singemfrc

This seems strange. Why give up the momentum to a brake run when the train can make it partway up the lift, catch a ratchet, and move up from there? Both lift hills will have ratchets I assume (especially as a safety measure to prevent backsliding)? On another note, X2 and Apocalypse had maintenance done and are running MUCH better than during Freight Fest. Apocalypse had its second train back, too, and it was a walk-on twice. Also that block is there to help time the two trains to duel. If you get to the second lift hill before the ride ops are done loading the train in the station (and lets face it, that will happen often) the ride has to stop that train before the second lift hill so that the train in the station can catch up so that they both ascend the lift at the same time. I think the "ratchets" you're referring to are the anti-rollbacks which do in fact do what their name suggests. Its a piece of metal that can only click forward in one direction so if the ride loses power or the motor fails or the chain breaks or whatever, theres still no way the cars will roll backwards down the hill, they just stop in place.

i read somewhere they said it would be used for flash pass and was it wheelchair access? hopefully also just expanding the station. always hated how cramped that station is, along with most all the coaster stations at magic mountain. I did see confirmation that this is true. They will expand the queue into that side and also add ADA + FP queues on that side. It would be awesome if they could photograph you on both sides and digitally put it together to look like you're high fiving and/or keeping up foreign relations with yourself

Bonnie confirmed tonight that Scream is getting painted!! Colors are changing. Hell has officially frozen over, pigs are airborne, etc.

My last trip checked off 5 new credits: Boomerang @ Knott's (Ouch) Montezooma's Revenge @ Knott's Desperado @ Buffalo Bill's (OUCH) Canyon Blaster @ Adventuredome El Loco @ Adventuredome Of the 5 on the trip El Loco was technically the last one that I rode first.

The newsletter said that the entire park would be open for the ERT on Friday.

Oh I didnt know there was ERT, I thought you meant the Gold Pass Early Entry that they usually do. I hadn't gotten the newsletter. The usual gold pass early entry just gets you into Oasis Plaza 10 minutes early but they dont open the rides early.

Yeah I heard CGA was going to trade Gold Striker for it. Great move for both parks. They'd have to enclose the entire ride so our friends at Prudential don't raise a hoot. World's tallest tunnel...seems more like a Six Flags ad.

Ive never been on black friday so I couldnt tell you how busy it will be. Early entry at SFDK doesnt get you much. None of the rides are open. The only advantage is you can get in the front of the line for Medusa 10 mins early for when it opens with the rest of the park. The Kong ride ops don't allow gold pass guests to get in line before the park opens.

Yeah I heard CGA was going to trade Gold Striker for it. Great move for both parks.

Sometimes I'm amazed what the ride ops dont notice, or maybe pretend not to because they don't want to deal with it. Thats pretty ballsy of the guy to try and "sneak" a chest harness onto the ride. Where in the world was he hiding it while getting into the train and being checked?

I've never ridden Tatsu, can someone explain to me how/why it didn't work? I was confused by 3 trains and 2 stations... I would think it would be 4 trains and 2 stations - 2 trains for each station. SFOG has a double station for their Superman flying B&M coaster, but only one side was in operation when I was there last. I'm thinking it's a matter of the park not wanting to pay for the extra staff? Or were there other issues? Because that requires paying more employees to staff the other station. The operator chooses which side to send the train to.

Ninja'd, can't delete.

RMC posted them on their facebook page.

I'm glad you're not running the park, because that's not true at this or any business that charges admission. They make a lot of money on concessions and in-park sales, and the rides keep you in the park longer buying more food, drink, and merch. If the marquee coasters are broken down, I'm going to leave the park faster and the park will lose money that I would have otherwise spent while in the park. Now think about season pass holders - they didn't pay admission to get in, the money they spend in the park is the only money the park is making that day. The more/bigger rides broken down the faster people will leave. This is basic business 101, even SFMM knows this. I'm sure they do care more about X2 being closed than they would say Apocalypse or Scream, it does make a difference in money made or lost.

Sky Tower, Lex Luthor, and X2 (in that order) are the first things to close in wind. Even the slightest breeze can close Sky Tower (if it were open), they really only open it if it's dead calm. I wonder if wind causing the tower to sway causes problems with the elevator system. Viper must have had unrelated issues, I've never heard of it closing for wind or precipitation unless it's severe. Objectively I don't think cost or laziness would shut down X2. It's one of the marquee attractions, they're going to want it open when possible. If cost were going to shut something down, it'd be Superman as it requires a lot of power and is the most expensive ride in the park to operate, supposedly by quite a bit, which im guessing is why they don't usually run both sides.

This is why, especially with Twisted Colossus going up already, I would be so much happier if the following year was just paint and repairs. Fix the Sky Tower, paint Scream, paint Tatsu, and shine things up. I can dream.

Forget a new coaster, I'll be happy if they just throw some paint at Scream and Tatsu. I think Scream might actually get some before TC opens since new train parts have been showing up.

http://www.cnhkeyclub.org/events/fall-rally Teenagers from all over southern california descend upon Magic Mountain. It's usually the busiest day of the year by far, and between the masses of chanting teens and 2 hr queues on every coaster can just be pure torture for any unsuspecting casual enthusiast who stumbles in.

PSA: If you're planning on a quick trip to the park today, it's Key Club Day.

^ You're right. Why are we discussing the alleged spontaneous release of a shoulder restraint. That's really not a big deal, that wouldnt be a big deal if someone was hurt or killed as a result of a mechanical failure. There's no reason to talk about that. No one is forcing you to talk about it as well. If you want to talk about IAAPA feel free to do so at the same time; it is possible to have two conversations at once.

You can pull down the hydraulic restraint during the ride. I've never seen a hydraulic restraint that locks it's position in the station and riders can't pull it down further. Really? I always try it out of habit (a habit formed from riding Medusa/Scream which always feels loose) and they never move in either direction. B&M doesn't use hydraulic restraints other than the vest harness if I remember correctly. Those on Medusa/Scream are ratchet OTSR's. Yeah you're correct. I just meant my habitual tightening of the ratchet OTSRs on the B&M floorless are what make me do the same on other (usually Intamin) hydraulic restraints and then I find they won't tighten like the ratchet ones do. Yeah thats typical of those restraints. I don't doubt that you honestly feel it was 4 inches, but I'll bet if you went back measured it was less than that. There's a certain amount of space between each ratchet or click on those restraints. If you end up just barely not being able to get one click tighter then it will feel very loose. When that happens it will often get that last click some time during the ride either because you exhale and make yourself skinnier or the forces push it in or both. This is a whole different story from a restraint actually unlocking during a ride. If that happened, it would probably mean mechanical failure of the restraint in which case it wouldn't secure itself halfway through the cycle. Incidentally the real thing did happen to a friend of mine years ago on Goliath. The lap bar had a mechanical failure (Im not sure what failed, this was a long time ago) and never locked when the train was in the station, it was just sitting there. Fortunately Goliath doesnt have any true inversions and the only sketchy part was the tilt after the MCBR. He told the ride ops who took the train off the circuit and I don't know if it was because of this incident or not but not too long after Goliath actually got all new restraints, which I actually like a lot better.

You can pull down the hydraulic restraint during the ride. I've never seen a hydraulic restraint that locks it's position in the station and riders can't pull it down further. Really? I always try it out of habit (a habit formed from riding Medusa/Scream which always feels loose) and they never move in either direction.

Are you sure it was completely unlocked? Those B&M floorless trains have notoriously loose restraints that sometimes feel like they're unlocked when they aren't. I've had that happen on Medusa, for a minute it feels like the restraint is open but it still catches, and you can usually tighten it mid-course. With hydraulic restraints you can't tighten them after you leave the station but it's also virtually impossible for them to inadvertently release. If it was truly fully released I hope they removed that train or at least roped off the seat.

All you need to do to negate the gray out is tilt your head to the left.

I much prefer the back row on YOLO for the excellent reverse hang time. I like the front row on Tatsu because I find the forces the same no matter where you sit and at least you get that spectacular view from the top of the mountain when you're in front. If you've never ridden Green Lantern or another ZacSpin and you don't consider yourself abnormally tall or short, then ride it at least once and see what you think. A lot of people find it very uncomfortable, but for some like me its not uncomfortable at all and I absolutely love it.