Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (SFDK) Discussion Thread

[scooterdoug]

Took a trip to the park today. It was crowded, being the first of 3 BAFF days. The Joker opened 10 minutes late, but ran 2 trains (quite efficiently, I might add) without any breakdowns. There were no restraint or air gate issues while I was there. It was still going strong when I left at 2. Here's hoping that the temperamental ride days are behind us...

[rolercstrluvr]

Had a great time at the park yesterday, joker was great. The airtime kept getting stronger and stronger throughout the day. Can't wait to get back out there and ride this again and again. Also, Pacific Rim, completely forgot about it till I was at the park, I really wish I hadn't ridden it. Horrid

Ride count:

Joker-7

Superman-2

V2-2

Medusa-1

Pacific Rim-1

[singemfrc]

Going to do something today that I never ever do outside of a west coast bash...visit a park on a Saturday! Pray for me!

[singemfrc]

As expected it was pretty busy today, and I had very limited time so I didn't expect to get much done on a busy Saturday afternoon. My main "shopping list" was to ride Kong before it closes (Its been down the last few times I was there), get a lap on V2 since its also just reopened after a long down time, and maybe a lap on Joker if i had time.

 

I had heard Kong was only running one train (the orange one) so I expected a long queue and got what I expected. The switchbacks were about 90% full. The crew was doing a pretty good job dispatching quickly so it went about as well as it could, it was about a 60 minute wait. I laughed when they changed ride operators at the dispatching position and the new employee, upon the first train coming into the station, told the riders: "Welcome back, it's OK, the ride is over now, you can get off." Btw: I did spy the yellow train - it is completely disassembled and sitting on the ground underneath the station. You can see it when advancing from the brake run into the station.

 

V2 was running so as the general rule of thumb with V2 is "If you want to ride it and its running, ride it now 'cause it may not be running later" I did just that and rode that after Kong. V2 crew was not quite as motivated as the Kong crew unfortunately, and a station wait turned into about 30 minutes somehow. I was disappointed that employees could clearly see several guests violently pushing and pulling on the air gates and didn't so much as say anything to those guests. With how touchy we know the air gate sensors are on those Intamin Impulse coasters, you'd think they'd be watching for that and scolding people. I honestly thought we were going to get an e-stop because the kid was pushing the air gate open when the train was passing through the station. They need to electrify those things...that'd stop people.

 

I walked over to Joker and saw that it was running only one train and had about a ~50 minute wait so I passed on it since I had to get to Concord for a concert and didn't have time to wait (I'd gotten there an hour later than planned due to traffic, otherwise it would have been perfect). When I got to the park I saw the purple train running, but when I was leaving I saw the green train running and the purple train was parked on the transfer track. Not sure if it was running two when I got there, but it was only running one when I left. It was nice to see everything except Voodoo and Thrilla Gorilla running though...the last couple of times I've been to the park there have been several large rides down all day.

[scooterdoug]

^Thanks for the report. The idea of going to a park on a crowded Saturday triggers my gag reflex. I've been curious as to what the park is like on a Saturday, but I haven't the courage to check it out for myself. So, I appreciate the info you posted.

 

I went on Friday. While it was certainly busy, it was a pleasantly manageable day. I spent all day at the Joker, which has been the norm for me all summer. I ended up getting 11 rides before leaving a little before 3. The wait held steady at about 15 minutes all day. During lunch, it went down to 10 minutes, and I got one 25 minute wait (but that was due to the ride going down for less than 10 minutes). The crew on that ride is really good. There was a minimum of stacking, and the crew was friendly and on point. It was great to see. I peeked into Superman's queue a few times, and it never went longer than one switchback. I was originally on the fence about visiting the park on a Friday during summer, but I'm glad I went. My big lesson this summer is to not go on BAFF days (this is where all of you reading collectively say "Duh!"). BAFF days are ok during the cold winter months, but not summer.

[JGuy]

I have my fingers crossed that they have both trains running when I'm there on Tuesday. Marathoning Joker isn't as fun when there's a long wait.

[Domm]

Hitting the park up on my way back from Tahoe tomorrow (did the new heavenly mountain coaster, highly recommended!). Hoping to finally get on Joker and with minimal waits! Haven't tried pacific rim yet either. Hope we get lucky with schools back in

[JGuy]

Hitting the park up on my way back from Tahoe tomorrow (did the new heavenly mountain coaster, highly recommended!). Hoping to finally get on Joker and with minimal waits! Haven't tried pacific rim yet either. Hope we get lucky with schools back in

 

You can skip Pacific Rim 5D. It's just a scene from the film shown in 3D, with 4D effects. The fifth D is for "Disappointment".

[scooterdoug]

I have my fingers crossed that they have both trains running when I'm there on Tuesday. Marathoning Joker isn't as fun when there's a long wait.

Just to give you a heads up, Tuesday, August 16 the park is having a "Pokemon Go Lure-a-thon". So, it could be crowded. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[JGuy]

I have my fingers crossed that they have both trains running when I'm there on Tuesday. Marathoning Joker isn't as fun when there's a long wait.

Just to give you a heads up, Tuesday, August 16 the park is having a "Pokemon Go Lure-a-thon". So, it could be crowded. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

That depends... Are the children back in school yet?

Regaress of crowds, so long as two trains are running, the line moves fast.

[singemfrc]

I have my fingers crossed that they have both trains running when I'm there on Tuesday. Marathoning Joker isn't as fun when there's a long wait.

Just to give you a heads up, Tuesday, August 16 the park is having a "Pokemon Go Lure-a-thon". So, it could be crowded. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

I just took the survey on my last visit to the park and look what is now a part of it:

On the next page it asks if your visit was impacted by other guests playing the game, so I'm glad they're conscious of that.

[JGuy]

I myself have seen people playing it in the park. I've even gone with a friend once who, from time to time, would check his phone to see if anything interesting would show up. Thankfully, everyone I noticed seemed to be respectful of others and didn't block paths or walk painfully slow. So long as this will continue, I'm fine with the park embracing this trend.

[Domm]

Leaving park in a few. Major ride operation issues today. Joker down for 30+ minutes at least 4 times. Same with V2 and Medusa. Poster above was right about the one moving quickly with 2 trains. Prob about 25 - 30 minutes. Ride was good but nowhere near TC or Goliath. Kids still at park btw

[moviemansig]

Here is a trip report for yesterday. Parking is now $25, which is ridiculous. We started off at The Joker. I asked if we could sit in the very back row, but they were doing assigned seating, so we got placed in the 2nd to last row. The ride itself was outstanding, with excellent hang time. Medusa’s line was quite long because at first they were only running one train and then decided to do test runs of both. The hour long wait is the longest I’ve ever had to wait for Medusa. While waiting in line for Monsoon Falls, the ride experienced technical difficulties and stopped working. Thankfully, the issue was fixed and I was able to ride it. I got absolutely drenched on Monsoon Falls and The Penguin (did them back-to-back), so I paid $5 again to use a dryer. Hammerhead wasn’t operating at all due to technical difficulties; the same was the case with Voodoo. Thrilla Gorilla was also down. On the whole, the lines were longer than when I’ve gone on previous summer weekend days. It was a Discover Card/Season Pass ERT event at the park, which may have contributed to the crowds being how they were.

[JGuy]

Just now leaving the park. They had little games scattered throughout the park where you could win plushies of different Pokémon.

Despite the event, the park wasn't crowded. Probably about average for a weekday.

Superman never opened, Kong was open with one train like usual, and V2 experienced several issues throughout the day.

Joker was running quite well, even though it came to a halt twice throughout the day. (I was on the ride both times). Regardless, I never saw them shut down the ride during the day. Some cars on Purple train sounded like they were running with Polyeruthane wheels (1st and 2nd it felt like), while the others are still vibrating like they usually do with the nylon wheels. Seems odd to me...

The line never seemed to go over 20 minutes, so I mostly rode that all day. Also, they were allowing me to request the back row all day today, so it must depend entirely on how crowded the park is that day.

[FolsomFan]

I got an e-mail saying a new ride announcement would happen on 9/1 ... any ideas?

[Rollercoaster Rider]

My guess S&S Free Spin

 

Did Kong get new vest restraints?

[RyanTPM]

^They just got The Joker this year so that seems unlikely, never know though i guess.

[djackson]

My guess S&S Free Spin

 

Did Kong get new vest restraints?

 

Most Definitely not. Why would they get a free spin right after Joker. There are many other parks in line for a coaster before them. SFA, Sfstl, Sfot, Great Escape, La Ronde.

[JGuy]

Did Kong get new vest restraints?

 

If they do that, it won't happen happen until after they finish the mini refurbishment next month to prepare for the VR headsets. We'll know on September 24th.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

I was surprised they said they were getting a new ride. All year I've predicted they were going to get a different movie in the "5D" theater, or VR a coaster for 2017. They're already getting VR this year so "new ride" could be a different (and hopefully better) movie in the IWERKS theater.

 

Most other Six Flags are rumored for S&S coaster or Justice League, but there has been no clearing of land at SFDK that I know of for either of those, so they seem a bit unlikely. I will throw in S&S drop tower/double shot as an idea, to go in the space between Joker and Superman. That land is already pretty clear since Joker construction, and it seems like a good place for a Justice League themed tower.

[j_dreamfinder]

You know when you stop and think about it, we really got a lot of new stuff this year compared to other parks.

 

The Pacific Rim ride film is pretty terrible but at least they brought an unused attraction back from the dead (and there's always the option to switch out the film anyways). VR and a rehab of Revolution at SFMM was all they got and we are also getting new VR plus what looks like a minor rehab of Kong. And of yeah.. there's the addition of the Joker too

 

After a year like that, I would expect something small. I predict a couple new kids/family rides in Looney Tunes Seaport. There's the empty cement pad where they used to have the water play area and also Daffy's Divers, which has been closed all year, as possible space to add new rides. I know it's not a thrill ride like we all hope (and I hope I'm wrong) but if you look at what the park added in past years there's definitely a pattern and I think this area of the park is due for some TLC.

[JGuy]

When did they say that Discovery Kingdom is getting any new ride?

[singemfrc]

You know when you stop and think about it, we really got a lot of new stuff this year compared to other parks.

 

The Pacific Rim ride film is pretty terrible but at least they brought an unused attraction back from the dead (and there's always the option to switch out the film anyways). VR and a rehab of Revolution at SFMM was all they got and we are also getting new VR plus what looks like a minor rehab of Kong. And of yeah.. there's the addition of the Joker too

 

After a year like that, I would expect something small. I predict a couple new kids/family rides in Looney Tunes Seaport. There's the empty cement pad where they used to have the water play area and also Daffy's Divers, which has been closed all year, as possible space to add new rides. I know it's not a thrill ride like we all hope (and I hope I'm wrong) but if you look at what the park added in past years there's definitely a pattern and I think this area of the park is due for some TLC.

I agree, it's been the best year in a long time at SFDK for new additions.

 

When did they say that Discovery Kingdom is getting any new ride?

In this month's newsletter. Though as pointed out "new ride" could be a very general term. I also doubt SFDK would install another new coaster that fast. Considering what SFDK has and has gotten recently I really have no idea what it might be. I'll have to wait and see.

[JGuy]

Hm, must have missed that when I skimmed through it.

 

If they are adding a new ride, I'd imagine a new flat ride for the empty spot in Looney Toons Seaport, as someone mentioned above. Possibly a replacement for Voodoo if we're lucky.