The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[JT325]

will never ride Green Lantern again.

So you got one of those rides on your first ride eh? Unlucky!

 

Guess so! I felt like I was going to 'red out'. Not fun. Not to mention the pains on certain parts of the body.

[singemfrc]

There are 3 kinds of rides on GL: The boring flat ride, the fun flippy ride, and the painful rip your face off ride. What I like about GL is that unlike other coasters, I never know what kind I'm going to get, it's always a coin toss. The bad rides make the good ones better. Sure, a ride that's good every time like Twisted Colossus I love too, but GL excites me unlike any other coaster because it's unpredictable unlike any other coaster.

I've never had pain due to the restraints though, only due to the forces. If you get a car balanced just right where you are kind of thrown face down at the bottom of the drops and yanked back up in that position it kind of feels like it wants to rip your face off. And that can vary from just uncomfortable to extremely painful. I think it tends to happen more on cars that are unbalanced just a little bit but not a lot.

The perfectly balanced cars tend to be more boring and the extremely unbalanced ones tend to be more fun flippy. The best ride I ever got was me and a huge barely fitting in the seat person on one side and an empty seat and a very small girl on the back side. We were face down going up the lift and flipped constantly in the last half, it was great!

[Freestyle23]

Whatever adjustments they did to make it not flip has to go back! It was fun before and not painful. Sure they had the problem with some cars returning stuck upside down, is that why they made these adjustments anyway? It used to be good.

[coasternut]

will never ride Green Lantern again.

So you got one of those rides on your first ride eh? Unlucky!

 

Guess so! I felt like I was going to 'red out'. Not fun. Not to mention the pains on certain parts of the body.

 

That's why I call it the "grunt lantern."

[Arthur_Seaton]

It used to be good.

Green Lantern used to be good? I rode it when it first opened and found it to be atrocious then too. For me, it's held the crown of "worst coaster currently in operation" since the day it arrived.

 

Good to hear you had success with Revolution, JT325. I assume the VR was broken on your visit?

[Arthur_Seaton]

Double Post

[Superbatboy]

Can you compare the ride to Knott's Voyage to the Iron Reef or DCA's Toy Story Midway Mania?

 

The ride is definitely better than Knott's Voyage, and on par with DCA's Toy Story ride.

 

But this type of ride makes more sense for a younger crowd, which works at a Disney park, but seems kind of random at a park like Magic Mountain. I'm not saying people won't ride it once they're at the park, but to think this is going to attract a crowd over 15 years old *to come out and actually visit the park for it* is stretching it a bit.

 

And guess who spends the most money at parks? Families....

 

Magic Mountain will make more money off the 15 year kid whose whole family tags along than they will a teenager who shows up and doesn't spend a penny besides their initial pass purchase (or monthly payment)...

 

 

 

Except SFMM has neglected family stuff for over a decade. That's how SF Corporate thinks about all the parks except MM and Gadv. Both neglect family rides in general and have not gotten family friendly flats. I believe the last flats for both were 450 and 400 ft drop towers. not family friendly at all

 

It's never too late to balance out the park. And with Six Flag's limited spending the past few years, that's probably what's about the happen anyway. I'm guessing next year will be another non coaster year as the park adds flats or kids rides instead.

 

Six Flags limited spending is not a few years, it's been since bankruptcy. It's all based on a formula since bankruptcy. It's here to stay and their EBIDTA is great. There is no way they are changing and said so in their investor presentation. People just didn't notice the limited spending b/c 2011-2016 b/c they were adding RMC's, YOLOcoaster, Xflight. Now that it's 4D's and superloops everywhere people seem to notice and think this is pull back. They are actually spending slightly more money each year since bankruptcy they are just spending on cloned garbage to a large extent.

 

Oh no, we've noticed, trust me. It's still a far cry from that Thomas Town, Wiggles nonsense from the Shapiro years. The limited spending now is yielding things their parks have needed since forever. Dark rides, family rides, waterpark additions, flat rides., breathing new life into old, beat up coasters.

 

This is a GOOD thing. Well.. except for enthusiasts that miss 25 million dollar mediocre B&Ms every other year.

 

 

The thing is they have a done horrible job. The parks are literally becoming all the same. They have to gimmick rides as their supposed "flagship rides" that are not going to hold up to time. JL's are a video game, people and kids lose interest in video games quickly. I an tell you know 1 year after JL's in some parks the line is nothing, it's a virtual walk on at some parks. 4D's lines are just b/c the capacity stinks, the thing gets less than 500/hr in reality though spec is 720/hr Finally, the parks that need flat rides the most SFFMM and GAdv haven't gotten them and the parks that need coasters badly Stl. LaRonde, SFA haven't gotten nothing. SF is essentially banking on the people in these areas will keep buying passes and allowing themselves to be "abused" and neglected by SF, by getting year after year of poor additions

eugjackson... eugjackson is that you??

[JT325]

will never ride Green Lantern again.

So you got one of those rides on your first ride eh? Unlucky!

 

Guess so! I felt like I was going to 'red out'. Not fun. Not to mention the pains on certain parts of the body.

 

That's why I call it the "grunt lantern."

 

I'm headed back to the park in a little while… And I always like to give a ride a second go. But I'm not sure about Green Lantern. I've even ridden volares twice. Heck, I rode SOBeast 3 times in a row back in 2005 just to make sure what I had experienced was real! I don't know if I want to have that feeling of all the blood in my body being in my head for a couple seconds. Still exhausted from working the heck out of the park yesterday… and excited to get back today!

[Freestyle23]

All your blood with be by your waist area from the restraint pressing against you in a whiplash manner.

[VegasBaby]

It used to be good.

Green Lantern used to be good? I rode it when it first opened and found it to be atrocious then too. For me, it's held the crown of "worst coaster currently in operation" since the day it arrived.

 

Good to hear you had success with Revolution, JT325. I assume the VR was broken on your visit?

 

I too have never had a "good" ride on GL. Trust me, I've ridden it probably a dozen times thinking beforehand that it's not that bad. But then I ride the damn thing and instantly remember that yes, it's that bad! I skip it every visit now and spend my time riding TC instead.

Edited July 17, 2017 by VegasBaby

[JT325]

All your blood with be by your waist area from the restraint pressing against you in a whiplash manner.

 

All my blood was thrust up and held there.. like an extreme (not safe for long) negative g. Like 2 seconds was too much. I thought I was going to have a bloody nose.

[singemfrc]

It used to be good.

Green Lantern used to be good? I rode it when it first opened and found it to be atrocious then too. For me, it's held the crown of "worst coaster currently in operation" since the day it arrived.

 

Good to hear you had success with Revolution, JT325. I assume the VR was broken on your visit?

 

I too have never had a "good" ride on GL. Trust me, I've ridden it probably a dozen times thinking beforehand that it's not that bad. But then I ride the damn thing and instantly remember that yes, it's that bad! I skip it every visit now and spent my time riding TC instead.

Yeah, unfortunately the ride ops always attempt to balance the cars as they want everyone to have the boring ride, so you usually either get that, or if they try but don't quite succeed to balance the car (most common), you get a painful ride. The way MM has the cars set up, fun rides usually only come from wildly imbalanced cars, which don't happen as often.

[blaisedinsd]

I went to the park on Wed Thurs 7-12 and 7-13.

 

Crowds were surprisingly light. On Thurs rode X2 twice in a row around 3PM since there was no line. Worst lines were for rapids as it was the only water ride open at about an hour....mostly walk ons and short lines all day.

 

Rode Justice League Battle for Metropolis 5 times. Got the high score in my vehicle except for the first ride and was in top 5% of all time each time I did well. Wait time for the ride was very short. Seemed like a long cue would get some shade but the short line just before the doors is in the blazing sun. At one point they were making everyone dump their liquids except water bottles with caps (no souvenir cups with liquid) but later they were allowing it. You have to take all your stuff on the ride with you as you enter and exit the vehicle at different spots and no lockrs. At one point they were allowing groups of one or two through the single rider line and at another point they closed this line for no apparent reason.

 

The ride itself was pretty cool. I don't feel the 3D is that good and I had trouble with my shooting accuracy (while still getting top 5% scores) but the practical effects and motion simulation with the immersive screens is pretty cool. The first pre show room on the first day had some screen distortion, a horizontal line of distortion on the screen. Seemed they fixed it by day 2.

 

I still haven't been able to find the one target worth 6,666 points (only way your score will end with a 6).....signage indicates 20,000 point targets too but I didn't find them. Anyone got some scoring tips post them up

[aeyrolet]

Since two Six Flags parks have release information of retiring two attractions, I'm just going to say it... VIPER'S ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK!

[Arthur_Seaton]

Since two Six Flags parks have release information of retiring two attractions, I'm just going to say it... VIPER'S ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK!

Wait, there's more? I thought they already announced the two rides (Georgia and Texas)?

[Superbatboy]

Viper isnt going anywhere, the park just opened a premium version of Justice League. I don't see them doing more than a flat or two for '18.

[Jew]

You can only weld steel that is taking a constant beating for so long....Hence why UO had to rebuild Hulk. Viper might be at the end of its useful life.

[JT325]

^I thought Viper was mild compared to other Arrows. Felt the same during my rides on it in the 90s. We had the Arrow Shockwave at my home park, and Vortex at KI, so...

 

Taer down Green Lantern! Or fix it/run it properly.

 

I skipped my 3rd day at the park in favor of a shortened day at Knotts today. I'll do a trip report at a later time. I worked the heck out of Magic Mountain the last 2 days. A bit tender and sore today; a good thing in my book!

[VegasBaby]

You can only weld steel that is taking a constant beating for so long....Hence why UO had to rebuild Hulk. Viper might be at the end of its useful life.

 

I have a hard time believing this, especially when you have much older arrows like Loch Ness that are still running strong. I think there were some structural issues with Hulk and that's why they had to do the rebuild. Kumba is 6 years older than the original Hulk and nobody is talking about tearing it down. And it's probably run just as many if not more cycles than the original Hulk.

 

That said, I won't shed any tears if Viper gets replaced with a giga or a 250ft dive coaster.

[Condor]

You can only weld steel that is taking a constant beating for so long....Hence why UO had to rebuild Hulk. Viper might be at the end of its useful life.

 

I have a hard time believing this, especially when you have much older arrows like Loch Ness that are still running strong. I think there were some structural issues with Hulk and that's why they had to do the rebuild. Kumba is 6 years older than the original Hulk and nobody is talking about tearing it down. And it's probably run just as many if not more cycles than the original Hulk.

 

All metal structures and machines have a certain lifespan built into it that can be abbreviated or extended due to stress or maintenance/parts replacement. The USAF has five-decade-old B-52s and KC-135s still flying that have hardly an original part left on the airframe. Different conditions lead to different amounts of wear and tear. Viper is taller and faster than Loch Ness and has longer year round operating hours. Likewise Hulk often opened earlier, closed later, and had higher daily ridership than Kumba. All of these things can contribute to greater wear and tear.

[eltoro]

That said, I won't shed any tears if Viper gets replaced with a giga or a 250ft dive coaster.

 

SF spend 30M on a giga or 25M on a record dive is not possible with their capex formula.

[Manic Monte]

You can only weld steel that is taking a constant beating for so long....Hence why UO had to rebuild Hulk. Viper might be at the end of its useful life.

 

I have a hard time believing this, especially when you have much older arrows like Loch Ness that are still running strong. I think there were some structural issues with Hulk and that's why they had to do the rebuild. Kumba is 6 years older than the original Hulk and nobody is talking about tearing it down. And it's probably run just as many if not more cycles than the original Hulk.

 

All metal structures and machines have a certain lifespan built into it that can be abbreviated or extended due to stress or maintenance/parts replacement. The USAF has five-decade-old B-52s and KC-135s still flying that have hardly an original part left on the airframe. Different conditions lead to different amounts of wear and tear. Viper is taller and faster than Loch Ness and has longer year round operating hours. Likewise Hulk often opened earlier, closed later, and had higher daily ridership than Kumba. All of these things can contribute to greater wear and tear.

 

Yeah maybe not this year, or next, but eventually Viper will either be removed or remodeled.

 

How quickly we forget Robb's ominous post last year about "hearing things" about Viper. That didn't mean prepare for the immediate removal of the ride. But something is probably in the works down the line.

[Condor]

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of. Whatever Viper's fatigue life is, I'm sure it's a high mileage coaster that's near the end of it. It hasn't sniffed an actual list of mine for nearly 20 years, but it will forever have a place in my "sentimental top 10."

[joelwee]

I agree that Viper's closure is a matter of "when", not "if", but I wouldn't be so sure that Viper is leaving this year. The park still seems to hold it up as one of their top coasters (ie., using it in signage and ads around the park, selling Viper merchandise, etc.) You'd think they'd start to scrub these images if they were planning on removing it this soon.

 

Also, Six Flags seems to be more interested in revamping their existing coasters than installing new ones. If Blue Hawk is successful in drawing crowds, maybe SF will do the same with Viper - give it some new trains, a new color scheme, maybe replace some of the more awkward/worn sections of track, and give it a new name.

 

But who knows? I know I'm in the minority of park-goers when I say Viper is in my Top 10, so this could be wishful thinking.

[sxexaxn]

In my mind it would make more sense to remove Ninja before Viper. It also suffers poor ridership and it occupies a sizeable section of land in a part of the park that really REALLY needs a makeover (Cyclone Bay). Although the station sits on top of the hill, I could see a new coaster occupying that land and having a station somewhere in the Cylone Bay Area of the park, maybe where Deja Vu used to be. I could see them giving Viper the MK 1212 trains some day and keeping it around.