Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (SFDK) Discussion Thread

[XYZ]

If we are thinking about the future, I think a family ride would be very good at SFDK because there are lots of families going to SFDK more for the animals than coasters. You have to remember that SFDK is the closest counter part of a SeaWorld in Northern California. Now, with these families, if they don't like to go on coasters, they are pretty much left with going on kiddie rides. I think that a family coaster like Pandemonium or perhaps a Sally dark ride would be good for the future of SFDK.

[Mean Streak]

Why were parts from Greese Lightening show up from CGA to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

[SoCalCoasters]

Why were parts from Greese Lightening show up from CGA to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom?

 

It was canibalized mainly for parts for the chain's other Schwarzkopf shuttle loop, which is also now SBNO at SFKK. Several pieces of the ride's catwalk were also repurposed for an area around Kong,

[Bibbabrat]

Thank you Silperez for the TR regarding Fright Fest. I had been wondering how Fright Fest was this year. I admit to having been a little disapointed last year and was really hoping that they had made some improvements.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

I just got back from SFDK today.

 

If you like cheerleaders... you missed your day. There was some kind of cheer competition and that meant skirted teeny-boppers were everywhere!

 

I didn't do any of the mazes today, but I did hang around to catch Danse Macabre and try the scare zones.

 

Danse Macabre: Totally worth seeing! I definitely want to watch it again. The singers were really talented and I loved the covers they did. Just to name a few: "E.T." "Somebody I Used to Know" and "Thriller."

 

Scare zones:

Cirkus Bersekus: I only went through it once and it was kinda... meh. There weren't very many scare actors inside (and one was chatting idly with someone), there wasn't any theming, and the entire scare "zone" was really short and randomly placed.

 

Bloodbath Bayou: This scare zone was great! I loved the huge crocodiles, the scare actors were all in character and did a great job, and I felt like it was in a much better area for a scare zone.

 

On to my pictures!

 

CHEERLEADERS. O.o

Superman!

Spider!

I like the theming at the front of the park!

More theming

There were some interesting gravestones to read... too bad there's no way I could read anything past the first row!

There weren't too many places around the park with theming... and some seemed kinda random like this one next to the Kettle Corn stand

No one ever talks about or photographs this ride, so I decided to do both. Thrilla Gorilla... a nice family ride

"This is why you don't run with scissors, kids!"

Aka: "Cheerleaders must shut their mouths in this area. We don't want to hear it." Possibly the best sign I've ever seen!

Medusa <3

This was the "meh" scare zone in my opinion

BLOOD FOUNTAIN! I thought this was actually really cool. I didn't quite understand what the thing in the middle was supposed to be though...

This would be a wonderfully beautiful photo... too bad there are too Vekomas in the way!

I rode Kong in the orange train in the 3rd row... and it beat the hell out of me. I decided to get back in line so I could try the yellow train and sat about 4 rows from the back... and it beat the hell out of me even more. I still have a headache and backache from that.... really really bad idea to ride Kong twice in a row. I usually don't mind it but today it was really painful. I think I like it better when I ride it mid-afternoon, so I'm thinking the time of day has more relation to roughness than orange vs. yellow train.

I'll end with pics I took of the scare zone I liked

This gator was so sick looking even in the day!

Scare actors doing some good scaring

Don't eat me! I've been munching on Six Flags food today!

Really... where did these gators come from??

"BLARGHASDEHEAASHHH!!!"

"OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!!"

Sorry for probably blinding you with my flash, but your costume does look really good!

 

Either next week or the week after I'll make it back with some friends and do the mazes!

[XYZ]

This is probably the first time in years that Lake Chabot Stadium has been used.

 

Since you want discussion on Thrilla Gorilla, it's a nice family ride, though the gorilla is missing his middle fingers...

[pdcon]

As for the alligators, they where all movie props for lake placid.

[Mean Streak]

nice PTR

[Andrewoplis]

Cool PTR. I was there on Sunday too, and as fare as mazes go, some where better than others. Here's my take on them:

 

Massacre Mine- The new maze for 2012 and I have to say, my first time in this maze I was kind of disappointed. I went right around the time the mazes started to open, (Around 6 p.m.) and the first thing that surprised me was that it was an outdoor maze, seemed kind of unfitting for a mine themed attraction. Another thing was how the main part of the maze felt so crammed in there, and yes, they didn't have whole lot of room to work with, but it seemed like they could of done so much more. But, my disappointment pretty much faded away when a came back later when it was dark! Its almost a completely different maze at night! The actors were much more well hidden which meant they could scare much easier, and the darker lighting works so well with the whole mine them of the maze. So over all, I think next time they should open this maze about hour later because in the day time, its sort of, "meh." But its SO much better at night! I hope to see this return next year.

 

Slaughter House Pig Farms- Once again this maze did not disappoint. The detail and theming of this maze was great, especially for a Sixflags park! The maze hasn't really change from last year, but they did fix some of the issues it had last year. Mainly the problem with people getting confused about the "Chicken exits", they where MUCH more clear on whats the chicken exit and whats not. The actors where also great in this maze as well, they scaring and just doing their job really well. But as much as a love this maze, it seemed to have had the shortest line out of all of the mazes, so I hope its staying for a few more Fright Fests.

 

Captain Bloat's Shipwreck- This maze was SO much better then it was last year! Last year, although the maze was well themed and the actors seemed really into it, it was a very short maze and seemed like it could of been so much more. I think the park noticed this too, because this year, I came out loving this maze! It had every thing I liked about it before, but with even more detail and it was much longer! Also, it used the elements around it very well (Mainly the fish tanks), not only as theming, but as scare props as well! So over all, I'm really glad SFDK saw the potential that this maze as I had and made it great!

 

Nightmare Manor- This maze was just as fun as it was last year. It has some great, well themed scenes as well as many great gags in there as well (you never know whats prop, some one trying to scare you). I'm always shocked about how long the maze is and how much they were able to fit in such a small space! So over all, great theming, they actors were doing great, and its just over all a well done attraction.

 

Scrapyard of the Dead- Nothing has really changed in this maze, but nothing really should. Its a great outdoor maze that I find just as good in the day time, as I do at night. One think to note is that this maze is loud! Lots of people banging on walls and other objects. But I really do like this maze and I hope to see it back in all its glory next year!

Edited October 16, 2012 by Andrewoplis

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

^Thanks Andrewpolis! You're the first person to go into depth about each of the mazes. After reading your review I'm even more excited to visit again soon and try the mazes!

 

^^^Wow that's actually really cool! They looked like super-detailed alligators so I figured they must have been from something else before Fright Fest

[Angry_Gumball]

So you guys had the skirted teeny bopper girls up your way too? We had some down at CGA for another cheer competition. Luckily there wasn't a whole lot of them to be seen but did get an awkward cheer session riding Delirium...Please, just don't do it girls...(Sadly, the GP followed their claps...)

[Andrewoplis]

^^ Your welcome! If you do go, try to get the Vip wrist band, its $10 more but when I went, it seemed like nobody bought the vip wrist band, meaning that I didn't have to what longer then 10 minutes (Shipwreck was the only maze that wasn't a walk on for me.)

 

^ That funny thing is every time I've gone to fright fest, its always cheerleader day! But sad part about that is that I'm not exaggerating what so ever!

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

I went to Fright Fest yesterday and had the most amazing time! I'm a total fan of it now!

 

First off, I'll preface this TR by saying that I'm that girl who screams super loud every time anything startles me or jumps out at me in these mazes. So if I say, "Oh I was scared so much in this maze!" you should probably take it with a grain of salt if you're not a person who's scared easily by these things.

 

All of the mazes we did twice except for Scrapyard of the Dead.

 

Captain Bloat's Shipwreck of Horror:

We did this maze first. I got so lost as I was going through it the first time! I was the first person in a line of eight and I almost led people down the wrong way a few times! It was really really dark and that's what made it creepy because in a few areas I could not see s***! There wasn't too much additional theming but I liked how they incorporated the shark tanks in the maze. Both times we went through this maze we screamed a lot!

 

Arsenic and Arania's Massacre Manor

The first time through this I led again and they got quite a few screams out of me! The best part of this maze is the scene with the mirror toward the end. I won't spoil it in case you're planning to go, but it's a really cool effect! Also the hallway with all the mirrors was super creepy and the scare actor in that area made me scream really loudly both times!

 

Massacre Mine

Our first time it was still sort of light out but my friend and I were the only ones walking through, so even though we could see our way, this maze delivered quite a few scares! I have to complement one of the female scare actors for her really creepy throat sound... I have no idea how you made that sound but it was awesome! The second time we were behind a large slow group and we didn't get too many scares. The maze never had any line, but I would have rather waited than get stuck behind the large group. Overall, I'd say this was still the second-scariest maze.

 

Slaughter House Pig Farms (Wish I had gotten a photo of the entrance!)

This was my personal favorite! I loved it so much! First of all, the maze made great use of the 4D theater (and it made me miss the 4D theater a ton!). It had a lot of awesome special effects, just to name a few: the guy with the maggots, the freezer room, and the girl on the table. There were two guys who got the best scares of the night from me: the guy in the meat room Come here my piggies!!! (shudder)... and a guy in the last room with a pig mask. The first time we went through he was standing in such a way that I thought he was a prop, and when I got a little closer he scared the heck out of me! Both times we went through this maze we had some great scares, although I think the first time was a little better mainly because of the pig-masked guy.

 

Scrapyard of the Dead

Probably my least-favorite maze... if it weren't for the fog, it wouldn't be very creepy in my opinion. The best part was one section where the fog was super thick and I couldn't see anything and a scare actor jumped out at me right then and I screamed super loud. It's worth doing if you get the chance, but in my opinion the others were way better! We only did this maze once, so it's possible we just didn't pick a good time.

 

Scare zones:

Like before, Cirkus Berserkus wasn't that exciting even though we saw more clowns this time, but Bloodbath Bayou was so much fun! The scare actors did a great job interacting with us and we left the scare zone laughing because of how much fun we had!

 

Shows:

Dance Macabre: Again, I really loved this show. Here are two video clips of two of my favorite songs they did:

 

Club Cetacean Dolphin Show: It was so groovy! Here are a few pics (I have a video too if anyone is interested):

I didn't get very many good pics of the dolphin show, but it was so fun! I totally want the trainer's 70s costumes!

I also helped get my friend picked to be in the dolphin show! There she is waiting her turn to the left

 

The Final Freakout: Some great fire twirlers, dudes in light suits dancing to Gangnam Style (awesome), and the dance troupe doing the Time Warp... if you have a chance to see it, I recommend it!

 

Here are some more random pics throughout the day!

Ahhhhhh a tree beast!

Lauren made peace with the tree beast! Now tree beasts and humans can live together in harmony!

Medusa

Corn husk creep! Corn husk creep makes people in the background appear blurry!!!

Cool black-eyed dude!

[douggw]

Went today (Saturday) to process our season passes, and thought the crowds would get bad during the evening hours, but I was wrng. The crowds were bad from the start! First off, the web page said the park opened at noon, so we arrived at 11:30 to get in, get a ride on Superman and process our passes. The park was already open and had been for sometime when we got there.

 

We hurried over to Superman which was an hour wait, and then went to process our season passes. The line for that (which is an extremely inefficient way of doing it, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why they can't renew previous year's passes online since they already have our photo) and the line for the season pass processing was all the way out to the big animal signs - where the giraffe and other animal sign is, that tells you you are entering the SKY part of the park. And that's AFTER they turned a lot of people away (including us) by saying that they would let you process your season passes and still get the "Gold" for free as long as you did it by the end of December. You just had to get your papers stamped showing you were there.

 

There were hundreds of Key Club teenagers that were everywhere in the park! And in all the lines they would perform a very annoying cheer that for the first few times was funny, but very quickly got very annoying!

 

They were only running one parking lot tram, and when we left around 2:30pm the parking lot was closed as it was full, and they were herding all the cars across the street to the fairgrounds. The Medusa line was all the way to the rock climbing wall.

 

We were there for 3 hours and went on Superman and watched the dolphin show. We couldn't get out of there fast enough! We've been going to that park for 10 years now, and have NEVER seen it this bad. It was so terrible you couldn't even walk in the Medusa area, and that was during the day!

 

We had some friends who stayed, and they said the Superman line was 2.5 hours long!

I'd love to know what their bank deposit was today! It must have been HUGE!

[#1rollercoasterfan]

OMG!!! I was there today also & I have NEVER seen it so packed there!!! I was miserable!!! It is not fun at all when it is packed & you hardly have room to walk around & lines are outrageously LONG. There's nothing worse! I will NEVER go on a weekend day again. This was my only time there this year & I won't be going again till next year. I thought it opened at Noon! How come it was open earlier? I got there by 12:30 & headed to Superman first thing. Luckily the line then was only an hour. Man it was good & worth the wait. Next time I go on a quiet day next year I will ride it like 10 times. Superman & Monsoon Falls were my only 2 rides of the day it was that crowded. & I only went to 2 shows the Sea Lion & Tiger. I should have gotten the Platinum Fast Lane it would have been so worth it. I should get it from now on since I go only once a year. I finally got out of there at 7. & Yes those stupid chants were so annoying. I am thinking of going opening day when they open next year. I know it's a Saturday but aren't opening days pretty quiet? I am so glad I am back at home! So today was my worst day I've had at a theme park. Wow Superman got to be 2.5 hours long? I figured it was about 2. Insane! I'll never wait in a 2 hour line after waiting 2 hours for X2. A 2 + hour line is so not worth it. I've been going to SFDK since the 80's. I miss the Prairie Dogs crawl through where you crawled around on your hands & popped up in little plastic viewing areas to view the Prairie Dogs. & Of course the playground too. Does anyone remember where the Prairie Dogs & the playground were?

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

^ & ^^ Wow!! That makes me so glad I went on Friday and not Saturday! We were considering Saturday because the park was open longer but I see now that would have been a mistake!

 

Did either of you do any mazes or hang around to see how long the lines were for those?

 

When I went on Friday we got into the park shortly after opening and rode Superman 3 times consecutively because there were walk-on lines! Later it looked to be about a 45-minute wait but definitely not 2 hours! How far did the line extend on Saturday?

[jray21]

^^ I loved the Prairie Dog exhibit! I used to have a Prairie Dog as a pet, so I loved watching them. They actually make really cool pets. They used to be at the end of Tavas Jungleland torward the giraffe end of the area. The were on the right side, if you are walking from the elephants toward the giraffe area.

[singemfrc]

SFMM has Key Club day as well and it's probably the busiest day of the year there too. Always, always stay away from the park on Key Club day!

[#1rollercoasterfan]

How is opening day at SFDK is it always pretty light? I know it's on a Saturday but I'm willing to try it since I've read on here opening days are nice times to go. Hopefully it will be light so I can ride Superman 10 times in a row. I can't wait for the day(hopefully opening day) I ride it 10 times! At first the guy told me row 6 for Superman but I ignored what he said & went to the front row. I didn't want to be in the back for my first time on it! The only best seat for that ride is the front. I suggest anyone who goes on it sit in the front! Anybody have pictures of the playground? They should have kept it. I have a couple but they don't show much. There's one of me coming out of that red slide & one of me in the blue covered bouncy area with the blue pointy cones & one of me with my cousins sitting against the side of the whale slide/bawl crawl area. I had no idea it was a Key Club day. How do you know when they are? I'll never go on a Key Club day again!

[simaticable]

Here's your Holiday in the Park teaser:

 

[singemfrc]

^ So theyre moving Goliath up to SFDK from SFMM for the holidays? Sweet!

[scooterdoug]

I will NEVER go on a weekend day again. This was my only time there this year & I won't be going again till next year.

 

That's a huge mistake. Sundays in December are the quietest you will find the park. Waits range from station waits to full-blown walk-ons. Go on a Sunday in December (before schools are on Christmas break, of course), and you will not be disappointed. Sundays during December (also known as Holiday in the Park) are my absolute favorite time to go...and I have an overwhelmingly strong aversion to long lines. Give it a shot in a month...trust me on this.

[singemfrc]

^ I'll see you there!

[mark549]

I've been to Holiday in the Park on weekdays and the lines were minimal to non-existent. The ideal time is when the temperature is warm enough for the rides but too cold for most Californians. Medusa in the dark when it is cold was fun.

 

I also went to SFMM last year (after christmas, not before) and the park was full with huge lines everywhere. A previous December visit found walk-ons (including on Tatsu), but it was drizzling on and off, which scared people away.

[scooterdoug]

^^Fantastic! I intend to post here about a week before I go. I would love to meet up with some of the local TPR people one of these days.