VALLEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, the Thrill Capital of Northern California, in partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, on behalf of DC — today announced the opening of the park’s most innovative roller coaster to date, Batman: The Ride. On this new, state-of-the-art thrill, riders are suspended outward on either side of the track as the cars flip continuously throughout the experience. The cutting-edge coaster made its official debut during an exclusive, midnight opening event, attended by throngs of excited guests who were among the first to experience this groundbreaking roller coaster. Batman: The Ride is the park’s 11th coaster, more than any other theme park in Northern California.

​“As the world leader in thrills, Six Flags continues to raise the bar to deliver the most unique and innovative experiences in the industry,” said Park President Don McCoy. “Batman: The Ride is a game-changer and is the perfect headliner for the DC Universe area of the park, which already features an incredible collection of rides and attractions based on the world’s most iconic Super Heroes and Super-Villains.”
Riders on this 4D wing coaster experience sensory overload as they flip head-over-heels at least six times along a weightless, tumbling journey with unexpected drops and vertical free-falls. Other highlights of this adrenaline-pumping coaster include:

• One-of-a-kind onboard magnetic technology featuring smooth, head-over-heels free-fly flips, giving guests the feeling of weightlessness as they soar outside the confines of a traditional track;
• 4D winged vehicles that extend outside of the track and seat eight riders per vehicle;
• Face-off seats that allow riders to face each other as they tumble head-over-heels; and
• A 120-foot-tall, 90-degree vertical lift hill and two beyond 90-degree “raven” drops giving the sensation of freefalling.

Batman: The Ride is now open to the public and makes its home in the all-new DC Universe area of the park which features an incredible lineup of DC-branded attractions including: Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth, Superman Ultimate Flight, The Joker, Harley Quinn Crazy Coaster, The Penguin Ride, and the newly reimagined The Flash: Vertical Velocity.

The area also offers a host of new food, shopping and entertainment options. Guests can pick up Super Hero and Super-Villain t-shirts and swag at The Daily Planet, The Joker Funhouse Shop, or the new Gotham City Gifts. For those super appetites, Quick Quenchers Refill Station, and Big Belly Burger, with mobile ordering, will be ready with hot, delicious food and icy cold beverages.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom features more than 30 rides and attractions, including unique, up close and interactive animal experiences. For more information, visit: sixflags.com/discoverykingdom.

Six Flags 2019 Memberships and Season Passes are currently on sale. Members can now enjoy priority park entry, preferred parking and tremendous discounts of up to 50% on nearly all food and merchandise purchases all season long. Gold Plus, Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Elite levels are available featuring all the perks of a Season Pass plus other benefits including admission to all Six Flags branded theme and waterparks, skip the line passes, unlimited soft drinks and much more! For more information, visit the Membership Sales Center or go online to sixflags.com/discoverykingdom and sign up.

About Six Flags Entertainment Corporation
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is the world’s largest regional theme park company and the largest operator of waterparks in North America, with $1.5 billion in revenue and 26 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada. For 58 years, Six Flags has entertained millions of families with world-class coasters, themed rides, thrilling water parks and unique attractions. For more information, visit www.sixflags.com.
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About Warner Bros. Consumer Products
Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP), a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, extends the Studio’s powerful portfolio of entertainment brands and franchises into the lives of fans around the world. WBCP partners with best-in-class licensees globally on an award-winning range of toys, fashion, home décor, and publishing inspired by franchises and properties such as DC, J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera. The division’s successful global themed entertainment business includes groundbreaking experiences such as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi. With innovative global licensing and merchandising programs, retail initiatives, promotional partnerships and themed experiences, WBCP is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.

About DC
Home to iconic brands DC (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), DC Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, DC is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and WarnerMedia. DC works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.
BATMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE, SUPERMAN and all related characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics. (s19)

"You couldn't get from here to Black Spire without me, now you're going to make the Kessel Run? Ha!"
―L3-37, to Lando Calrissian

L3 was right. Without her, it would be quite impossible with no ways of navigating to the remote settlement named Black Spire.  However, with the help of those at Disney Imagineering, the remote outpost is indeed a place that all Star Wars fans should visit at least once or have on their bucket lists.

The new land located at the top of Disneyland did not disappoint this life-long Star Wars fan.  It was everything I expected and then some.  And then a lot more, then some.

We had our reservations just last Monday at 4pm and we were glad that we had arrived early that day. From the horrors of the Mickey and Friends parking garage, to it being an unusually, more-crowded-than-usual Disneyland park that day, our plan to arrive at Noon wasn’t such a bad idea.  We picked up some chimichangas from the Frontierland food kiosks and we were off to see if there was any sort of a line to get into Galaxy’s Edge. 

​Once again, we were surprised that there was a substantial amount of others who had reservations that were lined up on the pathway that runs behind Big Thunder Mountain.  It was just after 3pm and there were an estimated 200 people in line before us.  It wasn’t long until the line would move and we were staged a bit further off the path from Disneyland. That’s when it hit me. I could see the outlines of the buildings of what seemed to be outposts or buildings I may have seen in the films from past Star Wars movies. I wasn’t sure, but I could tell there were droids that seemed to be either on display or for sale straight ahead from where we stood and waited.  I continued to survey that portion of area with the droids.  “Easter Eggs,” I muttered to myself.  They’re Easter Eggs!  And I was right. Almost every part of the new area is filled with Easter Eggs from the films, novels, merchandise...  anything to do with everything that’s Star Wars.  But I digress..

The people who were part of the operations team were nice enough to allow our time slot into Galaxy’s Edge at about ten minutes before our designated time. There were cheers and tears by everyone there. Once you were past the barrier where you leave a world of the Old West and new frontiers, you felt it. You could hear it. Tie fighters passing you as you walked through an area filled with adventure where the First Order were searching for elusive rebels (Sabine Wren rushed RIGHT past us!) and every single one of us were filled with wonder in some sort of way. First thing first, we had to find Smuggler’s Run!

Smuggler’s Run is easy to find. All you have to do is look up. That’s right. Nestled at the base of the tallest spire of Batuu is where you will find it. We were filing through one small area where Kylo Ren’s ship was more than impressive. It looked as if he had just landed as you could hear the engines still running of his Command Shuttle. And then... I turned my head to the left and saw it. Immediately, I tried as hard as I could with a lump in my throat and as much excitement that the thirteen year old in me, (the same one that rode his ten speed bicycle a whopping fifteen miles to Hollywood at the first glimpse of his Summer vacation in 1977 two weeks after Star Wars opened in more theaters, namely the Egyptian Theater at least once a week) and I was a bit overwhelmed. I was a bit speechless upon seeing the Falcon, THE FALCON in person. It was something I never thought I’d see up close. I definitely wasn’t in Disneyland anymore.

We skipped the Cantina as the wait time was over an hour. We heard good things about it and we were going to return when the line was shorter (it never was). We were extremely lucky as our wait time for Smuggler’s Run was not more than 10 minutes. The queue line was great. It was very well themed and one can only hope it will survive the onslaught of the anticipated Summer crowds that will infest such an amazing place, overall.

A bit deeper inside we meet Hondo.  Sure, Hondo is an animatronic, but... wait.  He’s an animatronic..!?!  I thought it was a human in costume and very well done makeup that greeted us with a bit of a pre-show.  Hondo needs pilots and a crew to help him with a mission.  Hondo has a spiel where he convinces us all to help him and also some semi-detailed instructions on how to accomplish the smuggling mission assigned to you.  He also adds, “What could go wrong?”
​
Once Hondo opens the doors for us to head to our spacecraft, it was obvious we were inside the Falcon. For some other reason, I was picked as pilot.  Twice. Our adventure broke down on us due to technical difficulties. However, the castmembers made our experience as smooth as possible and we were able to ride it once again.  This time - we were ready.    

Once all strapped in and ready to go with a small instructional video from Hondo, our adventure starts.  One pilot controls the ship left and right; the other controls it up and down. Yes, the controls DO work and the crew depends on you to fly this hunk of space junk through incredibly difficult scenarios.  It was stressful!  Two gunners also have the duty of manning harpoons as well as shooting down tie fighters. Engineers have the job of quickly eradicating as much damage to the poor shields to the Falcon.  When controlling the ship as a pilot,  the visual of the spaceport matches the motion exactly.  It was one of the most sophisticated theme park attractions I have ever experienced. You don’t do this alone.  Hondo is narrating the entire mission as he gives you hard tips on where to fly, who to shoot and what to fix.  To be honest, interactive level enhances our overall experience.  You can’t just sit back and enjoy what’s going on around you - you are in control! 

​Each crew member receives scores depending on performance at the conclusion of the journey.  Also, if you are a bad or sub-par crew, you can definitely see it as some parts of the Falcon might be sparking or heating up as you exit the cockpit!  This is a ride I can do over and over, forever.  Keep in mind, this is not like flying a flight simulator.  This is a ride in a theme park that you can walk right up be a part of.  An E-ticket? Not really.  If there is an “F-ticket”, this would be it. I would be ecstatic if there are more missions than just the one so far.

We filed out and went to check the wait time for the Cantina. It was still one hour. We all thought it was time for a refreshing glass of Blue Milk after surviving such a harrowing expedition.  When we ordered, we noticed there were both blue and green milk available.  Delicious?  Indeed.  The blend of coconut milk, rice milk and other fruit flavors were agreeable to the palate.  We then decided to seek more adventure and check out the marketplace and perhaps some badly needed food.

The wait time at Ronto Roasters was a bit more than we wanted to wait for.  It reminded me of Bengal Tiger in Adventureland... but with less of a menu selection.  Instead, we had lunch at Docking Bay Seven.  I had the pork ribs and my dearly beloved had the Tip Yip chicken.  We tried both and were pleasantly surprised as they were very good and kinda spicy to our taste.  In a galaxy far, far away, your eating utensils are metal sporks.  That’s right.  Sporks. At least they were made of metal and not plastic. Again, I digress...

I was pleased to see an Impossible Meat Loaf on the menu for my vegan friends who very well might be visiting in the near future. It looked great and I asked a guest as to how it was and the response was “delicious.”  We also had the Oi-oi Puff which was a raspberry cream puff with passion fruit mousse.  Even though the Batuu-bon (chocolate cake, white chocolate mousse with coffee custard) was delicious as well, my fave was the Oi-oi puff. An immediate favorite for me.  When selecting a beverage, I’d go with the Moof Juice.  It’s an exotic mixture of fruit punch, orange juice, pineapple juice and a bit of chipotle-pineapple.  Overall, we were pleased with this eatery.  I rank it up there with Plaza Inn, easily.  

We didn't try the popcorn, but I have friends who sampled it at the CM showcase. If I were here for a full day with family I would get a bag to share and enjoy together. Sadly, there were no special bottles of Coke, Diet, and Sprite--only Dasani (in Arabesh). The modified beverage logos were displayed on the video menu board at Docking Bay Seven and the credit card logos only appear on the guest input screen where you swipe your card.

We wandered back to the marketplace and we found tons of choices for merchandise in a wide array of different stalls and shops that gave hints of not being in Disneyland once again.  I was impressed there was nothing with the words “Star Wars” on it.  I was also impressed we saw no churro carts, no popcorn carts, nor any Outdoor Vending carts to be found.  The popcorn from the marketplace we didn’t have a chance to purchase.  But we noticed that it was served in a brown paper bag that was discreet and had no markings on it.    We found great merchandise and other souvenirs ranging from $1 to hundreds for perfect Sith or Jedi robes and other hard-to-find collectibles.  I was most impressed.  The Den of Antiquities was beyond great.  Besides fantastic merchandise there were more Easter Eggs to be found on the second level of the place.

At the rear of the marketplace, we noticed there was even more areas to explore!

We were thrilled to see both Rey and Chewie walking around the Resistance area. Chewie was interacting with guests around a blue and white X-Wing.  He was quite a busy Wookiee as he would interact with guests while fixing the ship as he was clearly frustrated with it.  There was a character escort with Chewie who at times would “interpret” what Chewie is saying.  I loved the fact that all the characters at Galaxy’s Edge were more interactive with guests, rather than be stuck at the end of a cue line for a meet and greet.  Near Kylo’s shuttle, stormtroopers were patrolling nearly everywhere.  They were also quite stiff and orderly when escorting Kylo Ren.  Yes, it was a great job by Kylo who interacted with the guests.

I chose the “spare parts” of Control and Power (the dark side) and there is a pin that corresponds with the destiny you choose or path you wish to follow.  There are four different pins and it is attached to the one who will be assembling the spare parts for it inside.  When the time is right, you are whisked inside by gatherers as they try hard to avoid any outside conflict by the First Order.  You are allowed to bring along up to two guests to experience what it’s like to follow the path of a Jedi or a Sith.  Once inside, the gatherers assist you by mixing and matching parts during your build session in order to assemble a very personalized and customized lightsaber. The lightsaber building parts are high quality and are nothing near the plastic parts found in the Hasbro Bladebuilder’s toys. 

I got to choose my own kyber crystal and of course, it was red.  Available kyber crystal colors include: blue, green, red, or purple. In addition to ‘powering’ the lightsaber, the kyber crystal may be removed and attached to a cube-shaped holocron.  Once attached, the kyber crystal will enable the Force user to hear the wisdom and guidance of ancient masters. I was told there are different voices you may hear at each session. 

​Once again... Worth. Every. Penny.

​Overall, I had the time of my life.  As an ultimate Star Wars fan, the place is beyond amazing and most definitely lived up to my expectations.  Whoever had the job to give castmembers wardrobe did a great job.  They are able to pick, mix and match from a range of separates available to them  I believe the four hour time slot was almost just enough for this fan to receive ample time to take it all in.  Well, except for the Cantina.  I’ll do that some other time when I arrive at the park early some day.  I look forward to Rise of the Resistance that will be opening soon.  For all toxic “fans” that exclaim that “Disney destroyed Star Wars”, I find their lack of faith disturbing.  I honestly believe that Disney did this right and has risen to the challenge presented to them.  I can’t wait to go again.  And when you do go, enjoy it all just as I did. 

​The Force is definitely strong with this one.

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Not sure if this a permanent change or not, but the Member entrance has been moved. 

It was a beautiful day at the park and despite it being both Jubilee and a Holiday weekend, the park was surprisingly not busy during the morning hours. 

You may remember from our last West Coast Racers update that we had a bit of criticism for the park based on the amount of rides that weren't open. I also was unable to fit on Batman (but that wasn't on the park). 

I'm happy to say that today's visit was a complete 180 from our previous visit. Rides were open, running great AND I fit on Batman. 

I know the update seemed kind of harsh, but we've always called it like it is. And I'm very glad to call this visit like it is. Great day at the park!! 

Some work going on around the entrance to Tidal Wave, maybe some re-do of the concrete here? 

Hi Metropolis!! 

You are looking great!! 

So let's get into our West Coast Racers update. We have both video and pics for you this week. 

We also included some Slo-Mo video of other rides around the park, because why not. =) 

Of course, as I was going to get pics of the ride I realized I didn't put the memory card in the DSLR, so cell pics will have to suffice. 

Launch Track is close to complete and as you can see, the White track is heading up

Lots of work going on around Cyclone 500

Another view

Zoomed in, sorry about the quality. Cell Phone cameras work great, until you have to zoom in.

Headed up towards Ninja, an overview of the area. 

Another zoomed shot, there was actually a LOT of new track done on Apocalypse. 

From this angle it almost looks like the Cyclone 500 loading area is the station for West Coast Racers. 

Took a look at some of the new merchandise around the park, I really love this Sweatshirt. 

Some other colors that definitely aren't my style, but they may be yours. 

How much are you gonna pay me to wear a half sweatshirt? I do love the Pride sweatshirt, just don't need to show off my gut wearing it. 

Picked up some of the Coasterdynamix Nanocoaster's for a friend. These are actually really cool and I may have to get some for myself at some point. 

Alright, that's gonna wrap it up for this update. Hope you enjoyed. The ride is really starting to move along and I'd anticipate even more work being visible soon. As for an opening, we had said around Fright Fest during our last update, and we are still holding to that. Although maybe mid to late August isn't out of the question. 

Welcome to Universal Studios Hollywood!! 

Never have seen the sun rising on the sign, it was kind of cool. 

The racers getting ready, there were probably about 6-7 "waves" of runners. They did an amazing job making sure the course wouldn't be overcrowded. 

Run that way!! 

Even the Minions were excited to race

And of course, they were out at the start 

Check out some highlights of the race start and finish. We definitely did more video than pics. 

Pika, Pika 

The atmosphere at the finish was amazing

A look at the medal, very nice. And it's animated, you can spin it (totally should have done a .gif). 

​This was just the first race, Universal will be holding a Jurassic themed race in November, we'll definitely be running/covering that one as well. As soon as details are released we will for sure be sharing them.