CrazedZooChimp

You should really come up for Gold Striker even without this announcement But, this is great stuff. Of course, who knows how long it will take to get the rezoning approved, but hopefully not too far future new coasters will be coming!

I got to go ride it for media day (I have a full review up on Coaster101 if you want to read it, apologies if I shouldn't link to other sites), but to echo some of the sentiments: I was skeptical of the VR until I rode it, it was amazing. The video was perfectly synced, so didn't cause any nausea or anything, and the fact that you have no sense of what's coming next is really amazing. The graphics are dated looking, and it's a little weird not having sound effects, but they were pretty minor nits. As best I understood the headsets are 100% optional, and imagine they always will be. Actually, they can only be worn by people 13+ (I think that's a Samsung or Oculus rule), so some people will have to ride without them. The trims seem the same as I remember, but you don't really notice them with the headset on because there's other action happening around you and because the slow downs are included as part of the action (ie. it makes sense that your craft would slow down when crashing through a building). I rode it without the VR as well, and it does run really nicely, but I'd always choose the VR if I wasn't riding six times . The new trains are really nice (both to look at and ride in). At media day you could wear the VR in the front seat, but they had the nose of the train off to set up cameras for the "selfie" videos, and those had the QR sticker. I'm not positive they'll be there on the real deal, but I assume they would be (anyone who was there Saturday or Sunday should know). The areas around the coaster look really good too, nicely repainted and renamed. The carousel was in the process of being painted (looks like finished) up, and appears to now the be the "Grand American" based on the new sign, fitting the the Revolution theming. All in all this is a really nice addition. I'm now totally sold that the VR would work for any "less intense" or older coasters to rejuvenate them and give an option for a new experience. Of course, how well the operations work with normal public might be an issue, but without worrying about crowds or broken headsets, it was great!

That is great news, both since I'll probably be too old to ride many roller coasters then, and because it implies Cedar Fair might keep investing in it...

Oh, man, that's so awesome that you got to meet Fred!

Welp, I just found out Mass Effect won't be open on opening day. The CGA PR folks told me an opening date should be announced very soon, but I think I'll hold off on my first trip to the park until it's open. Hopefully it's only a few weeks away (maybe someone who does go opening day will be able to tell how close they are, heh).

I assume it would be exorbitantly expensive with Bay Area property prices, but I wonder if Cedar Fair would even consider buying up any additional land around the park...

Screamscape is hinting that it's going to be Pacific Rim themed... http://www.screamscape.com/html/six_flags_discovery_kingdom.htm

I think it depends heavily on where/when they want to set it. You should play the other two so I don't spoil anything . The new game coming out next December I believe is supposed to be a different character in a different location, but in parallel time-wise to Shepard's story, and I could see them wanting to tie in at least somewhat to that.

Yep, that's basically why I asked. It's not like it would be amazing, but it would be a much better paced ride if it didn't come to a complete stop. Nice to know it at least only sometimes does that. It was certainly having trouble in the rain when I was there a couple weeks ago. They were running three trains with no issues all day. It started raining in the evening, they swapped to two trains (I had assumed unrelated, maybe not?), and it broke down multiple times. One of the breakdowns I happened to be on it, and I can safely say sitting in the train outside the station waiting for maintenance while getting rained on is not particularly fun. They really ought to extend the cover

But does that require coming to a complete stop and just sitting there? I get the need for the brakes, but a complete stop (and wait) seems excessive.

I visited the park for the first time in a couple years last week, and had a question that I thought someone on here might be able to answer. Is there a reason that Goliath comes to a complete stop on it's mid-course brake section? I assumed it has something to do related to holding for the train to leave the station or something, but it didn't look like that was the case. Does anyone know? Thanks! Oh, also TC is amazing, I now cannot wait for Joker at Discovery Kingdom (my local park).

Is that a DLC joke? If so, I approve. Maybe they'll also make us download an installer/launcher thing to ride, even though no other rides will require it...

Yeah, typically MFs are 12 cars (24 riders), while the PTCs on GhostRider were 7 cars (28 riders). I would guess in the MFs could be a little lighter, but maybe not since they have things like the individual lap bars that I assume require more mechanisms inside and extra wheel sets since it's two riders per car. Those could add up to counter-balance the loss of four seats. They do tend to dispatch more quickly than PTCs thanks to those individual restraints, so hopefully there won't be any (or not much) loss in capacity, at least.

That's funny, I didn't have a bad back until after I rode Son of Beast. One time only ride, I guess? That's definitely the worst I've ever been on. Although my local SLC, Kong at Discovery Kingdom, is pretty awful too.

Love the concept art of the trains in the video. I'm curious how much profile re-work is actually going to be done. According to the GCI website they did profile work along with the track work back in 2004, so is this re-profiling going to be on different sections than they did back then, or did their fixes not work the way they expected that time?

I was there during the morning on the 17th, and the park was pretty empty (finally after who knows how many rides, I finally got a front seat ride on Gold Striker!!), only Gold Striker really had any wait, and even it was maybe 15-20 minutes. GS was down briefly during the morning, but came back up and seemed to be up for the rest of the day I was there (until mid afternoon). My question for you guys, has the park been crowded at night for Haunt? I never really care about the Haunt stuff so usually go during the day in the fall, but I was surprised by how empty it was. I'm figuring/hoping it means the park is getting busy at night instead, right? As for the Mass Effect ride, interesting that Carowinds also recently announced a ride based on an EA property, Plants Vs Zombies. There are a decent number of details about it out there (http://www.coaster101.com/2015/10/08/carowinds-announces-plants-vs-zombies-garden-warfare-3z-arena-for-2016/), much moreso than the Mass Effect Ride. But, seeing as it's a ride based on an EA game, and happening in an updated Carowinds Action Theater, I'm thinking there's a good chance that this could be similar. It might lack the interactive part, just because I figure CGA would have pushed that part if was happening, but it certainly would fit in a Mass Effect ride to be blasting bad guys.

There was also no mention of it in the press release from Six Flags, or on the Six Flags section on the ride (https://www.sixflags.com/discoverykingdom/attractions/new-2016/facts). I feel like if there was some effects filled tunnel they'd include it on the list of facts, right? But yeah, if there is one I think the section at the beginning of the lift is the area that makes the most sense.

Pretty sure all of RMC feels the same way. I've always wondered what a B&M with the exact same SLC layout would be since the layout itself seems good if the comfort wasn't an issue. As for Mighty Iron Roar or whatever they name it, I'm excited the park is finally getting a top notch coaster. Superman and Medusa are two great coasters and this should round out their collection quite nicely. It's a bummer to see Roar go (I really enjoyed it), but this is better. Yeah, it's hard to complain about getting an RMC, I just wish we were adding more coasters instead of replacing. Or, you know, taking out Kong since I refuse to ride it anymore

I made it over to the park for some last rides today as well. I got in four rides on it this afternoon. The ops were doing a good job, moving quickly and being enthusiastic on the ride (actually all the rides were operating well today, except V2 which was oddly slow). The park wasn't super crowded, I'm guessing because of the heat, but I saw multiple camera crews from local news stations and the line for Roar started getting some length towards the end of the day, which was nice to see. They were giving away shirts and old pieces of track, and selling them with all proceeds going to marine mammal charity. The ride itself felt really good to me today. I sat in the front, back, and twice in the middle, on both left and right sides, and none of the rides felt particularly rough. It's sad to see it go, it really is (was) a solid GCI coaster. Luckily it's death is only partial and temporary, but man I wish RMC could have done something with Kong instead...

Hi TPR, quick question, I am a new Gold pass holder at Discovery Kingdom, and remember reading that gold pass holders get early entry and ERT, but I can't find on the site what time the ERT starts. Does anyone know? I may actually be able to get to the park early enough to take advantage tomorrow. Thanks!

I remember when Superman first opened it was clear they were focusing on having the best operators running it to keep the capacity up, it's really impressive that they've kept that up over the years it's been open.

Yeah the paper avoided mentioning the park, saying "Cedar Fair park near San Francisco" or something, which didn't explicitly say it but made it obvious. Same thing with the RMC job posting that gave away the Roar makeover. It just said "Project is in CA" and by process of elimination we know it really can't be anything other than Roar, especially as loose lipped employees at SFDK have been warning guests that Roar will be closing later this year. To be fair, the RMC one was less of a leak, they sort of have to say where the job is, right? I suppose my tiny sliver of hope the Grizzly would get RMC'd is gone thanks to the employees at SFDK saying Roar is closing, though.

Interesting, were they park employees or did they look like they were from somewhere else (the surveyors)?

Well there will only be one for 2016, Roar, despite all of the KBF GR rumors. GR can't happen until at least 2017... Is that when the SF exclusive ends? GhostRider is probably the wooden coaster that most needs an RMC. Apocalypse is fine, so I don't know why that would be RMC'd (unless MM were to get a new coaster from scratch).

I actually wonder if it wouldn't still be better than an RMC'd Roar. The airtime on Gold Striker is amazing. I'd much rather they fixed/replaced Kong than upgrade Roar