Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (SFDK) Discussion Thread

Am I the only one who is thinking why is this coaster going up so late?? ( sorry if this was asked or said already )

Well, Superman might be going up late but its going up very quick! So this ride should be up and testing pretty soon!!

Am I the only one who is thinking why is this coaster going up so late?? ( sorry if this was asked or said already )

Yeah, it's been discussed for the last 30 pages or so. It is what it is. It's going up now and will open when it's ready.

Superman kind of looks like a jungle gym right now. I'd like to climb on it!

Agreed.

It's nice to see two trip reports.

 

So, everyone is complaining about Kong, but call me crazy, I actually kind of like the ride. Whenever I go to SFDK, I ride it often and its more that I ride it because there aren't that many large coasters in the park. I despise launched coasters, so I don't ride V2, so that leaves me with Roar, Kong, & Medusa. I hope that Superman will be a coaster that sucks everyone into that line, thus giving the other coasters a shorter line. Even though I despise launched coasters, I hope that I'll enjoy Superman and it won't have as much as a forceful launch as V2 since it is a Premier coaster so I'll probably like that more.

You have launched coasters but don't mind SLC's?

You ARE crazy

^ This is same the guy who thought the Giant Dipper was "Really rough and painful"

Time for a 3rd

This is solely from my experiences. V2 is a better coaster than Kong, I just don't like the suprising launched part. I had a painful ride on Giant Dipper in the middle of the train on a wheel seat, I formed this opinion because it was painful, especially because of the Morgan trains.

I know I've already said this but, I like the surprise launch, makes it more exciting not knowing when your going to take off!

I do enjoy the anticipation of those surprise launches. The ride operator was having fun with the riders last Sunday. After the all clear, she would calmly chat with a nervous rider, then unexpectedly press the button. She would then laugh at the looks on their faces. One girl was very nervous, and asked for a countdown. The ride op was totally understanding, and started counting down from 10...pressing the button in the middle of "8". Made the wait in line rather enjoyable.

I getting excited for this to open. It's coming along great and will be a good addition to the park. I just wish it had better capacity. I'll definitely be there for any season pass premiers/opening.

Looks like there will indeed be at least one piece of definitive themeing on the new coaster. SFDK just posted this photo on their Facebook page.

Lumber in an iconic shape.

I'm really getting worried about Memorial Day weekend. Goliath at SFMM for example required 1 month of testing. In that case, the ride should've been done by April 27th.

As of right now, I realistically see an either extremely late spring (last day of spring, still technically spring, you know...) or just in time for the start of summer peak season. They do somewhat seem to be progressing right along with this but not quick enough for a Memorial Day Weekend opening. I could be totally wrong but this is just my guess.

I have no worries. If it opens Memorial Day weekend, awesome, if not, so what. We got the whole summer all the way till Holiday in the park/January 6, 2013 to ride it this season. Just glad NorCal is finally getting coasters!

I have no worries. If it opens Memorial Day weekend, awesome, if not, so what. We got the whole summer all the way till Holiday in the park/January 6, 2013 to ride it this season. Just glad NorCal is finally getting coasters!

Hey, I like your attitude! That's a great way to look at it! Everyone should relax cause roller coasters open when they open, and there's nothing us enthusiasts can do, and complaining won't make it come faster.

I have no worries. If it opens Memorial Day weekend, awesome, if not, so what. We got the whole summer all the way till Holiday in the park/January 6, 2013 to ride it this season. Just glad NorCal is finally getting coasters!

 

Hey, I like your attitude! That's a great way to look at it! Everyone should relax cause roller coasters open when they open, and there's nothing us enthusiasts can do, and complaining won't make it come faster.

Well, I'm moving out of Nor Cal in June, so I'm not very relaxed. Though, I can come back in September if I have the money for the airfare.

I'm really getting worried about Memorial Day weekend. Goliath at SFMM for example required 1 month of testing. In that case, the ride should've been done by April 27th.

Goliath and this Superman are 2 completely different rides, which means testing times might be different. And besides, just because it might not open on Memorial Day weekend does mean its the end of world.

As of right now, I realistically see an either extremely late spring (last day of spring, still technically spring, you know...) or just in time for the start of summer peak season. They do somewhat seem to be progressing right along with this but not quick enough for a Memorial Day Weekend opening. I could be totally wrong but this is just my guess.

To give you an idea of how much is left to go, the final piece of Sky Rocket was put in place May 18th. The ride opened June 22nd. There's a lot more that goes into getting the ride ready than testing, especially with Premier coasters. Each stator on the launch needs to be adjusted to allow the proper clearance between the magnets on the trains. It might not seem like a long process, but it is! Especially when you're winching the train up the launch inch by inch to make your measurements. Calibration and testing also needs to be done on the launch itself, which when it was done to Sky Rocket, the people who manufacture the stators had to fly in from Germany. Once all that is done, the PLC needs to be programmed. Also, depending on how strict Six Flags is with their new ride testing, that could also take some time. With Sky Rocket, the park only performed a few hundred tests on the trains before they cleared it to open. Hersheypark on the other hand said that 200+ HOURS of testing needs to be done on each train before Sky Rush can open to the public. Kinda gives you a good perspective on the time frame we are looking at with this ride. Let's keep in mind the entire structure hasn't even been put up either!

I'm really getting worried about Memorial Day weekend. Goliath at SFMM for example required 1 month of testing. In that case, the ride should've been done by April 27th.

 

Goliath and this Superman are 2 completely different rides, which means testing times might be different. And besides, just because it might not open on Memorial Day weekend does mean its the end of world.

It kinda is for me, I'm going Memorial Day Weekend.

So this weekend, I'm headed to Cedar Point. Today, I went from Greeley, Colorado to a small Nebraska town to spend the night. Along the way on I-80... I saw some supports for Superman going westbound! It was so sexy. I kept an eye open for more, but all I saw was a drop tower (Moser, I think) called "Shock Drop".

So today, I decided to take advantage of my day off from school and head out to SFDK. Today was math and physics day and it was VERY crowed, so didn't go on to much. But have a season pass and whole summer to go to the park many times so its not that big of a deal. Oh, and I also took some pictures!

Hello Superman supports!

And lets not forget about the track!

Some twisty bits.

Last time I was here, this spot had a sad, dismantled Pandemonium. And now there's a Premier launch coaster being built there!

Random man-lift thingy.

More of those awesome Superman supports!

The station and the tunnel are coming along quite nicely!

Awesomeness!

Here's the site as seen from Roar's queue.

Here's another look at that awesome station!

That's it for Superman, lets see what else is going on.

OMG Voodoo's fountain is on!! OMG!!!

Aw, look at the pretty butterfly!

Penguin!!

Random B&M!

Bye, Bye SFDK!

Thanks for the report! It seems that Superman is doing well in construction now. This is not going to open for Memorial Day. Also, the photos proved that Pandemonium's station isn't being re-used and that my thoughts that the south tower will be triangular was correct. I'm just waiting for them to get some more supports into the air.

I passed a truck carrying some supports for SFDK's Superman while traveling westbound on I-80 through Roseville this morning at about 5:30 AM as I was headed to work. It's the first time I've ever seen coaster parts being transported and actually knew where they were headed.

VooDoo's fountains!? Does not compute. That pond was GROSS last week when I rode it. Hope they at least cleaned it out a bit, but that is awesome! Hope that kind of upkeep lasts.

Superman's construction seems to have really slowed down. Not a whole lot of progress over the last week. The station and tunnel themeing are coming along though, which is good to see.

^VooDoo has fountains?!?

I didn't know there could be anything else besides green slime and trash to stare down at. Mind = blown.

Voodoo was poorly placed and poorly themed. Really, Voodoo is hidden as it's literally in a ditch and is located in a sleepy walkway of SFDK. For a major ride like this, I was surprised to see this where it was located.Also, other than the themed ride structure, all you see is a big concrete slab with some fountains.

I've actually liked the area surrounding Voodoo as to me, it adds to the theme. Though, as mentioned, that part of the park always appears to be completely dead. From my visits at the park, most of the activity takes place up front where Roar, V2, Kong, and Medusa reside...waning as you head towards the back of the park. It is however nice to hit up the rides back there and be away from the craziness up front, a great area to relax, walk, check out the animals, and ride some of the flats.

I'm absolutely shocked to see they finally got those running as since 1999, I had never seen them running. I saw the little pit with the nozzles down there, along with the slime-like substance (algae) forming. Now SFDK can get its share of GP questions of "Do you get wet on this?" (I frequently hear this question with CGA's Firefall ride). I guess you can say that Voodoo's now working fountains goes along with CGA adding a major coaster, something it hasn't seen since Stealth/Psycho Mouse.