Construction on the Joker at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is getting pretty close to completion, so the park offered one final hardhat tour of the construction site to allow us a chance to look at the progress, and really a couple of the final pieces of the ride. We were guided through the construction site by Charles Laureano, the operations supervisor for Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, and also had a chance to speak with Justin Whitehead, Rocky Mountain Constructions foreman on the project (who we also got to speak with back during our January construction tour).
A lot more joker track is visible from the parking lot. A lovely addition to the skyline.
Lots of New Track for the Joker
The first thing one notices when arriving at the construction site is that a bunch of more wood has been added to the Step-Up Under-Flip that we saw RMC installing on the last visit. They were still adding support structure to the inside of the turn as we toured.
Lots of new wood supporting the outside of the step-up under-flip.
The second thing one notices is how much of the track is already complete. According to Justin there are only 12 track pieces left to be installed, and all of them are currently on site. The remaining section is basically the final barrel roll leading into the steeply banked turn into the station.
A lot of completed track, with the remaining pieces ready to go.
If you remember back in January we had pictures of joint #25 of the track that had recently been completed. Now were up to 380+ joints!
The tour began over near the bottom of the drop, with Charles describing the elements and some of the work still being performed.
Charles Laureano, operations supervisor at Discovery Kingdom, talking about the progress on the Joker.
He mentioned that preliminary testing of the ride has already begun. The lift hill has been tested and is working 100%. Blocking systems and proximity sensors have also been tested, and the train completed it’s first “roll” that morning, moving to a new position. Lastly, he said the transfer track and storage system were also tested that morning. In his words, “Things are going very well on that end.”
Obligatory awesome Joker drop picture
Additional supports being added to the step-up under-flip to reduce sway.
We headed under the lift hill, which as I mentioned has the chain drive system installed and is working, towards the middle of the ride. The zero-G stall, the third highest element on the ride, is fully complete as is the “Asian camelback” underneath it. Why and Asian camelback? Well, as Charles and Captain Lee pointed out, Asian camels are two humped.
The zero-G stall with the two humped Asian Camelback underneath.
The camelback heading up under the zero-G stall
Charles described one of the challenges with the construction being than in the tight space, RMC had to figure out the order of building elements so they could get their equipment out of the center of the ride (specifically the large crane used for lifting track into place). You may remember from our first construction report the hole under the structure that would become the zero-G roll where the crane could be moved out. When asked about any difficulties with this project, Justin said that the tightness of the space was basically the only issue, figuring out how to get equipment in and out. When asked what he’s most looking forward to on the ride, he called out the zero-G stall first. Although he also mentioned that one of the high-G corners will probably be their most thrilling section.
One of the elements that looks the most fun to me is the breaking wave turn that comes after the roll. If that’s not symbolic of Rocky Mountain Construction’s famously twisted track, I don’t know what is.
The twists into and out of the breaking wave turn look like a blast.
The track coming out of the breaking wave turn over the lift hill and then down under the camelbacks is also finished and ready to go. The section over the lift is tight, which will add some unexpected thrill to the entrance of the lift hill. Because of how long it is RMC had to add an extra steel support.
The breaking wave turn exits over the lift hill, creating a little headchopper for the riders going up the lift. Extra steel support had to be added because of how wide the gap is under the track.
The track then heads under the camelback with a twisted little airtime hill, and then into a large sweeping turn low to the ground that goes up into the camelback element.
The bendy track coming under the camelback after the breaking wave turn running parallel to the zero-G stall.
The large overbanked turn backed against the initial drop and the rise into the step-up under-flip.
After going through the camel back, the track drops again and enters another large overbanked turn, almost 270 degrees. Justin said he thinks this could actually be the most thrilling element on the ride with high G forces through the corner. That then enters the final inversion of the ride, a low to the ground zero-G barrel roll. This section is the only remaining part to be tracked, but the support structures is partly completed. Currently there are 26 full time RMC employees on site working on the project, way up from the 15 that were there back in January. Justin said some of these are guys brought in from Storm Chaser and Lightning Rod, the two other major RMC projects going on this winter, to help push to the finish on the Joker.
The large overbanked turn out of the camelback is in the process of having the track installed.
The zero-G roll under the camelback is one of the last elements left to be constructed.
Following this we headed under the brake run towards the front of the ride to check out the work that is being done on the entrance.
The green train in position on the last brake run.
The Station and Queue
The ride entrance is in the process of being painted, and a old roar queue has been extended to about double it’s previous length, according to Charles.
The queue remains basically the same, but with lots of extra switchbacks added.
The ride entrance has been painted bright red and yellow, with more paint work still coming.
Most exciting though, we got to see the concept art of what the entrance should look like once completed. The clown head looks terrifying, and the artwork on the path in front of the ride looks fantastic.
The future look of the ride entrance.
In addition to the work on the entrance, new retail buildings are being built nearby to sell Joker memorabilia as well as the on-ride photos.
The Joker Reveals the New Front Car!
Finally, the last part of the tour was the big reveal of the front car of the Joker trains, introduced by none other than The Joker himself. The details of the artwork on the front as well as on the sides of the cars looks great. Although I think I might be partial to the green cars more than the purple, but that’s just me.
The Joker reveals…himself!
Close up of the front car, the detail on the decoration is awesome.
I love that the train cars also included little bits of artwork, and the “Ha Ha Has” on the side.
Finally, to show off a potential prize pack gift, the fun Joker hard hat, and to show that I cannot take a selfie:
Joker selfie! I wonder if I should give away this hard hat in a prize pack…
So there you have it folks, the final hard hat tour of the Joker. It is clear that it’s pretty close to completion. Justin guessed that roughly one or two more weeks of track work would be needed and then testing and commissioning work can start-up (as well as the cleanup of the site). We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as an opening date is announced. Many many thanks to Nancy Chan, Captain Lee Munro, and Charles Laureano from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, as well as to Justin Whiteman and the whole Rocky Mountain crew for letting us get in their way and answering all of our questions. You can check out more about Discovery Kingdom, including their current hours (the park is open) on their website. Let us know what you think of the Joker so far, any guesses on what your favorite element will be?
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