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The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread


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As for capacity, it holds 16, which is still more than most S&S towers. The eight seats on each side are all in a row, so they should be able to be checked fairly quickly. Also, I believe each side of the tower is operated independently, which should speed up operations. I do not know for sure how long the ride cycle is, but I could see the ride handling around 600 people per hour, which is probably comparable to or greater than most of the park's flat rides. I also don't think this will be as popular as a coaster, so I doubt the capacity will be an issue. It still has better capacity than Green Lantern, Deja Vu, or most of the park's coasters operated with one train.

 

I just can't see this getting over 500pph. A 2 minute cycle (including load/unload time) give you 240 per side and a 3 minute cycle only 160 per side. For comparison a 3 minute cycle on KI's gyro drop would give you about 800pph. This just concerns me at SFMM. Throw in the fact you are now (likely) going to have to shut down one of your "new" coasters you just advertised and I just think they would have been better off getting a normal gyro drop that seats 40-50 people. Obviously this would likely cost more and you probably wouldn't be able to get it at 400 feet, but capacity would be much much better.

 

Now don't get me wrong, it's good they are getting a new non coaster ride.

 

 

 

Except this is now a complete tower ride that will hold 4 ride options instead of two. All 400ft or more. I'll take it!

 

My only concern would be reliability issues. You know there will be a few...if we're lucky.

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If the actual Superman trains hold 14 people each, and I'm assuming that those cycles are at least a few minutes, will this drop tower portion of the ride really be that much worse? Say they run both sides of the drop tower, and only one side of the coaster - the capacities will be pretty damn close; if they run both sides of each ride, then yeah, the coaster will have a higher capacity. For the GP, it might have some long lines, but for the knowledgeable enthusiasts, I'm sure everyone will be able to dodge the lines and know when to ride it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course these are SFMM ride ops, so... Just like Green Lantern, I'll wait until the hype dies off.

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But...But...its intamin.

 

Need we say more?!? Six Flags will take great capacity rides and make them not run as well anyways. So low capacity means it will just be super low capacity. But god damn... 400 feet of pure... Intamin... FREE FALL!!!

 

Oh sweet baby Jesus!

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As for capacity, it holds 16, which is still more than most S&S towers.

But not most S&S Towers at major Six Flags parks.

 

True. I should have specified a single S&S tower. According to the S&S website, a 12 seat tower is 360 pph and according to wikipedia, Australia's Giant Drop is 550 pph, so I guess this will probably end up being slightly less capacity than a two-tower S&S, and most Six Flags parks have two or three tower S&S rides (though I've never seen one operated with more than two towers at once). At least SFMM has plenty of coasters to distract people from this ride, although I'm sure it will be very popular its first summer. I'm just glad that SFMM is getting a non-coaster ride worth more than a fifteen minute wait for once, and that we're finally getting a drop tower (an amazing looking one at that).

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I'm slightly surprised that they didn't find some way to add a third ride carriage to the side opposite the Superman tracks.

 

My guess is 2 reasons:

 

1) The tower from top to bottom is not a perfect square. I don't know if they did this for visuals to make the tower look taller when you're looking up at it, or to save money on the structure, but the bottom of the tower has a vastly larger footprint than the top, you can see what I mean in the picture below. Providing a drop tower on the back would mean some pretty hefty additions to the back of the tower, extending supports much further out than what they're planning to do on the sides (in the LA Times image you can see the new supports which will support the drop towers track).

 

2) The back of the tower has an odd angle where the top of the tower meets the bottom (where the arrow is in the picture below). Again, providing track to run along the back would have probably made some complications and increased the price of the installation. Although as we see, something like this is possible, and it would have helped tremendously with capacity.

 

All in all, this looks to be a pretty cheap project considering all they'll have to do is add track to the sides, with some modified supports off the Superman tower, 2 drop cars and a drop mechanism and there you go. When you don't have to pay for a tower to provide the height for the drop, I'd assume this investment is not more than $5 Million.

 

Edited by BlueFireCoaster
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Does someone have the article they can post?

 

They took the article down, it was posted prematurely (giggity).

 

You can still find the article in Google Cache(just without the pictures)

Six Flags unveils new attractions for every park in 2012

 

Six Flags unveils new attractions for every park in 2012

By Brady MacDonald Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

 

September 1, 2011, 3:30 a.m.

 

Six Flags unveiled its 2012 lineup of new roller coasters, thrill rides, water slides and live shows at the amusement park chain's 12 North American locations.

 

New Six Flags President and Chief Executive Jim Reid-Anderson said a full slate of new additions would become an annual event, promising to add a new attraction at "every Six Flags park every year."

 

Six Flags' 2012 attractions include two new roller coasters, two relocated coasters, three tower rides, three water slide complexes and at least one show.

 

Among the highlights:

 

Six Flags Great America (outside Chicago) – Billed as the only wing coaster in the United States, X-Flight by Bolliger & Mabillard will feature barrel rolls and high-speed drops with seats that straddle the 3,000-foot-long track.

 

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Northern California) – The Superman: Ultimate Flight launch coaster will rocket riders at 60 miles per hour through a towering 150-foot-high inversion and a pair of vertical twists.

 

Six Flags Magic Mountain (Southern California) – The Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom drop tower will be attached to both sides of the park's 415-foot-tall Superman: Escape from Krypton coaster tower. The new thrill ride will rank as the world’s tallest (400 feet) and fastest (85 mph) drop tower.

 

Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) and Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio) – Both parks will install Sky Screamer swing towers for 2012. Six Flags built Sky Screamers of varying heights at Six Flags St. Louis (236 feet) and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (150 feet) in 2011. No word yet on the ride heights at Great Adventure and Fiesta Texas.

 

Six Flags America (outside Washington D.C.) – The 100-foot-tall Apocalypse stand-up coaster will travel at 55 mph through a loop and a corkscrew along a 2,900-foot-long track. The 1990 Bolliger & Mabillard coaster, formerly known as Iron Wolf, will be relocated from Six Flags Great America near Chicago.

 

Six Flags New England (Massachusetts) – The 192-foot-tall Goliath inverted boomerang coaster will travel forward and backward at 65 mph through a cobra roll and a loop along a 1,200-foot-long track. The 2001 Vekoma coaster, formerly known as Deja Vu, will be relocated from Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles.

 

Six Flags St. Louis (Missouri) and Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) – Both parks will add a Bonzai Pipeline looping water slide to their respective Hurricane Harbor water parks.

 

Great Escape (New York) – The Nordic-themed Alpine Freefalls water slide complex will be added to the Great Escape's Splashwater Kingdom water park.

 

Six Flags Over Georgia (Atlanta) – A 45th anniversary tribute show will join the park's entertainment lineup.

 

Six Flags Over Texas (Dallas/Ft. Worth), Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio), Six Flags Mexico (Mexico City) and La Ronde (Montreal) – Each of the parks will add a still-undisclosed ride, attraction or show in 2012.

 

Great job getting that article.

 

This ride is going to be so awesome. The capacity is going to suck but it would have been hard to fit more seats on the sides of the Superman tower. It has been my dream for years that a drop tower would be put on the sides of the Superman tower and it looks like its coming true. I can't believe it!

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AMAZING! I cant wait Magic Mountain 2012 gonna get to ride the best drop tower ever! And not only is Magic Mountain getting a new ride SFDK is finnaly getting a new Big Roller Coaster!!!!!!!!!! 2012 is going to be an amazing year graduating high school, going to college, and the new rides at SFMM and SFDK cant wait!!!!!

 

 

 

Just found this link!

http://parkthoughts.com/2011/08/31/six-flags-reveals-2012-additions/

Edited by Silvano Perez
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I think the reason they did not do this on the back of the tower as well is simply because they did not want to. They were able to do it on the sides and if they really wanted to, could have engineered a way to do it on the back side, the shape of the tower really is not relevant. If the park wants it bad enough it will be done and its a good bet to say Intamin could have figured out a way.

 

I think it will be really interesting to see how they do they station and que for this.

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You know, this really hasn't been brought up yet but that tower sways pretty good. It'll be interesting to see yourself move side to side a bit going up the tower when Superman is being launched at the same time, even if its minimal . Other than that, a 400 foot drop ride is an awesome addition that I would have never expected to see installed onto the side of Superman. The drop itself will not be for the faint of heart thats for sure.

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Any chance this could be an up-charge ride to help with potential capacity issues?

Giant Drop at Dreamworld tends to suffer capacity issues...I kind of wonder if it would be possible to make the drop car more akin to this: http://www.zamperla.com/en/product/103/sky-drop.html?category_id=8

Obviously the cantilevered seats would need to be pretty strong, but its a means of getting around only being able to use the sides of the tower.

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Six Flags Magic Mountain Announces

LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom

 

 

The World’s Tallest Vertical Drop Ride!

 

Another one for the history books, Six Flags Magic Mountain, in partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC Entertainment, announced today the world’s tallest vertical drop ride, LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom, will make its debut for the 2012 season. Named after one of DC Comics’ most dangerously intelligent super-villains and Superman’s greatest enemy,

LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom will be an engineering phenomenon, attached to both sides of the iconic SUPERMAN: Escape from Krypton tower. Soaring at a sky-scraping 400 feet,

LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom is slated for a spring 2012 launch.

 

Fearless riders will be seated inside floorless gondolas on two vertical tracks flanking each side of the SUPERMAN: Escape from Krypton tower. Passengers on the gondolas will be pulled to the top of the tower, experience a brief pause before being released and dropped at speeds of up to 85 miles-per-hour. After five seconds of freefall, the gondola will be stopped by a sophisticated magnetic braking system just a few feet from the ground.

 

“Six Flags is known world-wide as the industry leader in delivering world-class thrills, and

Six Flags Magic Mountain is proud to be at the head of the pack, offering guests the biggest and the best,” said Bonnie Rabjohn, Six Flags Magic Mountain Park President. “We are excited to add another world record to our collection of record-breaking, first-on-the-planet attractions.”

 

Changing Magic Mountain’s legendary skyline, LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom will offer riders breathtaking panoramic views as they are lifted to the top of the tallest vertical drop ride ever built. Sitting eight abreast, riders will plummet 40 stories at an extreme speed before coming to a stop, all while the SUPERMAN: Escape from Krypton cars are blasted to the top of the same structure.

 

“Six Flags Magic Mountain continues to deliver powerful thrills to our guests year after year,” said Jim Reid-Anderson, Chairman, President and CEO of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation.

“LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom is a tremendous addition and brings a new dimension of excitement to the park’s already remarkable collection of thrill rides.”

 

LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom is being manufactured exclusively for Six Flags Magic Mountain by Intamin AG of Switzerland.

 

Source:

http://news.sixflags.com/2012news/2011/08/26/lexluthordropofdoom/

 

DropOfDoom01_300dpi_10x12.thumb.jpg.5efa7ce82e49579a6f61d065a5845519.jpg

DropOfDoom02_300dpi_8x10.thumb.jpg.2d46ce29d386e8ab140c5a9705a14a76.jpg

Edited by robbalvey
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