“You don’t stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing”     (Michael Pritchard)

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After two days of passholder previews, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom will open the Joker to the public Sunday May 29. The highly anticipated hybrid conversion of the former Roar is complete, and I literally bounded out of bed for the media event and opportunity to be among the first ride a new roller coaster.

While waiting for things to get underway we noticed that the area around The Joker, which already included Superman Ultimate Flight, is becoming a little DC Comics corner, and the recently added water ride, Tsunami Soaker, has received a new theme.

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Clearly one to keep on top of things, the Fowl One had even sent some of his fine feathered finks to see what all the commotion was about.

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But, let’s be frank (Frank’s cool, he won’t mind), cute water rides were not our primary objective.

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After a few words from the park’s director of marketing (dig those shoelaces), comic turned motivational speaker Michael Pritchard was brought up for a few words, followed by park president Don McCoy saying “I’ve never seen this kind of anticipation by the public for any new ride and it doesn’t disappoint. The experience adds tremendously to the park’s status as Northern California’s most thrilling theme park.”

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Although Michael Pritchard declined a seat, some other local comics were tapped to be the first jokers to ride The Joker.

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Finally, we were joined by a not entirely unexpected special guest to lead the countdown for cutting the ribbon!

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Those in attendance surged up the stairs, waited while the comics were seated, waited while the back half of the train was filled, waited while the reverse POV camera was adjusted. waited while the lap bars were checked, waited while they were rechecked. Alright, I’m a joshin’ and a funnin’. It’s a Joke(r).Those delays happened, but it really it wasn’t all that long before the train was dispatched!

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Your humble narrator declined a spot on the second train, because, well, he likes to do the back seat boogie, and it was worth waiting until the third train for that dance. And what was found? Turns out that with The Joker joining the ranks of Gold Striker and the historic Giant Dipper, the Bay Area now has three extraordinary wooden coasters, (as to the Grizzly, I can bring some matches) each of which offers a different ride experience. Here’s a POV of the ride, plus the concept animation that conveniently labels the new and unique elements of The Joker. Give it a watch and then let me know if you are brave enough to ride?

Though not the tallest hill around, The Joker quickly gets to speed with a 78 degree drop before rising into the world’s first step-up under flip, one of three inversions. Now all three of these are more barrel roll than vertical loop, and I have sometimes found these to be uncomfortable due to being thrown to the side while entering. I mean, there’s a corkscrew on Magic Mountain’s Viper that will give you a punch to the jaw from the harness. No harness here, though, just a seat belt and lap bar, thus a height requirement of only 48 inches. And on all of The Joker’s inversions riders are brought into a moment of weightlessness before being flipped over and sent on their way. The 180 degree stall that comes up second may be the best I’ve experienced. While still weightless and upside down, the train plummets at a near vertical pitch in a wholly unique airtime moment.

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And about airtime? There are 15 moments where riders aren’t merely floating out of their seat, but pop up with enough force to be sent flying into the air if not for the restraints. It actually started to hurt my thighs, and I briefly thought I would have to report this single flaw. However, when I remembered that I had spent the previous day hiking from the floor of Yosemite Valley to the rim, I realized that pretty much everything was going to make my thighs hurt that day, so I suspect that it won’t normally be an issue. Before hitting the final Zero G Roll is what Six Flags calls “the ultimate fake-out”, the Breaking Wave turn. This diabolical twist seems to be a left turn that suddenly goes to the right. I was fooled every single time.

Naturally riders will exit into the new Funhouse Shop, but workers were still hurriedly putting the final touches on this retail location during the preview.

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We’ll take a look at The new 4D attraction at California’s Great America on our next Day by The Bay, but all seemed to agree that Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has a huge hit on their hands with The Joker!

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Marc Ricketts
Marc Ricketts is a writer/photographer who has not yet outgrown roller coasters, and provides news and information about San Francisco Bay Area destinations. Mark's columns can frequently be found on MiceChat in our Weekend Updates.