PeoplemoverMatt
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Posts posted by PeoplemoverMatt
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That's a shame. I had high hopes for this ride, but I agree that video doesn't look worth it.
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Is it true that some people actually bring the laptop and study/work in Disneyland?
Wouldn't surprise me. If you live nearby, that's not much different than working or studying at a Starbucks. Granted Starbucks doesn't charge admission, but some of these AP's have been paying monthly payments for so long that they barely even notice that money going out the door anymore. Even with this latest price hike, that AP is still no higher than the cable bill or the cell phone bill. So in that sense, it really is almost the same as going to the local Starbucks.
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I would have to give the nod to DCA as well. If you all only knew what a joke of a park that place was in its infancy with so many horrible mistakes in terms of rides, theming, complete lack of story, cheap neon & stucco everywhere not to mention bare concrete slabs. The best areas of the park were Hollywood Pictures Backlot and Paradise Pier. One of those areas featured the awful Superstar Limo and a giant dead end, while the other had a coaster that was totally unthemed with a title that was a bad play off the title of a Mammas & the Pappas old song. And this is Disney? Really?? When I went to Japan in 2006 & 7, I only momentarily thought of DisneySea in the same context of DCA in terms of both being 2nd gate parks, and openly loudly laughed at the thought. Then consider that DCA and the legendary Disneyland just a 2 minute walk away were priced the same in terms of non-AP admission, and there was no 1-day park hopper option. No human being in their right mind would pay the same for the steaming pile of crap next door that they would for Disneyland, and DCA's alarming lack of attendance in its early years showed it.
Since then, I don't think any one park with Disney's name on it has seen more improvements made than DCA has. They've righted almost all the wrongs, and added some amazing areas like Cars Land, BV Street, Carthay Circle, the extension of Grizzly Peak through past Soarin', and greatly improved Paradise Pier/Park with the addition of Midway Mania and Little Mermaid rides. Pixar Pier is finally cleaning up one of the last vestiges of the old DCA where the ferris wheel and former Maliboomer were. The expanded Cove Bar had crazy lines most every night. Even the new Guardians of the Galaxy theme of the old Tower of Terror is a tremendous improvement and people seem to be having a lot more fun, despite the crazy ToT fanboys. All that together with World of Color, the annual events like Food & Wine and Festival of Holidays, upscale dining at Carthay, character meet n' greets with Oswald and so forth, and DCA is finally a park that can stand next to a park like Disneyland and be able to not look like a total joke by comparison. Since most of DLR's attendance comes from locals who go all the time, the bar is raised that much higher since frequent visitors of any park tend to nitpick more, and I think DCA finally holds its own there.
DCA is still no DisneySea by any stretch of the imagination, but it's gone from a total and complete joke to a legitimate 2nd gate offering. With its future bright in terms of expanded Marvel offerings possibly coming, the Pixar theme going into Paradise Pier, Paint the Night going in this year and staying for who knows how long, hopefully the momentum can continue.
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Honestly I couldn't care less about any "est" stat about the ride. Guardians in DCA is a tremendous improvement on a cheap clone. Can't wait to ride a Guardians coaster in Epcot!
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The best SFMM name is and forever will be Terminator Salvation The Ride The Store.
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Dude, it's 2018! You've been asking for this since at least 2006, and some of us since 2001. Are you going to be 70 years old still wishing and hoping? Time to give it up and just go enjoy coasters.
Nope, sorry. There's much more to a theme park than coasters. For better or worse SFMM is my home park. In the late 80s/early 90s, it was actually a pretty respectable place. There was a dolphin show, a lazer light show, a functioning bank, a train, a monorail, some great flat rides, and of course the big rides. I'd like to see the park get back to that level again someday, even it takes until I'm 70 or above to happen. Until then I'll be wishing and hoping as you say.
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What SFMM needs much more than a new ride is a complete and total overhaul of operational standards, hiring practices and quality of guest experience.
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^Wow. I had my suspicions, to say the least, but Six Flags really does think their clientele is dumb as a bag of rocks. No mentally-typical person of (or anywhere near) pass-purchasing age needs to be informed that "more expensive" means "higher priced." That's just actively insulting.
Wait, they didn't explain what "less expensive" means. Does less expensive mean lower priced?
The best part is having a warning saying NOT to spend more money on a higher priced membership until a certain date. Way to tell your customers not to spend their money on you, SF. That's off the chart terrible. And then there's completely unnecessarily complicated membership scheme itself. This is not how more people come through the gates or spend more $$$ at this park.
SF would be better off following the old Navy design principle, "Keep it simple, stupid."
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I prefer to think of DCA as simply a Disney adventure in CA since that's what it's basically become over time. In that way, the name California Adventure works as blank canvas for literally anything Disney would ever want to put in there. As time goes on, no matter how many different IP's are thrown into the park, the name will still work on that basis. Other names seem much more restricting thematically by comparison.
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Wow. That does unfortunately look like it's probably a staffing issue since basically everything between Viper and DC Universe is closed (except a couple upcharge attractions and the bumper cars), including up on top of the hill. And pretty much everything on the other half that's not expected to be closed is open with the exception of Scream. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the weekdays before spring break are.
Edit: Looks like a few more staff members showed up. Riddler, Gold Rusher, and Justice League are now open. Ninja too.
I was wondering if this move to 365 days of operation signaled a change in their staffing procedures. Guess I have my answer!
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Yep, looks like Screamin's going to have one *incredible* transformation!
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Congrats and well deserved! Many thanks for having been a part of a few of those great videos.
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i dont blame them, that hill is ridiculousI would have to lie about downtime at Superman to get my supervisors to come up the hill...doesn't sound like anything has changed in 15 years
Once upon a time there was another way to get up the hill that wasn't so bad. It connected Ninja to Mining Town via some stairs and a little road. As far as I know, Tatsu's construction blew up the little road to the stairs, but it was replaced with a path that goes under Tatsu just beyond Tatsu's entrance. Anyone authorized to drive backstage *should* be able to park at the Mining Town gate, and reach the top of the hill in minutes via that path without much physical labor involved.
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Taking the time to actually give feedback on those surveys and at Guest Relations is actually the best way for your voice to be heard. The park puts all comments in a database and they are distributed to all managers and higher-ups. Unfortunately a lot of stuff doesn't get taken care of or changed, but needless to say, employees do actually read all of the surveys and comments.
So there's that.
In regards to the management's lack of attention to the guest parking lot, that lot and the location of the management offices on SFMM property could not be further away from each other. Absent any sort of personal initiative, they'd have to have a darn good reason for going all the way out to the parking lot. Trash cans most likely would not qualify, though it'd be really nice if Neal, or someone else in park management, would react with personal initiative to the photo posted a couple of pages ago and at least fix that.
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The head banging I can understand, but if you’re a coaster enthusiast who still doesn’t know how to ride a B&M stand-up properly and not come off the ride with sore balls, I don’t know what to tell you. Adjust the “seat” an inch below your crotch and there will be no discomfort at all.
Not sure what to tell you but if you're 6'3" and have a torso longer than your legs, it's impossible. Thanks for playing.
I'm 6'2" and when last I checked I'm not Stacy Keibler with 3' legs. southpuddle's description is correct, though sometimes Riddler's seats don't adjust very easily, and it's very possible. Just put the seat all the way down, get in, straddle, make sure you're standing normally, then lift the seat back up to about an inch or so south of where it counts. You'll be fine.
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Astro Orbitor's removal along with the rocks would make a huge difference getting in and out of Tomorrowland. All of that is long overdue for removal.
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LAUSD is out all this week. Expect moderate to large crowds mostly made of up folks getting their cheap season passes and one (or more) last visit before school returns.
Btw, that trash can is a superb first and last impression for the park to make.
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Tomorrowland needs a massive overhaul as it is...
I could see them completely gutting/demolishing Star Tours for a massive re-model of the area that also includes getting rid of the Peoplemover track and old station.
Not just Star Tours. Just about every building in Tomorrowland needs to be demolished, save for Space Mountain, if Tomorrowland is really going to take that next step. TRON Lightcycle Power Run would have to be at or near the top of the wishlist if that ever actually happens. Then Disney could blend some IP's together and create some unique experiences. Toy Story 4 and Wreck-It Ralph are upcoming. Wrinkle In Time could also find a home, if it avoids becoming Disney's next John Carter. Perhaps Pixar could cook up a WALL-E sequel and also use that to partially revitalize Tomorrowlands on both coasts.
There's probably no shortage of ideas. Unfortunately they all require the almost complete demolition of the existing Tomorrowland. That's a lengthy, expensive project, but it could be a logical one to undertake after Galaxy's Edge is up and running.
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Water jets won't make or break anybody's theme park day. What would make a huge difference is that build 15 flat rides in one year idea, but SFMM's maintenance budget and department are already stretched to where half the major coasters could be down on any given day. Piling on that much more at one time would be just about the last thing they'd want to do.
Trying to do too much with too few vastly underpaid people is one of those glaring deep seeded problems the park has.
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Can that happen with $85 season passes?
Not really, which is also part of the problem.
Given the SoCal theme park market, you'd think SFMM season passes could be raised higher than that with relative ease. But given that coasters and that price point are the two biggest magnets they have to draw people this far north away from USH, KBF, DLR etc. Since SFMM's attendance is already much lower than those parks, the price point is a dangerous tool to try to use to increase revenues.
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My philosophy with Magic Mountain is that I go for the coasters and that is it. They are the place to go for thrills in SoCal, and if I want anything more, I go to Knott’s or Disney or someplace else. If they ever clean up the place, great, but as long as they keep their coasters running well, I’ll continue to visit because I don’t go to the park for any other reason.
If this ever changes, then you'll know SFMM has made the real improvements that it has needed for decades now. Otherwise it's all lipstick on a pig.
We have to give credit where credit is due.This is MM we are talking about so I understand where that negative thinking comes from. But why even come to that conclusion so early and for something that hasn't even happened yet? They have proven to be doing quite the opposite for some years now. Can we enjoy these areas for their first few years before putting a damper on a possible situation that possibly might not even occur at least half a decade from now? I don't even think the first renovation (YOLOcoaster I believe) has even reached 5 years old yet and the area is still pulling in people (even though it is my least favorite addition).
If MM sticks to this route, the lands should be updated often. As stated earlier, they are almost done renovating the whole park by a year or two. They will have to start adding to their existing lands in not too long, and these days MM has been consistent on fixing up everything that surrounds a new or refurbished ride. Just seems wayyyyyy to early to be thinking about areas not being maintained. Gotta have faith
Sure, fresh paint is great. Credit given. But what lies underneath is the real problem. That's where the park's main problems are and have been for a very long time.
Aesthetical improvements are nice, but even those have proven to be rather temporary at this park over the multiple decades that some of us have known this park for. The important changes, work culture and so forth, are still absent which is why those of us who've known this park for quite a while are hesitant to show more than a passing "that's nice" about those kinds of improvements. You mention having faith. You can ask anyone on this forum. Nobody had more faith in this park than I did about 10ish years ago. Unfortunately that faith was based on these same sorts of superficial improvements that you're touting, and not the real main problems with this park. As long as those problems continue to go unaddressed and unsolved, no fresh coat of paint is going to make any sort of lasting impact.
Don't get me wrong here. I still want to see SFMM improve and I hope Neil can do a great job. But I am in no way disillusioned with the reality that this park still has a lot to overcome in order to become the great park that it could be and should be.
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Great pictures! Can't wait for my next visit to TDL only 6 months away!
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If you watch the videos, do you hear every sound echoing all over the place in a cacophony of chaotic noise? No, because of those funky arc-shaped blue tiles all over the ceiling. They help to absorb and reduce the sound to where the ambient noise is similar to an outdoor theme park, if not quieter! As someone with sensitive hearing, I very much appreciate this level of attention to detail!
The park itself was great, of course, but it was "little" (probably not a little part of their budget!) details like that one that really put IMG over the top for me. Can't wait to go back here!
The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
Los Angeles Unified School District's Spring Break is the last week of March. The William S. Hart School District (local to Santa Clarita) has their Spring Break during the first week of April. Expect increased crowds at SFMM during those two weeks, then it'll taper back off towards what you're seeing now until June when schools are out.