arrowfanman

Disqualified!!! -Jahan

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33380 ...do a search or get banned? Looks like you chose wrong! -Jahan

I would love a transportation system more than anybody else. But as they revealed during the WCB, not only are such things costly, but they aren't easily marketable. There's no short-term profit returns on an investment like that. I wouldn't count on it. I'm not trying to be a Debbie downer. I just know how "I wish SFMM got a new monorail" easily turns into "Did you hear SFMM's getting a new monorail?" on the Internet. -Jahan

This is true. I think the idea that "You can't please everybody" comes with the job. Any work where you present to an audience, you're going to leave someone unimpressed. Might as well be the enthusiasts who will love you in the end, anyway! -Jahan

^ He's not talking about the guest perception of 3 trains. He's talking about the mathematical fact that if you stack 3 trains, you aren't gaining any more throughput advantage than you would with two. Simply now the guests don't just wait in line--they have to wait to get off of the ride too. It will be interesting to see how X2 dispatches fair. -Jahan

I'm actually really a fan of that policy for checking! I've been stuck on Tower 1 before and if you're even somewhat thin, the OTSR only holds you at the shoulders--the orange belt is mostly what secures you in that situation. -Jahan

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding that those were the old monorail trains. I heard that the two cone sections are brand new, but the three middle coaches are just heavily refurbished sections from the old monorail trains. Anyway, this is looking more and more sexy. Love the new attraction poster! -Jahan

Baby Backdraft. -Jahan

^ We've done Baby Haunted Mansion! It just takes freakin forever to do! But you all know that we can do the full-narration. -Jahan

Hey everybody! Ok, so for a while now, Mike (Mr.Six) and I have been entertaining dear baby Kristen with some "baby ride simulations". It all started with our interpretation of "Baby Indiana Jones Adventure" and has evolved into a wide variety of baby attractions, including Baby Star Tours, baby Rockin' California Screamin, and even Baby Golden Dreams! Today, we thought it would be cool to share a baby ride with you guys! So enjoy--Baby Tatsu! Baby Tatsu.wmv Baby Tatsu!!!

I love it! I remember seeing this on the "monorail enthusiasts" site a year or two back. I was highly impressed by it. I even wanted to build my own! -Jahan

The purpose of a Flash Pass is to offer the ride experience at a reduced wait. To now have it include an improved ride experience at a lesser wait, isn't a good idea, in my opinion. That's asking for trouble. I don't see it being a sweeping success. -Jahan

They shut down their new and popular coaster during mid-day to retreive a wallet? Dumb. Anyway, cool PTR. Lot's of photos. Makes me miss Cedar Point! -Jahan

Happy Birthday Mike! Hope you got something cool, like anul beads! -Jahan

I don't know if I'm judging them too hard, but the park looks like a loose collection of new strip malls assorted around a lake, with roller coasters in the background. Nothing too special. -Jahan

I'm not sure if you fully understand--the policy isn't "You MUST put your stuff in a locker." It's that you can NOT bring your loose articles up into the station. If you don't want to put your crap in a locker, by all means, that's your decision. But you will not be allowed to even bring the said backpack into the station. If you refuse to comply, you will be kicked out of line. A method that I seriously doubt will gain popularity. -Jahan

Yay! That was a great PTR Hector! Thanks for posting. -Jahan

^, ^^ Yup. There's physically no way to move it other than to winch it, and no mechanical reason to do that. Does the Six Flags crew have the ability to get into a locker in case someone tries using the locker twice? I know here at SFDK, we have one or two SmartCarte people that end up running back and forth across the park unlocking people's belongings. When the lockers were first rolled out, the scenario you described was Magic Mountain. And I'm pretty sure the guys hated running back and forth from Scream to Tatsu. Now, a few people at Magic have the ability to troubleshoot "locker problems" (which are typically "guest problems", but you can't say "you're doing it wrong" on the job). I myself have been trained to retreive guest items and whatnot. -Jahan

^ I don't know what you're basing a lot of your financial and ride capacity numbers on and don't necessarily give them weight, especially as I see the ride capacity numbers daily, see how many lockers get rented out, etc... First of all, you're over simplifying the profits produced by lockers. These are NOT Magic Mountain's lockers. They're lockers by SmartCarte, the company who has luggage carts in airports everywhere. SmartCarte installs the lockers and keeps their own crew on-site to service the lockers (or not on-site, if you went to WCB ). On TOP of that, SFMM now has their own locker crew to actually "operate" the lockers, if you will. The point is, there are much more people to pay for than you suggested AND the lockers are all in part of an agreement between the two companies (Six Flags and SmartCarte, the outdoor vendor), one of which you don't know where the money flows and cant make such assumptions. Secondly, this is the trial season. The selection of rides to receive a locker treatment were very intentional. If they prove to be a great success on many levels, they could possibly be rolled out to more attractions. Finally, in regards to the Tatsu v. Dejavu thing, I know for a fact that increasing efficiency at Tatsu can yield more rider throughput then increasing Deja's ever could. We're talking thousands more guests in a single day. Oh...and Tatsu's block clears rather quickly. That's no excuse either. -Jahan

Excellent PTR Scott! The sky looks so beautiful in those pictures. I wish our sky was that blue! Oh! And Weezy is one of the two penguins that I'm cool with, so no harm done over here. Thanks for posting! -Jahan

^ Goliath Jr. is a symmetric layout. It also doesn't have individual footers but rather one giant rectangular-frame shaped footer. So it really is just a matter of turning the sucker around. I'm not sure if new footers would have to be drilled--more than likely--but still, the process at least appeared easy as it happened so quickly. Elissa, no where did I BLAME loose articles for slow Tatsu dispatches. -Jahan

Without a doubt, I'd have to respond with, "This Thread!" -Jahan

Hey everybody! I know it’s been like, forever-and-a-half since my last park update, but I feel like Robb’s and William’s updates have been perfect coverage of the park so far this year! At this point, Magic Mountain is nearly prepared to enter its summer season. The park faced a real reality-check the past few weeks with Spring Break crowds pouring through the turnstiles. After all, a large part of the guest experience this summer will be on the shoulders of not only the new attractions and new paint, but the park operations themselves. How the park is able to move people while the park is crowded will be a big determining factor on how the guest’s day unravels. I think it’s safe to say that the park was thrown off and took somewhat of a beating during some of these recent crowded days! So the effort is to now regroup and prepare for the summer season, which looms ahead. Until then, let’s cover some of the things going on inside of the park. The New Kids on the Block Before we get into what’s going on in the park in the present, let’s cover what I’m sure most of you are curious about—what’s being prepared for the future. Both Thomas Town and X2 are progressing ahead getting ready for their opening dates within a couple of months. Let’s start with Thomas Town, shall we? A chunk of wall has been removed for more construction access. If you look closely at that photo, you can see Goliath Jr. turned around 180 degrees. Being coaster enthusiasts more familiar with coaster construction, I think a lot of people had the impression that Thomas Town was falling behind schedule as no “vertical construction” had begun by West Coast Bash. Sure enough, a few weeks later and nearly the entire thing has been built! OMG! Railroad tracks! About 85% of the track has already been laid, the station foundations have been poured, and scenic pieces have already begun to show up on site. The whole “town” is really coming alive faster than I ever though it would. The station track still needs to be completed, but the station house foundation itself is almost ready to be poured. One more super-zoomed in shot of railroad track! I’m very excited that SFMM’s getting a train once again. Even if it just goes in a circle twice. In the scenic department, the old Animal Farm building was repainted and looks very nice. Set pieces for Cranky the Crane have been temporarily parked under Scream, awaiting installation. Though Thomas Town is progressing along at a now-visible rate, with all the paint sloshed up, it’s hard to tell exactly how far X2 is progressing along. I understand that this has been the topic of discussion in the past few days. As far as I understand, the project is still on schedule. The new X2 logo, up on the park website. I wonder why the fire theme? Though at this point, it’s evident that the tunnels have been ditched, I keep being told that X2 will still be an “audio and visually toned experience. With what? Unfortunately we’ll have to wait and find out! As far as the trains go, the park now has two full NEW X trains, along with one old one. They haven’t tested the second train yet but are expected to very soon. Basically, my understanding of the train shipments is that SFMM tested the first train while the other two were still in Utah at S&S. Why? They tested it, analyzing it for any problems that may come up and what not. That way the concerns and practical modifications could be directly addressed at S&S, rather than shipping in different parts and whatnot. The park now has the second train (which was assembled far more quickly than the first), and is expected to test it, again relaying any concerns to S&S. When the train passes the park’s standards, the final train will be shipped. That’s my understanding at least. The whole theme is to practically address the redesign so that fewer problems will be encountered once the ride is operational. Makes sense to me. Rides Now Operating, a Ride Now Closed, and a Rides Policy Change! Well, before we get to the bad news, let’s start with the good news! After months of refurbishment, both Roarin’ Rapids and Jet Stream have reopened at Magic Mountain, effectively doubling the parks water ride selection just in time for the summer. Both rides received extensive work on aging components with the hope of reducing downtime and whatnot. They both even feel cleaner, in my opinion. The lift and station belts have been completely replaced at Roaring Rapids, as well as a lot of the hardware that supports them. An unnecessary close-up of the replaced components. Over at Jet Stream, the work was mostly refurbishing the spinning station and the bottom of the drop, as well as fixing up the lift and welding throughout the ride. Also interestingly enough, one new operational feature to Jet Stream would be the new ride panel— Joey just about exploded. For those who didn’t get that, the new Jet Stream panel is one of the old Freefall panels. In fact if you look closely on the top left at the empty gray space, you can see the Freefall “track layout”, where the lights would mark the position of the units. Anyway, just thought that was interesting. As a ride, it doesn’t really feel any different. Still bumps you around and tosses you side to side more than any other flume ride I’ve ever been on! Anyway, this was all of the good news. What about the bad news, you may be asking? Holy broken lift hills Batman, it’s a closed Riddler’s!! That’s right, the Riddler’s Revenge is unexpectedly closed. Over a week ago, the ride’s lift hill made a strange noise and then broke down with a train stuck near the top of the lift. The call was made to evacuate the riders and sure enough, the problem would seem very serious. The train still stuck on top of the lift hill—one and a half weeks after the incident. …that’s how bad it is! Basically, similar to X months ago, a major lift component was broken. Now fortunately enough, unlike a very large prototype which needs to be manufactured over the span of months and subjected to a lengthy installation, B&M parts are much easier to come by (in a park with 4 of them!) and the park maintenance is hoping to have the ride fixed by this weekend. It's just sad that the ride had to be in this condition for its 10th birthday this week! And now let’s get to a ride policy change. …they’re back. Many of you are probably familiar with lockers that have been in place at rides over the past few years—Tatsu, Riddler’s, Scream, and a few others all have had lockers to safely hold onto loose articles. Being cheap coaster enthusiasts, I’m sure you’ve all bypassed these, knowing that you can just place your articles on the other side of the station. Not anymore. Don’t get in that Tatsu line until all of your bags are in a locker—or with a non-riding member! Basically, loose articles cause far too many problems at many major rides. Not only do they irritably slow down the ride operation itself (a ride like Riddler’s or Tatsu can result in up to 45 seconds lost to rider’s placing their loose articles across the station), but I’m pretty sure the park is tired of getting accused of being responsible for lost/stolen items, when it has always clearly stated otherwise. So now, a select few rides no longer allow loose articles (defined as articles that can not be safely taken on the ride with you in your pocket) into the ride stations. Just a quick tip—DO NOT place your articles into a locker that has been left open! You must pay first and the computer will assign you one. Failure to do this could result in your articles getting stuck! These rides are Tatsu, the Riddler’s Revenge, Scream, and X2 (when it opens, obviously). And the park is serious about this. So much so, in fact, that there is now a crew dedicated entirely to “lockers”, whose purpose it so ensure that bags do not make it up into the station but rather safely into a locker or left with a non-riding member. I highly recommend planning ahead when going to the park. Place your items into an all-day locker near the entrance of the park, rather than renting a single-use locker as you get to each ride. Or simply don’t bring large and excessive bags to a theme park! All of the Random Crap! Well, there’s really no need for excessive narration here. Might as well jump into this!... I’m almost tempted to buy and ad and have it say something stupid, like “Hey—you’re taking a pee. The new Looney Tunes Celebration parade appears to be a success! Feels like it has a lick of Block Party Bash in it, if you ask me. Johnny Rockets: Shakes and Fries opened up rather quickly and is a great idea for snacking. I’m not saying it. Ugh! I cant drink or eat ANYTHING without spilling! Hmmm….interesting. The geese are back in town. PLEASE let them be and don’t bother them. Not only can you get ejected from the park for doing so, but you don’t want them to kick your ass—because they CAN! Ninja has a new maintenance catwalk… …which sort of obstructs the Jet Stream drop! Boo! The ACE plaque at Revolution is MIA! Apparently there’s a new Revolution train under that tarp! Before you get excited, this train still has OTSRs. But apparently the bogies have been modified and it will be interesting to see what kind of ride it produces. And finally to give Hurricane Harbor some love, it would appear that Tornado is getting a new hat...well, at least a new canopy to give you a bit of shade before plummeting to your doom! Anyway guys, that should be it. The actual things to update on are slowing down as the park enters its summer season. The focus during the summer will be on the park operations themselves, and it will be interesting to see how the park stands. The plan is still to be running at the highest capacity possible, with three trains on all of the major rides! (Hell—Ninja may even be running three trains by the summer!!! *gasp*) So let’s all sit back, enjoy the ride, and see how the *new* Magic Mountain is able to move people. Thanks for reading folks! -Jahan (arrowfanman@yahoo.com)

PURE, according to the maintenance crew which handles Arrows, the park already has two trains. It is my understanding that the second train was assembled much more quickly than the first and the third train is expected to follow suit. From everybody I've talked to working on the X project, they're very excited about the progress of the ride. I guarantee you that it'll be interesting to see what gets done in the next month and a half. And for the record, about half of Thomas Town track appears to have already been laid with station foundations poured and scenic peices at the park awaiting installation. -Jahan

I think SoB is okay. It's fun for a front seat ride, just kinda speeding all over the place in circles and what not. On a RARE occasion, if you sit in the back seat; you can get some nice air over the first drop. Most of the GP are too scared to ride, or don't care. It's all about Firehawk and the Beast! But me, you'll find me on Drop Zone I'm not one to give a ride the benefit of the doubt for providing a marginally better ride according to some altered circumstance. I don't care if the ride is amazing in the back-right seat, at 11:30 in the morning after a light shower, with a modest breakfast in your stomach, after the tracks have recently been greased, the train refurbished, the entrance sign painted, with three trolls balancing out the weight in the coach perfectly, and when the planets are aligned--it's still a crappy ride in general. I'm actually amazed at how many of you are familiar with the R.L. Stine Beast book! I totally felt less nerdy for about a second! Thanks for all of your nice comments guys! It's such a relief to hear that you enjoyed the report! -Jahan