Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (SFDK) Discussion Thread

[Tmcdllr]

You really think that saving a few thousand (maybe hundred thousand) on a transfer track is them "saving" funds for another big attraction? That might make sense for SFMM, but come on, I guarantee that SUF was not a cheap coaster by any means. This is most likely SFDKs big attraction.

 

The thought of a transfer track costing as little as $100,000 amuses me. You're talking cost for more track, an additional train, added hardware to move the tracks, larger station to accommodate plus queues to get to both sides, and computer hardware and software to control it all. Not to mention a higher operating cost for more ops to run both sides and higher maintenance cost to take care of an additional train and moving components. Overall you're looking at extra hundreds of thousands a year in operating/maintenance costs and would probably cost $500,000 to a million at initial installation.

 

Agreeing with Double0Kevin I would also add that it makes no difference if they saved any money on an attraction for THIS year and it does not necessarily affect the new attractions budget for the FOLLOWING year. If I am not mistaken, each fiscal year they have a budget for rides. Whatever they don't spend within that fiscal year does not carry over to the next, or at least I would be a little surprised if they did it that way.

[SLUSHIE]

I'm not sure a transfer track would really work that well on this ride in the first place.

 

Does this park actually get crowed? I haven't gone in a while but there was hardly ever a time where the wait for Medusa or any other coaster had a line that stretched further than the lines for the individual rows. Zonga had a pretty long line sometimes but that thing was really slow at loading and I think usually ran one train.

 

I think the riders per hour of this wont be too much slower than V2. I think the rendering is actually a bit slow, and I think it will be a bit more efficient than V2 when it comes to the end of the ride. V2 comes to almost a stop out in the launch area and crawls backwards. I bet this basically comes right in and stops.

 

Here is a video of it testing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6drQCmkCJc&feature=share

[JJnCFL]

^ Mind you I always go in the weekdays when possible, and can pretty much can finish the whole park in a few hours. The lines are pretty much non existent when I visit. The longest line I ever waited in was 45 minutes on Medusa, and that's when the parking lot was full of school buses.

[vacoaster09]

Double0Kevin, I agree that Six flags has alot going on that we do not see behind the scenes. Re-reading my post it sounds more like Im not giving them credit for considering things at all... To clarify what I am trying to say is that... given all their thinking... it seems like something is backwards, as if rides per guest or throughput is their priority.... I would never expect a large park to think it's acceptable to add a such low capacity ride.

 

Again, these are some awesome rides, but I just dont agree with some of the decisions. My using Disney's Radiator Springs Racers and Universal Harry Potter was just saying that it would be unacceptable for them to have a ride with 16 rider capacity max. Meaning that, what ever they put in there would be sure that it can accomodate a sizeable amount of guest per hour, meaning capacity is important. I refuse to believe that statement that they considering putting in such low capacity coasters for the sake or raising their FP sales....If that the thinking then they should've just made the rides upcharge attractions! I think it actually harms the guest experience.

 

Kiddie coasters aside.... is S:UF the lowest capacity coaster ever installed at a six flags park post year 2000? Is LL:DOD the lowest capacity Major Thrill Ride installed at a six flags park post 2000?

 

All I'm saying is I would like for parks to build rides with acceptable capacity with the respect to the their attendance figures. Thus why I said Great America is on the right track. S:UF might work for SFDK, i'm not sure of how busy your park gets based on the prior comment it sounds like SFA... if thats the case then it works. BUT LL:DOD I'm not convinced.

 

The point is, I granted they have considered it, I still think some futher consideration could've been made with respect with Rides per guest, ride capacity, and maximum throughput.

[Double0Kevin]

I also think the idea about limiting capacity to increase FP sales is ridiculous, that's why I ignored it entirely. And having worked at SFDK for many years I know riders per hour is a huge consideration, but I know operating and maintenance costs are an even bigger concern. Unfortunately for us and guests, the park saves a lot on S:UF by having it be one train and they still get to advertise it all the same.

 

The hype will be big the first year or 2, but eventually it will level out and the lines will be manageable.

 

P.S. I never said skipping dual loading was to save money for future attractions. Money for capital investments doesn't roll over. As said before, You have to spend it the year it's set aside for.

 

Not to mention an extra 12 passenger train is still lousy capacity for a new state of the art thrill ride. So there is no way around a long wait unless you buy a fast pass.

 

Agreed, an extra 12 people probably didn't up the capacity enough to make it worth the added costs.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

FYI I wasn't trying to insinuate that not having a dual loading station was because they're trying to save money for future attractions, I was trying to make a point that there are many other possible reasons that many of us may not have thought about.

 

The saving time/money applies more to SFMM and LL:DOD in this case.

[Justice]

Not to mention an extra 12 passenger train is still lousy capacity for a new state of the art thrill ride. So there is no way around a long wait unless you buy a fast pass.

I've got it! So doubling the capacity wouldn't make a difference. /sarcasm

 

We're going to be lucky if this ride breaks 300 pph. Doubling that would be a HUGE difference. With your logic, we might as well cut it down to 1 person per a cycle because lousy capacity is lousy capacity no matter the number! Who cares!?

[Manic Monte]

Not to mention an extra 12 passenger train is still lousy capacity for a new state of the art thrill ride. So there is no way around a long wait unless you buy a fast pass.

I've got it! So doubling the capacity wouldn't make a difference. /sarcasm

 

We're going to be lucky if this ride breaks 300 pph. Doubling that would be a HUGE difference. With your logic, we might as well cut it down to 1 person per a cycle because lousy capacity is lousy capacity no matter the number! Who cares!?

 

That's not what I was saying so please don't put words in my mouth.

 

Anyway, I'm pretty sure cost was 90 percent the factor for these installations going in the way they are. I'm sensing a pattern of one park getting a major attraction per year (SFGam was long overdue for a big B&M). Everyone else needed to be a bit more creative.

 

I'm not making excuses because I think it sucks, but there is nothing I can do about it. Except complain of course...and there are already enough people doing that for me!

[kylexy2298]

Sorry if I missed this, but will S:UF have a single rider line? If not, then will that greatly change the capacity? Again, sorry if this was already discussed.

[vacoaster09]

Posted last page but I wanted to embed the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6drQCmkCJc

 

Going slower through the in line twist. Should be some nice hang time. Also you can see blue lights in the tunnel. Looks like an awesome ride.

[sammmmmy]

That upwards spiral is going to be unreal!

[Double0Kevin]

Looks like it will be a lot of fun. I'm excited to check out the lighting in the tunnel, but I'm sure everyone else will hate it because there is only one train.

[A.J.]

I'm so glad that they put the Superman shield on the big support structure instead of supporting it with a dinky little vertical pole on its own (like the renderings).

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

It looks beautiful! I like how the Superman sign is lighted up! Will be cool to see the lights/effects in the tunnel!

 

This will be SFDK's first official themed coaster! Unless you count the queue/station of Medusa as theming...

[Angry_Gumball]

This is pretty exciting! With this, and next year's 2 other coasters (CGA, SCBB) the Bay Area will be an exciting place again. However, due to the already ran into the ground capacity issues (which I'd just say...get there early if you want to ride or go on a weekday), I doubt I'll be there this season. I wouldn't mind checking it out however. I'll let the hype die down a bit, perhaps snag my credit when/if TPR does a Bay Area Bash next year.

[pdcon]

looks like it goes pretty fast through theinline twist, in the videos it showed in stoping before.

[Double0Kevin]

^ That was discussed a few pages back, for whatever reason the rendering and the actual ride didn't line up with that. No brake prior to the barrel roll and if you look at the design, you can see it's not intended to have one. I'm guessing the video was made off early designs.

[Andrewoplis]

Wow, this looks amazing! I can't wait to ride this thing!

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I'll probably catch hell for this... but I hope folks can see my reasoning.

 

I love all the additions six flags has made this year (individually with respect to each ride's own merit... like record breakers, first coaster a decade, wing rider, themeing, prototypes, etc..)

 

BUT....

 

Here's the thing, coaster enthusiast aside, lets think in terms of feasibility. Lets talk smart business here.

 

Superman is a cool looking ride ... but WHAT WERE THEY THINKING when it came to capacity. I mean a scrambler type ride will get better capacity than this. From the talk of you local park goers, SFDK isn't a light attendance park like SFA. I just don't understand why they did not think about capacity. Six flags is always so focused on "Rides per Guest" yet only 12 people can ride per cycle on this ride. We are all also kind of shocked that with this prototype design they didn't take the time to think about two trains atleast with a system similar to Mr. Freeze. I mean atleast on boomerang 24 people can get in each cycle. I feel like this ride, S:UF, would've been better suited for SFA, a lower attendance park, in Two Face's Spot.

 

Lex Luthor DOD. I echoed these sentiments last year about the Zac Spin. Not just in terms of spinning seats as compared to X2, but in terms of capacity for such a huge park like SFMM. Lex Luthor, likewise will be just as much a capacity nightmare, IMO. 16 riders per cycle. FOR SFMM this, in my opinion, is unacceptable. While we can say that Drop towers have a short ride cycle, still, there are other options available that would have greater capacity, thus more rides per guest. While I think it's awesome to have a record breaker I just feel that it was the wrong choice to go with 16 person capacity ride. Vs. the same record breaking drop ride but a gyro drop with huge capacity. Instead six flags decided to close down its newly rennovated ride that it marketed all last season to attempt a new, semi-prototype drop tower merged with its existed coaster. Just don't think it was the best choice over a stand alone stop tower with 4-5 times the capacity.

 

Goliath: Again, while its an awesome ride, and yes a different experience that traditional boomerangs. IMO it doesn't matter, you still have two boomerangs, and right next to each other at that.... And guest entering the park get to the bigger one before getting to the small one. It kind of makes you ask Who's great idea was this. The park lost a popular water ride and now only has two left... only one of which gets you wet. They placed in a larger scale version of an existing ride at the park. If we recall, SFGAm was going to add Chang to their park and people were like "HUH" ... two stand up coasters ... why? Except we now see, that SF planned on removing Iron Wolf anyway... so same goes here. You add a new/used boomerang, yet you already have a ride of that style. Just makes me think that instead of taking out the popular water ride, they could've taken out the existing boomerang and placed the GIB there (albiet with relocating their balloon race and scrambler flat rides).

 

Apocalypse: A roller coaster was needed at SFA. Great! They finally got one... however. I think before they decided to rip out their water ride, it might have been wise, and more cost effective to place Iron Wolf where Two face was.. it would've fit perfectly but It would've ADDED to their ride count! They would've saved money not having to demolish an existing ride in the heart of their park. Not to mention that they kind of messed up one of their themed areas... Pirates/End of the World. Now we have Zombie Pirates of the Apocalypse (forget Pirates of the Carribbean lol). So the main gripe here is just cost effectiveness and adding to ride count, filling in holes, before tearing out rides. So this one is not a complete fail by any means. The capacity is great, but for a park like SFA, they could've even taken one of these lower Capacity new additions some of the other parks are getting and been just fine thus letting the higher attendance parks have a ride that would've benefited them. SFDK (don't know where they'd put it however, but I'm sure where there's a will there's a way) could used a ride like this or SFNE (again with juggling some space).

 

X-flight: Was the only smart decision made this year in terms of new coasters. It filled in a hole, it added to the ride count, much deserved coaster for the park, and keeps up with the Throughput that park this size needs to maintain.

 

This is only an evaluation of the capital expansion decisions, looking back, and just asking the question of what Six Flags's planners are thinking. They just didn't seem to really think about some key aspects. Like Imagine is Disney put in Radiator Springs racers but only had like 4 cars.... We'd be like WTF. Or imagine is Universal only had 4 kuka arm units for Forbidden Journey... again WTF but no... they thought ahead, thought about all aspects, and have like 47 or more.

 

That said... I expect LL:DOD line to be like Volcano's till the end of time no matter what, because the ride is limited due it its capacity, even with team members working the sweat off their brow... You will never have a short line... Even on a light day. I expect S:UF line to look like Hyperson's did at KD... which everyone knows was always long. Sometimes parks need to think before they spend! Just saying.

 

Again, this is a opinion of the decisions made by the park's planners on capital expansion. I'm NOT saying anything about the rides themselves, which are all awesome and great in their own respect.

 

Well had two face never suffered from so much downtime then it would still be there & the count would've increased by one coaster for the park but SM was proving high maintenance/low capacity as well(it never was able to run at full design capacity throughout it's life at the park) but I do see & somewhat agree with all of your other points especially the whole boomerang/GIB thing at SFNE but I guess the big selling point there is the fact that one is a huge inverted version of the other that will draw only the most daring guests to ride as some won't even get on a boomerang at 125 ft let alone an inverted model approaching 200ft in height.

 

No matter where S:UF was sent however it's single train/12 passenger capacity is still gonna stink,of course it's hard to truely judge or predict what will happen until the ride opens to the public however.

[gisco]

So who is going opening day or this weekend?

 

I'll be there Friday.

[Sunfire]

^I'll be there tomorrow for the commercial shoot. So far, I haven't received any emails about the ride being delayed, so it sounds like things are still a go for the ride.

[vacoaster09]

WAIT! Didn't you hear that S:UF has been delayed again? .................. July 7th

 

 

JK! let us hope not

 

But more seriously.... the video shows the speed that the train goes up the front spiral. I'm definitely thinking that the body is going to be thrown outward (away from the track) creating an "out of your seat sensation"... the spiral is not around the heartline... should be an interesting sensation especially at that speed.

[154bmag]

I'll be going on opening day. I'll be wearing the TPR shirt and I'll be there with Mr. CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES.

[Double0Kevin]

I'll be at media day on Friday. Hoping everything goes well.

[scooterdoug]

I'm thinking I'll be there Sunday, July 8. I don't want to deal with July 4th weekend crowds. Hopefully, the crowds will be a little less crazy than the holiday weekend/new-coaster-opening-weekend crowds. I'll just get there early, run straight for S:UF, then ride other rides until the crowds get too unbearable. Probably won't be there for too long. If anyone else will be there that day, I'd be delighted to meet up and have some company for the lines.