singemfrc

I don't live close enough (Im 2 hrs away) to do *regular* updates, but I will certainly post when I can, such as this tidbit I just got from the park via email:

If Alan Schilke is involved I'm on board, no questions asked.

To be fair we don't actually know that they won't tear it down. Most people assume it will be an RMC conversion, but although I'd love that they haven't actually said it. This is SFMM, they may tear Colossus down and put absolutely nothing in its place, you never know. Or perhaps a new attraction in Colossus' place will prompt them to finally paint that faded skittle looking pile of rusting purple steel.

Also why I'm hoping they don't try to do some huge special effects...those don't have a history of lasting very long here.

I heard that the backwards gimmick was a Spring-only promotion. They may put it back in normal forwards operation come June 14th. This has been confirmed as correct, they are turning it around to run forwards on June 14th, so that will be the last ever day to ride it backwards (since it will be closed before Fright Fest this year)

I like this idea..at the very least it will burn off that ugly faded purple "sucked on skittle" colored paint.

Everyone is assuming that there will either be an RMC redo of Colossus or a brand new RMC, but there's been no confirmation of that..the only thing we know for sure is that Colossus is closing on 8/16. What they plan to do next we don't really know for sure.

I never got to ride it without the OTSRs either, but I cant help but think it has to be much better. I'm not expecting the most fun or thrilling ride but for example I enjoy gold rusher due to the terrain and surroundings even though it's not a "crazy" coaster, I think I would similarly enjoy Revolution if I wasn't constantly trying to avoid a concussion.

As of this morning, Revolution is back up and running! And no unfortunately they did not remove the OTSRs

Interesting..SFMM just posted an official POV of X2 on their FB and it includes the audio. Not that it means anything but it's interesting. LOL never heard the "Who's idea was this?" clip before

Yeah you're right, this is a MM fail. Up north at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom whenever this happens the ride operator will get on the PA and say "To our guests in line we apologize that we have priority riders that may already be in your row, if someone is in your row please do not sit on them, you can board the next train." or something similar. They do the same for guests with exit passes. MM should really be doing the same. Actually, usually X2 has the best most efficient ride ops which is one of the reasons why the line dies down in the evening. Lately I've been hearing how terrible X2 ops are and how quick YOLOCoaster ops have been. I think they've recently switched their best ride ops from X2 to YOLOCoaster, perhaps due to the 1 train rehab. Riddler also used to be terrible for the longest time, then got good for a while and recently I've been hearing horror stories again. Historically X2 and Goliath usually have the best ops most of the time, it's unusual for X2 to be running that badly, but I've been hearing the same thing from everyone lately so whoever is currently assigned to it is doing a terrible job.

On a thursday you should be OK as long as there isn't a special event. I wouldn't buy one ahead of time, but budget for buying one at the park if you need to. Currently X2 has two trains and YOLOCoaster has one, so to maximize your efficiency hit YC first in the morning, then go around to the back of the park which will be empty and make your way back to X2 around 4pm when the line will have dwindled to almost nothing.

Looks like X2's second train just came out of rehab in time for your trip, so with that in mind, I'd hit YOLOCoaster in the morning and wait until the afternoon for X2. With normal 2-train ops, the line always dies down to nothing around 4pm. As far as I know the processing center stays open as long as the park, but the park is only open to the public until 6pm tonight so you'll have to get it processed tomorrow morning. With X2 hopefully back to normal that should make the early entry a bit less of a necessity.

You are going to be there on very hot and very busy days, so prepare for that. You should definitely get a flash pass for the labor day weekend visit at least. I went on that day last year and it was very very hot and very busy. For this Saturday look into the sports bottle with free refills on day of purchase, very good on those really hot days. For me it usually feels at least 10 degrees hotter in the park than what the weather says, perhaps because of the heat radiating off of the pavement. The early entry is sometimes a cluster you know what, but if you're visiting from out of town I definitely still recommend getting the gold pass for that because you should almost always at least be able to get in one ride before the gates open, and I hear both YOLOCoaster and X2 are running one train right now, so you can cross one of the two off immediately without a wait. (I recommend doing X2 first on the early entry because lately the Ride Ops on YOLOCoaster have been uncharacteristically fast and the line has been moving pretty briskly even if it looks long) You also get discounts on food and in the gift shops if you show your pass. Regarding pass processing, if you have a Six Flags park near you don't forget you can always purchase the pass at your local park, get it processed there, and then take it to SFMM when you visit. (You could also do it the night before or something if you're going to be arriving the day before you go to the park or something.) The processing at Magic Mountain has been kind of crazy lately due to the new installation of the biometric scanners. There's a combination of the scanners not working right, employees not really knowing how to use them, and guests not really knowing how to use them. They're brand new so its a huge learning curve and getting in the park in the morning has been slower than usual lately, which is why the gold line has been getting in so late. If you get to the front gates early enough (~45 before gates open) to get at the front of the line you should have no problem getting in at least a few minutes before the mad rush. Normally it's supposed to be 10 minutes, but sometimes it can be 5 or less.

I like the screen I just think the content is a little thin. If there were something captivating on there it would be really nice.

Make sure you get the Gold Pass or you won't get in early. And if you do, you still might not. Lately it hasn't been unusual for the gold pass line to get in at the same time as the main gate or later. I've seen it so slow to open the gold line that people start bailing from it after 10:30 and getting in the main line and actually getting in the main gate before the gold line guests.

That sounds extremely weird. If a train is on one side of the station when the other hits the brakes, can't that one go straight away to the other side? From my limited knowledge of train dispatching, I believe the operator still has to press the button to advance each train into the station when it's clear, so if they were occupied with the first train they may be slow to advance the second one into the other station.

The M&M path is easy to spot but also easy to miss. Coming out of Tatsu's exit turn to your right and look on your right hand side, it's just as you start to go around the corner you'll see stairs leading up that go under the beginning of Tatsu's lift. The last row on YOLO is definitely the best. You get extra hangtime coming backwards out of the tunnel and a little more pop coming over the top of the hill at the end. I've ridden front back and middle and the back is easily the best. I have heard from a couple people lately that the one train ops on X2 have been extremely slow..with the line only at the bottom of the station stairs it took 30 minutes. With that in mind I'd say start on X2 very first, then head over to YOLO. Normally X2's line dies around 3-4 O'clock, but as slow as they've been moving lately and with one train that might not happen. I stood in the YOLO line with the queue was totally full and running one train and it was still only about 45 minutes, so it's been pretty efficient considering. They've been keeping the unshaded areas clear which means they hold you and then let a big group go at once, it kind of makes you feel like you're moving faster than you are. On these days Tatsu probably won't get too out of hand, I doubt it will top 40 minutes. So I'd say start with X2, YOLO, Tatsu, then go upstairs to SEFK and the back of the park.

I normally don't refuse to ride any coaster, but I would absolutely refuse to ride a Chinese knockoff tilt coaster, that is absolutely terrifying! If these are indeed dueling Vekoma tilt coasters, then ZOMG!

^ Actually staffing would be virtually the same since they currently (for the last few years at least) only use one side of the existing coaster.

I normally can't stand the Ellen show but I came across this clip of someone from her show testing confidence building skimmies on Lex Luthor, it's actually pretty funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31wlNE_u2KQ

^ Though I can't make it today I appreciate the notice, I'll remember May 5th for a future trip.

I did hear that the scoreboard display hanging from the ceiling was thought up and built by some of the park's maintenance technicians.

They have them installed already up at California's Great America and when they're playing the trivia and weather info it's very pleasant, as I saw on one ride, but when I walked to another ride where they presumably didnt have the info programmed in, they were just looping loud pop music much like Six Flags does. I understand the pop music is popular I just wish it werent so loud all the time..sometimes its hard to talk to the person next to you. The trivia they had running was pretty fun, it was related to rides in the park and multiple choice and every few seconds you would get another hint and a few less points. A lot of people in line seemed to enjoy playing it while waiting for their turn to ride. One thing that Six Flags has been doing recently that I do like is running Looney Tunes cartoons on their queue televisions. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing CGA or KBF run Peanuts cartoons on FunTV.

Sigh...Prudential was spotted on the roof with decibel meters again today. More tunnels probably upcoming...just enclose the whole coaster and get it over with. Better yet lets enclose Prudential in one of those giant domes like from that Under The Dome show.