kraxleRIDAH

That "train" that Shapiro talked talked about opening at the park is the Metro (monorail). There were never any plans for a brand new traditional styled railroad.

From my understanding, the Goliaths at La Ronde, Over Georgia, and Walibi World do not have a theme. Chrome accents and "time machine" really isn't a theme -- the ride itself and its surroundings are completely bland and generic. Much like how Scream! at Magic Mountain has no theme. "Parking lot" isn't a theme. I was strictly talking about the Goliath at Magic Mountain, although I'm sure I should've been more specific at the time.

I stand corrected, I always thought it was spelled with an "a", so didn't think the park had it incorrect. My apologies!

I picked Gio. Has anybody ever had a bumpy or shuffling ride on Goliath or Titan? Didn't think so... I know I've had some bad shuffling rides on Intamin and B&M's.

^ Goliath, the roller coaster, has an ambiguous "lost tropical civilization" theme. It was never specified as Aztec, Mayan, or whatever. The actual Goliath in Biblical times is a decendant from central Israel. Let's just say, the choice to drop the homage to Israel/some Philistine city was a good idea and in its place, a much more appealing tropical theme.

Actually, it's not a lot bigger, it's actually smaller. It may look like it because it's layout is more spread out, but Scream! is just as tall and has a longer track layout. Medusa West: 3937-feet of track; 150-feet tall Scream!: 3985-feet of track; 150-feet tall

To summarize some important notes by CEO Mark Shapiro: * "Retaining better guest-facing employees. More and more competition out there these days. You can get a job at Starbucks which pays a lot of money and gives you a lot of benefits...we need to be competing on that level." * We've established a guest serive mantra -- so every employee knows their mission, it's four-pronged": 1) Cleanliness 2) Friendliness 3) Speed of Service 4) Safety * "When it comes to the look and feel of our parks as it relates to the guest experience, we need to get back to theming. Investing in theming. These parks are about imagination and different worlds and fantasies and they're about story-telling. And that's on our agenda this year -- pretty much right at the top. And as I said, we need to make the rides and retail initiatives much more experiential." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Other important notes: * 7 parks receiving insfrastructure upgrades this year. Next two years, infrastructure upgrades to rest of the parks. * Six Flags Television and Six Flags Radio. Outfitting parks with radio and television capabilities. To market messages, play content, and sell advertising. Can be regionalized to certain park areas. * Company being much more selective in job hiring due to increased wages. Decreased reliance on international employees. * Arcades transformed to debit system. * Pricing for VIP program to be raised in certain markets due to increased demand. * Magic Mountain's Metro is expected to return to operation before the end of the 2007 season but will not be themed to Thomas the Tank Engine because "our partnership with Hit Entertainment, they really want to keep Thomas on the ground, he's not an elevated train. Of course we want to respect their brand attribute, so we're not going to play with that." (Quote Mark Shapiro) * Wiggles World and Thomas Town won't be coming to Magic Mountain in 2008. * $14 million reduced loss in fixed assetts reflected by the writing off/removal of "obsolete rides and attractions": - Psyclone @ SFMM - Trailblazer @ SFGAm - Free Fall @ SFOG - Stuntman's Freefall @ SFNJ - Riptide @ SFNJ - Chaos @ SFNJ - The Tilt @ SFA - Jambo @ SFDK - Spider @ SFNE - Tempest @ SFFT - OVNI @ La Ronde * The Johnny Rockets introduced at four parks this year are now the highest grossing food stores in the chain. * Pizza sales have increased dramatically since the introduction of Papa John's last season. * KRAFT Foods and Six Flags announce a corporate marketing alliance.

For anyone interested in knowing, in the Q1 Conference call with investors, it was noted that Metro will return to operation before the end of the year, but will NOT be themed to Thomas the Tank Engine. So keep a look-out for any signs of work at any of Metro's platforms. Also, there will NOT be a Wiggles World or Thomas Town going into the park in 2008. Tony Hawk's Big Spin in Psyclone's former spot, anybody?

Those trees that were marked with the orange spraypaint were cut down about a week after those pictures were posted (which was a long time ago). I'm going to assume it's to extend the former Chicken Plantation patio area.

^ Yup. A lot of people I've talked to still think Magic Mountain is on the chopping block or is already closed -- and are suprised when I tell them it's still open and will continue operating. And if a lot of people still think the park is closed or is closing...the consideration of visiting the park is not even in their mind. Sure, there are TV commercials and some billboards here and there, but that's not much to combat the damage done by the wildfire that is word of mouth. If it's one big mistake Shapiro made was publically announcing the sale of the park and then end up keeping it. I remember a lot of enthusiasts theororizing that Magic Mountain was put up for sale to drive up attendance because people would want to visit it "one last time." Turns out it had the complete opposite effect. A detrimental one at that. A 12% decrease in attendance during the park's peak operating months in 2006? That's a lot.

Wouldn't the former Chicken Plantation technically be considered Six Flags Plaza? If not, all the park would have to do is change its listing on the map guide...it's literally on the border of High Sierra Territory and Six Flags Plaza. What puzzles me is why this Superhero meet and greet area isn't set up in Gotham City Backlot or The Movie District...probably since they want to tie it in with a fun-super-hero themed dining experience Chicken Plantation is being transformed into? I think the bright colors and new paint looks spectacular. Any sort of improvement is better than that eyesore that was Chicken Plantation. It was so dilapidated with fading and peeling paint. Everytime I passed it last season I shook my head in disbelief at how terrible and run down it looked. I'm just glad older buildings and facades are being refreshened at Magic Mountain, regardless of the theme. I'm sure it will look nice once it's completed. You can see in the photos that they've added new pillars to the exterior of the building. I'm guessing they'll fence off the front of the restaurant to make it an outdoor patio area.

Knott's Berry Farm circa 1975 and Magic Mountain circa 1978. Both parks are presently in a condition where they might as well just be defunct.

Sierra Sidewinder makes the two Tony Hawk coasters at Antonio and Eureka look weak.

I have been to both parks before and Knott's Berry Farm is definitely the better park in almost every concievable category. Great America is really a joke I think, and that was when Stealth was still around when I visited -- no offense to anybody that actually does like Great America (for what reason only God knows why). I mean, the best ride there is a 2,000-foot long inverted roller coaster that was built in 1993 and it wasn't even that good. And the runner up is a Vekoma Invertigo. Um. Ya.

Like a lot of you, my sympathies go only to the crocodile. How humans justify killing a wild animal that's kept captive against its will just because it acts out of instinct is beyond me. It's like when harbor patrol is ordered to hunt down and kill a shark that just attacked a swimmer on a beachfront. It's ridiculous isn't it? Humans don't live in the ocean. Sharks do. But when a shark mistakens one of us for a potential meal, it gets killed just because "we" don't want a dangerous animal around when "we" go swimming.

I think it's ridiculous when ANYBODY complains when they're assigned a seat on a ride. If a grouper/ride host should go out of his way and job assignment and consider letting you choose where to seat, then what are they to do when the other 300 some people waiting in line want to ride in a preferred seat too? By enforcing a strict no-preferred seating policy on a ride like X benefits everybody by filling up all available seats and keeps the queue area organized and less chaotic. It's selfish of your friend to assume that he would be of privelage and the exception to the rule just by asking nicely -- and even worse that he actually wanted to complain at guest relations. Just my two cents.

Thank you for that post corkscrewed. Nothing could excuse the gunman for his fatal rampage at V-Tech, but at the same time people reacting to this incident need to slow their roll with their "the guy is burning in hell" comments and accusations. He too was a human being and was obviously a troubled person -- emotional and psychological issues that probably developed years ago possibly from neglect, anxiety, social isolation, and self loathing. I'm just saying it's a tragedy for all the victims, including the killer himself. If only people took the time to care about others, be curteous, friendly and reached out we would have far less incidents like this. We need to realize we have a responsibility to other people, not just to ourselves and those only close to us. And honestly, were that many of you that surprised that this happened? Anyone over 21 (or is it 18?) with a clean record can go buy a hand gun and shoot up his or her campus. It could easily happen tomorrow, next week, next month ANYWHERE in America. The thought is terrifying isn't it? I don't know why there is so much debate around accessibility to guns. How many more "massacres" like these do we need before some laws are put into effect and enforced?

Didn't want to start a new thread to mention this tidbit, but was watching VH1's Celebrity Superspending of 2006 or something and they did a bit about Joe Francis' 33rd birthday held at Six Flags Magic Mountain last year two days before the official opening of Tatsu. It cost him $1 million to rent out the park for the duration his party of 5,000-some guests were there.

Usually, the people that don't understand what the hype is all about for a certain product are the ones that have never owned or tested one. There's the correlation.

Your photo is taken on the ride as the train bottoms out at the first Raven Turn and heading into the backflip. The on-ride photo sales center is located to the left as you walk down the exit path.

You honestly expected Magic Mountain employees to recognize a roller coaster shirt from Missouri? Please.

Thanks for the PTR. Always nice to see new photos of the "new" Six Flags parks, even if the changes are minimalistic.

From the birds-eye-view artist rendering of the park, there will be five. We have four names of the five. Midnight Rider; Shake Rattle 'n' Rollercoaster; Maximum RPM!, and Led Zeppelin - The Ride.

I drive a black 2004 Acura TSX. Got it brand new in May of 2004 and the sporty girl hasn't failed me yet. The only good non-promotional photo I could find of a black 2004 TSX on the web.

Intamin AG was not one of the ride suppliers announced by the management. The following manufacturers are supplying the park's rides: Vekoma In't. Chance-Morgan Bolliger & Mabillard Premier Rides Sally Corp. HUSS