saxman47

while working Nitro at SFGadv this past summer I saw Alicia Keys, Queen Latifa, and of course Mr. Shapiro on a few occasions

thanks for the TR, I'll be visiting Knott's for the first time in May so hopefully Xcellerator is back up and running by then (I'm assuming it's down for rehab?)

hopefully this helps

not to be rude, but a list of data like that is pretty much useless. Just copy and paste it into excel and make a simple scatter plot so people can easily see the g-force profile of the ride.

not to thread jack, but does anyone know if a 2008 season pass from a seasonal six flags park is valid at magic mountain all the way up until December 31st? Reason I'm asking is I have a 2008 great adventure pass and I'm visiting SFMM in December. If not, I may have to take advantage of this deal!

I respect your opinion, and in fact I personally believe that a parent/child rejoining the line after going to the bathroom is totally acceptable. However, parks cannot make stipulations on who can rejoin the line and who cannot. The fact is, even if a teenager really had to get a drink and wanted to come back in line, I wouldn't have a problem with that either. As long as he was really in line in the first place. BUT, if this was allowed, the park will have opened up a loophole for all types of actual linecutting. Everyone and their brother would just use the excuse "oh I was already in line". The park staff would have no way of separating the line cutters from the innocent guy who had to pee. It is not appropriate to interrogate the other guests in line for this information, and thus now there exists a loophole that can be abused. The ONLY fair method to eliminate line cutting is to say that you may not cut another person in line for for any reason whatsoever. It doesn't matter if you left to get a drink, it doesn't matter if your 10 buddies are already in line and you had to run to your car, the rule is that one you leave, you return to the end. I'm sure that at a place like Disneyland where 90% of the people in line are families with young children, nobody would have a problem with a father or mother and their child rejoining the line. At a place like Six Flags or other "thrill-park", there are no young children in line for the major thrill rides and therefore the child excuse no longer holds up. Anybody who is tall enough to ride a major coaster (usually 48" and up) should be able to wait an hour or two without going to the bathroom if they went before they got in line. Thus the reason for the strict line-cutting policies at these parks, and the fact that there are absolutely no exceptions to the rules. Now, I know this may sound a bit harsh, but after working at Six Flags Great Adventure all summer, I can tell you that people will try every excuse in the book after I catch them cutting the line. Not once did I ever let someone get away with it, because it wouldn't be fair to other guests. The rules are simple, no cutting, for any reason. I'm sorry but if you had to take your son to the bathroom and wanted to return to the line, you would technically be breaking the rules and you cannot blame the park for doing their job if they refuse. The only way it is fair for everyone is if there are no exceptions.

these are the original seats from 2001, and are only found on train C. The other two trains have new seats that are in much better shape. Unfortunately those old ones can't really be cleaned, the foam is kind of just worn away on those areas. Hopefully train C will get some love this off-season although the budget probably doesn't allow it lol.

no they didn't

you're right I definitely wouldn't describe that as valleying.....it's the complete opposite!

there is nothing wrong with a fun family ride.....however I do believe six flags falsely marketed this ride as a thrill ride.....as stated previously it is even labeled as "high thrill" on the entrance sign......the same rating as Kingda Ka, for example. Unfortunately advertising the ride as a family coaster would not generate the hype and publicity that draws people to the park, thus the reason they marketed it towards thrill seekers as well. Non-coaster geeks have no idea that the ride is a wild mouse, and I'm sure in their heads they are expecting a mini El Toro in the dark. Obviously the size of the building and such should hint that this may not be the case, but this type of reasoning doesn't......and really shouldn't have to......enter the minds of your average park go-er.

lol the guy in the bright glow-in-the-dark shirt in that video is me

I love that magic mountain is getting a decent wooden coaster, and I think this will be a perfect ride to bridge the family-thrillseeker gap. However, if this ride is going to cost the reported $10 million it kind of makes me wonder.............because $12 million buys you an El Toro....... I think a big intamin prefab would be more marketable as well

thanks Jahan that's exactly what I was looking for

Hey everybody, I'm planning a trip to SFMM for the weekend after christmas, and after searching the forums I ran into a few posts which said that certain rides like X and Viper may be closed (for cold weather or rehab maybe?) Do any of you SoCal folks have any input on this? I guess the park has to rehab their rides sometime, but hopefully they wait until january/february for that sort of thing. Any help would be awesome, thanks!

funny you say that because Jeff Speed, the current six flags CFO, used to be the CFO at Euro Disney!

does anyone know what those pieces are beneath the upstop wheels on fahrenheit? I've never seen those before.

I reckon your conversations were interrupted quite often then

for those who had the pleasure of standing right next to it's inverted top hat.... Batman & Robin: The Chiller just obnoxiously loud....everyone in movietown/old country would have to halt their conversations for a minute or two. And don't even get me started on when they dueled........ahh, the memories

This does help tremendously. The oncoming guests kind of push the exiting riders off the platform instead of them taking their sweet time. Also, another thing that makes a huge difference is having the load attendant block off necessary rows when people are boarding from the exit rather than holding all of the airgates. Just say you have flashpass/exit pass/handicap riders boarding rows 2 and 3, the loader can just kindly block off those rows and everyone else can board the train even before the exit riders have taken their seats. This way there is basically never a delay in the boarding process.

After working at Great Adventure for the summer, I can tell you this is most definitely not the case. The rides department could care less about flashpass sales. Our performance is rated on throughput. We have to report our hourly throughput number every hour, on the hour, and it goes straight to management. If the number is low, you had better have a good reason otherwise somebody will most likely pay you a visit. I can honestly say that at Nitro this year we ran 3 trains from open till close, every day. None of that "wait until the line gets long, then add a train" business. If all 3 were cleared by maintenance, all 3 were on at 10:30am. It was not uncommon to give 15,000 rides on a busy day.

I'm working at SFGadv at Nitro

Exactly, I think this is the fairest way to deal with flashpass riders. Having a park employee direct traffic is also a nice idea so that flashpass users don't feel like they're "cutting in" to the regular line.

at least you bought stock now and not last year at $6.00/share (*cough* Like I did *cough*). I have a lot of faith in the new management, especially with the turnaround that was incredibly apparent at SFGadv last year. Too bad the stock price doesn't reflect any of that right now.

I really think picking the right song is the hardest part of making a good video. A lot of songs will "work" but there are a select few that fit the theme, tone, and pacing of the video perfectly. Personally I never intended on using hard rock music in my video (the Cedar Point one) but one day I was listening to Tool (the band) and just started envisioning some of the shots I'd taken going along with the music. I felt that CP, not being a park with much charm or theming, was more about in-your-face thrills that fit perfectly with some good rock music. A fitting song can make or break any video IMO.

The only ride that ever made me feel queasy is Tomahawk at SFNE (A huss frisbee). That thing spins FAST!