Earlier this week Six Flags Discovery Kingdom teased that something might be happening in their old Iwerks theater, which opened in 1997 and has been used for storage and Halloween mazes since 2008. Today they announced what’s happening, and it’s that they’ve partnered with Warner Bros and SimEx-Iwerks Entertainment to open the first motion-based Pacific Rim ride in the world (and the first ride of any kind tied to the blockbuster movie in the United States).
Jaeger vs Kaiju, coming to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom!
The announcement from Discovery Kingdom says the experience “pairs the explosive special effects from the popular action-based science fiction film with a thrilling new ride simulation experience.” Park President Don McCoy added, “Bringing in an intense, high-energy and popular movie like Pacific Rim to our Iwerks 5D Theater is a great addition to our thrill line-up.” It appears that along with seat motion and the 3D film, in theater special effects (the fifth dimension, I guess?) will also be part of the ride.
The old Iwerks theater getting put back into use after 8 long years!
The 2013 Guillermo del Toro film, for those of you who haven’t seen it, follows in the tradition of Japanese monster (Kaiju) movies with giant alien (I think they were aliens) Kaiju trying to destroy the planet. Humanity joins together to build giant robots (Jaegers) to fight the monsters, and awesome giant sized mayhem ensues. It sounds like the ride will throw guests into the final big battle from the film, or something similar. The movie certainly looked like a good setting for an action ride, although whether riders take the position of the “Jaeger” drivers or of outside observers is unknown. I’m not actually sure which would be better, but I hope there aren’t changes in the camera perspective, one of my great annoyances with many motion based rides (follow the Back to the Future ride model!).
Interestingly, the announcement comes a few months after nearby California’s Great America announced Mass Effect: New Earth, their own 5D ride based on the hit Electronic Arts and Bioware game franchise. The Great America ride involves what look like significant upgrades to their Action Theater, so might be a bit bigger of an investment, but clearly this is at least partly a response to that by Discovery Kingdom.
Nearby California’s Great America is also getting a 5D ride, based on the Mass Effect game franchise
Of course, there are two big differences. First, the Pacific Rim Experience is set to open with sneak previews THIS MONTH (UPDATE: looks like they’ve actually already started, so it’s previewing now!!), and an official opening in a few weeks, whereas Great America is currently closed for the offseason (although it sounds like they’re likely going year ’round starting next year), so Mass Effect won’t open for a couple more months. The other big difference is that this isn’t the major new attraction coming to Discovery Kingdom. That would be the RMC conversion under construction, The Joker (see our construction update from a couple weeks ago). This is an extra bonus for fans used to only one big new attraction each year. How often does a ride get announced just weeks before it’s opening, and how often does a relatively small park get both a new roller coaster (from one of the best designers in the business) and a new motion ride in the same eyar?
Certainly these are pretty good times for Discovery Kingdom fans.
If you want to take a visit to the park, the hours can be found on their website. Basically they’re open every weekend the rest of winter. UPDATE: Sneak previews have started now, so you can go check out the ride. The official opening should be sometime next month or so.
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