PURE

You must not be 21. Epcot wasn't made to thrill roller coaster enthusiasts with their rides. I don't think. I'm going with Cedar Point. But that doesn't mean I don't like going there.

I was definitely thinking the same thing. That must have been one of the first test runs or something, you can still hear the wheels squeaking its so darn new. Just guestimating, i'd say after it breaks in, it'll go a good 10 miles an hour faster. I remember watching some of the very first test runs of Silver Bullet, thing ran slower and was so quiet all you could hear were the wheels as it passed.

Wow this ride looks like a lot of fun, and even though it has some similarities to Thunderbird it still looks original. What a nice addition to a park that's already got 2 decently sized wood coasters already. Looks like it'd fit perfectly in the corner at another Six Flags park that's actually lacking woodies. Similar but bigger clone eventually for MM? ...nah.

The steel beam in the middle of the track keeps the train on laterally. The bogey wheels that ride that beam are steel. So what you're hearing is steel on steel at 100 (well, 89.5) MPH. One train running empty is simply for maintenence purposes. As soon as 1 guest gets on a train, it must (by law)be completely safety checked the next morning. By running 1 train empty and 1 with guests, maintenence only has 1 train to check the following morning, leaving more time to work on other things. Some lazy fool just didn't take the train off the track. Nice photos, its always nice to hear about good trips to Magic Mountain.

Translation: I guess some people are bigger losers than others... Kinda wonder, who's really the bigger loser? The guy that comes on a coaster forum to talk about coasters, or the pansy that comes on the coaster forum and shoots low blows to make himself feel better? I gotta be honest, I had an AWESOME ride on Speed at the Nascar Cafe in Vegas, and seeing as how they're both Premier rides, I'm sure these 2 coasters are similar and deliver the same great ride. Its a shame I won't be able to get on these 2, not only are they unique and look like a good time, you don't see too many of them around.

Wouldn't it be a bad idea to re-build a theme park on an area that was already destroyed by a hurricane, and has potential to be flooded and destroyed again? Kinda along the same idea as not rebuilding New Orleans in the same damn area for that exact same reason...

^^Really like those collages you put together. Perfect for printing and making a poster or putting them in a frame.

^So the final verdict. Do you think they're worth 40 bucks a pop? Because for me, 40 bucks is right on the border of buyers remorse.

SF Fanboy. You're just too stubborn to take it back. Oh yes SF can. And they do. Papa John's pizza at SF parks is a horrible rip off. I don't think you should sum up CF's food quality so much as a whole, it really depends on which park you're at. For example Knott's food pretty much blows, while Cedar Point actually offers a variety of decent meals around the park. ^Can't understand your grammar in 3 of the 5 points you made.

^I'd be lying if I told you you were wrong, and you're completely right. Problem is, if you've ever been to Magic Mountain you'd understand that this type of operation is pretty much impossible. The park is almost always understaffed, and the people that actually end up showing up to work rarely give a crap about you (you being "the guest"), or how long you have to wait in line. There are exceptions, but whenever I've asked a ride op why they don't have a theme park attitude, or why they don't act like they don't want to even be working there I mostly get 2 responses. "I'm just here to work," or "They don't pay me enough." Two of the laziest excuses any employee could ever have. I've heard "the extreme" but never "baja ridge" haha. Theres the General Public for you, which is another reason why X and the park will always have slow load times unless there are some major changes at the park. The clientèle at MM has to be among the lowest IQ of any other park visitors in the world.

Out of all the coasters at CP, I was thrilled to get on Millenium Force and TTD. TTD came on top, basically due to the overall forces.

The Granny Gran Prix and the petting zoo area used to be really nice, and they used to have some really sweet animals there (nothing too major, but when you're a little kid you dig that kind of stuff). When I was younger I had a blast in that area, its too bad they haven't been keeping it up. Although I'd love to see expansion in that area, in terms of family thrills, I think it'd be more advantageous to re-create the area for the little kids. If the parks willing to spend money, having a petting zoo and maybe getting something a little more recent than the electric cars they have there now would be nice. Something calm and refreshing to get away from the general coaster theme of the park. I think it'd be a hit with families and little kids. But what it comes down to is how much the park is willing to go to upkeep an area of that complicity, and I'm sure right now a petting zoo is not the first thing on their minds.

^wha? ^^It won't take 6 months. Beside new electronics, safety systems etc., the trains are similar to the ones on the track now. And this "potentially drastic" refurb on X's station isn't anywhere near as "xtreme" as Jahan makes it out to be. The unload station now will just be stationary, and the load station will be doing the same thing its been doing since the ride opened. And most likely there will be new queue line rail configurations for the typical, un-educated "can't figure it out on their own" MM guest. Unless the parks putting this all in the mechanics hands (which they very well could do) there shouldn't be more than a three month gap between closing the ride and testing the new trains.

"Pre" Superman paint job (if it happens).

I hate CF! Stupid rain delays and their coasters are lame-o! Hail SF! They're still a haven to teenage anarchy and their coasters are d'bomb! Let the childish theme park rants ensue!

^^From what I've heard X will only have 1 part of the station for load and unload. The part that is "unload" now will just be a hold block.

Good riddance, I say. Oh it can be, and it should. In my opinion Holland didn't have much a clue about anything when it came to running an amusement park, plain and simple. My guess is he was around as long as he was because of the money he saved SF on an annual basis-and it shows by the horrible shape the parks been in during the past decade. Heres to changes, and hope for Magic Mountains renewal.

Funny how Batman clones are all around the country and everyone wants to complain that SF has no variety. Then the same people come along and ask "Why don't more parks have these drop towers?" which are essentially everywhere and all pretty much create the same thrill.

^You mean one on the back of every car? Which still doesn't seem to stop some people from putting them up there...talk about an ugly sight, eeesh.

^Its been like that for a while now. Tatsu even has its own picture, but I believe X and Deja Vu were skipped.

So lets see what this new GM has to offer, maybe its a foreshadow of a lot of improving years to come. Its good to hear when people can actually be honest about the park, regardless if its in the condition it is now or not. When it was said it would be closed so many people were like "don't care if its gone, its a dump, etc." and its like, how could you possibly root for a park like this one to close down and be demolished? One with so many unique characteristics when it comes to environment and coasters? I'm not a big fan of how the park is run or the condition of many things either, but that doesn't mean I'd rather have it gone than have hope it'll get better. So many pictures, but I liked the angles and perspectives you captured in a lot of them. So, the pictures definitely made up for the wait. Very nice! You commented that Superman was running both sides with people on them. I know track A's car was rehabed back in July and was sitting behind the station for some time. Is it running both sides right now? Or did it only towards the end of the summer? I'm just wondering, I hadn't heard anything about that till now.

I will say one thing... I'd much rather have floorless seats than sitdown seats on almost any coaster, mainly because they give you more of a feeling of freedom. Scream has numerous pops of air (first drop, zero-g, after brake run, after helix) that I really don't think would be there unless it was a floorless train. So label it a "gimmick" or whatever you want to, but who cares if it improves the overall rider experience?

article I think some people need to let go of the past, because the park is NEVER going to be like it used to. First of all, its because they have a dozen more coasters in the landscape AND, the times have changed. However, I don't see a problem with a "new and improved" park thats better than its been in 15 years or so. And might I say, if Magic Mountain wants to improve, the first thing they need to do is work on their freakin employees and their freakin horrible attitudes. Because you can put up a million signs telling people to follow rules and add shows and theming all over the park, but if you still have ride operators on cell phones looking like they'd rather have a 12 gauge to their head than sitting and operating a ride, you've gotten nowhere.

From Wikipedia: "One feature of Bolliger and Mabillard coasters that is almost universal throughout their product line, and almost exclusive to B&M, is an element known as a "pre-drop" (which is known in the industry as a "Kicker"). This is a short drop after the top of the lift hill and before the start of the first drop, designed to reduce tension on the lift chain. The flat section between the pre-drop and the first drop serves as a shelf to carry the weight of the train, reducing related stresses on the chain. By comparison, on most coasters without a pre-drop, the weight of the train as it begins its descent tends to pull on the lift chain, as the latter half of the train is still being lifted by the chain at this point. More recently, the pre-drop is only used on coasters with curved drops, where as coaster with straight drops, such as Goliath at Six Flags over Georgia, Hydra at Dorney Park, and Led Zeppelin: The Ride at Hard Rock Park do not have a pre-drop." Click here for the entire page.

I disagree.... Scream! (a B&M in case somebody didn't know) has been rough as hell the last couple times I've been on it. It used to be really smooth when it opened 4 years ago, but now... ouch. Even in the front row I get banged around. I'll take the blame for that. I should've known on these forums sometimes you gotta be super specific otherwise 1 exception pops up and someone calls you on it. Just because they're B&M's doesn't necessarily guarantee they're going to be smooth for ten years. If not maintained properly, a B&M can have just as much demise as any other coaster. However, I don't recall Scream ever being that "smooth," from what I remember, its pretty much been inconsistent since day 1. A big part has to do with the polyurethane wheel mixture that rides the coasters track. Silver Bullet at Knotts is so quiet because (well, to start, there's sand in the supports/spine) the wheel mixture is so soft, you can almost indent it yourself with your fingernail. Same with Tatsu (which is still quiet even though i don't think it has sand filled in its spine and supports). If you look at Screams wheels they're white, and a lot harder than SB's (they're also cheaper), which is why the coaster rides so hard and is so loud. Many factors contribute to a rides roughness, some have already been listed by other people posting. Gaps between wheels and the track (upstops, ride wheels), looseness of hitches, looseness of bolts on the train, even bad track design (Viper is almost all of these things which is why its so rough) will contribute to a rides roughness. Keep in mind not all of this is the cause of bad maintenance, some coasters just simply don't age well. So when parks buy a coaster, its kind of a risk. You could get a lemon on your hands and there's really nothing you can do about it except take it down and start from scratch (Windjammer). Unfortunately, a combination of these factors have contributed to the nightmare of coasters that are Magic Mountain. However, I will say Tatsu's fared well so far. Perhaps its the new ownership, a new and improved designed B&M, or better yet, things could have finally went right for a Magic Mountain coaster.