The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[johnychen]

I still remember riding the Revolution without the OTSR's. It was a great ride. I did discover during the WCB ERTsession that there is a way to ride it without head banging. All you have to do is push your head into the head rest as hard as you can by pushing against the back of the seat on front of you with your hands. This way your head stays locked in place and no headbanging occurs.

[Zingoman]

While on the topic of Revolution, I'm sorry if this was alreay posted but I'm not digging through the last 20-30 pages to find out. There is a new facebook page trying to rally people in support of encouraging SFMM to resolve the issues Revolution has regarding restraints and trims. I know how much people love to hate on these little movements but even if you think it's a lost cause, it's still a nice little page about the ride and has a slowly growing collection of media and information about it through it's history in tv/film, music videos, and old photos. I'd encourage any Revy lovers to join and contribute.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Restore-Revolution/388480361172971

[VTown661]

I will be heading down to the park today. Hopefully it will be a good day. I will post photos if get there is anything photo worthy. Gotta get 2 people on X2 who have never been on before!

 

Aside from the 200 buses that showed up the weather is perfict ... now lemme go get a deep fried Twinkie.

[Jew]

Didn't they say at the West Coast Bash that the loop on Revolution has such high g-forces the the OTSRs are need to keep the riders upright in the safest position to go through the loop?

 

I have serious doubts about this claim. Were there ever any cases of injury on Revolution before they installed the OTSRs?

 

The word that has been passed down for a long time amongst veteran SFMM employees is that people could injure themselves if not seated properly during the loop. Back/neck injuries were apparently fairly common for those who were not properly seated, or so the story goes.

[coasterfreak101]

Anton designed a very large number of forceful loops, and most of them still have trains with only lap bars running through them. SDL over at Hershey consistently pushes my head down during the entrance and exit of the loop, but they aren't running to replace the lap bars.

[Giovanni Bianchi]

Well then ignorant Americans brought this hell onto themselves. The signs clearly state keep your back and head against the seat and headrest eh? Then agian. maybe it is the Spanish/Latino that can't read english. There should be a law, if you in America you must speak and read english eh?

[dylanreich]

Well then ignorant Americans brought this hell onto themselves. The signs clearly state keep your back and head against the seat and headrest eh? Then agian. maybe it is the Spanish/Latino that can't read english. There should be a law, if you in America you must speak and read english eh?

Your post just proved that you don't have to be foreign to have problems with the English language. You have multiple grammatical and spelling errors in your post...

[Manic Monte]

I don't why people spend so much time trying to theorize about why the restraints were placed on Revolution. At this point who cares? The fact is they are there, and SFMM doesn't owe anyone an explanation as to why they were added as opposed to other rides of it's type.

 

I don't care why they are there, I just hope one day real soon they won't be and Revolution can once again be the great ride it was intended to be.

 

Trying to prove whether they were added excessively or not isn't going to magically make them disappear.

[OCJ48]

just proved that you don't have to be foreign to have problems with the English language. You have multiple grammatical and spelling errors in your post...

 

The eh's make me wonder if he's (pretending to be) Canadian, eh?

[LaMapa]

The park was DEAD today.

[Zingoman]

I don't why people spend so much time trying to theorize about why the restraints were placed on Revolution. At this point who cares? The fact is they are there, and SFMM doesn't owe anyone an explanation as to why they were added as opposed to other rides of it's type.

 

I don't care why they are there, I just hope one day real soon they won't be and Revolution can once again be the great ride it was intended to be.

 

Trying to prove whether they were added excessively or not isn't going to magically make them disappear.

 

I don't think anybody expects them to magically disappear here. The point I think most of us are trying to get at is that there shouldn't be a reason the park cannot get rid of them. We want a clear idea about whether or not it's really an option for the park or if it's actually something beyond possibility for the ride at this point. If your car breaks down don't you try to find the problem in order to determine if it can be fixed?

[Tmcdllr]

Sort of like can they or will they?

[Reuschini]

Sort of like can they or will they?

 

More like they won't.

 

Progress on Lex Luther is lookin' pretty good, this thing'll be testing in no time!

[SoCalCoasters]

We live in sue-happy "Umerica" where I belief we can classify law-suits as our national pastime. Since Revolution doesn't have a spotless record, one could assume that SFMM wishes to avoid having to deal with lawsuits from idiots hurting themselves and blaming the park.

 

Just about any ridiculous lawsuit can make it to court now adays, and it's amazing how many times Disney has had to deal with lawsuits like this, ie: people blaming Tower of Terror for a death that happened months after they went to the park. It's ridiculous, makes no sense, but in order to keep the park's "image", they're trying to avoid lawsuits at all costs.

 

I myself wish they would refurbish the ride, and eventually they will have to. They can't remove it without a massive hullabaloo that I'm sure would look just as bad as a lawsuit.

 

At this point they need to just refurbish the dang thing a bring it back to its former glory, then market the hell out of it. Once again use the marketing that it's the first modern looping coaster in the world. They can't keep running it the way it is much longer, as it's dropping in popularity.

 

I honestly think someone needs to create some kind of letter to send to the park explaining the reasons WHY this really does need to happen. Not like some ordinary letter, but more of a comprehensive explanation that goes incredibly in depth in terms of what needs to be done, how it can be done, why it needs to be done, and what benefits can they reap besides just having it run "good" again.

 

I'm sure there are many Schwarzkopf experts on these forums who wouldn't mind trying something like that.

 

The hardest thing is getting the park to actually listen to what we have to say. I felt a bit irritated at WCB when I asked a question about the possibilities lap bar trains and was basically given a quick GP explanation answer of "well the Gs are too high in the loop", when everyone in the room knew full and well the ride ran perfectly fine for 20 years with lap bars.

[Manic Monte]

^ Wow, are you really only 15? Color me impressed!

[Tmcdllr]

We live in sue-happy "Umerica" where I belief we can classify law-suits as our national pastime. Since Revolution doesn't have a spotless record, one could assume that SFMM wishes to avoid having to deal with lawsuits from idiots hurting themselves and blaming the park.

 

Just about any ridiculous lawsuit can make it to court now adays, and it's amazing how many times Disney has had to deal with lawsuits like this, ie: people blaming Tower of Terror for a death that happened months after they went to the park. It's ridiculous, makes no sense, but in order to keep the park's "image", they're trying to avoid lawsuits at all costs.

 

I myself wish they would refurbish the ride, and eventually they will have to. They can't remove it without a massive hullabaloo that I'm sure would look just as bad as a lawsuit.

 

At this point they need to just refurbish the dang thing a bring it back to its former glory, then market the hell out of it. Once again use the marketing that it's the first modern looping coaster in the world. They can't keep running it the way it is much longer, as it's dropping in popularity.

 

I honestly think someone needs to create some kind of letter to send to the park explaining the reasons WHY this really does need to happen. Not like some ordinary letter, but more of a comprehensive explanation that goes incredibly in depth in terms of what needs to be done, how it can be done, why it needs to be done, and what benefits can they reap besides just having it run "good" again.

 

I'm sure there are many Schwarzkopf experts on these forums who wouldn't mind trying something like that.

 

The hardest thing is getting the park to actually listen to what we have to say. I felt a bit irritated at WCB when I asked a question about the possibilities lap bar trains and was basically given a quick GP explanation answer of "well the Gs are too high in the loop", when everyone in the room knew full and well the ride ran perfectly fine for 20 years with lap bars.

 

Yes~ VERY well said and the G's in the loop thing I don't buy, if the OSTRs are supposed to 'protect' you I don't see how as they are too high and pin you in the middle of the chest still leaving your neck and head free to whiplash as they claim so they really seem useless....utterly and completely useless! If they had the correct restraints I could understand it more but with these....no. That just sounds like their standard answer without a real explanation- it's almost as if when they were put on years ago the actual reason why was forgotten and over the years successors were never told or completely understood so they don't really know and to cover they just say it's because of the G's in the loop. And if that really was the problem and the reason why they were added then why was it run for at least 20 YEARS before something was done about it? (And many years with no trims). See it just doesn't add up. New trains with at least the CORRECT type of restraints, maybe a little track work and if possible remove the trims (and please paint THE WHOLE THING this time), and with some good marketing this could become popular once again. This is really the coaster that put them on the map back in the day, a historical masterpiece and a modern marvel, featured in more than one motion picture and on countless TV shows, beautifully integrated into the mountain side and over the falls and your first view of it as you enter the park is the crown jewel of it- the loop. Why not bring this back to its former glory? Play up on these things and market it well? It CAN be done, it happens all the time with old rides being reborn. So it's not like they can't, it is totally do-able, they just need to DO IT!

[Wes]

Hasn't it been explained before that it's not just about lawsuits, it's about insurance premiums as well?

[dylanreich]

Hasn't it been explained before that it's not just about lawsuits, it's about insurance premiums as well?

The park said at WCB that the change to OSTRs had nothing to do with restraints. EDIT: I mean insurance.

Edited May 5, 2012 by dylanreich

[chickenbowl]

Hasn't it been explained before that it's not just about lawsuits, it's about insurance premiums as well?

 

That's the story I remember Tim saying at WCB one year. It's cheaper for them to pay insurance when all the looping coaster have OTSRs or something like that. If that's the case, I hope they'd consider softer OTSRs like the wingriders or Vekoma's new trains.

[coasterfreak101]

Maybe if they weren't dumping so much trash into the rivers and paying fees there they could afford the extra premiums for lap bars on Revolution!

[Manic Monte]

It was also said that the trains are getting near the end of their life-cycle, and at that point they may be looking at making changes. When it makes financial sense for the park to relaunch Revolution (and only then), I think we may finally see some ride improvements.

 

I hope they are at least keeping an eye on what is happening at Hershey Park, and perhaps having a few conversations with Premier Rides as well.

 

 

"Keep your head back"!

 

[Tmcdllr]

Maybe if they weren't dumping so much trash into the rivers and paying fees there they could afford the extra premiums for lap bars on Revolution!

 

Lol.

[MrSum1_55]

^^If the trains are replaced, then I do believe we will more likely see Intamin trains than those by Premier or something like the SDL trains, for a few reasons:

1. The park will likely want the keep using OTSR's, so the Intamin I305 straps make the most sense, under these conditions.

2. Intamin originally worked on the ride, along with Anton

3. New Intamin trains may have been hinted at WCB 2011. (Considering the "restraint gag")

[A.J.]

What's stopping Gerstlauer from producing Schwarzkopf-style trains with the accordion OTSRs?

[coasterfreak101]

^Yeah, nothing. Considering that they do the parts work for old Schwarzkopfs now, I don't know where all this Intamin and Premier talk is even coming from.

 

Are the shoulder pads on some of the other Schwarzkopfs (Olympia Looping I think, maybe Mindbender at Edmonton's too?, etc.) uncomfortable? A new train design could use those to keep the body upright without needing the crap restraints they slapped on the current trains.