DoubleDown

I agree with that image as to what happened. Pictures are sometimes easier to explain than words. If that raft in front of it got caught or stuck somehow, I could definitely see that happening, and the gaps between the planks on the lift don't help. And with the lift still running with the gaps between it and people falling onto it --yikes. STILL though, after operating for over 30 years this definitely seems like a freak accident. One of those "hit by lightning" scenarios. So strange for the boat in front of it to be stuck though.

Hey everyone, while browsing Knott's Berry Farm on Google maps after that incident on the raft ride in Australia yesterday, I noticed that Big Foot Rapids has been labeled "Permanently Closed" if you scroll over the ride with the birds eye view of the park. Does anyone know if the ride has been closed for an extended period of time, or if they're just doing maintenance? It seems VERY odd to me this ride would be permanently closed without hearing something about it on here, especially considering how popular the ride is. With the rumor on Montezuma's, and now this, physical pieces of my childhood seem to be closer and closer to disappearing permanently. Also, I'm all for the park getting new rides, but IMO one of the biggest reasons Silver Bullet is so obtrusive and so dominating over the park is because it's a B&M. They go SO overboard with their beefy supports because of the 4-across seating. If we're going to get a new coaster at Knott's I would much prefer an Intamin, who is quite a bit better at scaling back on the huge supports, and huge track, making the rides much more pleasing to the eye in a park as small as Knott's.

Oh wow, yeah my bad I'm usually good at catching that stuff! I'll leave my original post just because of the responses, but clearly my photo was not the same ride. And again from the photos bird eye I thought it was at the bottom of the lift, but after looking again it was at the top. But it IS strange to me that the boat in front of it is so close and still sitting there. It looks like it may have gotten caught, and as the boat came up behind it, the raft caught the top of the other boats raft, and as the lift kept going it might have been what caused the lift. Sorry, I have a tendancy to figure out what the heck happened when I see stuff like this, I wasn't trying to base anything I said as fact, I was just putting it out there what I saw to maybe get a little more info from you all on these boards. Thanks for the clarification.

POST REMOVED for making uneducated assumptions using a photo of a ride that wasn't even from the same manufacturer as the ride involved. Please do your research before making comments. Thanks.

^Other than us and other roller coaster enthusiast communities, I would assume none of the general public knows, or cares, about what is going on with Mean Streak at this point in time. Which to me I completely don't understand because I am freaking giddy over what this ride is going to be and for people to not care to me is insane especially considering the potential of such a monumental makeover. How are people so clueless or careless about something so awesome? I mean it's a physical RIDE that you get to go on and do insane stuff you could never do anywhere else! HOW could you NOT be anxious like I am!?!?!? This kind of stuff is what reminds me that I truly am a coaster nerd, no matter how old I get. I also bought my first Coaster Dynamix set and felt like it was Christmas when I got it in the mail. It was more exciting to me than buying a new car. I took videos and photos once I was done and people at work looked at me like I was insane. Apparently I don't come off as "that type" to folks I know LOL. ? I'm not allowed to talk about the specific pieces shown in the photo? And I acknowledged the transfers in front of the station as always being there, while being rather unique and somewhat odd. I'm struggling to understand what you're getting at. I just felt like if they MOVED the transfers behind the station they would have more room to do something interesting with the pre-lift. Thanks.

Oh man the revenue this park must make from $20 parking on nights like this. BTW, don't you know from reading this thread? Magic Mountain is not concerned with the guest experience! By the way it is atrocious that the buses don't go that far. Why make available parking if you're not going to provide a way to transport guests from said lot? I wonder if handicap parking is even available when these types of crowds start showing up. You leaving was probably the best thing to do, I hope you got a refund from the parking booth. As mentioned time and time again, your best bet is to go to the park, gauge the lines for the first hour, and decide if a Flash Pass is necessary for what you want to do. I wouldn't "automatically" buy them without seeing how the crowds are. Although if you read the post from the quote I responded to above yours, it sounds like it will be neccesary. If you're there for 2 days and show up when the park opens just to get on rides, I would not say it's necessary, but Saturday will probably be packed. I suggest doing a lap around the park to get on what is a short wait for the first hour or 2, then decide from that point if it would be worth it for you to get the Flash Pass. GO CUBBIES!!!!

^Whats even dumber, which a member previously posted, is it doesn't matter even if you DO have a Fast Pass, when you're walking around and constantly running into people or are elbow to elbow wherever you go, it just gets plain annoying. I'm not even claustrophobic or afraid of crowds but there have been plenty of times when I've been at a park when it's like that and I'd really rather just go home. It can most definitely ruin your experience at a park. The best thing to do is just avoid those days. As far as seeing the track, it looks like we have a drop after the transfer track, to a pretty straight shot right to the lift hill, and those "curve up" pieces look like the bottom of the lift. I always found Mean Streaks transfer after the station kind of odd. Maybe they didn't for cost reasons, but if they would have moved it behind the station, they probably would have a little more room for a pre-lift besides just a turnaround. I'm definitely excited to see the steeper lift, but remember, they can always cut the first hill back shorter as well, a lift hill at that angle doesn't necessarily have to continue to where the previous first drop structure exists.

This has to be the grossest Disney employee in the history of the entire company. That ear thing is just horrid, it almost makes me want to puke. And you can tell he favors that side when he's talking just to swing it back and forth and show it to everybody. The fact that Disney would put this guy on camera for a promotion video baffles me. What the friggin hell?

^Why not put resources into that when you didn't need to? They didn't need to do it for TC or Joker but they did and it's a fun little twerk. And that's Six Flags. They could just have easily done it for Meaner Streak with such a low pricetag for what they're paying for what's going to happen. On another note: It is remarkable how saying anything besides "I LOVE IT!" with some people on this site automatically translates to complaining. "I felt a little rattle on this ride..." COMPLAINING "I think they could have picked a better color scheme..." COMPLAINING "Is there a reason they let people walk around with their ass cracks showing?" COMPLAINING "Gatekeeper probably had the best potential as a wing coaster, but fell short because of it being rather forceless..." COMPLAINING "I am not a fan of poor operations at a theme park..." COMPLAINING "My mom has cancer and is going to die in the next month..." COMPLAINING "A pre-lift besides the one they had before on Mean Streak considering what other major coasters have done to make it fun would have been really cool, it's too bad they didn't do something like that at Cedar Point as well..." COMPLAINING

The entire B&M trim phenomenon pisses me off. "Let's advertise a huge hyper coaster in a promo video at a speed throughout the course that it will never truly achieve, then we'll just do whatever we can to make it less fun and provide the least air-time possible." I mean seriously B&M, what the hell?

Umm..Mean Streak has no space before the lift to do that. They can't just make a pre-lift just because, the other coasters could support it. lol @ "no space" in Cedar Point. What a joke. RMC can do whatever the hell they want with a pre-lift. It's not like RMC hasn't manufactured rides from scratch, they most certainly could incorporate something less boring than a simulated-Valravn pre-lift for the new RMC updated Meaner Streak. Saying that an RMC "can't just make" anything is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

It's awesome that CP doesn't even have to try anymore. No promotion or anything, just let the track and trucks show up, it'll get around. If this is a 2018 project we have absolutely no idea what we're in for. Although what the track looks like from the station to the lift seems super unsatisfying thus far. I mean compared to Joker and Twisted Colossus, with a fun pre-lift, if this is such a big ride---they couldn't do better than that? Such a mediocre B&M pre-lift style. If it's for 2o17 we'll be wishing they waited a year and took the time to make it a much better ride for 2018.

Very much agree. There are a lot of opportunities for a lot of scares during some of the rides at Magic Mountain and it is a shame they don't take advantage of them. Another great one could be on the Goldrusher 1st lift, at the end of Ninja going up the lift, the 180 degree turnaround on Viper (it's so dark over there) just to name a few. From what I've gathered over the years they're more concerned with hype and getting asses through the turnstyles than actually putting on any kind of competitive or amazing Halloween event (compared to KSF or HHN).

Watch this POV of Valravn. At 1:46-1:49 seconds there is a rattle noise, either from the chain dog or upstop hitting the track ties, or it's something else else going on with a connection between the trains. This is what I believe people are talking about when you hear the "rattle" on B&M's. It's not a myth, and it happens on old and new B&M's quite frequently. Now Screams shuffling at the bottom of the first drop and before the loop is a whole 'nother type of thing, which I VERY rarely and have almost never felt on any other B&M, and I believe the rumor is that the piece was either dropped or not stored properly so it kind of went out of whack. It is very noticeable though. I guess overall my point is that when I've gotten off a B&M which was built over the past decade and a half, I was like "meh" but when I've gotten off an Intamin over the past decade, or an RMC I was wowed and immediately wanted to ride again. I mean even watching this Valravn pov, I'm kinda like...that's NOT the ride that's going to get me back to Cedar Point. Maverick and TTD and Millenium Force are! And if RMC does Mean Streak, that'll be a reason too! Magic Mountain IMO is one exception when it comes to the B&M's though. They have the best flyer, standup, invert, and floorless layout of any of those types of B&M's I've been on. Maybe with the exception of Raptor, but I like Batman's compact intensity, quickness, and snappiness. It just seems like the B&M's at Magic Mountain match the type of coaster with the type of ride length and experience the ride type was meant for. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

^Well said. But screw the General Public! I WANT MY INTAMIN AIRTIME MACHINE!!! That being said I would actually love to get on Fury, that one looks like B&M outdid themselves, seems pretty freakin' nuts.

^Wow, you're such a good sport and I appreciate it! Rare find I love the enthusiasm! I definitely DO hate on B&M's because after being on the snappy ones from the 90's, the ones I've ridden in the past decade were such let downs. I've been on Levi and Behemoth and Gatekeeper and Diamondback, and I remember thinking when we hit the brakes "Why are they making us go up so high if the ride is going to be so lame?" Then my brother rides i305 and he's says it's the best coaster he's ever been on. Then I sat next to him on MF in the backseat in the morning and he said "This one was REALLY GOOD, but Intimidator, better." And then we ride Valverononemonen and he says, "Dude, this was a super let down!" He doesn't even know manufacturers or ride types. And to me, B&M has just become SO YAWNWORTHY and over designed and I would much rather prefer an Intamin or Mack with some airtime or some miscalculated forces instead of the same cookie cutter crap with trim brakes on AIRTIME HILLS that they pull out of their butts all the time. Even on brand new Mako people complain that the ride is tall and just completely lackluster thanks to B&M overengineering the ride to keep it from being any fun. Look, if SFMM wants to do the tallest fastest coaster in the world that's 500 feet tall and is a B&M dive coaster, I'll bite. But besides that I'm over the same song and dance snorer from B&M that's a foot or two taller to break some records that don't matter for the same letdown coaster experience that they've been providing for over a decade now.

LOL right. My 50 year old uncle and his wife, and my parents saying they "expected it to be better" after riding MF, Maverick, and TTD is such an ENTHUSIAST thing. Get the hell outta here! NO MORE B&M'S AT MAGIC MOUNTAIN!! EVER! CP can keep their lame-o B&M coaster records for all I care!

lol Los Angeles is such a steaming pile of sh*t and so are its cops! Why don't they just get in front of the guy, or spin the car out when he gets down to 15 mph? So stupid and a complete waste of time and resources. As for the dive coaster discussion...Sorry guys. I rode Valvereenonemonecopactiscus back in May, last ride of the night, it was really mundayne. Again, it just seems like the CP fanboys amp up a ride for the park they love even though the ride really isn't that good. Same B&M problems where there wasn't a lot of airtime even in the back seat, overall the ride was over-designed, even the inversions you barely even feel them. Making it taller to beat the records is not going to help. The only worse B&M in the park is Gatekeeper, such a tease and maybe Mantis. Ugh, even my 50 year old Uncle said "Man! I thought that would be so much better!" Couldn't disagree. Unsurprisingly Maverick, TTD, and Millenium Force reigned supreme over every other coaster in the park. Would much prefer a double launch terrain Intamin or Mack like Helix, Maverick or Construction 18 being installed at Blackpool.

Anyone ever drive by an In N Out and not see a line at the drive thru? Hmmmm...I wonder why?

The ride looks awesome and IMO is much deserved considering the drought of major coasters the park has gotten in the past 20 years. I wish Magic Mountain would get something like this. Can you imagine how fun a terrain coaster with 2 launches would be? I understood the joke, don't feel too bad. The ride is actually listed on rcdb as Construction 18 lol! https://rcdb.com/4795.htm

One thing I wish companies would stop doing is bowing down to the 1 person who's a pain in the ass. to take away something that might be enjoyable for everyone else. For once I would just like them to say "Well, you might feel that way, but you're wrong, your opinion stinks, and nobody else feels that way, so we're just gonna ahead and ignore you and do what we want." I mean what in horror story is not based around someone who must be mentally unstable to go around torturing and killing people?

Sounds super realistic. Stuff like this happens. It's rare, but believable.

aaaand here come the comments on this one! Dude. You just responded to your own post. A post nobody cared about or thought was funny. Kinda like this dude who lit his shirt on fire. Am I on drugs?

I'm probably wrong, but I don't recall track replacement ever happening on Viper, in at least the past 20 years. There have been trim brakes added and the trains are thoroughly rebuilt, and like any Arrow it is frequently checked and repaired for weld cracks and fatigue, but I have never remember an instance where track has been replaced. If you have any kind of evidence for this happening it would be greatly appreciated. The ride was the last of the big Arrow loopers and designed better than it's predecessors. The park has tons of spare parts from other Arrows in the chain. With rides like Gold Rusher in the park, I just don't see it going bye-bye. There are plenty of other areas in the park to build a coaster. Yeah it's got its lumps but it is still a great ride, that first drop in the back seat is phenomenal. BTW does anyone remember the old 90's Viper commercial with a cereal company? I think it was Golden Grahams or something?? Something about going upside down 7 times? That was a great commercial.

I'm sorry if I'm exaggerating a tad with my reaction, but WHY THE HELL did they allow that guy in grey to ride with that camera around his neck? It's one thing to have it around your neck and under your arm like the lady next to him, but just having it around the neck seems extremely irresponsible on part of the ride operators, not just for the riders, but for any spectators or innocent bystanders on the ground.