kraxleRIDAH

^ That's the problem with this park. During the off-season last year, they were replacing signage, throwing new paint here and there, planting new flowers, fixing cracks in the midways, saw improved operations...then the start of the summer season beginning in late May and early June came and the park went into the crapper. Magic Mountain is somehow unable to cope with large crowds and seemingly most everything wrong with the park stems from that. I also really hope it isn't repeated this June, but I don't think I'll be holding my breath.

I'm so glad to know the park plans to completely repaint Ninja, rather than what they did with Revolution last year (only paint the parts visible from pathways). Can't wait for the pictures! Ninja getting a paintjob was one of the top 2 things people have been talking about that the park NEEDED to take care of. Now they have the other 99 things they have to do before the park looks good. Come on Jahan. Your feet can't be that white.

I'd hope Ninja would be at least half painted by this date. I think it's a good idea that they put Deja Vu into rehab considering it'll be done WHILE Psyclone is being taken out right next to it. They'd have to close Deja Vu regardless even if they had to do maintenance on it or not -- just because of Psyclone close proximity to it.

Knott's Jaguar! The "small" coaster with "big" coaster theming.

^ Sorry, I worded it wrong. It's a done deal. In the article, it says this: -------------------------- Actually to be more precise, the inside (yellow) rails support the train, the outside (purple) rails are responsible for seat rotation. As seen here: Uh. That's exactly what I meant. I'll assume you misinterpreted my post. The first and second rails are always stationary, like on every coaster operating right now. The third and fourth rails control the seat spins (no other coasters besides X and Eejanaika have third and fourth rails). However, in the unload and loading platforms, these set of extra rails are lowered or raised pneumatically to recline the seats or bring them upright.

^ I think he meant asking whether or not the three Superman flyers are "off-the-shelf" models. In a way, they are. Albeit very expensive ones. FYI, the Georgia Superman has a few differences from the Chicago and New Jersey Supermen.

^ Actually, with a lighter train, it'll mean slightly faster ride. Take Eejanaika for instance...its trains have less cars than X does, yet it maintains good speed due in part to lighter coaches. You'll also notice in a similar instance on Superman The Escape that if a car is launched with no riders, the car climbs up the tower coming close to the very top, as opposed to a fully loaded car, the car barely goes over 3/4 of the way up.

^ The retracting floor makes the loading/unloading process a bit faster. X's system operates in which every seat on the train first have to be tilted backwards to advance from unload station to load station. To tilt the seats backward, a pneumatic system lifts or lowers the third and fourth rails on the track in the loading platform (the extra set of rails is what's responsible for spinning the seats). This process is time consuming and adds to the unload/load time. Eejanaika trains do not need the seats titled backwards to advance from unload to load station. The floor simply drops a little and the train proceeds into the next station. That simple.

Quin Checketts of S&S Power (son of company founder, Stan) confirmed that Six Flags has hired S&S to redesign X's vehicles to make them lighter (like the trains in operation on Eejanaika) in hopes to increase operational efficiency. Now, it's a matter of time when we find out when this will happen --- and whether or not Eejanaika's dropping floor system will be integrated in X's loading platform, or if its strictly just a redesign of the trains. And when they say redesign...new trains? Or modifications of the old chasis? The article also talks about X's problematic history, its capacity, and other interesting tidbits...

You don't think Steve Wynn is up to the task? I can see it now: __W Y N N__ Holiday World

Huh? AFAIK, they made 1 million guests in 2006. http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=19983 That's pretty damn amazing considering they're in the middle of NOWHERE. Seriously, the first time we drove out there my gf thought it was a joke. It seemed like there was no way there could be a park out there. My mistake. I pulled up an article about Holiday World's attendance increase and it was from a few years ago. Should've checked twice.

Yeah, but you know as well as I do that they can't do that forever. Exactly. That's where that $4 million spinning roller coaster comes in.

Holiday World IS growing, there's no doubt about that. But even with its 8% attendance increase, it still to date, has drawn at the most 627,448 guests in a season. Even that's not a lot. I believe a lot of those numbers are repeat visitors who have taken a liking to the park's charm, beautiful location, well-kept infrastructure and exceptional guest services and hospitality. The Voyage alone could not have been the sole reason for the 8% attendance spike. Keep in mind that this privately owned park has never spent over $6.5 million on a single attraction before -- and Voyage is only their FOURTH roller coaster, as opposed to Michigan's Adventure's six. An $8.5 million ride like Steel Venom is something I just don't see going into Michigan's Adventure for a lot of good logical reasons.

Very well put. It really isn't that hard to understand the concept of ROI, but it seems like there are a select individuals that are yet to get a grasp on it. Like you said, rides are not "owed" to parks, nor are some parks "spoiled" or "get all the attention." Capital expenditure is allotted to parks based on financial performance, attendance, immediate competition, and market. A park like Michigan's Adventure will NEVER draw in more than one million visitors in one season. It never has, it never will. For Cedar Fair to invest in a new roller coaster the way they do at Knott's or Cedar Point into MiA would be a catostrophic disaster, financially. There is no kind of gain by any means for them in doing so. Nobody can argue this. If anything, a small spinning coaster like Spinning Dragons at Worlds of Fun would be a major ride for Michigan's Adventure that's reasonable enough to consider. That park's attendance and annual revenue pull does NOT justify any single attraction with a cost exceeding $5 million.

^ $750,000 not much to dismantle it? I don't think you have a true grasp on how much that figure is. That is more than 10 times the amount your dad makes in ONE year (assuming your dad brings in less than $75,000/year). I'm not trying to make it personal, I'm just using that as an example for comparisons sake.

Just for those that are interested, it costed Cedar Fair $750,000 USD to dismantle, move, and reassemble X-Flight. I'm sure that number surprise a good number of you. Source: http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/02/07/pjm020807kiride.html

I don't know about that Robb...I don't see Duddley or any of the Splash Mountains with any considerably decent sections of the boat/car rolling on dry steel track. Sure, it's based around water, but like the splashdown part, the ride also emphasizes the high drop part too. Eh, it's all debatable. Whatever. Aren't they called "hybrid" water coasters?

Forgive him, he is young and only has a digital watch. You want to circle the park in a clockwise direction. As for advice, listen to SharkTums. It works, I have conquered the park twice using this method. LOL!! Small mistake. Brain fart, can't believe I did that. Thanks for the correction.

Good point Elissa. I never really realized that about the San Antonio SeaWorld. Now that I think of it...Steel Eel, Great White...not very much themed to typical Busch park specifications. Shouldn't have expected the same out of this Journey to Atlantis.

^ Here's the thing...X and Deja Vu used to have Flashpass. Does anybody really have to ask why they don't anymore? Here you have two coasters that take between 5-10 minutes to dispatch one train (regardless if operators are working fast). There are 250 people ahead of you in line. Then you see a groups of 4 people "cut" you in a bypass queue line while you, in the regular line, have not moved even three steps in the past 8 minutes. Don't tell me you aren't pissed. People aren't as likely to complain about Flashpass holders cutting them if the regular line they are waiting in is constantly moving forward. But if they're already waiting 2 hours in a VERY SLOW moving line to see that their seats are being taken by other people, people will get really annoyed. You'll notice ALL of Magic Mountain's Flashpass-valid attractions are their highest capacity rides. Goliath, Tatsu, Riddler's Revenge, Scream!, Viper.

Come on, don't even kid about that. No, he's not kidding. It's going to be called K-Fed's Revenge. You should see the logo artwork.

Like mentioned above already, the two rides you MUST make a mad dash to first are X and Deja Vu. Due to its two station design with a separate load and unload sequence, X has very slow loading times, regardless if the crew is working as fast as they can. Deja Vu, as a shuttle coaster, has horrible capacity --- so once a long queue starts piling up at these two coasters, the line WILL STAY THAT WAY all day, not to mention Flashpass is not accepted at both these coasters. And since X and Deja Vu are on the far left side of the park, take a counterclockwise route starting from X and finish at Goliath.

Wow. And people though the San Diego Journey to Atlantis had mediocre theming. This one is so ugly and plain.

Thank God! One less person in front of me in line.

Yeah, such a paradox that Magic Mountain was figuratively on a wild roller coaster ride in the past year or so. Unfortunately for the park, that doesn't count as #16.