Ryan King

That wasn't a REAL Zombie movie..just a spin off Comedy. I'm talking about "Night of the Living Dead". Original flicks!

I'm a fan of the "Zombie" Flicks out there. 28 Days later was one of those really good, really creepy, Zombie Movies. I ewas excited to see that theyre making a sequel. Although it doesnt look too bad! Here are two "backgrounds" of the new film! The Official Movie Trailer can be seen here - http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_atomic/28weekslater/ Thoughts on the new film? -Ryan

Hey everyone! Well...I decided to do a Photo Trip Report "Jahan Style". What I mean by this is that I feel as though the BEST way to describe my park experience is to talk about it along with some pictures (Kind of Like Jahan's SFMM Updates, Get It?) Anyways, this was my first visit to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Ok, I lied; I was last there at the age of 4? Anywho, In this report Id like to express how much of an excellent experience I had at Discovery Kingdom. Just a Photo Trip report wouldn’t quite do it! So, follow along with me as we do Discovery Kingdom "Jahan Style". The Coasters Welcome To Six Flags Discovery Kingdom! As I stated above, this was my "real" first trip to SFDK. I was actually very excited to see this Six Flags park. Due to the recent re-theme, the park looked "Brand Spankin New". All the new Safari themeing looked fabulous! Since I read a lot o The PTR's that were going around here on the forums, it only made me more pumped up to experience what this "new" park had to offer! Right As You walk through the front gates you’re greeted by this new Safari themed sign! Below this sign you can meet some "interesting" creatures that SFDK has to offer, very cool! The Park opened at a reasonable 10:30, we didn’t get to the park till around 11 O’clock. Upon arriving we waited only about 20 minutes to get Kevork a Season Pass! Not too shabby! Upon entering the park Kevork and I decided it would be best to try and get our "Faulty" Vekoma credits first, and then hit the rest of the park towards the afternoon. Never know when these things could break down on you! KONG! Anyone ready to get their head bashed around early in the morning? Hey, maybe we can hope it will be as smooth as a baby’s bottom? Sadly, they were only having one train operations. (It turned out to be like this the rest of the day, which was a real bummer.) We only ended up waiting an estimated 20 minutes for this ride. Since Kevork had NEVER ridden an SLC before, I decided it would be best to ride in the back row! There are five Inversions somewhere in that mess of track! KONG Exploding out of bamboo foliage. In Conclusion, The crew was running at a somewhat slow pace. (But Hey, Its only one Train Operation!) Although, they made up for it by greeting and interacting with park quests while in line! The KONG crew was also checking children’s' height, which was definitely an A+ in my book. I RARELY ever see them do this at Magic Mountain! But In the End, KONG Actually gave us a VERY nice ride! Wow…can you believe it? Kevork was satisfied with his first EVER SLC! The only argument I would have with KONG is a decent repaint. It was in a DESPERATE need of some TLC, but other than that, it was a GREAT way to start the morning! Here is a full shot of KONG’s Track. Sadly, the Paint was peeling on KONG. It looked like a sun stained Orange and Yellow? Hopefully It will soon get a well deserved repaint! And With that, we trucked up a smaller version of SFMM's Hill to “Boomerang Coast to Coaster”. Good Morning Mr. Boomerang! I also found our fellow TPR Member “Rollerholden” working with the Boomerang crew! For some ODD Reason, Kevork was REALLY looking forward to his first Vekoma Boomerang! So again, why not treat him to a wheel seat? Yeah, I know, I’m a jerk of a friend! The crew was runny extremely fast and there was really no wait at all. I was so far really impressed; this day was beginning to turn into a really awesome park experience. Going into the Cobra, this was one of few good Boomerangs I’ve ever ridden. Although not as smooth as the Boomerang at Knotts! “EXTRA! EXTRA! ALIENS ATTACK BOOMERANG! Apparently there IS intelligent life out there.” - FLIPDUDE Goodbye Boomerang, well be back to ride you sometime later in the day! So back down the mini version of SFMM’s “Hill” to go over and ride that huge green and purple B&M. Basically our goal today was to get all of our credits in, keeping in mind that the park attendance MAY get a little higher later in the day. So come the afternoon we would go see the animals etc. So, on with the show! Medusa – That Green and Purple B&M. When riding a roller coaster, I don’t always just go for what the coaster has to offer. The themeing also plays a key role in my coaster riding experience. Medusa offered a VERY nice feel; it really played into the “Safari” theme like the rest of the park. I never felt like any coaster was “out of place”. Six Flags has done a fantastic job at incorporating the rides with themeing. This was all that was in the station…an empty Queue and a half full train! It was SO nice to be able to get off the ride and return for a re-ride. The Medusa crew was absolutely AMAZING! They worked together to get as many trains out as they possibly could. They were running two trains, even with an empty Queue. The ride op was actually TIMING the crews train dispatch. Their quickest time was something under a minute! I was in shock. I don’t understand WHY Magic Mountain can’t do this also. You can see plenty of empty seats! We rode about 3 times that morning. Twice in front and once in the way back. The Medusa crew was working together to try and fill as many seats as they possibly could. Kept the trains moving, and strived to give everyone the ride they came here to have. While up in the station, I gave the crew a have five and told them to keep up the good work. They said their goal is to have all three trains on and running by next week. Amazing! Here are some pictures I took of Medusa, since not everyone has seen this coaster before. One of the only disappointing things about this coaster is that it too is a “Parking Lot Coaster”. The Queue is extremely well themed and so is the station. But the Landscaping is just way too blah. There are trees surrounding the perimeter of the coaster. But nothing below it. Really gives a “blah” feeling when riding it. But no doubt, is it a good coaster. Medusa train going through one of its many forceful corkscrews. Medusa really reminded me a lot of The Hulk. MEDUSA! THROUGH THE PALMS! *sigh* What would a PTR be without a vertical loop for Derek. Here you go, now go crack open a cold one… Ohh..Look at the Curves! Medusa’s Loop > Buffalo! Last shot of Medusa’s Twisty mess of track. Hmm…Kinda like Medusa’s Hair? See, Discovery Kingdom has an odd set up. ALL the coasters are at the front of the park. And to hit the animals section, you have to walk to the back of the park. It’s a bummer…the back side of the park doesn’t see as much action as the front side does. Oh Well. SO, walking back towards the front of the park, we stopped to get my Cobra credit. (Kiddie Coaster) Welcome to Cobra. An old fashioned figure eight Zierer I really don’t have much to say about Cobra. But here’s My Rant about the Ride – Cobra only had ONE ride operator. Cobra’s train is REALLY long…which help with capacity. But to get the train out…the ride op had to walk ALL the way down and check EVERY single restraint. At the same time, she was also checking height for EVERY kid that got on the ride. Then walk all the way back to the operating panel. So dispatch took an estimated 8 minutes! It was extremely time consuming. It’s not like we don’t see this type of thing at other theme parks. *COUGH* SFMM *COUGH* But I mean, when you have a queue FULL of jittery, impatient, little kids, it just leads to a bad situation. Not to mention you have a handful of frustrated parents. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait in line all too long to get ON Cobra. But sitting for 8 minutes just to go around a track once was really crazy. So hopefully Six Flags can put two ride ops on Cobra to help speed up the process at least a little bit. – End Rant Although that was kind of disappointing, it didn’t damper my spirits. I was still pumped to get the rest of my credits and “discover” this Kingdom. The Most OUT OF PLACE Coaster ever known to man! Vertical Velocity was my first Twisted Impulse Coaster. IMO, this was a VERY “WTF” coaster. The themeing of the coaster had NOTHING to do with the rest of the park. Vertical Velocity was just really out of place to me. Not to mention it also has been repainted an odd Purple and red which also in no way matches the themeing. But, a credit is a credit and I decided to suck it up and just ride it. Kevork and I arrived to an EMPTY station. This made be begin to question the reputation of this coaster. Our death seats awaited us… I was NOT expecting the launch! I assumed it was just going to pull us back like a Boomerang… That’s more like what I was expecting! After Riding Vertical Velocity I still really felt the same. The coaster really didn’t do much for me…It just seemed like a space filler. All it really was, was a launch, some twisty stuff, then back up a tower to do it again. I rode it once, and don’t really plan On riding it again anytime soon. Sorry V2! As I walked away, I turned around for one last look, gave it a wave…and left. Just across the river bend, standing tall was… I AM ROAR! I AM A COOL GCI COASTER! RIDE ME OR DIE! So I kindly obliged… ROAR looked like it was going to be a sweet ride. I had never been on Millennium Flyer Trains before. So I was REALLY looking forward to a great ride. But with that, ROAR turned out to be an “interesting” experience. To say the least, I’ll let the pictures do the talking! So then…why don’t we ever talk about it…? Upon arriving to the station, we found the ride to be under “Technical Difficulties”. So I figured we’d wait it out and see what happened. Thanks to the quickness of the ROAR crew, the ride got back up and running in no time. Sadly it was only one train operation. Kevork and I had also decided, since I had never done these types of trains, and this was his second woody, we came to the conclusion of waiting it out for front row. Little did we know, this would be one of the most irritating waits I had ever experienced…ever. Trains came and went. But Then… There Was THIS! This “Thing” was in front of us while in line for ROAR. You may think I’m being a total asshole right now but trust me, you would NOT when to be stuck behind this person. She was covering her ears the whole time while in line. She was chanting some sort of pig Latin chant that no one could understand. I’m assuming she was “special”. One of the ride ops for ROAR asked her if she was ok. She looked up at him and kind of did a scream of sorts and went back to covering her ears and chanting pig Latin. I was extremely disturbed by her and was really frightened for my safety. I just was thinking in my head “Where the HELL is this girls parents?” ROAR also delivered an extremely smooth and enjoyable ride! I wouldn’t say it’s the best woody I have ever ridden, But it was certainly not the worst! So Two Thumbs up to another good coaster at SFDK! Man, thus far, you wouldn’t even begin to believe it was actually a Six Flags Park! Magic Mountain could REALLY learn a thing or two from these people! Anywho, here’s some more photos for you all… She’ll be comin round the mountain when she comes! ROLLER COASTER THROUGH THE ROLLER COASTER! And a shot of the station… So Really, That’s a Wrap on the Roller Coasters! OVERALL, I had an AWESOME time on these coasters. Mostly quick dispatches, all the rides ops were polite and speedy. Speaking of ride ops…its time to talk about the “little things” that I noticed. Some disappointments, some positive comments. So follow me to the second half… Random Park Material This is just a short little section about stuff that doesn’t really fit into part one! Employees I’m sure when you heard that, you thought back to Jahan’s SFMM updates. Seeing employees with cell phones, un-tucked and sagging shirts, along with mismatching uniforms! Well, there’s no way Jahan could dig dirt up on the employees here at Discovery Kingdom! Just an example of how these employees ALL are wearing their Six Flags shirts. All wearing their tan pants / shorts. The guys have their shirts tucked in and they looked VERY respectable! They didn’t look like a group of screwballs at all! I was really able to tell the difference between the two parks. If I went to a concession stand at SFMM and ordered a drink. I’m sure the employee would slug out of their seat, put their cell phone away, and lazily hand me the drink. (Ok, not ALL employees are like this, just bear with me!) At Discovery Kingdom, I was given quick service. All employees were bright and alert. Being very polite and I was even asked on many occasions how my day was in the park! I was appalled at the wonderful service I was getting. The park also had employees pushing these carts around. You could order snow cones, cotton candy, and popcorn. Other carts had sodas, lemonade, and some other little things. This really helped to lessen line waits at other concession stands. (Again, Note, Tucked in Shirts, Matching Uniforms etc The only thing I would argue, well not really argue, but I just find these shirts to be WAY tacky! It looks like someone made it in Microsoft Paint or something! But the point gets across, so I guess I should be glad at the message it’s projecting. Please keep the park clean…because MY FAMILY comes here too! Haha! The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly The Good Throughout the day, SFDK did one hell of a job at keeping guests entertained. They had “mascots” out walking about the park. They also had animals walking around the park too! Although I only saw an elephant, some goats and other furry little creatures! I’m with Stupid… Wow..this is a REALLY creepy picture of Kevork! And here is some animal pictures I took… *meep* …and thanks, for all the fish! Wanna Touch My Wii? Discovery Kingdom also had a Wii Hut Thing around the corner from the Boomerang. It was kind of tucked way back in the corner. Although I didn’t go inside the hut, they had about 7-9 Wiis set up. They also had an employee working the booth (Unlike SFMM). Wii Hut? It seemed to be very popular among guests. Later in the day it had a line outside the hut! The End Well, That about wraps up my trip to SFDK! I was totally amazed by the quality and decency of the park! I would go back there ANYTIME! Themeing was remarkable. Employees were Grade A and everything was just perfect! Anyways, Questions, Comments, Racial Slurs are always appreciated! Thanks for reading! -Ryan Also, Thought Id Throw This In There For the End! Just For Robb...

Its great to have an opinion, don't get me wrong. But if you say it "sucks". Then back yourself up! Until you have PERSONALLY ridden it, you cant really say it did or didn't suck! -Ryan

Why...have you ridden it?

Im going to my crying chair...

Awww..Come on! Im reading to her! Im trying to raise her right...gotta give me a chance mom!

So what the HECK is the point of these Stilt Walker people? Seems to me like its a way to WASTE more money! Go SFMM!!! -Ryan

LOL! That was THE BEST caption in the whole damn Update!!! Thanks for the update Robb & Jahan! -Ryan

Elissa, I SWEAR I wouldnt take Kidtums to my room! This is terrible...funny...but terrible!!! -Ryan

Possibly. But Revolutions well being is low on their priority. They still have A LOT left to do! But no doubt new trains would help the ride... -Ryan

Barry...dont get banned from the Baby Cameron Thread too!

Thats a good point... Hogwarts - The Dark Ride Experience

I agree for the most part. Tatsu is an attractive coaster. If anything they should rip Revolution out, because the ride isn't good anymore. Those are probably the worst restraints I've experienced. Ripping out Revoluition would be one of the stupidest Ideas ive ever heard. Revolution is a SFMM icon! One of the first looping coasters of its time. Its a legend... It COULD use some TLC, yes. For example, Psyclone, a total WASTE of wood. Thats why it got ripped out. It was terribly rough and just not worth it. Revolution is still A VERY good ride! Last time I rode it I enjoyed it very much and wasnt "in pain". -Ryan

Wow, you are a complete a$$hole, and certainly not the kind of person we want posting to TPR. Enjoy Mr. BanTron! --Robb I love you so much. ANYWAYS. Really...Its not RIGHT to pull your phone out on the job! Your AT WORK. If you wanna fcuk around on your cell phone, then youd be better of sitting at home in your room. If you go out and get a job, thats what you do. You work. There is NO EXCUSE to that! Oh its the enviornment. Or I do it one no one is looking. Theres NO Reason for it! If you cant handle it, then quit. -Ryan

They normally DONT respect opinions because they're not given respect back. Like what you're doing right now, finding a way to argue and be right. You're wrong. These guys (Mods) can do anything they please. They're trying to make the TPR forums as enjoyable as they possibly can! They're trying to remove spam, and take care of useless pointless posts! Respect that! SOOO many useless topics are posted each day! The reason why you search is to avoid flak, avoid taking up more space. The reason why they are locked, correct me if I'm wrong, is so it DOESNT happen again. People see, oh OK, this has been talked about. So really, the mods are here to maintain a clean Forum environment. If your rude to them, they're rude to you. -Ryan

Your mom wont let you go back to the park? Maybe its a little out of place for me to say but...youre long past the age of 18! Your welcome to come and go as you please! Anywho, I think this is all rdiciulous. News Stations just looking for a story. All Roller Coasters alike can be unsafe. Rules are posted for a reason along with health realted signs. This is so ridiculous! -Ryan

Dave! Congrats Sir! Would love to see some pictures! -Ryan

Yes, Black, IPod Video, 60 GB Do you ANSWER your own questions like the kid above me?

LOL! 3/4ths of a Mile?? You Kidding! I run OVER 2 Miles in my P.E. Class. While being timed! Be HAPPY you only have 3/4 of a mile to run. Besides the running, I love my P.E. class. Now my hated topic, I don't really Hate Anything in school. I pretty much love all my classes. But if I had to pick on toughness, it would be my AP US History class. I love history, but its all college grade stuff. That's Difficult! -Ryan

Only the 1st and 2nd ones. One was BY FAR better! Do you log onto TPR every single day?

Yes! The Hotel is VERY nice! They were so great! They were able to work it out to where I could stay there by myself. Great service, VERY NICE rooms. I had a microwave, a fridge, fantastic beds etc. Two Thumbs up for them. The Best Western is a little older. Ive been in thier rooms, theyre kinda run down compared to the Holiday Inn. If you had to pick, Holiday Inn is the way to go! -Ryan

Alrighty, that helps. So I now know which ones have 1 train operations. Im spending a whole day there. So it shouldnt be too awful. Thanks Robbish! -Ryan

Hello Folks! Well, Ive never gotten my credits at Marine World yet. So, I really don't know how to "credit whore" the park. Magic Mountain is no sweat to me, since I know whats busy and whats not during the day. So if you guys would be willing to help me on a make shift Itinerary, that would be nice! Thanks! -Ryan

Im going to have to second that notion! Nuff Said, he did a good job!