Spokker

Thanks for the help. Taking the train to Six Flags from Orange County was surprisingly easy and I did not get lost once. Today was lighter than I thought it was going to be. Has Summer even started yet? Goliath was a near walk on both times I rode it. Viper was also a walk on. I was able to take advantage of the single rider lines on Deja Vu (45 minute to 1 hour wait) and Ninja (looked like a 20-30 minute wait because it was running one train) to get on in less than 5 minutes. Did not even bother with X. The only problem was Tatsu which was only running one station with two trains, and it was cycling VERY slowly. The line was approaching two hours according to park employees but luckily I was dumb enough to buy the OMG XTREME PASS a few months ago that gives you one THE FLASH PASS per visit. I used two rides for Tatsu and gave away the other two to some couple and told them to use them for Tatsu since every other ride had little to no wait. I was happy to do it. Take that Disneyland Dream Squad. I make dreams come true. Honestly though, they looked puzzled as if they didnt even know what the The Flash Pass was. I didnt have time to explain it to them so maybe they threw it away haha.

Does anyone have any experience/tips on taking Metrolink from LA/OC into Santa Clarita to get to Magic Mountain? The big update a few pages back made me really want to go this week but I don't want to fight the weekday traffic to get there. Is rail more likely to be a pain than driving? I have my route all drawn out and the only drawback I can see is that I have to leave MM by 4PM or I will end up missing the last train at Union Station, but I usually get sick of MM by late afternoon anyway.

Tokyo Disney Sea - I know this is going to be controversial, but I went about a month ago and I don't see what the big deal is. You'd think in a park that they spent a zillion dollars to build or whatever, there would be more than three good rides. I saw the "Sea of Dreams" video and that is NOT how it is. The park is way too crowded (are there ANY caps on attendence at ALL or do they just want your money?), the guests are rude (seems like that Japanese hospitality applies everywhere BUT theme parks), and there was even a kid running around naked in some fountains and mothers changing diapers on park benches were seen multiple times. It was hot, humid, rainy and the wind cancelled the only thing I really wanted to see, BraviSEAmo. Well, it wasn't cancelled completely but "altered". Yeah let's build a theme park right on the ocean where the wind is always blowing at 40 mph and you're always sticky and miserable. I had planned to go to DisneySea for two days but cancelled in favor of a day trip to see more of REAL Japan. Sorry, I had so much fun in Japan, but NOT at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

I used to be against Fastpass out of principle but then you have to realize that if you don't use it you miss out. You WILL be waiting in longer lines if you don't use it. Part of the reason Fastpass works so well for the people who use it is because there are still so many people who don't know about it, or don't know how to use it to its full potential. I think that if everyone used it the amount of rides you get in on any given day would be the same with or without it. The only way Fastpass feels like it creates more time is because some people are missing out. I've given Fastpasses I wasn't going to use because I was leaving to other park guests who had no idea how to use them. I had to walk some guy and his kid to the Fastpass entrance of Indy once. Of course this applies to Disney parks and not parks where you have to pay for fastpass-like privileges.

Shortly before Big Thunder derailed in 2003 cast members noticed strange sounds coming from the trains. They took the train off the line, inspected it (half-assed probably), and then sent it back out again with a train full of unfortunate guests.

At least they're right about the bad service part.

Most of the time something like that happens its because the insurance company wants it. Pay more for insurance? Get another insurance provider? I understand that Six Flags is a corporation in the business of making money, but is there no respect for the art, in this case being a dumb old roller coaster? This goes not just for Six Flags, but any corporation in the business of theme parks.

To me, Magic Mountain has always had the reputation of being a lazy, cost-cutting park. Unfortunately there are some incredible coasters being managed and controlled by people who have this lazy, cost-cutting mentality. There are more than a few rides that seem to have been nutered, but I'm not sure which rides are tamed for legitimate reasons (if they are designed that way), and which ones are done for maintenance purposes (to save money on maintenance in the long run) and overreactive safety reasons (so people in poor health who decide to ride don't black out and die and their family sues, bringing the coaster down to the lowest common denominator). Specifically, are the brakes on Viper necessary? After that great first drop the rest of the ride feels like slow motion, especially that corkscrew at the end. Are the brakes on Colossus necessary? Does it really have to slow down at the top of the lift hill? Is the brake run before Goliath's massive helix finale necessary? If these measures are taken for maintenance purposes, do they really save money in the long run? Are there any other coasters you feel are not running in top condition due to cost-cutting and overreactive safety measures? I understand that writing letters to companies and airing your grievences is lame, but has anything been done to convince Six Flags to change their policies, or has there ever been an official response to any claims, not just the brake issue (such as over the shoulder restrains on Revolution, Colossus' poor condition, running one train and making people wait 30 minutes for a ride even though there's no line, etc)? Or would it be more productive to simply stop going to Magic Mountain and hope it gets turned into a housing project?