Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is a combination
of marine park, animal park, and theme park;
located in Vallejo, California, USA.
During the attraction brief time as a theme
park, Discovery Kingdom has accumulated close
to 40 different rides, including a total of
8 roller coasters.
The park started its life in 1968, when it
opened to visitors as Marine World, a small
zoo.
Shortly after, the attraction merged with
a nearby animal farm, creating the larger
attraction, ‘Marine World Africa USA’.
However, due to the rising value of the park’s
land, Marine World was forced to relocate
to another area of California.
By 1986, the New Marine World, a larger and
more impressive zoo, had opened to the public.
Unfortunately, by 1996, the attraction had
accumulated a large debut, causing it to be
seized by the city of Vallejo.
At this point in time, Vallejo hired Premier
Parks, known now as the Six Flags Entertainment
Corporation, to manage, upgrade and improve
the New Marine World.
Instantly, Premier Parks began adding amusement
rides and attractions.
It was during this large burst of investment
when Marine World gained its first roller
coasters.
In 1998, the park installed it’s initial
two roller coasters; Kong, and Boomerang - Coast
to Coaster.
Kong opened to the public as a Vekoma suspended
looping roller coaster, allowing guests to
navigate a mixture of inversions while hanging
below the track.
Boomerang, on the other hand, is the classic
Vekoma boomerang model, found at many theme
parks around the globe.
Both rides drastically changed the park, giving
guests the chance to experience thrills and
not just animals.
At the end of the 1998 season, the park officially
became Six Flags Marine World, operating under
the Six Flags title.
With the new name, came the addition of more
roller coasters and attractions.
1999 resulted in the debut of Roar, the parks
first and only wooden roller coaster.
The ride, which was manufactured by Great
Coasters International, unfortunately closed
to the public during the 2015 season to make
way for a new addition.
During the closed season, Roar underwent large
scale modifications, by the Rocky Mountain
Construction company.
As a result, in 2016, the ride reopened to
the public as the Joker, a new hybrid roller
coaster.
Unlike Roar, the Joker features a steel track,
allowing guests to navigate multiple inversions
and other complex roller coaster elements.
On top of this, the ride is taller and faster
than its previous counterpart.
During the construction of Roar, Six Flags
Marine World also debuted a second roller
coaster, Roadrunner Express.
The ride is a family roller coaster, manufactured
by Zamperla.
Even after the introduction of 4 roller coasters,
the park continued to expand at a rapid pace.
The turn of the millennia resulted in the
construction of another two roller coaster
additions: Medusa, and Cobra.
Firstly, Medusa, is a B&M floorless coaster,
allowing guests to experience a multitude
of inversions, including the moderately rare
sea-serpent roll.
The ride still remains one of the most popular
at the park to this day.
With the introduction of Medusa came Cobra,
a smaller scale family coaster.
The ride, which was manufactured by Zierer,
is the classic Large Tivoli model.
At this point, the park ended its spree of
back to back large scale investments with
one final roller coaster.
In 2001, Six Flags Marine World installed
Vertical Velocity, an LIM launched impulse
coaster manufactured by Intamin.
Interesting, after only a year of operation,
Vertical Velocity underwent major modifications.
Due to surpassing local height restrictions,
the non-spiralling vertical tower was shortened,
while the second tower was altered to incline
at 45 degrees.
These unwanted changes have allowed the ride
to become somewhat unique, especially when
compared to other impulse coasters around
the world.
Following the addition of Vertical Velocity
was Zonga, a schwarzkopf sit-down looping
roller coaster.
Unfortunately, the ride was removed in 2004,
after only a year of operation.
Since the introduction of Zonga, large scale
additions have occured on a less regular basis.
The park saw the construction of another roller
coaster in 2008, in the form of Pandemonium,
previously Tony Hawk’s Big Spin.
Sadly, the Gerstlauer spinning coaster was
relocated to Six Flags Mexico in 2012.
However, a year prior to the introduction
of Pandemonium saw a major rebranding of the
park.
In January of 2007, Six Flags Marine World
became Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, with the
new name reflecting on all aspects of the
attractions experience.
At the same time, the park underwent extensive
physical changes.
Discovery Kingdom opened to the new season
with three distinct themed areas, land, sea
and sky; representing land animals, marine
mammals and roller coasters respectively.
Following the closure of Pandemonium, the
park set about replacing the attraction.
As a result, Superman Ultimate Flight, a new
thrill coaster, opened to the public in 2012.
Interestingly, Superman Ultimate Flight was
the world's first Sky Rocket 2, a well known
model manufactured by Premier Rides.
The coaster features an LSM launch system,
which accelerates riders three times, allowing
them to complete the agile and twisted looping
circuit.
Most recently, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
has constructed another first of its kind,
the Harley Quinn Crazy Coaster.
The attraction, which is situated beside Superman,
sees guests navigate back to back immelmann
inversions, using a tire propulsion system.
Harley Quinn Crazy Coaster is Skyline Attractions
first ever Skywarp, which blurs the line between
flat ride and roller coaster.
Besides large roller coasters, Six Flags Discovery
Kingdom is also home to a range of thrilling
flat rides and other attractions.
Guests can ride Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth,
a zamperla giant discovery; Dare Devil Chaos
Coaster, a Larson Super loop; or even Hammerhead
Shark, another looping flat ride.
For younger visitors, a large range of children's
rides can be found within Looney Tunes Seaport,
as well as Seawide Junction, two family areas
of the park.
Besides physical rides, Discovery Kingdom
has a lot to offer in terms of its animal
exhibits.
In the sea area of the park, guests can experience
sharks, seals, penguins and even dolphins.
On top of this, Tigers, Elephants, Giraffes,
reptiles and even a large range of butterflies
can be found within the park’s land section.
Throughout the year, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
also hosts a range of seasonal events, the
most notable of which include Fright Fest,
and Holiday in the Park.
Firstly, as its name suggests, Fright Fest
occurs around Halloween, giving guests the
chance to experience the park at night.
Besides riding the park’s roller coasters,
visitors can experience a range of haunted
houses and scare zones, and even interact
with the zombies and ghouls roaming the park.
Holiday in the Park, on the other hand, is
a seasonal holiday event, in which Discovery
Kingdom is turned into a winter wonderland.
Guests can experience a selection of the parks
rides, as well as a whole host of Christmas-y
activities.
While Discovery Kingdom isn’t the largest,
or most impressive Six Flags park, it’s
wide collection of attractions appeals to
all audiences, both young and old.
It’s for this reason, that Six Flags Discovery
Kingdom continues to grow and enhance its
overall Theme Park experience.
If you enjoyed this video, click the box on the left to check out 'Silver Dollar City: Explained',
over on the Coaster Studios channel.
