Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is one of the most unique parks in the Six Flags chain.
This park not only features the usual collection of roller coasters and thrill rides,
but it also features a full-fledged zoo. The latter is a large component of any visit to
Discovery Kingdom, but this video will ignore that aspect. This video will be a countdown
of the park’s top 10 rides and attractions. Before starting the countdown, I want to note a
few rides that will and will not be on this list. White Water Safari will not be included.
While this Intamin river rapids ride appears to be the park’s best water ride, I have never
ridden it. The ride has either been closed or had an obnoxiously long line in all my visits,
which is a shame because I believe it would have made the list had I been able to experience it.
Not all the park’s coasters will be on this list. Kong is horrifically bad,
as was the former Harley Quinn Crazy Coaster. I also have not ridden their new-for-2022
attraction in Sidewinder Safari. However, I have ridden exact clones of this attraction elsewhere,
so I will note where I believe it would place based on the similar rides I’ve experienced.
Lastly, I will be including some defunct attractions.
10) Boomerang: Coast to Coaster- This Vekoma boomerang is one of the newer ones and it tracks
decently well. You get some headbanging in the cobra roll, but it’s not too bad if you’re tall
enough to clear the top of the over-the-shoulder restraint. This is a familiar layout, but it
has its strengths. The first drop has a mild freefall sensation and then the three inversions
are extremely forceful, especially since you experience them both forwards and backwards.
Sidewinder Safari- This newly opened Zamperla spinning coaster should offer two zippy
drops and great spinning in the second half. How quickly this one spins impacts whether
it could move up an extra spot or two. 9) Hammerhead Shark- This Zamperla Hawk is
a fun swinging inverter ship. Not only does it look really cool with the ride’s shark design,
but this attraction offers some nice hangtime over the top. It’s not the fastest or heaviest
on the positive forces, but this is great if you like hangtime like me.
8) Thrilla Gorilla- This Zamperla himalaya looks like an unassuming little flat, but
this one rotates at a surprisingly high clip so it offers some strong and sustaining laterals
start to finish. It has more power than far larger attractions. Plus, who doesn’t
love the giant gorilla head in the center? 7) SkyScreamer- This is one of the smaller
Funtime Star Flyers out there at 15 stories tall, but it still offers a nice view.
It’s near how it’s placed in the center of Medusa, but you also can get a bird’s eye
view of the rest of the park as well. This ride is mostly about the visuals, but the spinning has
some mild force to it as well. 6) Flash: Vertical Velocity-
This is the weirdest Intamin Impulse coaster. The launches feel pretty comparable and I particularly
love the pull on the backwards ones, but the front tower is set-up far differently.
Due to the town’s height ordinance, the front tower is placed at a 45 degree angle. So the
twist is transformed into an inversion loaded with hangtime. I love this inversion. The backwards
spike is a straight vertical one that offers the usual weightlessness. This ride is extremely prone
to downtime, so make sure to ride it if you see it open since it’s a unique inverted coaster.
Pandemonium- I never rode this Gerstlauer spinning coaster at Discovery Kingdom,
but I did experience it as Joker at its new home in Six Flags Mexico.
This is a different layout than the other Pandemonium coasters in the Six Flags chain.
The first half has the usual helixes and hairpin turns, but I love the finale with the bunny hill
and forceful final turn, especially since you’re usually spinning like a top by this point.
5) Batman the Ride- I only rode this S&S free spin once. It had the usual smoothness, but I
didn’t get too many flips on this one. The better ones in the Six Flags chain offer 4-6 flips,
but this one only gave me two. Still, those flips were chaotic and I also like the theming in this
ride’s queue line since I’m a comic book nerd. Roar- This Great Coasters International woodie
was converted into a steel hybrid a while back, but it was a solid ride even in its final days.
The ride was quite comfortable up front. It had a persistent shake towards the back,
but the cushiony Millennium Flyer trains absorbed most of the blows.
Roar had an identical layout to the one at Six Flags America, but this one carried
more speed through the layout because of the different rolling stock. The twister layout was
hard to predict and there were several pops of airtime into the turnarounds and bunny hills.
4) Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth- This Zamperla giant discovery is the park’s best flat ride
by far. This supersized frisbee runs a long cycle with plenty of floater airtime on the max swings.
Then you can feel this ride’s power and speed on the downswings.
3) Superman Ultimate Flight- The prototype Premier Rides Sky Rocket II model is a short ride,
but it packs in a lot of thrills. The launch sequence is more exciting on this one
since you zoom through the tight station, which accentuates the speed while providing a fun
near-miss. Then the main ascent and descents offer powerful ejector airtime. Then you also
get some delightful hangtime on the super slow barrel roll high off the ground. This ride is
a dynamic experience, especially since this one features just lap bars and no comfort collars.
2) Medusa- This is one of the best floorless coasters from Bolliger & Mabillard. After nearly
2 decades of operation, it’s still smooth and the layout is fantastic.
You have a large, straight first drop with some airtime followed by 7 fun inversions.
The first few inversions have some nice float, particularly the zero-G roll.
The two corkscrews at the end have some great snap and the final few turns pile
on the positive Gs for variety. Check out my review on this ride if you want to hear more.
1) Joker- This often gets flack as one of the worst coasters from Rocky Mountain Construction,
but I think it’s an excellent coaster in the back row. Joker has one of the best
first drops out there. You get the usual ejector airtime of the other RMCs drops
combined with some wicked laterals since it twists halfway down. The ride also has several other
bunny hills with some aggressive airtime. Then you also have 3 inversions with tons of hangtime,
most notably the zero-G stall which is one of my favorite inversions anywhere. This inversion
offers sustained inverted airtime with awesome headchoppers. Despite all these aggressive
elements, the ride is super smooth as well thanks to RMC’s trackwork. I have a separate review on
this coaster, but it’s the main reason I look forward to revisiting this park in the future.
So those are the top 10 rides and attractions at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Again this
park also has a lot of animal experiences that shouldn’t be missed, but this video lets you know
what rides should be prioritized. What are your thoughts on the park’s coasters and non-coasters?
What are your favorites? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this countdown, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!