MagicMountainMan

I have to disagree with you. Intamin OSTRs rape perfectly good rides. Stormrunner, Fahrenheit, and Maverick could be so much more enjoyable if there was nothing killing your thighs or side of your head/neck. I have said this before but it needs repeating, Intamin is better than this. For me personally, I get my neck bashed and my thighs killed on every ride that has this type of restraint. Heck the restraints are the reason that I don't like Maverick that much. Does anyone else feel the same way I do?

I actually rode the Voyage today in the front and the back and I didn't like it as much as El Toro. Like Robb has said so many times it depends on your taste I guess. I could barely keep my hands up on the Voyage through the second half of the ride it was so jarring, on the other hand I couldn't ride it without my hands up! It is interesting to see how people's opinions differ so much.

I just rode the Raven today and I thought it was a joke. Why would anyone really rate it highly? It was a really short coaster with a few turns and no airtime and generally wasn't that enjoyable. CCI strikes again...

Maverick. It's a decent ride, but not that great. I'd rather ride Fahrenheit quite honestly. Better transitions, better first drop, more airtime. I guess I just don't like Maverick because every single transition is so snappy. It's probably some people's cup of tea, just not mine.

^I actually found that to be a better boomerang than the one at Knotts Berry Farm. The one at Knotts is just pure pain from start to finish. I have not ridden it since.

Personally I do like the B&M Clamshell restraints the best. However the restraints on Goliath at SFMM are also really good and free. B&M: Most are really bulky but they're never too painful and they get the job done. The clamshells are easily the best though. Vekoma: The restraints are fine, the rides suck. Arrow: I absolutely hate Arrow OTSRs like on Viper and Great American Scream Machine. Once you're over 6 feet tall the restraint doesn't meet your stomach anymore so it's all resting on your shoulder and it hurts like HECK. Intamin: I love the T bars, I HATE the OSTRs, they absolutely kill my thighs on rides with any g forces at all and if you're tall enough they bash your neck too. For example, Stormrunner could be such a good ride if it weren't for the restraints. They murder you in every way possible. The restraints on El Toro are also really good, not a T bar but a U bar. They don't kill your thighs if the ride ops don't staple you. GCI: The lap bars on the Millennium Flyers are alright. They do get really tight throughout the course of the ride however and there truly is no place to hold on to them. They could be better if they weren't so heavy on your stomach/thighs though. Overall, my favorite are the B&M clamshells and the restraints on Goliath. My least favorite have to be the Intamin OSTRs, they kill every ride that could be so much better. Heck I don't even like Maverick that much because they make the ride so uncomfortable. Why Intamin? WHY?

I for one actually didn't like it. To me it was just a bad way to try and scare people at the end of the ride. And the projections in your eyes weren't too fun either. I went into the ride hearing the bad reviews about it but I didn't think that it could really be that bad. I was rather impressed with the preshow, but then the actual ride just sucked. All the effects were timed wrong, the track was easily visible, there was virtually no theming for the second half of the ride, and the truck noise was just annoying. So no, I don't think that the new effects did anything for the ride.

I just rode Rolling Thunder a week ago and man that thing was killer. I'd say it was almost as bad as Psyclone, it would have been worse if there were more turns to it.

El Toro in the back. Nothing even comes close. Although I have not ridden T-Express...

This isn't Cedar Point that we're talking about so they would *most likely* want to attract the GP's attention early. At Cedar Point they can delay their announcements because everyone and their cousin knows that some new ride is going to be built. It's usually a big spectacle in Ohio (because it's CP). However Kings Dominion doesn't really have a huge GP fan base and they have to compete with BGE in the same state. It would make more sense if they announced it early and build anticipation that way then delaying and hoping that the GP in Virginia will catch on. But of course it's Cedar Fair that we're talking about so who knows.

I think I might be one of a select few but I find Batman: The Ride very re-ridable. I once rode it over 10 times in one night and never got tired of it! However you can't go more than 2 or 3 rides in the front 3 rows because your feet start to hurt really bad from all of the blood rushing to them. The back is better on the feet. Also at Magic Mountain, Terminator is probably the most re-ridable coaster they have.

This is just a floating rumor, but apparently the bondholders are going to try and buy up the stock to get a majority share of the company and then get Six Flags to liquidate. I admit I was one that fell for their EBITDA and thought that they were doing great. However once I looked into it I now think that it's going to take a miracle to get this company back on its feet all in one piece. I just don't see Six Flags being able to pull through this without selling off parks, temporarily closing some of the parks, or subscribing to massive layoffs. However I would be a very happy man (okay boy) to see myself proven wrong.

Hey does anyone know how the crowds will be tomorrow? I'd like to get more than 2 rides on this beast in a day! And did they turn up the audio yet so you can actually hear it? I went on it the weekend after it's grand opening and you could barely hear the audio.

^True dat I'm a Laker fan, so I'm a bit sad to see that we played badly this game and the Magic shot so well.... But even though we didn't play that good they still only won by 4 points? That's amazing! I'm not worried though, game 4 is ours.

I know everybody recommends the Gold Flash Pass when going to the park, but is it really worth $211 for a family of 4? My family is going there this July and we don't want to drop that much... How does the regular Flash Pass compare?

Man I remember that airtime so well.... I miss it! I did notice however that they don't seem to be trimming before the loop right now though. Really good TR, it's always interesting to see my home parks from the eyes of someone who isn't a local.

^It's a joke man. Nice report I'll be heading out in July! Woohoo!

No it takes you to right before the lift hill (on the other side of the station) and so you go right out of the station and continue through a bunch of trees until you get to Rapids Camp Crossing.

^It says like Flash Pass entrance on it too I'm almost positive. All you do is turn to your right under the break run right before the station. But really, it's easy to find. Oh, and it's separate from the entrance. The entrance is up by the station and to the left, the exit is before the station and to the right.

Maybe it's just me but I'd rather see a good ride then one that just breaks records. That's why TTD isn't my favorite, it's a launch. That's it. If they were to put an Intamin in I'd rather see something like Blue Fire or iSpeed, neither are record breakers, but both look like really solid and fun rides. Oh and to whoever is curious about why Superman doesn't run both sides at the same time anymore and as to why they don't launch it at full speed anymore is because of power consumption. According to a former ride op that I've talked to, Superman in its second year of operations was still launching side by side. To launch both at the same time takes massive power consumption. Edison has a whole power line dedicated just to Superman. Anyways, on a hot summer day they were racing them side by side, still launching them at 100 mph and (according to the ride op) one of the sheds (that host all of the electrical equipment to power the magnets) overheated and caught on fire. Because of that they don't race anymore, although they have operated both sides at the same time, just not raced. As far as not launching it at 100, it's just a way to save money. They've been doing it for as long as I remember. Edit: I just realized that Blue Fire is a Mack....

So you're saying that this is the technology that Disney is using for the World of Color? Looks really cool if it is!

In a sense I guess that those could be 4D coasters... But then at the same time what about a stand up coaster? Or a boomerang? Those have an extra added 'dimension' to them. To me it's just a marketing ploy.

^Wow, that's a massive project! But it shouldn't be open for another 15 years? I went to Magic Mountain Saturday so just a few observations: The park was PACKED. I don't think I've seen it that crowded in a long time. X2's line was out past the bridge, Goliath was to the I almost, Terminator was out to the sign, Tatsu was going down the hill a bit, and even Riddler's and Batman had decent lines! I guess it's good that the park is getting a lot of people but it's not so good for the people going there. However the operations on most of the rides were great, I only waited about 1 1/2 hours for X2 and when we got in line it was out onto the bridge. Terminator also had an excellent crew. X2's T.V. screens were only showing the same batch of about 5 commercials over and over and over again. It got really repetitive. Terminator did have some other things mixed in with commercials but overall it seems like it was more commercials than not. Terminator is a great ride! However the speakers do need to be turned up because I couldn't hear anything once we got off the lift and could only vaguely hear the 'take the tunnel' because I was listening for it. And both times I went in people actually took the pre-shows seriously which is a good thing. Onto the best part of the day, the food! Since it was so crowded we didn't ride much. Therefore we sat around and then decided to eat around 2. We went to Katie's Kettle because we wanted burgers but then we saw a poster that said "Six Flags Chicken Meal Deal" or something to that extent. Only $40. The only reason it caught our attention was because we thought that $40 was outrageous for a meal! But then we looked at the sign closer and it said it included 12 pieces of chicken, a souvenir jug, fries, and a dessert. We decided we'd ask them about it because we were interested in getting a souvenir cup (jug??). As it turns out, the meal came with way over 12 pieces of chicken strips, 2 buckets of fries (these were big buckets), 2 souvenir cups, and 4 cookies for $30 because I had a coupon from my season pass booklet thing. Best deal at the park hands down, for even $40 it's still a great deal! 2 souvenir cups alone would be $24 I think. And the poster that was advertising this deal was VERY misleading. The picture had a little bucket of fries and chicken and nothing else and the description wasn't great either. To think that the highlight of the day was getting food!

^Perhaps the cable snapped below the catch car. I wonder how long it is going to be down though. I'm heading out there in July and certainly don't want to miss it even though it isn't my favorite ride. To whoever said that the drop feels like it's going on forever, personally I think the exact opposite. The cable lift is so fast that you're up and down in no time! I personally prefer Goliath at SFMM because of the way they almost stop you at the top, much more suspenseful.

The Sheriff's station has been at Magic Mountain ever since the parking lot shooting I believe. I get to go and ride Terminator tomorrow! I can't wait! And I'll definitely try to report anybody who I see vandalizing the rides.