SkyScreamer is Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's little 150ft FunTime StarFlyer. They have run it backwards a few times in the past, mostly for Fight Fest and in the summer, but not as a promotion they'll be running SkyScreamer backwards for the Spring Break crowds. Here's a statement from the park newsletter:
Exclusively for Spring Break, March 23-April 8, you can experience SkyScreamer in a whole new way – backwards! We're reversing the direction of your spin to give you a new aerial perspective. Rise up 150 feet in the air and soar into the unknown at 43 miles per hour.
You won't know when you're rounding the next turn and you'll pass over your favorite attractions before you can see them coming up. No matter how many times you've been on SkyScreamer before, your experience will feel completely different as you spin around facing the opposite direction.
This little change has always been fun personally to me, but here's a bit of information that you should know before going to the park:
-This is a limited promo, but the park has been doing this more frequently. I personally wouldn't mind them keeping it that way.
-It can be disorienting: Not going to lie, the first time I rode SKyScreamer is its backwards program it was a bit disorienting, but you'll get used to it.
-Since this is outside the normal function of the model there can be errors leading to breakdowns/technical difficulties.
-Since this is a limited promotion it actually does attract quite a decent crowd.
For some normal park information on SkyScreamer here is the ride profile from the website:
"Grab a seat, but don’t get too used to having your feet on the ground. The chairs hanging in a peaceful circle around the stunning 150 foot-tall tower at the center of Sky Screamer are about to liftoff. Don’t be fooled by the pretty little stars painted on the star-shaped gondola. You’re about to fly boldly through the air with the trees beneath your feet!
You’re gently picked up and start to slowly swirl and revolve around the center. Up you go, cranked into the sky as the thin cables holding up your seat begin to spin. You’ll start to spin faster as you lift higher, so by the time you get to the top, you will be careening around the center base at 43 miles per hour.
You’re sitting in a swing chair, dangling loose 150 feet up, getting hurled around in a 98-foot circle at nearly freeway speeds—talk about airtime. All you’re going to feel is air, with your feet dangling in the sky and hair blowing in the wind. The world far below you is making more revolutions per second than you can count.
While you’re up there, wave at Medusa—way down below you. On SkyScreamer, you don’t have the luxury of a track to hold you up. The beautiful globe that sits on top of the tower is best seen from the chairs when they are in full swing. It's like you're flying on top of the world now."
If you're still not convinced it's neat, here's a nice little POV.
-This is a limited promo, but the park has been doing this more frequently. I personally wouldn't mind them keeping it that way.
-It can be disorienting: Not going to lie, the first time I rode SKyScreamer is its backwards program it was a bit disorienting, but you'll get used to it.
-Since this is outside the normal function of the model there can be errors leading to breakdowns/technical difficulties.
-Since this is a limited promotion it actually does attract quite a decent crowd.
For some normal park information on SkyScreamer here is the ride profile from the website:
"Grab a seat, but don’t get too used to having your feet on the ground. The chairs hanging in a peaceful circle around the stunning 150 foot-tall tower at the center of Sky Screamer are about to liftoff. Don’t be fooled by the pretty little stars painted on the star-shaped gondola. You’re about to fly boldly through the air with the trees beneath your feet!
You’re gently picked up and start to slowly swirl and revolve around the center. Up you go, cranked into the sky as the thin cables holding up your seat begin to spin. You’ll start to spin faster as you lift higher, so by the time you get to the top, you will be careening around the center base at 43 miles per hour.
You’re sitting in a swing chair, dangling loose 150 feet up, getting hurled around in a 98-foot circle at nearly freeway speeds—talk about airtime. All you’re going to feel is air, with your feet dangling in the sky and hair blowing in the wind. The world far below you is making more revolutions per second than you can count.
While you’re up there, wave at Medusa—way down below you. On SkyScreamer, you don’t have the luxury of a track to hold you up. The beautiful globe that sits on top of the tower is best seen from the chairs when they are in full swing. It's like you're flying on top of the world now."
If you're still not convinced it's neat, here's a nice little POV.