The Joker Construction Update #8

Northern California has been subjected to some crazy and unfortunate weather over the past few weeks, and as a result, making trips out to the wonderful Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has proved a bit tricky. After checking the park’s website this morning and seeing it wasn’t closed despite the weather I made the hour and a half drive out to once again capture the speedy construction of what is sure to be a legendary coaster, The Joker.

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After driving for an hour and a half, I’m sure you’ll understand we were less than thrilled to see this sign, stating the park had just closed due to inclement weather. There is still no information anywhere on the park’s social media or website about the closure.

Regardless, we came to take pictures of The Joker… so take pictures we did. From the drop off area, it’s really starting to look like a complete coaster as more and more track is installed.

The drop to Step Up Under Flip combo is going to be one of the best starts to any coaster since X2. The crazy banking on both is representative of how little straight track there actually is on this beast.

In fact, some of the only straight track on the coaster is inverted, found in the now completed Zero G Stall.

Unlike the animation, the stall exits the inverted section the direction the train enters it, rather than inverting and completing the 360 degree rotation, similar to what happened to Twisted Colossus’ Top Gun stall.

Differing from the animation seems to be a recurring theme, and what better example than the Breaking Wave Turn.

There is some ridiculous outward banking going on in the hill entering the turn, which after a small dip reverses dramatically into the breaking wave.

In addition, the turn itself is well over the 90 degrees shown in the animation, as shown in this rain blurred, but telling shot of the element.

This was pretty much where the track work ended during our last visit, but construction has continued in sequential order since. The drop off the Breaking Wave has been completed.

The small hop after that drop has also been installed, although it was impossible to photograph without entering the park, the large banked airtime hill directly after was easily photographed. This hill looks as though it will provide some sweet lateral airtime.

You can also see some wood structure has been placed on either end of the stall for the Asian camel back.

Lastly, the over-banked turn near the first drop has been installed. The sheer amount of time spent beyond 90 degrees in one way or another on this ride is crazy, and this is just another example.

The track work ends at the pull out of this turn, just before the start of the Asian camel back. From the station all the way to the end of this maneuver, there’s no track missing. That’s right, the majority of track has been installed. Exciting stuff.Find our previous Joker Update here, for some in-park shots of elements that were already constructed. 

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Thanks for checking out this Joker update! Check out today’s Six Flags Magic Mountain Update and our brand new Knott’s Berry Farm Update from yesterday!

We also advise you check out our personal New Revolution tour report, with many exclusive looks around the ride! And check out the refurbished Jurassic Park- The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.

What element of The Joker are you most excited for? Comment below and let us know! Also, make sure to follow us on our social media for exclusive coverage! Facebook–Twitter–Instagram