The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[SFMMMan17]

^I guess so. The music wasn't working on my train as far as I could tell, wasn't working on my row at least.

[Reuschini]

^^^Interesting you say that about Apocalypse and Ninja, I feel that as far as thrills are concerned, they are almost on the same page. I would argue that I actually enjoy Ninja in the back seat more than any seat on Apocalypse. I know it's a woody but I felt they could have done much more with the opportunity they had in the corner of the park. Ninja at night actually has some nice surprises when you ride, and seems a bit more intense while you're flying through the trees.

[SFMMMan17]

^I did sit in the front, although now that I think about it the back would seem better. I really enjoyed Apocalypse, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I can see why you're coming from though, it is listed under "Moderate Thrills" in the park map.

[PCW_Nut]

This is a first for me. A helicopter used to help build a ride.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNydIhTf4Z4

 

Pictures taken by six flags magic mountain.

 

http://www.sixflags.com/magicMountain/rides/LexLuthorDropOfDoomConstruction.aspx

 

Your video is private. Cannot view when you embed it like that.

[spinning man]

I didn't record it, silly me for not stating it. But it appears the owner has changed it to private.

[BrandonR]

I visited the park yesterday (my first visit ever to SFMM actually) and had a really good time. Everything was basically a walk-on except for X2 since they were only running one train (did it first thing and probably waited about 20 minutes). I enjoyed it, especially the first drop (we got the back row). The rest of the ride was fun, but would probably be better if they fixed the rotational swaying/rocking the seats seem to have. Speakers on the trains weren't working either, but I'm not sure how much that actually impacts the ride experience.

 

Tatsu was a lot of fun as well. Pretzel loop was surprisingly intense and the view on the first drop doesn't get much better.

 

Revolution seems like it'd be fun if it wasn't crippled by its OTSRs (those weren't original, right?). Makes me glad they haven't done the same to SFoT's Shockwave.

 

Apocalypse was nice too and seemed to have the "right" amount of roughness for a wooden coaster - enough rattling that you know it's a woodie but not so much that it detracts from the ride or gives you a headache.

 

Viper was exactly what I expected from an Arrow multilooper (weird transitions galore). Schwarzkopf managed to figure out how to properly transition into/out of turns, why couldn't Arrow? Viper was also one of the few rides that seemed to be operating more than 1 train, which was odd since 90% of the seats were empty on every train anyway.

 

Ninja seemed to be like other Arrow suspendeds in that it has this weird front/back pumping, almost as if the train is going along and something is trying to stop it but the train breaks through it and lurches forward. Very odd that it's not more fluid. Other than that I liked it, although I always think its anticlimactic to end with a lift.

 

I'm fairly certain Green Lantern made me sterile. Good lord, are all the seats as painful as the ones facing backward when you leave the station? I felt like every drop just meant crushing my testicles more and more. We were stuck on the brake run for a while as a mechanic came out and rotated the seats while the bar came down. Not sure what that was all about.

 

Rattler's Revenge seems like it wouldn't be so bad if they gave your head more space in the restraints, but since they're so small your head has no choice but to bounce between the two sides.

 

Scream was enjoyable. Really enjoyed the theme.

 

Superman was closed (obviously) but the station for Lex Luther seems to be coming along nicely.

 

Other observations... Holy crap this park wore me out. I had heard it was hilly but this sank in all too clear going up the Samurai Summit (or whatever the path is called to get to Ninja). Overall a good experience, but I would hate to visit the park on a crowded day after seeing the insane number of switchbacks some of the rides had.

[Sir Clinksalot]

^ You are correct, the OTSR's on Revolution were not originally there. Ride was awesome without them.

 

Went to the park for about an hour or so today. As was said above, the park was DEAD. Maybe 100-150 cars in the parking lot. Probably closer to 100. Wasn't really there to ride, but walked on Ninja, Apocalypse, Green Lantern (didn't even flip once) and Goliath.

 

I did notice a sign in Green Lantern reminding the ride op's to balance the ride, etc. Sucks. Must have stopped on the mid-course break for at least 20 seconds as well.

[LaMapa]

Did you see if X2 was back to 2 trains?

[X2coasterfreak]

^^ The fact that Green Lantern is run that way irks me to no end. Seriously if they put a freaking ZacSpin in, run it the way the ride is designed to. What is the park afraid of if they run it to spin? Would it be too extreme? They have plenty of crazy rides with insane elements, Goliath's helix, Tatsu's pretzel loop, etc. The ride is built to be "xtreme coaster", so run it like one.

[Manic Monte]

^ Seriously, the way this ride is run makes it perhaps the worst steel coaster I've ever been on. I will never ride it again.

[Jew]

This is a first for me. A helicopter used to help build a ride.

 

VIDEO TAKEN OFF FOR BEING UNVIEWABLE.

 

Pictures taken by six flags magic mountain.

 

http://www.sixflags.com/magicMountain/rides/LexLuthorDropOfDoomConstruction.aspx

 

I believe a helicopter was used to build the crane that built S:TE.

[MrSum1_55]

^^^Also, not to mention that GL is listed as a max thrill, while S:EFK and LL:DOD are listed as moderate thrills. Seriously? The world's tallest drop tower and one of the tallest coasters in the world are deemed "moderate", while a zacSPIN coaster that doesn't SPIN is a max thrill? So, would you call Green Lantern just, well, a zac coaster?

 

Also, does the park really need that long of a delay on the mcbr? I thought the capacity was low enough without that. Only at SFMM would a park reduce capacity in order to not live up to its name as the Xtreme park.

 

Fortunately, I do not think we will be seeing any more of these at SF parks. A simple Sky Loop with a transfer track for 2 train operation would probably have been a better investment for a park like SFMM.

[Mechanic]

A question for those who have experienced Insane at Grona Lund and Green Lantern at SFMM: Did the greater number of spins received on Insane result in issues with the cars not returning to the station in the proper orientation?

[Wes]

Oh hey SFMM is gross.

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0426-magic-mountain-20120426,0,3802221.story

 

 

Environmental groups are accusing Six Flags Magic Mountain of polluting the Santa Clara River with huge volumes of contaminated water and allowing trash with its logos to spill into the Southern California waterway and toward the ocean.

 

The allegations were made in a letter sent to the Valencia theme park last week by a coalition of environmental groups, whose investigators say they found alarming levels of pollutants in water sloshing out of the facility's storm water outfalls into the nearby waterway during rainstorms.

 

Santa Monica Baykeeper, Wishtoyo Foundation and Friends of the Santa Clara River contend the popular Southern California theme park has for years been fouling one of the region's largest river systems, putting wildlife and swimmers at risk through "frequent and high volume discharges [that] carry bacteria, metals, toxins, sediments and other pollutants into the Santa Clara River, its Estuary, and the Pacific Ocean."

 

The groups intend to sue Magic Mountain for violating water pollution laws in 60 days if it does not significantly reduce pollution getting into the waterway, which flows 45 miles downstream from the park before emptying into the sea between Ventura and Oxnard, according to the letter.

 

In a statement, Six Flags Magic Mountain said it had not had a chance to review the letter but "is concerned about the environment and feels a responsibility to improve the storm water process" as it strives to meet stringent requirements of the law.

 

"In the last six years," the statement said, "the Park has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to not only lower the amount of storm water discharge but to improve the quality of the storm water discharged."

 

The theme park came under scrutiny last year after a tip from a park employee who expressed concern that Magic Mountain's practice of washing down its midways, bathrooms and restaurants at the end of the day was washing pollutants into the river, the environmental groups said. Community members also complained about pollution and trash in the waterway.

 

The groups took water samples of runoff flowing from the amusement park's two storm water channels and a pipe leading from the facility. Three rounds of tests revealed excessive levels of copper, zinc, aluminum, iron, lead, and titanium and also showed the presence of mercury, oil and grease, bacteria and other effluent, the groups said. They say the park's storm water monitoring reports show similar pollution dating back to at least 2007.

 

"Our investigation revealed that their discharges were polluting the Santa Clara River much more severely than we could have imagined," said Jason Weiner, staff attorney for the Wishtoyo Foundation's Ventura Coastkeeper Program.

 

On visits to the site the groups alleged that they also discovered and photographed a large amount of Six Flags-labeled trash around its discharge channels and downstream, including plastic drink bottles, wristbands and midway prizes such as rubber sports balls.

 

"The sheer quantity of trash, there's no other way to put it: It was just disgusting," Weiner said.

 

Though it is unclear where in the 260-acre theme park the pollution could be coming from, the letter ticked off a list of possibilities — runoff from the park's irrigation system, its parking lots or its backstage equipment areas; the water used to wash its midway, or even overflow from its lakes, ponds or the Hurricane Harbor waterpark.

 

And some of the particulate metals detected in the water, the groups contend, could be coming from the park's roller coasters and thrill rides as they grind along their tracks.

 

The coalition's letter, a precursor to a lawsuit under the federal Clean Water Act, seeks civil penalties of $37,500 for each day of each violation. But the preferred solution, the groups said, would be for the park to do something about the runoff before it leaves the site.

 

Under a permit from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, Magic Mountain is allowed to discharge millions of gallons of storm water on rainy days provided it does not exceed pollution limits.

 

But the park has a history of violations.

 

It has paid more than $1 million in fines over the last decade for releasing polluted runoff, water board records show. The park has reported discharging water with excessive levels of effluent, copper, lead, chlorine, bacteria and oil and grease into the river more than 400 times since 1995.

[Jew]

^No wonder they can't afford to run multiple trains on rides. All that money is going to fines for pollution. Go SFMM!

[Mechanic]

I blame the pollution on all the DC villains.

[Tmcdllr]

Oh hey SFMM is gross.

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0426-magic-mountain-20120426,0,3802221.story

 

 

Though it is unclear where in the 260-acre theme park the pollution could be coming from, the letter ticked off a list of possibilities — runoff from the park's irrigation system, its parking lots or its backstage equipment areas; the water used to wash its midway, or even overflow from its lakes, ponds or the Hurricane Harbor waterpark.

 

And some of the particulate metals detected in the water, the groups contend, could be coming from the park's roller coasters and thrill rides as they grind along their tracks.

 

 

 

Seriously?

 

Since when do nylon and urethane wheels grind along a coaster track?

 

And the trash.... do these people also account for park goers or the general public just tossing trash wherever they want instead of putting it into trash cans?

 

And if SFMM has been consistently violating this and has paid a MILLION or so in fines why hasn't the park done something about it to stop throwing that money away- that just seems really dumb. Yeah I understand it's complicated and all but when you are sited some 400 times for doing something wrong don't you think you need to change something?

[cfc]

Although there's little doubt in my mind that SFMM has helped pollute the Santa Clarita river, the claim about "particulate metals" from the coasters seems laughable--especially considering that they live in pollution-happy southern California.

Edited April 26, 2012 by cfc

[susie zueck]

The SFMM management team has been going down hill lately. I don't feel like the park is keeping itself up. The bathrooms are disgusting and they have horrible ride operations and now they get rid of Log Jammer and the Magic of the Mountain museum.

[Chrisrad]

From an LA Times comment:

 

I wont be going to Magic Mountain again until i hear that something has been done to address these environmentaal concerns. I've also posted this article to my Facebook and Twitter accounts to raise awareness.

 

 

 

I'm not a tree-hugger by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm all for recycling and saving energy. But seriously, with a 260 acre theme park, dozens of rides rides requiring lubricants (that might wash away in the rain), the constant painting of rides/buildings, hundreds (thousands on busy days?) of cars coming and going when they are open, hundreds to thousands of guests when they are open, and the simple fact that SFMM 'exists', what do these environmentalists expect?

 

This, my friends, is why SO many businesses are leaving CA. It's one thing to care about the environment, but it's another to sue/regulate/tax businesses out of existence.

 

[Wes]

^ Other parks seem to exist in this state without having the same kind of issues.

[Chrisrad]

I'm sure there are environmentalists after other theme parks. I just wonder if it's true that they've really spent $1 million. I also wonder if the claims are true that it's entirely SFMM's fault.

[PAL]

This, my friends, is why SO many businesses are leaving CA. It's one thing to care about the environment, but it's another to sue/regulate/tax businesses out of existence.

 

You've heard how some people make a good living off serial ADA lawsuit shakedown threats? Some environmental activist groups have used that strategy for years. (One is known derisively by its opponents in government circles and the private sector as "Steal the Bay"). It nets them cash and publicity. Let's see what the local authorities have to say before jumping to any conclusions.

[Chrisrad]

^ Yeah, I'm not disagreeing or agreeing with anyone. But seriously, of all of my concerns regarding SFMM (future rides, ride ops, seedy crowds, unruly teens, maintenance, etc.), I've never once thought about their pollution.

[Jew]

But seriously, with a 260 acre theme park, dozens of rides rides requiring lubricants (that might wash away in the rain), the constant painting of rides/buildings, hundreds (thousands on busy days?) of cars coming and going when they are open, hundreds to thousands of guests when they are open, and the simple fact that SFMM 'exists', what do these environmentalists expect?

 

They probably expect the levels of pollutants to fall within the legal levels that already take into account factors such as the ones you listed. Like the other theme parks in So Cal.