The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[MagicMountainMan]

Correct, and Newhall Land and Farm has reclaimed the land and built a brand new perimeter fence.

 

On another note, I hope all of you that attended West Coast Bash had a great time today! It looked like you guys were all having a good time during ERT in the morning, I was very jealous...

[TopThrill182]

Even if the park did own some of the above mentioned perimeter land, It seems like the park already has more space than it can adequately maintain.

 

Cyclone Bay has a ton of dead space presently (e.g. Deja Vu's old spot, the abandoned Cold Stone Creamery building among others, etc.), and much of what's left could be razed without offending anyone (e.g. Apocalypse is in a bad state currently, the log ride looks like a leaky maintenance nightmare, and the deforested Ninja could be nearing the end of its lifespan). When you add in the abandoned stunt show stadium, monorail station, and whatever that circular building was by the entrance to the log ride, I feel like the park has plenty of room to work with.

[coasterlvr]

With West Coast Bash today, I really wanna know what Robb thinks of TC now that he's ridden it. How does it compare to other RMCs?

 

Rob unfortunately has a broken ankle and was unable to ride. I'm sure there are others who may give their impressions.

 

got a lot of rides in, and it seems that orange and purple have a funny wheel or something. felt like they got left behind when dueling blue. not a huge deal, but just something i noticed.

 

finally after so many many rides, got a couple real good dual, duels. but still many many missed, but close. crew was doing a great job, and especially at night ERT.

[Arthur_Seaton]

it seems that orange and purple have a funny wheel or something. felt like they got left behind when dueling blue. not a huge deal, but just something i noticed.

 

I noticed something like that last week — right around the hi-five, one of the trains seemed to be losing steam a bit.

 

Great to see everyone enjoying the ride today and it's nice to see the ops getting some recognition as well. I've ridden TC many times now, and the crew always seems to be consistently upbeat and entertaining.

[Freestyle23]

I'm curious why it is harder to dual now compared to when the ride first opened and during the ride preview. It seems like the lift hill chains were alot more in sync.

[Freestyle23]

Saw this news randomly Saturday night.

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/worker-dies-after-plummeting-from-tulsa-fair-skyride/ar-AAee7Qk?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=mailsignout

[coasterkid124]

I'm curious why it is harder to dual now compared to when the ride first opened and during the ride preview. It seems like the lift hill chains were alot more in sync.

 

If they re-programmed it they could get it right. That is if the ride has two separate gear boxes and they were DC drive. Then the chains can run at different speeds and sync up the trains.

[Superbatboy]

I would love for MM to do a Phantom's Revenge conversion on Viper. It would be a cheap way to market a "new" ride and it'd pique the interest of a lot the people from my generation who grew up riding Viper as the biggest, baddest ride in the park.

 

As for a giga, I just don't ever see Six Flags forking over the cash for one. It just isn't part of the business model any longer to spend $30 million for a single attraction, when they can install 3-4 smaller coasters in multiple parks and see a bigger return. Though MM is the anomaly in the chain, they tend to do things a bit different in terms of what they add and what they will not add (wild mouse, sky screamer, larson loopsers, etc). So I guess you never know....

[coasterlvr]

I'm curious why it is harder to dual now compared to when the ride first opened and during the ride preview. It seems like the lift hill chains were alot more in sync.

 

during ERT, both morning and night, it was definitely dueling a lot. way more than i've ever seen. while not always perfect, they were at least somewhat close if off. i was pretty impressed. a number of my rides were off because of WCB's.

 

TC backstage tour gave us some great photo ops. I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of great angles of TC posted.

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

[rba13]

i was hoping they would do a Metro restoration for next year. Well, there is always hope for 2017.

 

https://www.facebook.com/savethemetro

 

[Manic Monte]

X2 was simply breathtaking Saturday night. And Twisted Colossus performed like a champ. Thanks to Rob, Elissa and the SFMM team for an AWESOME event!

[Jew]

Correct, and Newhall Land and Farm has reclaimed the land and built a brand new perimeter fence.

 

On another note, I hope all of you that attended West Coast Bash had a great time today! It looked like you guys were all having a good time during ERT in the morning, I was very jealous...

 

They intend to develop the hills behind the park. The land back there will be a buffer from the noise.

[SoCalJasonland]

i was hoping they would do a Metro restoration for next year. Well, there is always hope for 2017.

 

There is a roller coaster using the Metro underground tunnel so I would look to 2117 at earliest for Metro to return. Not that I believe they will rebuild Metro then but I will be dead and not feel the need to come back and comment.

[thedlr]

X2 was simply breathtaking Saturday night. And Twisted Colossus performed like a champ. Thanks to Rob, Elissa and the SFMM team for an AWESOME event!

 

"It had to be you..."

 

X2 was amazing Saturday night.

[singemfrc]

With West Coast Bash today, I really wanna know what Robb thinks of TC now that he's ridden it. How does it compare to other RMCs?

 

Rob unfortunately has a broken ankle and was unable to ride. I'm sure there are others who may give their impressions.

 

got a lot of rides in, and it seems that orange and purple have a funny wheel or something. felt like they got left behind when dueling blue. not a huge deal, but just something i noticed.

 

finally after so many many rides, got a couple real good dual, duels. but still many many missed, but close. crew was doing a great job, and especially at night ERT.

I'm curious why it is harder to dual now compared to when the ride first opened and during the ride preview. It seems like the lift hill chains were alot more in sync.

Yeah I think he said he has 3 or 4 weeks left with the boot on before he can start riding again. From other attendees of WCB who have ridden all or nearly all of the RMCs the general consensus seemed to be either 2nd or 3rd with Outlaw Run being the consensus favorite.

 

(For the following blue train means train on the blue track, etc.)

In the morning the problem causing the blue train to go over first wasn't mechanical, it was computer. Our backstage tour guide told us there was a computer software problem causing the green train to not catch up with the blue train. He said they shut down the rideat about 2pm to correct the problem and we noticed it was syncing perfectly afterwards while we were on the second tour at 3:15. For those who didn't go on the backstage tours it was explained that the blue lift is a static speed and doesnt change; it's the green lift that is variable and attempts to catch up with the blue lift. There are numerous proximity sensors on the lift and if when the green train enters the lift it sees that the blue train is close enough to be caught, then it speeds up accordingly; if it senses no blue train or the blue train is too far to catch, then it doesn't try. He said the ride ops dont have to specifically dispatch the train at a specific time, they just have a general window in which to dispatch so that the green train is capable of catching the blue one.

 

X2 was simply breathtaking Saturday night. And Twisted Colossus performed like a champ. Thanks to Rob, Elissa and the SFMM team for an AWESOME event!

 

"It had to be you..."

 

X2 was amazing Saturday night.

My legs could only take one beating on X2 but the one ride I got at like 10pm was amazing. No fire, but for the first time I can ever remember the audio was working (and not cutting out) on both trains at once. Everyone on the train was singing along with the audio, it was awesome.

[SFMMGeek27]

Here is the flaw in the green lift programming:

 

So they cannot dispatch the next train from the station until the train in front hits the mid course brake where the track changes from blue to green. When the train starts climbing the green lift, it isn't set at the slowest speed it can go by default. If the next train hasn't dispatched from the station yet, it goes up the lift at a "medium" speed. This continues until:

 

A) the train is dispatched, or

B) the train on the green lift is about halfway up and the computer decides it's too late to race

 

If A occurs, the lift will slow down to "medium-slow" for 15 seconds or so before returning to "medium" speed, which isn't enough time for the dispatched train to get through the pre-lift. Once the blue train gets to the sensor on the bottom of the lift, the green lift will change to "slow" speed until the two trains line up. Then it will adjust to the speed of the blue train, which is "fast".

 

If B occurs, the green train will speed up to "medium-fast" and continue on its way, unless A occurs; then it will slow down but not race.

 

If the green lift stayed at the slowest speed possible from the second the train hits the lift until the blue train catches up (or it is calculated to be impossible to race even at the slowest chain speed), it would be way easier to race. Much much easier. Because the slowest speed it goes is very VERY slow. Get rid of the unnecessary speed ups at the beginning and once a train is dispatched.

[DJeXeL]

TC is excellent as-is, but the dueling aspect make it so much better.

[VTown661]

For the record for next year 2016 if anyone were to ask will SFMM be crowded on Rosh Hashanah day ... please apply the word YES YES YES. Park was slammed today Monday 9/14 Rosh Hashanah day perhaps having it as a BAFF day added to the huge crowd. Almost parked in dirt or gravel lot and asshols to elbows inside the park. Yikes Yikes Yikes.

[coasterlvr]

Here is the flaw in the green lift programming:

 

So they cannot dispatch the next train from the station until the train in front hits the mid course brake where the track changes from blue to green. When the train starts climbing the green lift, it isn't set at the slowest speed it can go by default. If the next train hasn't dispatched from the station yet, it goes up the lift at a "medium" speed. This continues until:

 

A) the train is dispatched, or

B) the train on the green lift is about halfway up and the computer decides it's too late to race

 

If A occurs, the lift will slow down to "medium-slow" for 15 seconds or so before returning to "medium" speed, which isn't enough time for the dispatched train to get through the pre-lift. Once the blue train gets to the sensor on the bottom of the lift, the green lift will change to "slow" speed until the two trains line up. Then it will adjust to the speed of the blue train, which is "fast".

 

If B occurs, the green train will speed up to "medium-fast" and continue on its way, unless A occurs; then it will slow down but not race.

 

If the green lift stayed at the slowest speed possible from the second the train hits the lift until the blue train catches up (or it is calculated to be impossible to race even at the slowest chain speed), it would be way easier to race. Much much easier. Because the slowest speed it goes is very VERY slow. Get rid of the unnecessary speed ups at the beginning and once a train is dispatched.

 

that slowest speed is so slow i almost rather not duel if it does it anymore than it does now on the upper half of green.

 

if they can dispatch as soon as it hits the lift, then those are good. green is going up just a tad slower than blue and they meet perfect at the top. i had a number of those during ert with fast tpr folks. basically how it was during filming. i almost thought it couldn't do that anymore and only when it slows to it's slowest will there be a chance to duel.

[coasterlvr]

For the record for next year 2016 if anyone were to ask will SFMM be crowded on Rosh Hashanah day ... please apply the word YES YES YES. Park was slammed today Monday 9/14 Rosh Hashanah day perhaps having it as a BAFF day added to the huge crowd. Almost parked in dirt or gravel lot and asshols to elbows inside the park. Yikes Yikes Yikes.

 

wow, wasn't expecting that. i was curious how it was going to be.

[brneff99]

I'm close to 100 rides on X2 and I got my very best ride EVER on Sat night...inside seat, 2nd row...it was almost like I was on another coaster...the sky was brilliant as was the audio...that said, my son had the outside seat and described it as almost his worst ride ever...

[VegasBaby]

I'm close to 100 rides on X2 and I got my very best ride EVER on Sat night...inside seat, 2nd row...it was almost like I was on another coaster...the sky was brilliant as was the audio...that said, my son had the outside seat and described it as almost his worst ride ever...

 

I thought X2 was running great when I was at the park last month. I got about 6 rides in about 2 hours as it had been down, so most of the line had left. I got in line around 4pm just as it was testing empty trains and I only waited about 10 min for my first ride. All my rides after that were only about 15-20 min waits. The audio and fire effects were all working and I didn't get slammed once. In fact, I don't think I've had a bad ride on X2 this whole year. I don't know if they've done any work on it recently, but whatever it is, I hope they keep it up.

[singemfrc]

I thought X2 was running great when I was at the park last month. I got about 6 rides in about 2 hours as it had been down, so most of the line had left. I got in line around 4pm just as it was testing empty trains and I only waited about 10 min for my first ride. All my rides after that were only about 15-20 min waits. The audio and fire effects were all working and I didn't get slammed once. In fact, I don't think I've had a bad ride on X2 this whole year. I don't know if they've done any work on it recently, but whatever it is, I hope they keep it up.

Youre either getting lucky, riding in the right places, and/or you just have the right weight/shape. Tall people riding on the outside are still being beaten senseless... I only did one lap on X2 Saturday night and I can still feel it in my calves.

 

X2 was only the second most uncomfortable ride of the weekend (and I rode Boomerang at KBF!), the most painful by far goes to Viper. It just beat the crap out of me like never before and since I was so occupied with that I got scrunched down into the seat by the continually retracting Arrow OTSRs and then more thrashing making it worse. I didnt notice at the time but when I got back to the hotel room and took my shirt off I had blood on the inside of my shirt from my shoulders where Viper's OTSRs had cut into me. I think I'm done with Viper forever. It's too bad because I love the layout.

 

Speaking of uncomfortable rides, or at least what some people find uncomfortable, I had the most awesome experience possible on Green Lantern! Using the single rider line to bypass the 60 minute wait I was matched up with a group of 3 very nice people, all of whom barely fit in the seats. Between me and the girl next to me we probably outweighed the tiny people on the other side of the car by double. As soon as we were dispatched we immediately went face down 90 degrees. I turned to the girl (who was riding for the first time!) and told her to hold on 'cause I knew this was as unbalanced as it gets and it was about to be wild. Sure enough we flipped on every drop except the first (and we came close on that) and then flipped 2 and a half times on the bottom drop and came into the station upside down...Green Lantern lovers hope for a ride like that like Top Thrill lovers hope for a rollback. The girl next to me said "Is this normal?" and I told her that no, this was not normal, it was outstanding!

 

I got all three types of GL rides on Saturday. My first ride was the balanced ho-hum no flip ride that SFMM loves to give, my second ride was the awesome one described above, and my third ride was the "oh my god this ride is trying to rip my face off" type that happens once in a while when you rock forward at just the right time just before a drop and then violently whip backwards when you drop. Those kind smart for a few minutes.

 

BTW big kudos to the Green Lantern crew on Saturday night. That's a pretty complex coaster to operate as it is, and with a pretty steady flow of single riders they were doing an excellent job sending the SRs to both sides of the track to fill the empty seats.

[laqueefa]

I am almost 6' 3" and I kept riding in the very back on the outside. Smooth rides all night for me!

[Manic Monte]

My friend and I figured out that one train on X2 was much smoother than the other. The train with the newer restraints was giving outstanding rides all night.