Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (SFDK) Discussion Thread

[Double0Kevin]

I wonder how the state will react to this. Sometimes they are cool and just make sure the parks fix what went wrong, sometimes they require the park to install some crazy solution like a staircase or something. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[Angry_Gumball]

Hooray, riders are now back down, were able to get the cars moving.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/six-flags-new-superman-ride-stalled-riders-bo/nP6Qr/

(note the corrected URL and title this time!)

 

Haha, found this funny:

Every ride is checked every morning to make sure it runs properly and the Superman wide was checked Sunday morning and no problems were found, according to the park spokeswoman.

A little Elmer Fudd accent? I want to go wide some wollaw coastaws when I hit up Discovuwy Kingdom!

[Bibbabrat]

Yeah!! Everybody is down now. I think one of my favorite quotes from the GP has been.

 

In related news, Lex Luthor has reportedly purchased Six Flags Entertainment Corp. this past weekend.

[Tmcdllr]

Yeah!! Everybody is down now. I think one of my favorite quotes from the GP has been.

 

In related news, Lex Luthor has reportedly purchased Six Flags Entertainment Corp. this past weekend.

 

You know, that actually makes a lot of sense!

 

 

I wonder how the state will react to this. Sometimes they are cool and just make sure the parks fix what went wrong, sometimes they require the park to install some crazy solution like a staircase or something. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

Yeah, I'm wondering about that too. You know, maybe they could install a kicker wheel or two or a LIM at that spot so if this did ever happen again they would just give the train a little 'push' to get it going and there would be no downtime, no crazy news reports, no stupid facebook comments. I could see a staircase being added to that point but if any mods were made to the ride I would expect kicker wheels or a LIM to be added there.

 

You know what else is interesting, originally wasn't there supposed to be a trim near that spot?

[Angry_Gumball]

So did it just perch up there then since they were able to get the train safely back down or do you think there was still some form of mechanical issue that caused it? Hopefully this incident will just be a thing that's swept under the rug/light slap on the wrist and continue to operate normally without requiring crazy modifications to it.

 

Still waiting to see if the GP comments start veering towards CGA's Facebook... Afterall, people are that naive about ride's locations. SFDK's Facebook page completely ditched 'Posts by others' a while ago which sucks on our behalf but on the park's behalf, it's one less headache to deal with...especially with today's glitch.

[singemfrc]

I hate that this is even news..this is not a big deal. Rides get stuck once in a while, they get the people off, we move on. No one got hurt, and no one was in danger of being hurt. News agencies will jump on anything and overhype it these days I guess.

[Double0Kevin]

^^^Kicker wheel or LSM seems like a much more expensive fix since it requires wiring and computer software patches. A stare case and catwalk would just require some welding. Hopefully no one overreacts and we just leave the ride as is.

 

^^ I was wondering about SFDK's FB. I couldn't see any option to view what people posted on it.

 

^ AMEN!

[XYZ]

I was surprised that a catwalk wasn't added to the top in the first place. Anyways, it's good that it didn't valley in the bottom of the "cliffhanger" drop.

[Angry_Gumball]

^^^Kicker wheel or LSM seems like a much more expensive fix since it requires wiring and computer software patches. A stare case and catwalk would just require some welding. Hopefully no one overreacts and we just leave the ride as is.

I was thinking the same, even a simpler ladder up the support to catwalk platform (much like the ladders on V2's support. Sure, it won't be suited for an evac but can very easily be used by maintenance to come up and perhaps give the train a push...given that it was one of those weaker launches that I mentioned earlier...

 

...Or they can do like you said and leave it as is and let Superman continue to thrill the rest of us who still want to ride.

[cfc]

Time to give it the "Bizarro" makeover, then reopen.

[AnonymousReed]

Oh lord:

My babies won't be getting on that ride

That seems to happen every year at six flags Vallejo!

That's twice in just a few days...I think I'll skip that ride!

if they can have malfunctions can you image the risk increase at the fair rides?

Oh hell naw! Guess that surprise six flags trip for my kids is out!

[Angry_Gumball]

Until the lawsuits come pouring in!!!

Would people really sue over sitting in an upright position 150 feet up? Well, this is the US so anything's possible, sadly...

 

So now their hiring Looney Tune Characters @ KTVU, no wonder some are having a hard time finding jobs, Superman Wide? If I see Bugs Bunny at a job interview I'm gonna be pissed.

Haha that's just funny.

 

HA IT BROKE!!!!!! It's Kharma for not making the rides plus size rideable

(Some may disagree with me on this one but...) Actually, perhaps getting the walk of shame is kharma for not being responsible for your own actions.

 

This is another reason why I (or my family) will NEVER go to Six Flags. The first time I went (use to go when it was Marine World in Redwood City), my daughter was severly injured. It took her 3 months to regain movement on her right side, and to be able to stand. 2 years of physical and occupational therapy; we had to teach her how to walk again! Six Flags is the worst!!! Never ever again will we go there...

Possible exaggeration? I mean, what would she have done that would have hurt her as much as she's saying? You can get hurt anywhere!

 

Thank you everybody is never going to go to Six Flags. I appreciate the shorter lines that I will be able to take advantage of. Plus having a few less people in the park with negative, and ugly attitudes is just going to make the park a more enjoyable place to be.

This is epic win material right here...less people, less lines, less GP, more rides for those of us who know better! (I'm sure all those nay-sayers will be right back at the park next year, in line for Superman.)

 

Last but not least:

that ride was shut down last Wednesday for at least 30mins. But they never tell u why. Bullsh*t - because we have a right to know.

I'm sure letting the GP know would be a smart move...Can only see things get taken out of context, stories twisted more than V2, Zonga, and Superman's Zero G roll combined...best to keep the technical info out of the GP's hands.

 

I'm sure these should really go in the GP of Park's Facebook thread

[JJnCFL]

I was surprised that a catwalk wasn't added to the top in the first place. Anyways, it's good that it didn't valley in the bottom of the "cliffhanger" drop.

I was thinking of that to ever since Boomerang got stuck back in 99 in the middle of the cobra roll in which the park also made national headlines in which afterwards they added the spiral staircase.

[Mrlittle]

Time to give it the "Bizarro" makeover, then reopen.

 

[anonymouscactus]

Well, to the media's credit, the riders WERE stuck there for two hours high up in the air... -- usually evacuations are done when riders are "stuck" for X amount of minutes... (usually 15-20 minutes maximum) so it's not a TOTAL non-story...

[EastCoastn07]

I will never understand why when things like this happen, every coaster enthusiast and their mother is suddenly is a certified PE (Professional Engineer) and thinks they know what needs to be added/improved on a coaster to avoid future occurrences of such an event. I can say without a shadow of a doubt they will not add a LSM to the top of the tower. Do you know how silly that would be? The cost alone would not justify preventing such an event, even if it was to occur every few thousand cycles.

[Angry_Gumball]

I will never understand why when things like this happen, every coaster enthusiast and their mother is suddenly is a certified PE (Professional Engineer) and thinks they know what needs to be added/improved on a coaster to avoid future occurrences of such an event. I can say without a shadow of a doubt they will not add a LSM to the top of the tower. Do you know how silly that would be? The cost alone would not justify preventing such an event, even if it was to occur every few thousand cycles.

 

I guess then in that respect, all of us are self-certified park developers who know every plan Cedar Fair, Disney, Six Flags, independently owned operators have in development when we begin speculating what's going in for the park. It's not really like people were saying that they *must* do this, but more of a "I could see this happening" thing based on past experiences (Boomerang and its catwalk). After all, we are coaster enthusiast, we're going to speculate, analyze, hypothesize, etc. within reason.

 

According to another news article, I guess that it was requested by OSHA that SFDK keeps the crane on site since they had trained with this crane.:

...they have trained with the big crane used in this rescue. Since this is a new ride, OSHA had asked that the amusement park keep the crane onsite and have an emergency plan in place. Crews say they actually conducted this kind of mock rescue scenario a few weeks ago and they say it was helpful to have that training to go on.

 

Atleast this wasn't quite a surprise for those who were 'rescuing' the riders. Article found here.

[TXthrills2010]

I was actually there earlier today visiting the park for the first time ever. The park is actually really neat and interesting, it has such a small layout with tight spaces. The only frustrating part of my visit was that most major coasters had broken down throughout the day. Kong twice, V2 twice, Boomerang atleast once and Monsoon Falls. Obviously, Superman was down completely, but if i'm correct this ride is a protoype no? So i almost expected this to happen atleast some point in time although i'm sad it happened during my visit. Overall it was a great park experience and i enjoyed the cool California weather!

As you can see they had crews up top, it wasn't till they finally pushed the train back down the track and the crowd kind of "awwed" and clapped as it went back down.

[Angry_Gumball]

I'm not sure if you'd want to really call it a prototype since it shares somewhat similar qualities to Skyrocket (train, track style) but since this is a fairly unique coaster, I guess it's fair. A couple weeks ago, Premiere (on their Facebook) referred to this as a "Skyrocket 2.0".

 

So, did you actually get to see the train come back down? If so, was it eased down somehow or did it just coast backwards back down into the station?

 

And for those who like to have a little video to go with their news article, here you go:

http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/vallejo-riders-on-superman-coaster-stuck-150-feet/vc4np/

 

I wish they actually got footage of the train coming back down the tower.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Angry_Gumball

[Tmcdllr]

I will never understand why when things like this happen, every coaster enthusiast and their mother is suddenly is a certified PE (Professional Engineer) and thinks they know what needs to be added/improved on a coaster to avoid future occurrences of such an event. I can say without a shadow of a doubt they will not add a LSM to the top of the tower. Do you know how silly that would be? The cost alone would not justify preventing such an event, even if it was to occur every few thousand cycles.

 

It was my IDEA and I never said I was an engineer of any kind or that this had to be done. It was just an IDEA. Something wrong with that?

[TXthrills2010]

The coaster was literally "pushed" and it was dropped back down as if nothing had happened. I was on the opposite side of Roar so i'm not sure if it passed the opposite end of the station of just stopped at the station.

 

 

Pushed* meaning they made it move some way or another, I don't know how.

[EastCoastn07]

I would probably consider it a prototype ride as it is technically the first of its kind when you are talking about the ride itself. Yeah, the trains and LSMs were used on two other rides, but the dynamics of the ride are completely different between the three rides.

 

And let's face it guys, stuff like this is going to happen on these types of rides. I'd say it's pretty impossible to design a ride that addresses every single scenario that could happen in the real world. A big part of engineering (not just in amusement rides) is finding new problems in a design that can be fixed in your next iteration of the same or similar design. This is only Premier's third coaster using LSMs, and I'm sure they are still finding things they can improve on for their future projects. All I'm saying is, you can't design something to meet every possible scenario imaginable. Rare events like this are bound to happen eventually.

 

I will never understand why when things like this happen, every coaster enthusiast and their mother is suddenly is a certified PE (Professional Engineer) and thinks they know what needs to be added/improved on a coaster to avoid future occurrences of such an event. I can say without a shadow of a doubt they will not add a LSM to the top of the tower. Do you know how silly that would be? The cost alone would not justify preventing such an event, even if it was to occur every few thousand cycles.

 

It was my IDEA and I never said I was an engineer of any kind or that this had to be done. It was just an IDEA. Something wrong with that?

 

Not at all. And I'm not sure where I singled you out in my post. I was simply making a statement.

[Tmcdllr]

^Ok no harm no foul.

 

I do agree with your second post.

[SLUSHIE]

Thank goodness this is over. Now the news can go back to pretending the Olympics are interesting.

[Tmcdllr]

FB, these are just funny...

 

being stuck anywhere in vallejo sucks, even if it is at marine world

 

Superman is slacking off on his job

 

This is why I always pee first.

 

 

Seriously?...

 

LIKE OMG !!! I heard that this ride gets stuck every wednesday at 1:30pm... Im never gonna ride roller coasters again because they are sooooooo dangerous!!!!