The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[ryder]

13 hours ago, Jew said:

At the turnstile I was only asked to show my reservation (note on that: I wish they would update their system on the backend to tie the reservation to your pass so you didn’t have to show the reservation and then take out your pass for scanning).

While I'm not going until tomorrow, I do have Diamond Elite Membership (I kept my payments going the whole time, so it's still active), and I noticed that for my Preferred Parking reservation, the code for it now seems to be tied directly to my pass, when in the past, it was a separate barcode.  So this could be something they're working on.

I'm not too surprised at the good Covid signage and availability of hand sanitizer everywhere... we got to visit SFDK back in the original brief window when they could open as a zoo back in July 2020, and they were set up the same even by then.  They even had the touchless temperature and bags check already set up, too.  And they are great! 

And at the same time as SFDK last summer, food ordering was still an issue.  I remember it took me 30 minutes to get one slice of pizza with only two people in front of me in line.  Food is just not SF's strong suit, and I don't know if it ever will be.  I think there's a reason they never went the food festival route during the pandemic.   

But it does sound that overall, things went pretty well.  Of course it's not going to be perfect... I'm sure even Disney will have problems when they reopen.  Heck, Disney will likely have problems even before they reopen, because we all know their reservation system will crash.  The number of problems I'm hearing about SFMM are within acceptable limits of a park that's been closed for a year, needs to restaff and retrain, and figure out completely new systems and rules for Covid.  It can't be easy.

[coasternut]

2 hours ago, tndank said:

Have they fixed mobile ordering? On there you could order them anytime you want. 

I didn't use the mobile ordering, because the waits were not that bad. I heard from a friend that you could set the time to pick up your food and they would notify you when it was ready. This was at SFOT.

[coasterbill]

I love Six Flags mobile ordering and I'll use it exclusively from now on.

It's not as good as Disney's obviously and sometimes they ignore it and don't make it until you walk up and show it to them at the end of your window but it avoids so many headaches, especially if you have a dining plan AND it saves time. I don't want to paint with a broad brush because Six Flags has some great employees but sometimes the app is just smarter (or at least more experienced) than the person working the register. It can easily add lunch credits / snack credits / dinner credits or whatever however you want and make modifications and put it all in their system for them so the people at the register have no opportunity to mess it up (which they do... a lot).

It's great. I'm totally sold on it.

[Jew]

8 hours ago, coasterbill said:

I love Six Flags mobile ordering and I'll use it exclusively from now on.

It's not as good as Disney's obviously and sometimes they ignore it and don't make it until you walk up and show it to them at the end of your window but it avoids so many headaches, especially if you have a dining plan AND it saves time. I don't want to paint with a broad brush because Six Flags has some great employees but sometimes the app is just smarter (or at least more experienced) than the person working the register. It can easily add lunch credits / snack credits / dinner credits or whatever however you want and make modifications and put it all in their system for them so the people at the register have no opportunity to mess it up (which they do... a lot).

It's great. I'm totally sold on it.

100% mobile ordering is the future of the industry. Adjusting the front and back of house to account for it is going to take time across the whole industry. 

[coastercoaster5]

SFMM Trip Report. Opening Day, April 1st, 2021. 

 

TLDR: I had a very six flags day (but it was awesome)

 

After over four years, I finally returned to my home park and self-proclaimed "coaster capitol of the world", Six Flags Magic Mountain. This was my first ever trip to the park alone, and I was ready for anything and everything that could happen. 

My reservation was for 1:45pm but I arrived in Valencia at 11:30. I stopped at the Subway off The Old Road which I highly recommend doing if you don't have a meal plan. The lines looked long, though there is an app ordering system. I was finishing class via Zoom on my phone so that killed some time and then I decided to head over to the park. I got in the parking lot line at 12:00 on the dot. The line took just under 10 minutes which was not too bad. The parking attendant was very nice about it being the first day and did not make me pay for parking (thank you if you see this!!!)  He said next time I would either need to pay standard fee or upgrade my pass and I was on my way. 

 

Parking was super fast and easy. I was guided into the first section of parking and got a pretty amazing spot. As I walked towards the entrance anticipation was quickly building. Seeing Twisted Colossus, Scream, Goliath, Superman, and even the waterslides for the first time gain got me so excited and grateful to be back at magic mountain.  I walked through the covid screening which was super easy, walked through security without even stopping, and walked through the gates in a matter of minutes.

 

For the first time I had no plan. I had about 13 roller coasters I wanted to ride first. Ultimately, I decided to head to X2, even though it was stuck when I entered the park. To no surprise, it’s gate was locked and the bridge was closed. I past above Revolution next and that was also broken down. A train was stuck on the break run with riders. So I decided to head up to Tatsu, and that was broken down as well with a very long line. But like destiny had it written, I headed to WCR for my first ride back and my first ride ever on the park’s latest attraction.

 

I got in line for West Coast Racers at 12:40. The outdoor queue was filled and the line stretched decently far back. The indoor queue was not being used for idle standing like all the other rides (until it strikes 6…but more on that later)

 

As you can see, not a whole lot of distancing here. At 1:10, just as I hit the entrance for the shaded outdoor switchback, the ride breaks down. 5 minutes later it was testing. Five more minutes the ride was back to full operation.

 

This awful photo does not do this area justice. the ride has an enormous presence here and it's the center of attention at all times, even when it's not cycling it's just a piece of art. It’s worth noting however the capacity on WCR is terrible right now. Only rows 1,3,5 are open and it’s low capacity ride as is. 

 

Finally, after 90 minutes of waiting I got to ride the brand new West Coast Racers. First off, the theme was much better executed than I expected. The West Coast Customs collab is a huge success in my opinion. 

 

The coaster itself is just pure fun. That first high five element on the white side is absolutely nuts. Best element on the ride for sure. I preferred the white side a lot more on first ride but they were both excellent. It’s a family thrill coaster for sure but that’s exactly what the park needed.

 

I thought these trains were stunning in person. The red one (not pictured) was especially cool. You absolutely fly out of your seat when you hit the break run on the yellow side.

 

Hello old friend...another time  (did not make today's priority list)

 

First time seeing the new paint job and it looks great.

 

I headed to TC and it’s line was full and out the queue. 3 train ops with major stackage. Got in line at 2:25. Waited for about 10 minutes until the ride broke down. Yep, that’s 4 straight (but we’re not done yet!) I was the last person in line they allowed to stay so that was great. Bought a blue Powerade and took a seat in the shade. A much needed break on this nearly 90 degree day outdoors. After about 15ish minutes the ride was fully operational. After another 30 minutes, I was on the ride. They let you choose your row now (which I feel like is not always the case?) and of course I went to the back seat. Like most the other rides, it was every other row. That was one of the most insane rides I have ever had on TC. It was absolutely hauling and I was literally screaming over the airtime hills and first drop. 

 

Headed to Full Throttle next. 2 train ops. It looked to have a much shorter wait than when I entered so I got line at 3:25. A few trains before I get on, someone throws up off the train just as the train hit the brake run, but the employees didn’t see and I guess there was no mess (I hope?) well as luck would have it I did have that train but like TC, the employee as nice and let me choose my row, so I went for the back, far far away from the yak. 

Only waited 30 minutes for this one which was by far the fastest of the day for the major coasters. No break down either! shoutout to the ride op on here too he was very entertaining.

 

 

Next, X2. The beast was re-opened and it was my top priority. 1 Train operation. Got in line at 4:00 and the ride broke down at 4:20. It was a short line for X2 but the breakdown took a pretty long time. Even with most people leaving, I waited another 40 minutes before boarding. I opted for the front row since im just not ready for the back again yet lol. The speakers are on!!!! And it is glorious. 

Ah yes, ketchup and mustard the ride! 2!

Another angle of the yellow lift stairs from FT. I personally think it is gross, but up close it's kind of cool and on the ride it's grey since it's only on the edge of each stair. So it's really not too bad but it's gross long distance and I will die on that mountain. Almost like X is trying to peek it's head out. 

 

Also this screen is in very desperate need of an upgrade. Notice the big black L in the top right corner

One train ops woot woot!

much better.

 

It's very cool having Viper so close to the X2 line. Arrow heaven.

 

After an exhilarating ride on X2, I headed to Viper for a quick walk on ride since I had time. Opted for the back row and it was extremely forceful. Greyed out a little bit on the turn after the first loop…people hate on this beast too much it has its moments. 

Idc what coaster i'm riding, if this is the wait i'm smiling. 

Update: still smiling but shoulders have been shattered. also employees cleaning the train In the station.

 

Finally, I got in line for my beloved Tatsu at 530. 1 train operation. Neither Tatsu nor X2 alternated rows since the design allowed for it, but it was still one part per row. 

 

When 6 hit and the park “closed”, the employee enforcing the distancing (stopping people from going to station and letting people go in very small batches so there is no station wait)…yeah he just packed his bags and dipped so the entire line became a literal mosh. After SUCH a good day of covid precautions it was sad to see. First day though. 

 

Got on Tatsu at 6:25. Back row ride and it was fantastic. God I missed that pretzel loop.

 

Tatsu really taunts you as you approach the station. Always hear people contemplating backing out here.

Getting out of the park was also incredibly easy, and it took literally seconds to leave once I got in my car. 

Overall, it was a 9/10 day at the park. I had realistic expectations and it payed off. 

Other notables: Batman was closed. Lines can be deceiving. DO NOT LEAVE THE QUEUE when a ride breaks. Pretty much all the breakdowns were quick and the line shrunk a ton so all in all the wait for TC and X2 was *maybe* shorter with the breakdown...maybe. Also what is up with the new six flags coaster safety videos?? they played in a lot of the queues. so strange if you ask me.

Anyway, this is my first real trip report on here, at least in many many years, and I hope it was not too terrible. If you have any questions ask away! 

[thrillseeker4552]

Great report. It is so wonderful to see the park operating again. I believe the final count was 384 days of closure...

Given how quickly the park turned around and reopened after the Governor released new guidelines, they should be applauded. I'm sure things will only get smoother from here on out.

[zoda]

Finally went yesterday, on Saturday. I had no choice but to get a flash pass if I wanted to get on all the rides, which that alone was a 50 minute wait. The park was really crowded. Lines were long everywhere. Rides were constantly breaking down. If you came in after 12pm, and you were in the regular line, you must of have been absolutely miserable. Not only were lines moving slow, but they would alternate between the flash pass line and the regular line.

I can't believe i'm going to say this, but summer time with no capacity limit, had faster lines than covid at 15% capacity. If you plan to go on a Saturday, except summer experience. About 1-2hr wait for Fully Throttle, West Coast racers, Goliath, and Twisted Colossus. Tatsu probably 30min-1hr.  The flash pass line for Twisted Colossus and Full Throttle was about 20-30min. 

[ryder]

I was also there on Saturday, and I'll add that basically nothing had lines at all for about the first 2 hours of the park opening.  My advice is, if possible, get there early (we arrived at 10am for a 10:30 park opening, and was already greeted with a logjam of about 50 cars waiting to get in), and leave early, around 1 or 2pm.  Which also allows you to skip having to eat lunch in the park and suffer the food lines.

But yeah, if you don't have Flash Pass/Membership FOL passes after about 1pm, you're not going to get on much other than flat rides.  And even the line to get a Flash Pass/FOL at 2pm was insanely long. 

At this point, I don't see any reason to even come after 2-3pm, unless you just want to walk around, or it's a weekday in the off-season.  Especially since the rides are still pretty temperamental and go down often.

On a side note, if you did continue your membership payments during the pandemic, you can go to either the Membership desk or Guest Relations, and they can give you the new upgraded Diamond Elite VIP card, which is spiffy.  Gets you FOUR ride passes, which came in super handy (although you can still not get them for Superman, X2, WCR, or Crazanity).  We used them to still get on to TC, FT, and Goliath with no wait when they all had huge standby lines (we opted not to use the last pass, as it was getting late--we gave it away).  Also FYI, you can still use your old Diamond Elite card to get the four passes if you qualify... the new card is just for looks.  We got our four passes before we did the exchange for the new card.

[AmyUD06]

So, basically SFMM is currently like CP/KI/Hershey/SFGAdv/<insert major US park of your choice> last summer.  Why are people surprised? 

[coastercoaster5]

31 minutes ago, Mike240SX said:

So, basically SFMM is currently like CP/KI/Hershey/SFGAdv/<insert major US park of your choice> last summer.  Why are people surprised? 

I don't think anyone is surprised. In fact, I think the general consensus is this is still a very impressive start for Magic Mountain. Things could have gone significantly worse. 

[ryder]

2 hours ago, Mike240SX said:

So, basically SFMM is currently like CP/KI/Hershey/SFGAdv/<insert major US park of your choice> last summer.  Why are people surprised? 

Yes, because literally everyone in SoCal has been traveling to those parks during a pandemic.  Oh, wait--

Plus, a lot of people (include many here at this board) had serious doubts SFMM could make this work at all, especially as literally the first park in SoCal to open in over a year (even beating Disneyland).

[AmyUD06]

19 hours ago, ryder said:

Yes, because literally everyone in SoCal has been traveling to those parks during a pandemic.  Oh, wait--

Plus, a lot of people (include many here at this board) had serious doubts SFMM could make this work at all, especially as literally the first park in SoCal to open in over a year (even beating Disneyland).

Everyone in SoCal (and the rest of the country) had the same opportunity to travel to parks that weren't shutdown as anyone else.  I don't think Newsom was exiling those who left the state (but it wouldn't surprise me if he was).

Skimming back through the past few pages here didn't give me the impression that there were "serious doubts"...Six Flags is owning pandemic operations everywhere else, there's no reason to imagine it would be different there.  The only doom and gloom came from Californians, who, pardon my stereotyping, tend to have somewhat of a "we're special compared to everyone else" attitude.

EDIT:  Look, I'm not trying to be argumentative.  I just think that Californians are making a much bigger deal out of this than they should.  The companies figured out how to operate in a pandemic last summer, there's no new special magic that needed to be applied here.

 

[coastercoaster5]

I'm heading to the park tomorrow for my 10:45 reservation and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on places to sit in the park that are quiet and have wifi/cell service? I have a zoom class from 11:30-12:45 and would like to take advantage of the first hour of the park without needing to leave.

I was thinking maybe by Green Lantern potentially? The DC area has been pretty dead but I would love some suggestions!

[coasterlvr]

out of all the trip reports, videos, and chats i've had with people that have gone, the one good thing is they all think superman might actually go 100mph now.  thanks to some parts from Dreamworld.  lol

[coastercoaster5]

24 minutes ago, coasterlvr said:

out of all the trip reports, videos, and chats i've had with people that have gone, the one good thing is they all think superman might actually go 100mph now.  thanks to some parts from Dreamworld.  lol

Probably not 100, but close. It's going higher than I ever remembering it going since it went backwards.

[Canobie Coaster]

1 hour ago, coasterlvr said:

out of all the trip reports, videos, and chats i've had with people that have gone, the one good thing is they all think superman might actually go 100mph now.  thanks to some parts from Dreamworld.  lol

Hopefully non-Californians will be allowed to visit before it starts slowing down again.

[tndank]

1 minute ago, Canobie Coaster said:

Hopefully non-Californians will be allowed to visit before it starts slowing down again.

Um...no one there is checking.

 

[tanthonyam]

Did they get Crazanity up and running yet?  I heard Batrman was closed because they are giving it a paint job.

[coasterlvr]

16 minutes ago, tanthonyam said:

Did they get Crazanity up and running yet?  I heard Batrman was closed because they are giving it a paint job.

i've only seen that jet stream opened today.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

2 hours ago, tndank said:

Um...no one there is checking.

 

That's hardly a reason to violate the state, county, and the park's own rules.  Just have a little more patience.

[Canobie Coaster]

1 hour ago, tanthonyam said:

Did they get Crazanity up and running yet?  I heard Batrman was closed because they are giving it a paint job.

I wonder if CraZanity is closed due to concerns about guests keeping their masks on.  The one ride type that has routinely been difficult to keep my mask on has been these giant frisbees because of how the wind hits your face at a variety of angles.  The mask has never come close to blowing away, but it will always slide down to my chin on this type of ride unless I actively hold it up during the ride.  Wasn't there a statement in the California reopening guidelines that some rides may have to shut down if they would be hard to keep masks on for?

[Jew]

Either that or they broke it while cycling it for the Christmas event?

Also, it’s just common sense to avoid a park on a weekend if you can. It’s hardly shocking to imagine long lines when it’s a weekend AND rides are forced to be loaded half full.

[DBru]

Went yesterday (Monday). Arrived around 1pm. Parking attendant scanned our pass for parking and scanned our reservation but the time was irrelevant. Took about 20 minutes to get parked in the very back overflow lot (because most of the regular lot is still being used for vaccination distribution). After the 5-7,000 step walk to the front gate, we got in fairly easily. Love the new metal detectors that allow you to keep everything in your pockets.

Park was super crowded. 1-2 hour lines for everything. Multiple trains running on all the coasters but skipping rows and sanitizing between every few cycles. Inexplicably loading 1 row per car on Goliath and Gold Rusher instead of just skipping every other row (cutting the already-cut capacity by an extra 40%). No activity at CraZanity.

Food lines were insane. The line for the drink/snack stand by Tatsu's entrance stretched all the way past the game area. (Just an observation--I didn't wait in it.)

Saw people waiting in what must've been hour+ lines for Member Services, Flash Pass, and Guest Relations. In fact, the line at the Flash Pass center was about 50 people deep at closing... no idea what that was about.

All this to say...it was basically exactly the experience we were expecting but it's really nice having the park open again and hopefully this will drive Six Flags' revenue through the roof.

X2 is still insane and awesome.

[zoda]

On 4/5/2021 at 9:31 PM, Canobie Coaster said:

I wonder if CraZanity is closed due to concerns about guests keeping their masks on.  The one ride type that has routinely been difficult to keep my mask on has been these giant frisbees because of how the wind hits your face at a variety of angles.  The mask has never come close to blowing away, but it will always slide down to my chin on this type of ride unless I actively hold it up during the ride.  Wasn't there a statement in the California reopening guidelines that some rides may have to shut down if they would be hard to keep masks on for?

My mask slid down my nose on every single ride. However on Riddler's Revenge, my mask almost flew right off. It was hanging on by one ear. I had to hold my mask in my hand the rest of the ride otherwise it would have flown away. 

[dankeykang]

At this point, I would think that most parks are willing to provide guests with a new mask if it gets lost while on a ride.