosing just to watch, not ride. V2 never really has a long ride, and that's definitely not an effect of high capacity, because it doesn't have it. With Superman, maybe down the road we'll see manageable crows based on people being afraid to ride.

 

Switching gears to construction, I drove by Saturday and the ride hasn't risen at all over the last 2 weeks... I'm not sure if I should be concerned or if maybe they are focusing all attention on the station/launch while it's easier to access. The electrical for the launch as well as the station seem like they would be more time consuming so maybe that's getting priority, but I still would hope to have seen some more steel put in place. I seem to recall V2 having the same thing happened, The launch and station were put up and worked on for a while prior to the towers ever going up.

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My thoughts on Superman, is yes it will get long lines at first, but what if it gets the V2 effect. People are intimidated by V2 which leads to more people choosing just to watch, not ride. V2 never really has a long ride, and that's definitely not an effect of high capacity, because it doesn't have it. With Superman, maybe down the road we'll see manageable crows based on people being afraid to ride.

I completely agree. I can't see people unwilling to ride V2 being willing to ride S:UF. The whole V2 effect thing makes me LOL. Without fail, every time I go to SFDK I see at least one person look up at V2 and say, "No way are you getting me on that." It's also hilarious because tons of GP are still confused by it. I'll overhear people looking at it all confused like, "Is that a coaster? How does it not go flying off the end?" Can't wait to hear people's reactions to Superman!

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Still, I do not think Superman's lack of ridership will counter the capacity. Remember when Kong used to run one train all the time? Well, the capacity of that ride is about 1,000 per hour, and that is with two trains and dispatching right as the blocks clear. With one train and a slower crew, the capacity can be about 400 per hour, same as Superman. When Kong runs one train, the wait can reach an hour even when only the switchbacks in the station are full. Superman will probably be as bad as this. I really hope SFDK puts up an hour wait sign somewhere in the queue, as most of the GP will not want to wait longer than that. Even with 30 second dispatches, the capacity will still be only about 480 per hour. This line is going to be long.

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If if gets really bad, they might have to devote a row solely to fastpass, or maybe alternate dispatches with one train full of fastpasses and the next regular park goers.

 

As it is I'm surprised that Premiere couldn't do a ride system similar to what S&S did with Powder Keg's launch. That way they could have one train in loading and one on the ride, using a transfer track system to exchange the two.

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What will Fast Pass do to the Ride?

 

I honestly hope this doesn't have Flash Pass, as the capacity is already low enough. I've heard people say 400, but I'm guessing it will realistically be about half that (400 pph would be one train every 1:45, and while I don't know the ride time I'm sure the loading cycle will take at least 30 seconds). If the ride does have Flash Pass, I really hope they do something similar to Green Lantern: First Flight (Platinum only, $15 per person per reservation upcharge).

 

As it is I'm surprised that Premiere couldn't do a ride system similar to what S&S did with Powder Keg's launch. That way they could have one train in loading and one on the ride, using a transfer track system to exchange the two.

 

The only issue I can think of here is that the ride will travel at high speed over the transfer track, which other coasters don't do. The way Superman was shown operating in the animation, it will travel through the station at 60 MPH. Premier could probably make it work somehow, but Six Flags apparently didn't want to pay the cost to add a two-train transfer system.

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The only issue I can think of here is that the ride will travel at high speed over the transfer track, which other coasters don't do.

If I remember right, doesn't Mr. Freeze launch right off of its transfer? It has to be going at least 40 by the time the last car makes it off that bit of track.

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The only issue I can think of here is that the ride will travel at high speed over the transfer track, which other coasters don't do.

If I remember right, doesn't Mr. Freeze launch right off of its transfer? It has to be going at least 40 by the time the last car makes it off that bit of track.

 

Yeah that is not really an issue, Premier could easily design it to work. This real issue is the park or Six Flags or both not wanting that in the design.

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The only issue I can think of here is that the ride will travel at high speed over the transfer track, which other coasters don't do.

If I remember right, doesn't Mr. Freeze launch right off of its transfer? It has to be going at least 40 by the time the last car makes it off that bit of track.

 

Yeah that is not really an issue, Premier could easily design it to work. This real issue is the park or Six Flags or both not wanting that in the design.

Yeah, I was hoping they construction delays were for just such a thing. No such luck.

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Changing directions here, some news I just found out about, animal-wise. It looks like this is probably the end of Shouka at SFDK as the park/Six Flags looks like they'll be sending her off to Canada.

 

It's a run-of-the-mill Tuesday morning, and Michael Baroni, the general counsel of Palace Entertainment Holdings LLC, has a killer whale problem. Palace's parent ­company, Madrid-based Parques Reunidos, owns amusement parks and attractions throughout Europe, including a sea life park in France. That park loaned a killer whale to a Six Flags in California for breeding purposes. But suddenly Six Flags wants to give the animal away to an unrelated party in Canada. Now, the parks are in a contractual dispute over one very large marine mammal named Shouka.

Rest of the lengthy article here.

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^Oh HELLLLLLL NO. THEY BETTER NOT.

There has to be a mistake here. Why would SFDK want to get rid of Shouka? The whales have been a top attraction to the park since before it was even in Vallejo! Shouka stadium is always PACKED with people... not to mention all of the extras they sell because of her (whale paintings, whale stuffed animals, trainer-for-a-day upcharge stuff, etc.) I will be beyond PISSED and hurt and upset if they really did this! This seriously makes me want to cry. I've been to the park every year of my life since I was three and seen the whale show with ONE exception: the year Vigga died. I went the year after that and there was some stupid stupid stupid diving show and everyone hated it and missed the whales! Families LOVE SFDK and do you think it's because of the rides? Not at all! It's the whales and dolphins and all the other animals, and the rides are an added bonus! WHY would they want to get rid of Shouka?!?!? This park will always hold a special place in my heart, but if they get rid of her, I'm going to be very pissed for a long long time. IF they moved her, it had better be to build a brand new multi-plex whale stadium with plans to get 2 more whales!

 

Two things I don't understand about this article.... why does it say June 1, 2012?

That park loaned a killer whale to a Six Flags in California for breeding purposes.

What does this mean? Shouka wasn't for breeding purposes because there were no other whales at the time. She was a replacement for Vigga who died in '01. Later on I heard discussion of wanting to artificially inseminate Shouka so she could have a companion, but for many reasons that didn't happen.

 

I hope this article is a mistake or some sick joke. This really upsets me.

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Oh I see, there is a petition behind it, makes sense now.

 

Did that chick with the dreadlocks have a beard?

 

I agree she is incredibly annoying (to say the least) but if there is a law behind it they obviously have to deal with the situation somehow. And as much as I hate to agree with the annoying dreadlock woman, there is something to be said for the principal of not having an animal in captivity alone.

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