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Everything posted by SoCalJasonland
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I like them too but I am 54 and I don't think they care about me. I am guessing it is all what have they done lately? Where can you find uncensored classic Looney Toons, besides used CDs/VCR tapes and what was the last DC movie to be extremely profitable? We know its called Six Flags but Cedar Fair will be pulling the strings. Do they want to make to sets of commercials with different IPs? Will Warner Borthers or Peanuts be more reasonable in licensing for the children areas? Will Cedar Fair see value in IPs for their adult rides? Poor old Six Flags has a lot of debt coming due and it constantly refinances at current interest rates. I am guessing major cost cutting if this merger goes through as debt servicing costs will soar.
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Considering Albertsons and Kroger, along with Southwest and Spirit agreed to merge and our government stopped them, this merger could still be dead. A lot of areas don't have Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks extremely close to each other, so this will mean that they can't likely increase prices too much. I would guess they would try the current pass prices and add the $100 all park option currently offered by Cedar Fair. Being from So Cal, it would be nice if my Knott's Prestige Pass, meals, and drinks all transfered to Magic Mountain for an extra $100 per year but I am probably being too hopeful.... As far as northern California, wages and housing are too expensive and crime is too high, therfore I am guessing they have no need for two parks in the area so visit California Great America this season if in the area as there RMC could end up in Vallejo but their woodie is likely dead
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I would imagine that Warner Brothers would want top dollar for Looney Toons characters that have not been relevant in this millennium or generation of children. The few Looney Toon episodes that were on HBO Max had all the guns, dynamite and other violence censored. It was absolutely worthless. At least Charie Brown specials still show up at the holidays. They will probably want a lot of money for DC superheroes when that genre is dying. I am guessing generic coaster names and Peanuts characters are the cheaper option and it has worked for Cedar Fair. Do you really need to ride on a coaster named Superman at Magic Mountain that is always broken or barely makes it up the tower? How about renaming it The Barely Functional Intamin?
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Given that humans have evolved from inventing the wheel to watching the Kardashians in thousands of years while computers have gone within 100 years from simple addition to creating a new Van Gogh painting in about a minute lets us know who if winning in the game of evolution. When AI answered that they would only take the routine jobs from us; what will not be routine to something smarter and quicker than us in 95% of jobs within the next 5 to 15 years? AI could be nice to us but the programers created it to save money through productivity increases/layoffs.
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I agree with what you say but how much would you spend to make a the mine train, Ninja. Superman, X2, or Riddler's Revenge reliable or rideable? Ninja is a long ride with not enough trains to keep the minimal line moving. The mine train is old and not as fun as Big Thunder Mountain so when that track wears out, it is probably gone. Superman already barely runs but could make a great makeover with new LSMs or a complete circuit coaster with a top hat. X2 has had way too much money spent on it so far and Sansei is about as reliable as S&S was. Riddler's Revenge would just be another stand up to floorless conversion that would duplicate Scream. And much of any infrastructure improvments will be immediately vandalized by our local LA crowd of upstanding citizens. They might be better off with the park of 15 good / running coasters and add something air conditioned for the family to enjoy or perhaps another water ride.
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So I made it to the Metrolink to Knott's on Tuesday. The ride was nice but I felt like I was riding in a one-third full 1980s Southwest Flight with no cabin service because of turbulence. The bathrooms were decent. The sign states drinkable water but I didn't test it, as I didn't believe it. I brought my own bottle of water. The train arrived a few minutes late but we arrived approximately on time due to 30-second station stops. I ended up walking to and from the Buena Park station to Knotts's so no added bus or Under fares on that end of the trip. I ended up with 25,000 steps and was buzzed enough to take Uber home from Riverside and I walked back the 3 miles today to pick up my car today to pick up my car from the station. A few notes: Camp Snoopy and Coasters Diner restaurants have re-opened There are new Fastlane scanners at all of the Fastlane attractions where you scan your one-time pass or bracelet and can't proceed unless you get a green light. If you get a red light, you can't go through. Single Prestige Pass Fastland passes still need to be redeemed in one of three stores and you can't just scan your pass at the ride and need to pick up a daily one-time use ticket from a store. There are no more ribs on the meal plan at either Ghosttown BBQ or Boardwalk BBQ. Pulled pork is also gone from Boardwalk BBQ Ghoasttown BBQ now gives two sides with entries where Boardwalk is still one side plus corn bread but Ghosttown has no boysenberry BBQ sauce still. The small railroad around the lake has a lot of rotted railroad ties being replaced I can's find Beatboxes at the park any longer Metrolink train Room for bikes or scooters Bathroom in each car plus drinkable water? The bathroom is larger than a plane bathroom. A total breakfast of champions, and only champions if you thought Maddog 20-20 or Boones Farm were also breakfast of champions. If Big Macs are $18, you can always get a Coke and hotdog for $1.50 from Costco or 2 roast beef sandwiches from Arby's for $6. There are new Fastlane scanners at the entrance to Fastlanes rides, this is La Revolution, so you need to scan your single-use pass or wrist band and you get either a green or red light letting them know for you to advance. This is pizza and a side salad from the pizza place by the Charles Shultz Theater. Ribs are off the meal plan for Ghost Town BBQ and ribs and pulled pork are completely gone from Boardwalk BBQ. It must have not been a price issue on the pulled pork as you can still get it as a sandwich at Ghosttown and tri-tip at Boardwalk. New camp Snoopy coaster. The lounge has 12 different free snacks for Prestige Pass members, free water, drink plan beverages, and a limited supply of alcohol that is not free or discounted from the normal park. I believe I had a white wine and some free Grandma's cookies. They had no Knott's snacks though. My local Winco had racks of Boysebenberry Knott's cookies for 28 cents. They could easily stock up before Beatriz discontinues the line! I asked maintenance if the log ride was close to being completed but no one had a date, but one told me there was still some work to be done and possibly not for a month or two but he wasn't sure. I guess all the log ride boats are hanging in line for Xcelerator? Knott's log ride door is open, so what's inside? I took all of the pictures from the doorway without stepping inside but this is the backside of fun. A spacious train ride home.
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I have visited Knott's at least 200 times, but this will be my first Metrolink trip from Riverside to Knott's as I am just sick of sitting in a car on the 91 freeway/parking lot. So, I am taking the newish Perris to LA train indicated by the blueish line from either downtown Riverside to Buena Park. I will drive to the train station and while Hunter Park is a better neighborhood, the downtown Riverside station has roving security and more choices if my train gets canceled. I chose departures with no transfers but there were a few more 1 & 1/2 - 2 hour trips if I included them. I chose the trips indicated in blue. Return trips to Riverside I don't qualify for any discounts but if I went 5 times in a month during the week, I could save 10% with a flex ticket. Not worth it for me so $21.50. I figure my car is about 40 cents per mile to operate so 45 miles each way, less 5 miles for trip I still have to take to the train station equals 80 miles at 40 cents per mile for a total of $32. If I take the toll lanes, they are variable rates but range from $10 to $30+ each way from the 91/15 Riv. entrance to 91/55 OC exit and may save me an hour if I take it each way. I will need to get the 3 - 4 miles from Buena Park Metrolink station to the park depeding on the route. I can walk to Beach and take an OC bus for a couple of bucks, Uber/Lyft, or walk. The area is generraly safe during the day for a large city. I will likely walk to the park since I am getting to the station about 1 1/2 hour beofore the park opens this day at 10 am. As I was typing this and wondering if Metrolink was reliable, the following story ran on Channel 5 news, not joking. It actually came up while I was making this post about my trip tomorrow. No one was injured in the fire but the loco is out of service and is disrupting stops to the north. At least they offered the riders $50 towards alternative transportation but din't explain exactly what that means on the news. At least I can always go another day if there are train problems
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I was a bit bored and wondered if Copilot could draw me a photo of Mikey Mouse standing in front of Disney's California Adventure with a sign that read "Big mistake" or "We tried!" and got rejected. Strangely enough it would let me ceate a photo of Mickey driving a Model 3 but couldn't add Elon because they will not manipulate an image of an actual person, so it was a big no go on uploading a photo of myself and asking to be better looking, but I did have some fun. After the Disneyland Main Street Electrical, I always wondered what a Barroque Hoedown was, and well pretty impressive: But I wanted something more amusement parkey so I asked for a Barroque Hoedown Roller Coaster, and not bad at all: Now, we had to get Mickey in his Tesla Model 3 or Van Gogh's interpretation of a Disneyland Paddlewheel Boat: Now how about:
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A wood coaster is still produced and easier and cheaper to repair than a launched flywheel technology abandoned in 1982. Knott's did a great job on Ghostrider and it has been re-rideable longer than the original version was originally rideable. If launched flywheel coasters were reliable technology, we probably wouldn't have moved to accelerator coasters and then LSMs and LIMs. Knott's fixed their log ride, mine train, wooden coaster, Intimin sky ride, Berry Tales, and keeps stagecoaches and steam trains running. Monte and Mystery Lodge have no financially viable fixes, so they are unfortunately lost items. Knott's would not have canceled Monte is there was a reasonable fix. If we are lucky, the parts will save the other last one in the country that could use some love
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I appreciate the responses. I was wondering if it was park specific or trying to get rid of or raise the prices of infrequent membership visitors first to see how they reacted. In only paid $5.88 per month for gold plus as haven't been since West Coast Racers was new. I guess I will have to get out to ride Wonder Woman before my 13 months expire. Even Metrolink is three hours each way from Riverside station and I would miss the last hour at SFMM trying to get back to the Santa Clarita station so maybe 6 hours at the park? Still better than driving.
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I emailed Six Flags to complain about the price incease and thre was no arguement on canceling my membership and I didn't ask if there was a retentions department. They were polite and remembered my COVID months. By expiration, I might be able to use my Knott's all parks Prestige pass at Magic Mountain. I am not anti-Six Flags or Magic Mountain but it is a 120 mile 3 hour trip each way from Temeucla during the week. I might go if I could fly there for cheap "Hello Jason, Thank you for contacting Six Flags Guest Services. We are sorry to see you want to cancel your membership and we thank you for being loyal Six Flags members. Please be advised that if you cancel this membership, you will not be able to extend, renew or repurchase this same membership as we no longer sell this product. We received a request to cancel your account. Please review the cancellation agreement below and approve to complete the cancellation process. You must respond by March 15, 2024 (15 days prior to last payment) to complete the cancellation to match the agreement below. If we do not receive a response in a timely manner, your account will not be cancelled within the dates below. Cancellation Agreement: We received your request for the cancellation of your account ###### for Jason #####. Following the rules of your contract, your last payment to cancel account will be on March 30, 2024 and your account will cancel effective April 30, 2024. In addition, you are entitled to an additional 13 free months for remaining a Member while the park was closed due to COVID, commencing April 30, 2024. Once your account is canceled and your additional months expire, your pass will no longer work and you will have to purchase a ticket or pass to enter the park after May 30, 2024. Please reply with "I agree" to complete the cancellation of your account ########. If you have further questions or concerns, please reply to this email. Sincerely,
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I miss it too. Is Nagashima Spa Land the last one? Apparently, the other one, per RCDB, Psyké Underground at Walibi Belgium was coverted to LIMs by Gerstlauer in 2013. I was previously mistaken and thought it was a Kumbak conversion. The remaining ones are disposed of or in storage. Unfortunately, Psyké Underground is now fully enclosed in the dark and so it is hard to compare to Monte but LIMs appear to decrease the initial launch acceleration. I used to pop the clutch on my manual transmission Dodge Charger to race, but it is a good way to not only launch really quickly but ruin your transmission at the same time. I know because I had to replace the transmission when it was two years old. This coaster type would have similar stressors. https://rcdb.com/8192.htm "Flywheel Shuttle Loop - Schwarzkopf (Münsterhausen, Bavaria, Germany) Discontinued, Manufactured from 1978 to 1982 Details Roller Coasters 8 (3 relocated) Notes this shuttle roller coaster launches riders through a nearly circular vertical loop. Next the train climbs a 70 degree incline until it's momentum is depleted, falls backwards and repeats the journey. There are two variations of the catapult system: Weight Drop and Flywheel. The Weight Drop uses a 40 ton weight in a tower at the end of the ride. The weight connects to a pulley system which triples the speed of the drop, placing over 13 tons of force on the train. The Flywheel utilizes a six ton flywheel in a machine room in front of the loop. The flywheel spins to 1044rpm and then engages a 4:1 speed reducer. This turns a drive pulley and propels the train via a cable."
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It is simple but entirely restoring an entire coaster versus mass-producing one is very expensive because everything has to be custom-built and entirely engineered to meet all current safety standards. Unless you could sell several of them, it is not worth the engineering costs that need to be spread among several coasters to be cost-efficient. The design was discontinued decades ago and the manufacturer is out of business so how do you convince a board of directors to spend twice as much to duplicate outdated technology or purchase a newer off-the-shelf coaster technology that has more elements and is unique to the park? The park did restore the log ride and GhostRider but neither needed extensive costs to repair and repairs were far less than a new ride of equivalent quality. I saw a permit that the GhostRider re-tracking was listed at around $1,000,000, not including new trains, which was far less than an RMC conversion. This park does things to save money and wouldn't get rid of Monte if it was financially viable to repair. Didn't the same company Kumbak also refurbish one of these in Europe and it doesn't have the best reviews as compared to the original version? I heard the cars were uncomfortable and the launch was weak. If anyone knows what it is, I would like to see it on Youtube but the launch, g-force in the loop, and comfortable trains made Monte great.
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I believe I pay approximately $6.00 per month for an older gold membership that was upgraded to a gold plus during COVID-19. I likely have had the membership for 10 years, have only been once since COVID, and I got this email today stating I would be increasing to $9.99 per month. I purchased my membership from Magic Mountain. Did they do this to everyone? "Dear Valued Guest, We hope you have been enjoying everything your Six Flags Membership has to offer. We are updating our prices to deliver the best guest experience so you can always make the most out of your visits to Six Flags. If you receive this email, this means at least one of your Membership products falls below the new minimum rate threshold. Your monthly price will increase from your current price www.sixflags.com/accountportal to $9.99/month per Gold Membership, $12.99/month per Platinum Membership, $17.99/month per Diamond Membership, and $21.99/month per Diamond Elite Membership on your next scheduled payment after March 28th, 2024. Your payment schedule will not change, and only Memberships below this threshold will be impacted. As long as you remain a Six Flags Member, you can enjoy all the benefits your Membership offers. This program is exclusive to Members like you! If you’d prefer, you can also switch to one of our new passes for the 2024 season. www.sixflags.com If you wish to make any updates to or discontinue your Membership, you can visit the Account Portal anytime. www.sixflags.com/accountportal We’re here for you if you have any questions. Visit our Help Center for more information, or contact us to speak with someone from our team. Join us for Spring Break at Six Flags Magic Mountain, March 8 to April 8. We’ll be open every day for your favorite rides, coasters, and more! Visit on select days to experience Scream Break, Flavors of the World and more events throughout the year. We look forward to seeing you at the park soon. The Six Flags Team"
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It is my understanding, but I can't say where this originated, is that the contract to repair the ride was conditional that the costs were reasonable and the track, supports, footings, and station could be re-used wherever possible to keep costs within reason. Once the track was cut at the loop, the rust / deterioration level was worse than expected and some of the concrete foundations settlement are questionable. Knott's doesn't want to spend the cost of a new coaster repairing an older mostly unpopular coaster. Based upon past situations like this, Knott's or other Cedar Fair parks, would beg the board for a new attraction and wait. Given the financial insecurities in the possible merger with Six Flags and likelyhood for a recession or lowered consumer spending for the near future, we may be stuck waiting for a replacement.
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SoCal Trip Planning
SoCalJasonland replied to CaptainUnknown's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
LAX will not be too bad flying in since you are staying in Los Angeles but could be a long trip up the 405 freeway from OC on a Monday if you travel any time close to rush hour. The airport is mostly just old and has horrible traffic on holidays but otherwise is not terrible. Monday morning traffic from Magic Mountain to Universal will take about an hour to an hour and a half depending on when you leave since you are commuting into Los Angeles. The Disneyland / DCA Anaheim area shuttle was a mess last spring break in 2023, so I hope it has improved. We ended up walking because we couldn't get the app to work right and the shutlles were on demand most of the day and not running on a schedule. We ended up with over 15,000 steps per day and neither park is that large. I wish we didn't stay up at Ball and Disney Drive which was about a mile walk to the main gates. The skip the line will be a good choice at Magic Mountain as it will be the hotest park at around 100 degress in late July. It is also the largest park so you might be tired after Saturday. Beach Blvd in front of Knott's can be a little sketchy at night so don't bring someone afraid of homeless people or drug addicts wandering around. You will also get that off property at Universal and Disney so don't be wearing any expensive jewelry or watches.