edgeboy

Things like this really keep the forum classy and mature.

It's technically an "unassigned" day, but it acts the same as a holiday. It's for Rosh Hashanah. So all the LAUSD schools have it off.

I actually braved the park today (it got to 104 degrees), and the park was, no pun intended, a ghost town. Everything was a walk on, and most rides were sending out empty trains or half empty trains. Sol Spin was running with 2 people on it. Log Ride was a walk on. Iron Reef was cycling tons of empty trains. I got on almost every literal ride (minus Camp Snoopy) in the park in just under 3 hours, including the flats. Although obviously Xcelerator and Montezuma are still down. Even Ghostrider, notorious for having an hour + lines when all else is 15 minutes or less, was only a 2-3 train wait (at least it was in the early morning). And I wanted to send a shout out to their crew... even with low crowds, they were still running two trains, and were often having one cleared as the second one returned, with very little stacking. It was the best ops I've seen on it in a while. Kudos to them, who often get a lot of heat here.

The Sky Tower when it's open, The FT Sports Bar, Kwerk Theatre, Food Etc. are all good places to cool off. The Dole Whips at Food Etc. are surprisingly good compared with the rest of the food at MM. The Sky Tower hasn't been open for years, and unless things have changed, isn't likely to open again in the near future. I've pretty much written it off. I do agree their Dole Whips are a big "secret". It's the same as Disney, without the insane wait.

I was kinda hoping for a full flat ride package, ala SFOT last year with a Troika, Endeavor, and Giant Frisbee. But I will certainly take what I can get. I was wondering about the fate of the Troll at the bumper cars as well. I'd imagine they'd keep it, or at the very least keep in backstage should they ever resurrect the museum at the top of the Skytower (or place it elsewhere).

That would likely never hold up in court. While rare, it is sometimes it is the park's fault. Xcelerator cable, the Columbia at Disneyland, Smiler at Alton Towers...

For about two seconds, there was a Condor at the top of the mountain. Well, if you consider the location of Chop Six/Panda Express near Viper the top of the mountain.

I'll have to look into that. My SFMM local places to eat are Presto Pasta, The Habit, Pei Wei, Pick Up Stix, and if we're starving, Claim Jumper. And on that note, RIP to the Marie Calendars that has now been torn down.

I was a bit surprised by the Star Flyer rumor, because I had been hearing more about a Giant Frisbee/Giant Discovery flat more. Although I think either one would be cool, it'd be great for SFMM to amp up it's flats collection before a possible coaster in 2020.

I got to ride Valvaran just a few weeks ago, and if you're in the edge seats, it is not a smooth ride. Personally, I'm finding some B & M's are starting to get a bit rough as as they age. Although not all, curiously. Just some.

While I have no proof, I suspect the paths on the Terror Tram are fairly limited due to constraints on the studio use and noise requirements from nearby houses. Since it's basically all outdoors, I'm pretty sure the sound carries, and residential area are pretty strict about noise. Isn't it one of the reasons Terror Tram closes so much earlier? And this year, they have mentioned the scare zone at the metro lot will be extended more, so expect it to be longer this time.

Damn, I used to love that Triple Wheel. Abrupt start and all.

^Yeah, I don't understand why they didn't use switchbacks inside. And two pre-show rooms? At best, one. And they're both LONG. I have serious doubts those will stick around long (or at least, they SHOULDN'T stick around long). Plus, what's the point of having a single rider line if you still have to stand in the outdoor queue and both pre-show rooms to get to it? It'll save you what, 2 minutes? Ridiculous.

When that ride first opened, everyone was complaining how short the ride cycle is. Now that it increased, people are starting to complain how long it is? There really is no satisfying people. Personally, I don't mind the longer cycle. I'm willing to wait longer for a longer ride. When I was there recently, the line wasn't even 25% full. And the usual space roller only usually seats 30, so they did something to improve it. I just returned from a trip to Canada's Wonderland, and if you ask me, the operational ride nightmare is their new Soaring Timbers. Those seats are so close together, and the restraints come so far down, most people can't put on or undo their own seat belt. Which means that for every load, employees have to manually do all 38 seat belts--and also at the unload, which takes forever. Talk about horrific capacity. And to me, the ride experience wasn't worth all that. I can't possibly imagine Cedar Fair investing in any more of those.

^Nevermind, I was thinking of Maison Rouge at La Ronde. Got my Canadian parks mixed up, lol

I just went for my first time about 4 days ago. I was pleasantly surprised by this park! It's gorgeous, and has a great selection of coasters vs flat rides vs atmosphere. And to my utter, utter surprise, I actually did not think Time Warp was actually all that bad. Maybe it's because I went in with low, low expectations, but I experienced very little roughness. My husband, who's taller, did have some pain in his shoulders, but even he thought there's worse out there. The wooden coasters,while not really noteworthy, weren't terrible either. Also very surprised by Vortex... makes me wish Ninja at SFMM were up to those standards! And the flat ride selection is amazing. I got on Sledgehammer as well. Had more headbanging on that than Time Warp! Shivering Timbers was a first for me, but was not as good as I was hoping it would be. A traditional space roller seems better, and the operations are not quick due to the poor design of the restraints. As an overall whole, though, I found the ops were great... it was amazing to see them running to check restraints. I don't think I've ever seen that in SFMM, haha. Was sad the year-round hanted house wasn't there anymore. When did it leave, and where was it located before?

I was just at the park today... not only is Boardwalk BBQ open (just today), but believe it or not, Sol Spin has returned---and with a longer ride cycle! It now does 5 full speed rotations, plus a 6th slowed down to end the cycle. I believe that before, it was only 2 full speed rotations with a 3rd slowed down, wasn't it? If so, then it's doubled in length. Tweeted about it at my rideguy70 account. So much for the Sol Spin naysayers! Employees said it reopened yesterday.

Personally, I don't find a Space Roller to be a mediocre ride... I actually think they're pretty fun. And not defending them completely, but to be fair, the original Windseeker is still working just fine in Worlds of Fun. Rode it myself this week. That was more of an OSCHA problem, not as much a Mondial one.

Any word so far on what the wait times for it have been like? I've been on the SFStL and SFOT versions, so I'm very curious to compare. But not thrilled with the idea that Single Rider isn't until after 2 pre-show rooms... what's the point of that?

Thought I'd follow up with my visit. I'm from Los Angeles, and this was my 3rd visit to the park. While I enjoyed it on my first and 2nd visit, I didn't find the coasters there to be particularly remarkable--with the exception of Prowler, which was amazing on my first visit when it was still new, lesser so due to roughness on my second. After reading all on this thread about poor operations, I went in with super low expectations. And I must say, I was overall surprised. Granted, the employees were generally not very enthusiastic. However, they were doing their jobs with minimal time wasting. Perhaps the fact I went on a day when the weather was 98 and humid maybe meant they were too tired to socialize with each other. Exception: the operator booth at Prowler always had multiple employees inside talking. Ironic that there's a giant sign that says "Do not disturb operator" when they're totally distracting each other. All flat rides that I went on had at least two employees, if not more, so ops were adequate. Coasters were only running one train, but the weather was so hot and attendance so low, many of those trains often still had empty seats, so I didn't blame them. Even Spinning Dragons was a walk on mid-day. I did enjoy the new park entrance. Gives a much more open feel, though it also does feel a bit "corporate" and impersonal. But it also seems more efficient, so it's a trade off. The Condor and Troika look amazing, very well renovated. Maybe it was just me, but it felt like the Condor was running a bit slow, and it did seem to have a some techincal trouble later on in the day. Plus I wasn't crazy about it's location... being on the bottom of a small hill (the train station) means you don't feel as high up as you are. Steelhawk was fun, got on two rides in the early part of the day before it closed for the rest of the day due to wind. Zulu/Enterprise was assembled, but not yet running. The Fjord Fling wasn't "flinging", just spinning. What's up with that? That was a waste of my time. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the flat ride selection. Being that Magic Mountain is one of my home parks, I was fairly jealous in that respect (we have, like, 5 flat rides total). Not many Rotors left, so happy they have theirs! I must say, Timber Wolf, aside from the long helix in mid-ride, is actually pretty good in the front row! Better than I remember and I feel it gets credit for. Prowler is a great layout and speed, but it's pretty rough on the turns and bottom of first drop. It gets a pass for the speed and airtime, but it's not as rerideable as it could be. Despite the roughness, it's amazing at night. And Mamba is also pretty decent in the 2nd back. After my earlier visits, I felt the park was nice, but unremarkable. After this visit, while I don't feel it's the strongest park, I do have to give it credit for having a very nice balance of coasters, flat rides, kiddie rides, and atmosphere. I think I would return again.

I want to see if there are any pictures from the Cosplayers. That sounded fun, and I probably would have if I had been in town.

Any updates on Sol Spin? A source on twitter said there's a chance it may actually be removed due to possible structural problems... apparently, the ride has been making some unusual noises, which is why it's been shut down and Mondial people have been out there investigating. But I don't know how credible that is, as I haven't heard it any where else yet.

So.... will it have a single rider line?

But for SFMM, we are not within 100 miles of any of those SF parks you mentioned. So case and point. I would gamble, as mentioned before, that most GP in SoCal have never even heard of this ride before at all. Not a lot of SFNE, GAdv, SFOT, SFFT, GAm, and Stl advertising gets out this way. If you do want to argue about the close proximity for those other parks, that's actually an entirely different situation. Though a fair one. But in that sense, SFMM situation is exempt from that argument.

To answer a few of your questions: That inversion on Medusa is called a Sea Serpent. It's a one of it's kind in the world, they only time so far B & M has made that particular inversion. It is a good one. The old killer whales/orcas were called Shuka. The space where the Air Penguin kiddie flat ride is located used to be a starfish themed trabant, so it wasn't really part of the old Thomas land. It sort of stood alone. And believe it or not... but I do own a hard copy of Snoopy's book, It was a Dark and Stormy Night that you pictured. It's a pretty great book. To those who want to do both SFDK and the Schultz museum, just realize they are an hour's drive apart. Not that far, but not right next door, either. You would definitely need your own car to get there.