PeoplemoverMatt

There was a private party scheduled for this evening, but it was cancelled. In its wake a couple days ago, tonight's hours were changed from a 6pm closing to a 10pm closing. 4 extra hours for everyone tonight!

Pretty sure you just need to purchase the voucher by then Gregg. If there's no language on the voucher that says "must process by xx/xx/09" then there's no reason to worry.

I'm not sure why a Santa Clarita sign ordinance would be relevant to SFMM since SFMM sits outside the City Limits. There is a sign ordinance regarding how tall a sign can be, and pretty much every business on the west side of the I-5 around that area has a sign that would be in violation of the ordinance if the City Limits extended that far. My understanding has always been that the sign served to draw attention to how Magic Mountain's entrance is this exit right here, and there is/was a little gift shop right off the freeway too.

Actually, quite a few people are buying Flash Passes, including Gold. Its the most popular on crowded days. It's doing exactly what it was designed to do. People want to be riding coasters, not standing in line for hours in the heat. Flash Pass offers them a way out of that queue, and people pay for it. Flash Pass' value is self-evident. Right, and SFMM Regular Flash Pass is not. This was really the only point I was trying to illustrate. Guests have a choice at SFMM that they don't have at Disneyland. The rest of the DLR/SFMM comparison, not really sure why any of that was relevant or necessary. I'm not interested in an argument over perception. The numbers are what they are. Gold Flash Pass comes at the cost it comes at because of the service it delivers. It's very much like First Class service with an airline. You have the choice to pay for the premium service. The choice is yours.

^ Or $39.99 if bought online.

I believe the park map shows Terminator's entrance on the midway side of the new bridge. If that's the case, then the bridge only need be wide enough to acomodate a queue, and little employee access space beside it. Looks wide enough to me.

Or you can buy admission online for $39.99, and buy up a bunch of other vouchers for parking, meals, Flash Pass and more online while you're at it. So many people are buying admission and more online that there's really no reason to just brush off the online admission discount like it doesn't exist. Regardless the point of my above post should be clear enough. Bring a friend! Bring 2 friends! Saving money is cool like that. Nice use of the word "normal" there. I guess all those people using online admission are just totally "abnormal" for saving $20. Yay abnormal! But those people who do pay $59.99 for admission, in addition to paying a little extra for waiting until they got to the gate to buy full price admission, they'll also get free admission throughout 2009 for that price. So it's a little bit better value over the 1-day $39.99 admission. Bottom line is that people have choices.

Disneyland 1-day 1-park admission: $69 SFMM 1-day admission online: $39.99 SFMM Flash Pass (regular): $34 ($15 rental + $19/person) SFMM online admission + 1 person Flash Pass (regular): $73.99 SFMM online admission + (regular) Flash Pass when cost is shared between 2 guests: $66.49 ((38 + 15)/2 + 39.99) You can make the call how you want to, but however you look at it, Disney's including a cost in your admission that SFMM is not. Comparing Gold Flash Pass to Disney FastPass is really an apples to oranges comparison. Gold is a premium option that shortens wait times by 75% in addition to allowing you to wait elsewhere besides a ride's queue. FastPass never promises to shorten wait times, just shorten the time waiting in a queue for an attraction. Total waiting time with FP including waiting for your window to open is 99% of the time longer than the posted stand-by wait time. FastPass doesn't shorten your total wait time, but Gold Flash Pass does by 75%, which is why it's called a premium service. Gold Flash Pass' premium service comes at additional cost. It's really no different than how any other premium service in any other industry works. On a side note, on Thursday night I timed Superman's cycle times by measuring how long it took from the time a car reached its peak on the tower to reach its peak again. 1 minute & 46 seconds!!! Superman cycling that quickly. Way to go crew!

Wait a minute. You're telling me there are midway games right next to a family-oriented attraction, and they actually planned it that way??? Next thing you'll tell me is that they purposefully pump fake popcorn smell to entice people, especially kids, to buy popcorn, and that they intentionally have people exit into a gift shop in order to sell more merch.

Disneyland and SFMM are crowded on Saturdays. Both have options where you can wait somewhere else than the queue for attractions, though Disneyland makes you buy it by including it in your admission. I'd recommend reading each park's respective attraction lineup and deciding where you'd best like to spend your crowded day, and where you'd like to spend your slightly-less-crowded day.

It also shows a lack of understanding of the kind of ride Termy is. GCI woodies have a great track record. First of its kind prototypes, not so much.

Unlike Superman & X, Terminator is hardly a first-of-its-kind prototype.

So I heard back from my sister whose family of 4 kids, all 48" and shorter, had a terrific time at SFMM last Friday. The kids had a great time in Bugs Bunny World, the eldest rode Colossus, the 2 eldest rode Ninja & loved it, and everyone had a great time up in the Sky Tower. The favorite coasters were Gold Rusher & Ninja. Scrambler was a big hit too, as was Sand Blasters whose new cars give a pretty decent ride. Nice to have that additional capacity that'll cut the wait times a bit. My sister & my dad rode Tatsu for the first time, and were really in for a shock not knowing exactly what a B&M Flyer was. When they saw the seats rotate for the first time while in the loading house, it was a pretty big "oh my..." moment for them. My Dad was raving about how clean the park was, and he took me to SFMM for my first time in the late 1980s. He was very impressed by the look, the feel, the overall vibe of the park. He hadn't been to SFMM since, oh, 1996 or so, and he was very pleased at the state of SFMM. That really spoke to me, as he remembers the old days of 20+ years ago. The 2 eldest kids were huge Thomas fans, but when I asked if they liked Thomas Town my sister replied, "You know, I don't think we ever actually went in there." That was pretty interesting to me after all this discussion about how Thomas Town isn't a silver bullet for the family crowd. It tells me that families can have a great time at SFMM while missing Thomas Town entirely. Not to devalue Thomas Town at all, but just to say that the entire park was very enjoyable for a family of 4 whose eldest child is exactly 48" tall, and the youngest was admitted free for being under 2. They just went from Bugs Bunny World hopped right over to the 2 flats at Gotham City's entrance, loved those, hopped over through the midway to Scrambler & Gold Rusher, loved those, and went up the hill to Ninja & Sky Tower, and loved those too. Thomas kinda got skipped over, but my sister was saying how they'd probably have liked that too. There was just so much to do elsewhere that the kids wanted to keep moving on. They're going to wait & see about Terminator, but my sister was saying just from how it looks, that she'll want to ride, and her eldest will probably want to as well. It looks like a great family-style coaster. The kids are very excited that they have season passes so they can come back many times this year, and the parents are excited about having season parking, so $15 doesn't need to be scrounged up with every visit. Everything's paid for, and now they can make return visits totally at their leisure. Combine that with all the coupons found in their 5, count 'em, 5 season pass books, and they're really happy with SFMM right now. They're also looking forward to the Matt Hoffman Stunt Show coming in May. So I'm happy that they're happy, and I'm also happy that they had such a glowing impression of the park with my sister not having visited since 2002. And yes, full disclosure, the kids are all stoked about being able to come back to "where Uncle Matt works."

It wasn't a decision not to go to GR. I had a lot of stuff to take care of that I just moved on to after leaving Flags, and I was down the road before thinking "Oh wait, I was going to mention..." . Yeah, my bad.

Pretty sure Tim said at WCB that the block brake would never be removed & double dip would never be returning because... ...because while it was giving riders bruises, it was literally tearing itself apart. I never rode Colossus before the double dip was removed, but I remember when that happened. Today I took a spin on Colossus to see how it was going, and it was going pretty well. Tim was pretty much dead on in his description of its current operation. Fun, but not overly intense. A really great in-between Bugs Bunny World and insane rides like Tatsu & X2 for the 48-54" crowd.

...and he grew up 4 miles away from the park, and he had a season pass from age 4 to age 24. I know I sound a little spammish, but honestly, job or no job, I'd still point out that SFMM is far from a park with little to nothing for kids 48" & under, or "only has big coasters and nothing else." Yeah, when I have to point out "Kids Karaoke" there is a bit of an indication that the list could be a bit longer & have more kid-sized thrills, and experiences meant for the whole family to have fun together. I'd love to have a dark ride installed. The Golden Bear Theatre area is practically sitting there begging for a major demolition/rebuilding into a dark ride. Disney's going to spend upwards of $100M to build their Mermaid attraction. Does anyone think Six Flags is going to get a discounted price? Of course not. Problem always is that they don't have $100M lying around, and if they did it would be snatched up by the creditors. Until that reality changes, we'll just have to sit on our wish lists for SFMM, and wonder. It's all we can really do until the stock is healthy again.

Well I'll be doing a little case study with this very phenomenon as my sister is bringing her 4 kids (ages 6, 4, 3, 2) to SFMM on Friday for Thomas Town and more. What I've told her, and what I tell anyone who says SFMM is not for families is that the thinking that Bugs Bunny World & Thomas Town (and Wiggles World when/if it gets there) are the only kid-friendly places in the entire park is all wrong. SFMM is totally for kids! Kids who are 48" tall, but not 54" tall are excluded from 6 attractions out of the entire park. That's it! SFMM Kid-Friendly Offerings Candymaking demonstration - Coaster Candy Company Games - 3 arcades, paintball, and 4 skill game areas in the park Critter Canyon Petting Zoo Mooseburger Lodge - Singing & dancing moose join the dining environment (ask inside) WB Kids' Club - Daily through September 7, 2009 Looney Tunes Beach Bash Parade - Select days 3/28-9/7 (route from Gotham City to Golden Bear Theater) Matt Hoffman's Stunt Show - 5/23-9/7 (former Batman theatre) CSI Live! - Magic Moments Theater (Starting 6/12) Kids Karaoke - Carrot Club Theater in Bugs Bunny World (Select days 5/23-9/7) DDR Challenge - Six Flags Plaza (Select days 5/23-9/7) Magic of the Mountain Museum @ The Sky Tower - Only if your kids (and you) would like seeing the park from about 400ft. high! CHARACTERS - Found in Colossus County Fair, Gotham City, High Sierra Territory, Movie District, Goliath Plaza, Six Flags Plaza & Thomas Town FOOD - Johnny Rockets, Katy's Kettle, Mooseburger Lodge, & Wascal's all offer kid's meals COASTERS - Yes, some of them are very kid-friendly! Ninja, Gold Rusher, Roaring Rapids, Sierra Falls, Jet Stream, and Log Jammer are all big hits with the 48" and shorter crowd. If kid feels daring, Colossus, Revolution, and even Goliath & X2 all sport a 48" height requirement. What SFMM needs to do is more of its own marketing, and include some of the family-friendly stats. Corporate wants every bloody marketing dollar spent on big bad X2, but the only way people will ever *get it* that there is a lot for families is by hearing about that from SFMM itself! And wouldn't that be a real big surprise to hear!

Because when the company has hit a financial floor is just about the best possible time to invest in it, major investments such as coasters aren't that hard of a sell, especially when the park has recently become "highly profitable." Keep in mind unlike 2001, SFMM now actually gives a crap about things like upkeep, maintenance, and not sacrificing other areas of the park so these new investments can exist. The old days of robbing Peter to pay for Paul (X, Deja Vu, & Scream!), and then having zero cash to run them, and the rest of the park are thankfully history. This time Magic Mountain is going to build coasters in consecutive years, and for a nice change of pace, they won't be doing it wrong.

Hey, they did a GREAT job with the parking lot theme!!!

Flags has to stay open until sweep is done & there are no more guests left in the area. It's part of making the day at the park complete. It wouldn't be so great if your last experience of the night was that you couldn't get your last minute souvenir as you walked out because the store closed...

West Coast Bash made the front page of Monday's edition of "The Signal" (Santa Clarita's local newspaper) today. Many Robb quotes and a lot of general info on TPR in addition to the coverage of WCB included. Congrats on the publicity folks.

I remember the Palm & Fountain Terrace Hotel having different configurations of beds if you wanted 3-4 in a room instead of 2. Basically a little hideaway bed under one of the beds would get pulled out & take up floor space, but it ensured everyone had their own bed more or less.

As I was beginning my drive home from getting off work about an hour ago, I saw this huge charter bus pull out of Hilton Garden Inn's parking lot and proceed down The Old Road THE WRONG WAY!!! Folks PLEASE BE CAREFUL in the construction area in front of SFMM's entrance! Just because you may know where you're going, and what side of the road you should be on, does not mean every other driver does as well. Please be safe out there!

MY EYES! MY EYES!!!

The 126 has been fully connected clear to Rye Canyon Road, but if you want to go The Old Road route, there aren't any closures that I'm aware of. The intersection with Magic Mtn Pkwy's been moved up the Pkwy a bit, but you won't have any problems at all noticing where to make the right turn.