The Joker | |
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Six Flags Discovery Kingdom | |
Park section | Sky |
Coordinates | 38°08′17″N 122°13′58″W / 38.13806°N 122.23278°W |
Status | Operating |
Soft opening date | May 25, 2016 |
Opening date | May 29, 2016 |
Replaced | Roar |
General statistics | |
Type | Steel |
Manufacturer | Rocky Mountain Construction |
Designer | Alan Schilke |
Model | I-Box |
Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
Height | 100 ft (30 m) |
Length | 3,200 ft (980 m) |
Speed | 53 mph (85 km/h) |
Inversions | 3 |
Max vertical angle | 78° |
Must transfer from wheelchair
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The Joker at RCDB Pictures of The Joker at RCDB |
The Joker is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, California. The ride opened on May 29, 2016, as a rebuild of former wooden roller coaster Roar, adding a new steel track on top of Roar's wooden support structure. This hybrid configuration was implemented by Rocky Mountain Construction and is themed to the Joker, a comic book character villain featured in DC Comics publications. The original Roar roller coaster was constructed by Great Coasters International and opened in 1999.
Roar was a roller coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom constructed by Great Coasters International. When it debuted on May 14, 1999, Roar was the park's first wooden roller coaster and one of its first rides overall during the transition of adding amusement park rides to the marine mammal park. The coaster featured a height of 94 feet (29 m), a first drop of 85 feet (26 m) and a top speed of 50 mph (80 km/h).
In July 2015, Six Flags announced that Roar at Discovery Kingdom would be closing on August 16, 2015. Several weeks later on September 3, 2015, plans were revealed to convert the ride into a steel-tracked coaster called The Joker for the 2016 season. The renovation would be performed by Rocky Mountain Construction using the company's patented I-Box steel track technology on all of the original wooden coaster supports. The roller coaster would also receive new trains themed to the Joker comic book character and would feature three inversions, including a new element marketed as a “step-up under-flip inverted roll”.
Based on the success of previous roller coaster conversions in its partnership with Rocky Mountain Construction, Six Flags anticipated that Roar would benefit from the overhaul and transition into The Joker. Discovery Kingdom held a media preview event for The Joker – known as a soft opening – on May 25, 2016. The roller coaster was well-received and opened for Memorial Day Weekend on May 29, 2016.