PeoplemoverMatt

I'm not quite sure I understand all this hatred of the advertising. Yes, ads on coaster trains are a bit distracting, but we should keep in mind that the additional advertising is bringing Six Flags the additional revenue that it sorely needs to maintain its financial future, keep the gates open, and keep prices relatively low for its guests. That is what we all want isn't it? A financially viable Six Flags that has the funding to keep its gates open, its coasters running, its operations efficient, and its future bright? It takes a good sum of money to make that happen, and I'm sure you wouldn't want it to come from giant hikes in prices of admission, food, merchandise or whereever else. So next time you see that Viper train with the hair gel ads, or the big video screen, or whatever else, think about how those are helping ensure your good times for years to come, and maybe you'll hate them a little bit less.

Regarding the hill up to Samurai Summit, ya know... There's a reason why it's called "Magic Mountain" and not "Magic Flatplace"

I'm going to guess that you don't know too much about how theme parks manage their finances.

^ So, by "in recent years" do they mean the last 10?

SFMM does not own land beyond a fence set up immediately behind Terminator/Deja Vu/boneyard.

Walked around SFMM a bit yesterday afternoon, and I was quite surprised by how long some queues were. Terminator, Superman, Riddler's and Tatsu especially had rather lengthy queues. Tatsu looked to be about 90mins, and that was at 9:15pm. That's pretty crazy for a Monday. I didn't check on the lower capacity Deja Vu & X2 to see how their wait times were, but if the rides on the north side were any indication, Deja/X2 were likely just as long or longer. I did see a strong security presence in the queues preventing things like line jumping and unsafe behavior, so I give compliments to them. The "feel" that I got was that a lot of kids are out making their last visits to SFMM before school starts again in the next couple of weeks. For all those planning to visit SFMM in the next couple weeks, be advised. I would suggest using Flash Pass to avoid any headaches with long queues.

The big question is could your son forgive you if you didn't go to Legoland? I mean, if he's that crazy about Legos, visiting Disneyland would be fun but the prospect of an entire theme park centered around Legos would be off the charts awesome. 9 year old boys have an awesome way of thinking like that. That said, I wouldn't recommend Legoland for any longer than 1 day. There's just not enough in the park to merit more than 1 day there. So if you're looking to fill a 3-4 day span of time, you'll have to figure out something else to do to fill the remaining time.

Wait time is more a function of ride capacity than it is ride popularity. Goliath can accomodate more riders per hour than some other rides in SFMM. It takes a whole lot more people to create a wait time of considerable length at Goliath than it does at, say, Deja Vu. Therefore, you'll almost always see a longer line for Deja Vu than you will for Goliath.

Well you can always not buy Flash Pass ahead of time, and then scout the wait times after you've arrived along with the crowds. That being said, "summer weekend" should be all you need to know about what the crowd level will likely be.

This is true of any place of employment anywhere in the world.

Yeah, there isn't anything that someone familiar with theme parks didn't already know, but it doesn't sound like it was written for the theme park vet but for the casual observer. One thing I disagreed with is all the hooting about how SFMM's Flash Pass w/ X2 & Terminator is OMG $82!!! while the Gold Flash Pass in NJ is touted as somehow a better bargain by being $80. Somehow the whopping $2 difference doesn't strike me as earth-shattering, but perhaps the point was that SFMM should charge $82 as the standard Gold price and not have the option to pay $10 for X2 & Terminator? Seems like SFMM is actually doing guests a favor by keeping X2 & Terminator as options, thereby keeping the price of Gold down at $62 as opposed to NJ's $80 but I guess it's all about perception? Maybe there's some room for gripe about how X2 & Terminator are Gold only, but again, I say that's SFMM actually doing guests a favor, in this case for the guests who elected not to purchase Flash Pass. X2 has a lower capacity than, say, Riddler's, thereby increasing the magnitude of effect on the wait time for those non-Flash Pass guests. Restricting X2 to Gold and then Reservation-only is really the only way X2 can have Flash Pass at all. So when you think about it, X2's FP format is really a win-win. Flash Pass is an option, and doesn't have the adverse impact on wait times that it could have because there's such a control on the number of Flash Pass riders.

So with my last visit to Sea World having been in 2004 and never having been to Legoland before, it was time to make a return south with the family. We took 2 days to do Sea World and 1 day to do Legoland. All 3 days we went opening to closing, with afternoon breaks from Sea World, but oddly enough, not from Legoland. In fact, our day at LegoLand was almost the complete reverse of everything I've ever read about the place. It was my first time, so I was expecting a fairly lame park with nowhere close to enough to make a full day, rude & shovey people everywhere, subpar attractions, and less-than-inspiring Lego sets everywhere. What I found was none of that. So while the 2 days at Sea World make up the bulk of pictures taken, I wanted to do LegoLand first just to show, especially to the TPR West Coast trip folks, that this park can actually be fun even to someone who never played with Legos before. Not only that, but we didn't even get to do everything the park had to offer. So much for Legoland not being a full day park. Have fun scrolling through the LegoLand pics, but first check out a video of my ride on the AWESOME KUKA ROBO ARM via CoasterTube! Observe! [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_0092_0dkb[/coastertube] Now enjoy the pics! Well that about covers it from LegoLand. Nothing real overwhelming in terms of thrills but can be a very fun place for all ages, especially those Lego maniacs on both sides of the ability to grow facial hair. Don't come here to escape death. Come here to have fun, relax, and go Lego crazy. Thanks for viewing and stay tuned for Sea World pictures coming up soon! The building on the left is the new Freedom Tower that will eventually be built on the former World Trade Center site in New York. When completed, the real thing will stand 1,776ft. tall. Here Legos can give us a glimpse of what the NYC skyline will look like. The view of NYC from the water is pretty nice, actually. I'll have San Francisco on the rocks please. Can you tell which part of this is made of Legos and which isn't? Lego Mt. Rushmore is interesting... Not sure if Eiffel had Legos in mind, but there ya go. Lego Taj Mahal where we all meet their tomb. Thousands of Lego bricks make up the Sydney Opera House here. Not pictured is the Barber of Seville heard as the boat passes, which is a nice little touch. If walking's not really your thing, ride the Coast Cruise for a scenic view of Miniland. Mall set comes complete with all the different museums including the Smithsonean here. Ok. Am I totally insane, or is Obama's inaguration here on the WRONG SIDE of the Capitol building?! Mini-Washington Mall has a ton of buildings all highly detailed. Here's New Orleans complete with water, boats, n' things... Mark VIII Monorail: Lego Edition. Their Treasure Island even has the GOOD pirate ship show out front. The one they had before they ruined it. Lego facsimile of Las Vegas facsimile of New York sans Manhurtin' Express What I enjoyed seeing the most was the detail that the creators tried to put into these things. Details such as working marquees for the different casinos. Joking aside, these sculptures are pretty impressive to look at. OMG! Giants have invaded Las Vegas! Here's another little town. This area felt like visiting several Germany Pavilion train sets... So...many....Legos.... Oh by the way, this being LegoLand and all, there are a few Lego sculptures here in "Miniland U.S.A." First up is New York City. Notice how the people on the right give these some scale. Pirate Shores also features a water playground that a few kids decided was a good idea today. Splash Battle is basically what it sounds like. 4-person cars go around this track with a water cannon mounted in front of each seat. Splash or be splashed, but be warned. The scallywags watching from afar have cannons of their own. The big weenie in this neck of the woods... Yep. Teeter-totter boat ride. Who knew? Funny. I always thought Captain Cranky's Challenge was not smashing the alarm clock into pieces each morning. Turns out it's a boat ride. Huh. The back of the park is where Pirates rule the land... Row, row, row your boat, after you've waited 90mins to do it... Whatever floats your lego boat... So I'm not such a big fan of this. Yes I get why on paper this might seem like a good idea, but really, kids and parents can wait their turns together in line, can't they? One of these days, Alice. ONE OF THESE DAYS!! Ever wonder why teens' auto insurance is so high? Yep... Yep. Nice to know things on SoCal's roads & freeways won't be changing much any time soon... Looks like the kids here in SoCal have taken their parents' driving example to heart... Small mailmen with an allowance drive on a larger track area complete with lights, stripes, and stop signs. The school for little ones isn't too complicated, even though the idea is to obey the rules of the road in terms of driving on the right side, obeying red/green lights, etc. The cars are done up to resemble being made out of Legos. Not a huge shock there. FunTown sports dual driving schools. One for little ones and the other for little ones with an allowance... Are we having fun yet? Here's a fountain with lego musical instruments for the kids. LegoLand sports a couple water play areas. Here's one... Come on, be honest now. You played with these too. It is a credit, but I'm pretty sure I've ridden on faster parking lot trams... I'm still looking for the positive on this one. For now, it's a credit. Next up, the last credit available. Get your Adult Pasta at LegoLand! The wild mouse is known for its twisty-ness, and this one does not disappoint there. Yes it's *just* a wild mouse, but it's fun, and it's a credit. So there. Lego Lift Hill - in the RAW! Instead of a randomly themed car, or mouse, your car here is a Lego Racer. Many of us are so spoiled that it's easy to just brush off a wild mouse, but this one is pretty fun. Alright so a wild mouse coaster isn't nearly as cool as the Kuka Arm, but it is a credit, and a headliner attraction at LegoLand. And somehow, someway, LegoLand has managed to obtain SIX KUKA ARMS!!! Are you listening Disney Quest?? SIX! If you didn't ride this last Friday, your Friday sucked. Kuka arm of loooooooooove Well it's easy to have 5 different versions when you're the amazing KUKA ARM! (BTW, if you watched the video, that was the most intense level 5 program.) One ride can have 5 different versions? BWAA??? You'd never know it by its look, but over this way is some of the coolest stuff on the planet today.... Hey how did the knight learn how to be a knight if he was busy fighting dragons all day? Because he went to KNIGHT SCHOOL!!! LOL! Elsewhere in this area is this... Outside of the ride in the gift shop there's these. Of course all the girls of the land carried one of these. Didn't you know? The Dragon is kind of an odd hybrid of dark ride & coaster. First half is a dark ride with lego audio-animatronics. Secomd half is credit. Here's where the train enters the dark ride portion beyond which no cameras were allowed. =( Since the dragon is made of legos, not so much zoom here... Boarding area for not-Dueling Dragons. Just one single Dragon here. You're off the edge of the map, mate. Here there be a credit! Lots of themery 'round these parts! It's not on the level of Disney, but they make a good attempt. More theme this way! "I think I see some Legos over there!" In the laser gun spirit of Ghost Hunters @ SCBB and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters @ Disneyland. Fun ride & as re-rideable as any other ride with multiple targets to seek out. Yeah it's a slide, but it's a slide with a theme!!!1 Well... you decide. "Cargo Ace" or "Dry Cleaners Rack: The Ride"? Circular motion + water + free water bombs = Rather fun, actually. Here's AquaZone - not quite as randomly fun as Aquatopia but has some zip. Nearby under Lego T-Rex is a place to play X-box indoors. Think Innoventions without having to wait for the video/house presentation. Over here, kids can learn how to build bigger & better Lego creations. Here's a place where kids can build their own Lego cars, and then go race them against other kids' creations on pinewood derby-style tracks provided by the park. Lots of fun for Lego-minded kids in the mood for a little competition. ACErs welcome! Of course nearby is a place where guests can see a rrrrreally big shhhooow. Inside the park there's a rrrrreally big shhhop... Entrance gates...not nearly as colorful as the ticket booths... Want to visit LegoLand for life? Only $2,000! The fact that this was even listed on the price board at the ticket counters cracked me up. It's not inside LegoLand but somehow acts as LegoLand's 2nd gate while being about 1/50th the size of LegoLand. We passed. Oh, LegoLand. Yep, LegoLand's where I'm at and is also where all those other pics came from. Let's go see what be inside here... Downtown Disney? Disneyland? Pleasure Island? Universal Studios? Six Flags Magic Mountain? Epcot? Hey, does anybody know what park I'm at? Welcome to LegoLand where Volvos are so special that Volvo cars pay the same standard parking rate as everyone else, but enjoy these cool "Volvo only" spaces.

Yes. January of 2012. Possibly later. Could even be 2020.

I'd like to happily declare the construction outside of SFMM (Magic Mtn. Pkwy./I-5 interchange, Magic Mtn. Pkwy/The Old Road intersection) FINISHED!!! Enjoy the wider & smoother on/off ramps at I-5, dedicated freeway entrance lanes to South I-5 from Magic Mtn. Pkwy, and hopefully a much more pleasant experience getting in/out of the park's entrance area. The best part - NO MORE CONSTRUCTION!!! This is so nice to see after yearS of construction in that area. I hope some pictures are posted soon. It's freakish to see 4 lanes heading in SFMM's direction.

The only reason Terminator would be running 1-train operation is because the other train requires maintenance. It just wouldn't make any sense to intentionally run 1-train-op, not to mention how the park GM has repeatedly said he only resorts to 1-train-op as a worse case senario of operation, with the only other option being to close the ride completely. So, while I agree 1-train-op can be frustrating, you might want to ask yourself what you would choose between 1-train-op or Terminator having to be closed when you want to ride it?

^ Not only that, but if a SP holder has a great time in the park, the SP is likely to tell their friends, who go to the park & have a great time and then tell their friends, who go to the park and, well, on & on it goes. Maybe then all those friends have a huge meet up & even greater time at the park later on? That's lots of fun & happiness all born out of one Season Pass that's extraordinarily low-priced compared to what Season anything costs pretty much anywhere else (parks, theatre, sports, etc). When guests have lots of fun & happiness at a park, that spells nothing but GOOD things for, and about, that particular park. I'm just really happy see & hear about all these people having great times at SFMM.

After visiting SFFT back in May, I'd call it a rather solid park. Number one pro for me was the quarry setting, especially what Krypton Coaster was able to do with it. I've been on floorlesses before, but I'd never sailed off a cliffside on a floorless before. That was pretty cool. Also enjoyed the numerous flat rides, most noteably the Hustler. Those balls don't have the annoying brakes that Disney put on their teacups. The water park inside the theme park is a nice touch as well.

Would the Kodak contract possibly get in the way of this?

Buy Flash Pass online & print out the voucher before you leave. Then you won't have to worry about missing out on any rides.

I heard something about a Laser Snake Horse on Fire?

On the positive side of things, the Magic Mountain Parkway offramp off North I-5 has reopened. The construction still isn't 100% finished, but no more detours!

^^ The decision on what to remove was primarily based on what could be kept operating reliably without near-constant parts replacement and subsequent downtime. While removal does take away from ride diversity, the rides were basically killing themselves and were on life support via the Maintenance Dept. anyway. Removing the rides that were removed was little more than a pulling of the plug, if you will. Hopefully SFMM does add some more flats. They would be a nice addition to the park, but these days flats aren't just built in a vacuum. Their cost must be offset somehow, even it's something as goofy as Survivor: The Ride. In a SF park, this fact is only amplified that much more.

True, but, if anyone's looking for an iron clad way to never have to worry about crowds, or crowd-evading techniques -- if anyone's looking for a way to not worry about that kind of thing at all & just relax & have fun all day no matter the crowds -- Flash Pass is TOTALLY worth the money spent on it.

I believe back at WCB, either Tim or Jay said that money-wise, they were currently working on 2011. That would confirm the financial finality of anything built in 2010.

^ Buy the Flash Pass, and you won't have to worry about missing rides for any reason other than breakdowns.