Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Updates

[thrillgeek]

nice pics! Construction beter hurry up if they want to have it ready and themed by coasters after dark.

[chmilo24]

I just read that Tony Hawks Big Spin is set to open on May 23. I'll see if I can get to the grand opening

[Double0Kevin]

Actually, I believe that Zonga was not bolted down at all. Of course, I could be wrong.

 

How was it held in place?!

 

He's right, Zonga was not secured to the ground. I operated the ride for the 2 years it ran at SFDK. It simply sat on small wood/rubber pads. It stayed in place because the mass of the ride compared to the small size of the trains really didn't push on it at all.

 

And I don't want to sound like a snob on this one... but THBS at SFDK is NOT a portable coaster. It is referred to as a Modular coaster meaning that it is assembled on a base frame rather than concrete footers. The ride is still bolted together and wired as a permanent fixture. Zonga was a portable coaster because of how it was built, the supports slid into each other and were secured with a bolt held on by a cotter pin. THBS's supports are bolted(multiple bolts with nuts) together.

[NewsPlusNotes]

As far as I've heard Voodoo at Dorney and ThunderHawk at Michigan's Adventure will both open with the park this season.

 

Not sure if those fit into the "major coaster" category, though since they are recycled.

 

Mike

[sfotfreak]

Quote:

He's right, Zonga was not secured to the ground. I operated the ride for the 2 years it ran at SFDK. It simply sat on small wood/rubber pads. It stayed in place because the mass of the ride compared to the small size of the trains really didn't push on it at all.

 

Wow i'm really surprised at this! How did they pass the safety tests

[Double0Kevin]

Quote:Wow i'm really surprised at this! How did they pass the safety tests

 

That's how the ride was designed... it was perfectly safe. If you come up and ride THBS, it will be the same way.

[Zonga]

Yesterday I got the chance to attend a construction tour for Tony Hawk's Big Spin. Here are a few of the photos!

 

 

Tony Hawk is almost complete, all track should be in place by the weekend.

 

Captain Lee was on hand as a piece of track was lifted.

 

A worker gets set to guide the track into place.

 

Closer...

 

Perfect.

 

A welder was hard at work on the new station.

 

Workers high above assembling the ride.

 

On-ride Tony Hawk!

 

You can view the rest of the photos here.

[haiderodes]

I was at the park this past Saturday and took a look at the construction as well. I think I understand why the park decided to go the "modular" route....

 

Think about it, a large flat concrete pad was poured for Zonga. If they wanted to do the traditional footer placement, theyd have to do a lot of cutting and repouring on this pad meaning more money. Seems to make sense to just use a stable base frame. Spongebob seems to have done the same thing and I think the new Dark Knight rides are also doing the same. Seems more common on indoor rides, but I think in this case it should work perfectly.

 

I don't think a ride of this size will be easily shifted. I saw what looked like pads under certain parts of the fram, so I assume those will dampen any forces that could move the frame.

 

I'm excited to ride this layout as its very different than the others.

[Mechanic]

Thanks for the update.

[Goliath513]

I went to the park today to get my 2008 season pass processed, so here are some pictures of the new ride.

 

Medusa has a new friend.

 

Station

 

Behind this tangle of track are the trains still in their shrink-wrap.

 

Could this be a new signature shot?

 

Look at the bottom of this picture and you will see this is indeed a parking lot coaster. In fact, every major coaster at SFDK with the exception of Boomerang is a parking lot coaster. They just did a good job at hiding it unlike a certain Six Flags park down south. Now I know what you're thinking, there is still plenty of old parking lot underneath Medusa, but at least they themed the station and queue.

 

This will be more than just credit #62 for me.

 

View from Roar's queue.

 

Obviously, much work has been done in the Tony Hawk area.

 

I will be back on Friday May 23 for the opening of the new coaster!

[EastCoastn07]

Lookin good, I'm hoping to get a chance to make it out to California this summer so I can check it out.

[thrillgeek]

Nice pics Sam! Wow the progress is coming along nicely. I'll be there for opening as well. I'm bringing a few friends too. Maybe we can meet you in the park.

[Zonga]

Thanks for the update Sam. Nice to see the cars have arrived!

 

Nice pics Sam! Wow the progress is coming along nicely. I'll be there for opening as well. I'm bringing a few friends too. Maybe we can meet you in the park.

Will you be sticking around for Coasters After Dark that night?

 

And in a bit of park news, the official website has added a page with all the different events going on for the opening weekend of Tony Hawk's Big Spin. Check it out here.

[coasterbear30]

Hey man I must have been there the same weekend you were. That band was playing then too. Anyway, a friend and I will be posting a PTR from our California trip sometime tonight.

 

We were not too happy that THBS was not up and running when we were there and it makes me even more upset now to see that they threw it up in like a week or two. We were there all the way from Atlanta. The track parts were there when we were there. Just another missed credit! Although, the crowds were lite and I got to walk onto V2 at least 3 out of the 4 times I rode it!

[Team Thriller]

Quote:Wow i'm really surprised at this! How did they pass the safety tests

 

I remember riding Zonga 'back in the day' and I remember that everytime the train would pass through the red vertical loop, the whole thing would bend and move.

 

Also you must consider that the coasters at the Oktoberfests are like this. Even for there size, they cannot be bolted into the ground and are more just sitting there.

 

As for the pictures: Amazing and stunning. I love how this coaster will fit with the skyline. I really miss this park. Last time I was there it was still SFMW. Lots have changed since then. And I really want to get there and check them all out.

 

Again, amazing pictures.

 

--James

[thrillgeek]

Will you be sticking around for Coasters After Dark that night? I'll probably be passing out the wristbands for the event, but hopefully I can get off early so I can ride some rides!

 

I will be there for coasters after dark. I'll look for you. Hey since the park closes that night for the GP at 6 will they force everyone out till coasters after dark starts at 7 or how is that working out? Because I want to get there around 5 or so.

[Goliath513]

I was at the park yesterday with my friend, so I didn't have my camera, nor did I go around to get updates. But I did get several pics from Kong and Roar's queues with my phone.

Failed shot of the bathroom

Tony Hawk was testing. I will be back for opening on Friday!

Nice penguins...

[cinciDAWGS12]

Those pictures aren't too bad for having to use your phone. I want to visit this park. It looks nice!

[thrillgeek]

Looks like they still got alot of ground work left to do before opening. Thanks for the pics Sam!

 

Over at www.sfdkzone.com someone posted a short video of the testing here's a link. http://www.freewebs.com/bigspinsfdk/information.htm)

[Goliath513]

Here's an update from this year. Since I'm out in California for the summer, I took the time to go down to SFDK this afternoon and get my season pass before my SFMM trip next weekend for Terminator opening. Spent only a couple of hours in the park. With all the steel coasters having been repainted in recent years, everything looks new (this year, Kong got all new orange paint and Cobra got shiny red for its supports!). Lots of new signs and paint around the park as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the lowdown on how the coasters are running for the 2009 season.

 

 

Roar: Back to two-train operation. Despite the heavy crowds today, this was a walkon. It is running better than ever, despite its age. If Terminator is anything like how good Roar was today, it could easily be a top 10 ride!

 

Tony Hawk Big Spin: Nothing new, but I had some of the best spinning ever on my one ride today. The trick for the most spinning is to have two heavy people sit facing forward and have one light weight person (me) facing backwards.

 

V2: Running very smoothly. Dispatches were faster than normal today.

 

Boomerang: Moderately bumpy ride with minimal headbanging. Quite good for an old Vekoma. I can actually say I had fun on it for once.

 

Medusa: One of the most forceful, yet smooth and fast rides I have ever had on my 200+ rides on it. The West Coast Trip is in for a treat this season as the ride was considerably better than I remember it being in the past few years.

 

Kong: What the hell happened? It's still a pile of crap Vekoma, but holy sh*t, today's ride was worse than ever. I don't get it, all the other coasters in the park have improved, yet this has consistently gotten more jerky and painful in recent years. If they hadn't repainted it during the offseason, I would think this is at the end of its life here. On the upside, they are back to two train operation on this as well, so I didn't have to wait at all to get my ride for the year.

EXTREME CLOSEUP!

The new 3 Point Challenge is VERY popular with all the hyphy kids that hang out at the park. Which brings up an interesting point, why does SFA get all the negativity for the people that visit there? SFDK's crowd is basically the same, just west coast.

This ride is the reason the Cedar Fair naming department had a major headache over the offseason!

New Johnny Rockets is just like the one a short walk up the hill.

They're also redoing the tiger stadium as part of the expansion. The covers will provide some much needed shade for these hot California summer days.

They're moving Odin, the swimming tiger, to a new home over here near Boomerang.

Cedar Point fanboys are not the only ones who can wet themselves over new signs - even if this one has only been painted to match the new colors.

[tanthonyam]

I wasnt really impressed by this park when I went last year. One train operations on 2 coasters did not help at all. (Roar and Kong) Tony Hawk was just average to me. Basically a short family coaster, not even worth the long line. Th eonly 2 rides I enjoyed were Medusa and V2 (surprisingly the shortest line!) I could only do 1 ride on all these except V2. I saw the line for Roar and was disgusted and left the park.

[Calicoasters]

I can't wait to see Odin's Tiger Island soon! Johnny Rockets takes over another building with it's off Theme! I remember that was the Carnivor ______ something place. I wonder if they still serve Beer in that building now, or is that not apart of the Johhny Rockets menu?

[Double0Kevin]

I can't wait to see Odin's Tiger Island soon! Johnny Rockets takes over another building with it's off Theme! I remember that was the Carnivor ______ something place. I wonder if they still serve Beer in that building now, or is that not apart of the Johhny Rockets menu?

 

Carnivore Cafe, And no... no beer. The upside to have J Rocks in that location is that it's actually open more than just holiday weekends during the summer.

 

Good update Goliath513. We at the park are very excited for the TPR trip to the park this summer. We have some fun surprises in store for everyone. Check back at the park soon for some fun stuff at Roar to celebrate it's 10th Anniversary this year.

[Mechanic]

Check back at the park soon for some fun stuff at Roar to celebrate it's 10th Anniversary this year.

 

Has the idea of fully enclosing the shed section ever been seriously considered? I think that would be a relatively inexpensive modification that would add a lot to the ride experience.

[ghost007jas]

Nice update Sam, I miss my baby.. . I have to ride Medusa again before they Bizarro it!