TheErik

Who has the cheapest rooms around SFMM? I don't need anything fancy, just a bed and cold AC. Like a cheesy Motel 6 (and they actually aren't bad) I'm willing to drive 15-20 mins from the park.

Must be the same guy who tells anyone who will listen that it takes 15 weeks to rehab a train. The should stop using gold in the gear box, its to soft anyway.

You've made my point for me. The trains are not continuously worked on. They sit there waiting and waiting. I think a truer statement would be "It takes SFMM an average of 15 weeks to rehab a train because they are slow, understaffed and don't have parts on hand." I understand that the trains aren't simply sleds on wheels but there isn't tons and tons of sensors either. Its grasping at straws to try and use them to justify 15 weeks of rehab. How many ppl are on the maintenance team? Would be cool if you could ask them how long it REALLY takes to rehab a train, in man hours.

This is not the first time I've seen someone cite insane per train maintenance schedules. What is your source on this figure? With a 3 man maintenance crew working regular hours, 15 weeks breaks down to 1800 man hours, 1200 hours for 2 people. With some exceptions these are not super complicated machines with engines and transmissions. It does not take 1800 or even 1200 hours to rebuild them. The army breaks down and rebuilds giant complicated locomotives in slightly over twice the time it supposedly takes to rebuild a coaster train: -SOURCE 15 weeks to rehab Apocalypse is nonsense. If you just heard it somewhere else and are repeating it then good job further spreading lies. If 15 weeks is an actual number publicly stated by SFMM then they are full of crap . I bet I could disassemble one car on an Apocalypse train in a day. I don't doubt that trains are actually offline in maintenance bays for months and months. I'd like to know how much of that time there is actually a mechanic working on them though.

Do the other Six Flag's have an up charge on their popular rides? I didn't think that 15 bucks was to bad for the add-on till I found out it was per ride. Craziness.

I know that the "I'm going to SFMM on this date, is it going to suck?" topic is tired but you guys seem to love to answer them so I will wade into those murky waters once more Planning on heading to The Mountain this Monday. I only live about 45 minutes away but historically keep my distance from May-Aug. I can't stand crowds. I have 2 relatives coming from out of town and I want to show them how we do it out here. CP is their home park and they are SFMM haters even though they have never been within 100 miles of the park. I hope to show them the glory that is SFMM. My question to you: Do I need to pick up Flash Passes for a Monday in late June? I'd really like to be able to hit the whole circuit. The plan is to be at the gate 45 min before opening and running up to X2 (10 bucks per ride via the flash pass is retarded) and maybe hit Tatsu before picking up the passes..if they are needed.

Want to talk about the flash pass... I'm an impatient bastard and usually avoid the park April-Aug. Lines piss me off. I've never paid attention to the flash pass because it doesn't apply to me (always feel bad for the poor SOBs scanning their passes on a dead Feb. weekend ) I have relatives coming from out of town in July and am looking into getting our group FP's. I have no problem paying an up charge for X2 but was DISGUSTED to find out it's "per ride" REALLY!?!? Per ride? X2 is a bad ass coaster but not worth a freakin 15 dollar surcharge . Did i miss boat on bitching about this?

You make it sound terrible. I can't stand the huge crowds and avoid SFMM altogether during the summer. If it's like that I'm gona swallow the 2 tickets and go home. Still gona take the gamble though

Thanks for the info I think I'm gona just bite the bullet and see what happens. Hopefully its a ghost town.

The place I work at is part of some entertainment discount group and they put out a monthly news letter with discount tickets for all kinds of fun stuff through out Southern California. This months flyer caught my eye because it lists a private party at SFMM on Friday May 6th from 6 till midnight Anyone know who exactly is buying out the park and if they oversell the hell out of it or not? Its only 36 bucks a ticket so the price is very tempting for 6 hours of potentially oversold ERT. I just don't want to show up to find out that everyone else in So Cal had the same idea.

Ouch I made my idiotic statement after returning home from a few to many drinks. Woke up this morning and logged on to see the damage to find a verbal ass kicking from the man himself. I retract my moronic statement and apologize to all of TPR for subjecting you to its blatant stupidity. Can we still be friends?

Why does every one like to bitch about scream being built on the parking lot? Was X and even the mighty Colossus not built over the parking lot? Get over yourselves and find something legit to complain about.

^^ OH Man! That looks awesome! On the subject of space..If MM had the cash (which it seems not to) It could consolidate all its make shift portable office space into one low rise building and gain a few acres. Same for the parking lot, like Disney did.

I may be in the minority but I hit up almost all the flats when I make the weekly circuit ( I almost got kicked off the swings last week for having to much fun ). I do understand that SFMM has taken the direction of being "THE EXTREME PARK" and I'm with that. I love the steel and wood that has been added in the last few years. ( I feel as if Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage ala the the late 80's should be yelling "OH YEAAAAAAAA" when ever THE EXTREME PARK is said.) but just a tiny fraction of the dough spent an all the crazy EXTREME rides would keep the flats running.

I thought spin out was the best flat SMFF ever had. I remember being scared $hitless the first time I rode it as a small child. My friend told me the floor dropped out and I had visions of the floor dropping and just disappearing into a bottomless pit. Maybe it was the relief in finding out that it slowly drops a few feet that twisted my young mind into loving it.

My wife's jaw dropped the last time we where at the park and saw that The Atom Smasher was in pieces. Its her favorite flat. I told her that the fact the the housing and and track are still in place is a good thing and they are probably just rehabbing it. Thanks for the insight behind removing the flats Robb. I think SFMM's thinking is a bit misguided though. Our cherished flats could be rehabbed and continue to operate on just a small fraction of only the R&D of the new big steel IMO. I don't pretend to be an expert though and am grateful for what SMM still delivers

Sorry to go off the "wtf is the red dot for" topic but there is something I just must know. Why did they rip out my beloved spin out? Yes I know I'm a bit behind in the times but I moved out of CA in 2006 and just returned late last year. A quick googling of the interwebz didn't reveal much other than some stupid kid wacked his head on a pipe. That seems to be at least a full season before they gutted my favorite flat.

^ I missed the 2010 season. Nice that they have it back on again. Anyone know how long it had been down?

I forgot to add that that there is a cool new flame effect right before the first tunnel. And now to bitch about something. I begrudgingly understand one train ops during the off season and all the other things that ppl like to complain about. What pisses me off though is when they don't take the time and effort to fix the little things that make a huge difference. Case and Point: The FX in the Riddler's station have been down forever and they just have the regular lights on. The laser setups are still on and the mirrors are still moving, but no lasers. I asked one of the ops what was up with it and he said all the lasers are burnt out and MM doesn't want to fix it. I don't know if he was just BSing me so I'd stfu but either way, its lame that they are down.

I got on Apocalypse yesterday around 5:00 and they weren't making the pre show mandatory. All the doors where open and the ops where encouraging every one to just run through.

If the ERT is as you guys describe it, the 53 bucks is still a steal. Not that MM isn't still an ass for sticking it to us They know we'll pay whatever they ask. How fast did it sell out last year? Am I going to be safe buying my tickets the first week of Feb?

How a short are the wait times for the most popular rides during ERT?

There is a lot of hate towards The Mountain going on in here and I just don't get it. I don't go to MM for the food, clean trash cans, flashy ride signage, parades or any else like that. I go to MM for one reason. Their epic collection of coasters. No where else in So Cal do you get so much value for your dollar. I drop down a little over 200 dollars for passes and the parking add on and we are good to go for the whole year. A year of Tatsu, X2, Riddler's and Batman. My issues are with ride closures and missing trains. The rest is just a bonus. The kiddy land is torn up and closed? Boo Hoo. I think they should tear the whole thing out and stick in some more steel. Then build a day care out front. When I want to see pretty flowers and steam cleaned streets I bust out the Disney passes. When I want a day of hard core coasters I head up to the Mountain. Don't get me wrong, It would be nice if they cleaned up a bit, but speaking as a coaster nut it's trivial to me.

2 hour que on a off season Sunday afternoon is truly sad. I feel for you. I was gona head over to MM today but something came up at the last minute. I guess it saved me some gas To MM's credit though I've been 5 times since picking up my pass in Nov and haven't had any problems at all. I even made the mistake of going on Toy's for Tot's day (I cursed the coaster gods when I got out of my car and saw everyone carrying toys) and although the lines where a bit long, everything was running and they had their "A team" operating the trains (These are the ppl who know how to put their thumb up and push button at the same time, which seems is not a requirement of all MM employees) .

Stumbled upon TPR today while looking for info on The Green Lantern. I didn't realize the coaster obsessed had a support group! I've found a new home. You can count me in! ERT and doughnuts, it couldn't get any better.