The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[coasterking2981]

^Even so, Full Throttle doesn't exactly sound like the name I'd give a Funtime Slingshot. But, it is Six Flags after all...

[coasterfreak101]

Or Full Throttle could be the name of the roller coaster taking the Log Jammer spot and this ride could have a different name...heck, they'll probably just call it ThrillShot again since it's similar in concept and most people won't even know the difference.

[Guy T. Koepp]

^Ooooo! How about Slingshot! The Ride.

[GayCoasterGuy]

Being a six flags park the new ride could be "Superman," "Viper" or "Election Debate: The Ride."

 

I mean.. we have 2 "Batman" coasters here at Great America... Great ADventure had 2 Batmans, too... Anything goes with them. The paying public is too (insert kind word: uninformed) to notice much of anything.

 

When Batman: The Ride first came out, that ridiculous (at the time) name was made fun of. What do I know...

 

I still think Magic Mountain should go with Screemie Meemie - that is a great name

[DefinitiveDetour]

Would have been awesome if SFMM got the funtime slingshot that hits 492ft.

[Nicholas Loya]

Would have been awesome if SFMM got the funtime slingshot that hits 492ft.

Sounds like something magic mountain would do, funtime does make a slingshot that big so why not

[Manic Monte]

This sling shot ride sounds temporary, like it's going to travel around the chain collecting extra cash. Perhaps that's why it's the movable carnival version.

 

I have heard rumors that it will get the Full Throttle name, and the new coaster has a new name.

[DBru]

But...all three of Charlie's Angels can't fit on a slingshot...

[Nicholas Loya]

But...all three of Charlie's Angels can't fit on a slingshot...

Wait, what?

[Wes]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305357/

[Nicholas Loya]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305357/

OOOOOOOH haha wow how did i not get that

[Brendan²]

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster!

 

Made a trip down to SFMM with my girlfriend Rebeccah this week. We drove straight there from the Bay Area on Monday, spent the night, then went all day yesterday. Took some notes and a few pictures while we were there. I hadn't been there in several years -- I want to say around the time Tatsu opened -- and Rebeccah had never been there. I was excited to see some new stuff, and excited to revisit some old favorites!

 

We arrived on Monday at about 2 pm and both picked up a season pass. $75 really does seem like a great deal, especially since Marine World (or whatever it's called now) is so close by. Even though it's pretty late in the year (many of the coupons in the book are already expired!), I still feel it's worth it.

 

First stop after the Orient Express was Superman at about 2:45. The line was about 20 people deep outside the building. We waited for a few minutes, but after not seeing even one launch, we bounced.

 

Ninja was up next. I really like this coaster, even if it's not exactly the most thrilling or exciting. I just love flying through the trees and up and down the hill. I've never seen Ninja so crowded! Got in line at about 10 to 3, and waited 30 minutes for the front row! I was used to no longer than 10 minute waits from my previous visits. The way they handled Flash Pass users didn't help either. Unlike the more popular rides, the Flash Passers don't "mix in" with us plebes at the station building, they go directly on the ride from the exit gate. It really adds to the loading time this way. I timed one at 3 minutes! I would have hated to be on the other train during that. The ride was running okay, not particularly smooth but not painful. Even felt some nice G's during one of the helixes!

I should make a Karate Kid joke here

 

After that, it was down the hill to Revolution. 3 minute wait somewhere in the middle of the train. They really need new trains. You can't see anything from the OSTR supports, you're in constant pain, and you're too focused on keeping yourself stabilized from all the rattling and jerking around to enjoy the ride. And the trim brakes were on full force. A shame.

 

Next up was Goliath. This is, hands down, my favorite roller coaster. Unfortunately, the GP has realized how good it is, too.* Wait time was 50 minutes for the front row starting at 10 to 4. I appreciated the sprinklers in the queue. From the line Lex Luthor looked like it was running pretty regularly. Superman, thank God, was not. My eardrums were being assaulted only every 4 minutes on average. Mostly 5 minute intervals, with the occasional 2. Only the Batman side was running (same deal on Tuesday). I saw a couple maintenance guys walking down the tower while the rides were running. I assumed it was for Superman, but now I think that it was for Lex Luthor.

 

Anyway, Goliath was awesome, as usual. I had Rebeccah sit on the left for the surprise after the brake run And she loved it!

 

We would have just stayed at Goliath but the line was just too darn long. So we walked over to Scream. 10 minute wait at 5 pm. I want to like this coaster, but it just has too many things going against it: It's buried way too deep in that neglected corner of the park, there's no landscaping and hardly any theming, it needs a fresh coat of paint, it's showing it's age and getting too bumpy, and it's boring. I know it's been said countless times, but B&M coasters from that era just don't have any balls. And the floorless thing is gimmicky. I just hope Medusa has been looked after better.

 

From a wimpy B&M to a B&M with some guts: Batman. Hardly a line at all, 10 minute wait at 5:15. Even still, people were sneaking in through the door near the queue for row 8. The PA was way too loud. I told one of the attendants about it, but he seemed unconcerned. The ride was great as usual, very forceful, and much smoother than Scream.

 

For lunchdinnersnack, we got the half fries half onion rings at Johnny Rockets. The fries were OK, the onion rings were edible. I also picked up one of the souvenir soda bottles. I had to think about it a bit, because $15 is a lot. I'm kind of glad that I did get it: It's large enough and shareable enough that neither of us have to pay full price for the rest of the year. And it makes a nice water bottle for when you actually need to be hydrated. And the cool blue plastic and rad graphics make adult-onset diabetes downright fun!

 

Hit up one of the few flat rides: The Scrambler. I love these type of rides, and the ride op said he had it running as fast as he could. Don't know how much control he has, but it was going pretty fast! While waiting for our turn, I noticed that one of the sides of Lex Luthor hadn't dropped. Didn't think anything of it until about a minute later, when I saw that it was still up there! I whipped out my phone and timed it: 3'09! They must have been there for a good four or five minutes! I hope they gave the riders a warning before they finally dropped...

 

Next up was another favorite, Gold Rusher. I know it's a kid's ride, I know it's slow, I know it's bumpy and jerky, but I still love it. Anything that works with the terrain is OK by me. What's not OK? Flash Pass. On Gold Rusher. For my row. Wait time should have been zero, ended up being 5 minutes. It wasn't really an inconvenience, it was more... Insulting.

 

Headed over to Apocalypse next. I hadn't been since it was built, so it was completely new to me. The theming was pretty well-done, but the videos were a bit too serious. I mean, the guy is clearly standing in front of a roller coaster giving a speech about guns and breaking out and whatnot. It was just... incongruous. There wasn't much of a line (15 minutes at 6:40) so we just walked past the videos, so maybe it would make more sense if I saw the whole thing. The lighting was cool though!

Very red!

The ride itself was awesome! I have no idea why more people weren't lining up for it. I guess that corner of the park is a bit light on other things to do (good riddance Deja Vu!), and losing the Terminator license probably didn't help, but it's clearly underrated by the GP.

 

Speaking of Deja Vu...

I also saw a Flashback fridge magnet

 

We went back over the hill to Viper for one last ride before checking in to the hotel. We should have skipped it. Only one train was running, it was way more painful than I remembered, and the wait just wasn't worth it. Which is saying something, because it was only 20 minutes at 7:20. And the ads were annoying:

I'd scream like that too if I had to ride Viper all day long

I was a little amused that the company's name was Schwarzkopf. But no matter how much Viper feels like Zonga (good riddance!), I think Advil would be a much more suitable sponsor!

 

I'll ramble on about day 2 in a bit (sorry if I'm writing too much). While I'm doing that, can anyone explain why this exists? Do hotel guests frequently complain about stale remotes?

Sanitized for your protection!

 

*One thing that might account for this is the "Be sure to check out..." announcements that the ride ops have to make after unloading. Goliath was by far the most mentioned. I really wanted someone to recommend the Orient Express or the carousel, but I guess they have to take it seriously.

[dylanreich]

^I always ask them to tell people to get on Scrambler or some other unpopular flat... 3 out of 4 times they do it.

[LaMapa]

^^ Nice TR! Can't wait for day 2!

 

One time when I was getting off X2, they Recommended Bugs Bunny World.

[Guy T. Koepp]

They should recommend rides that no longer exist.

 

Guy "If you enjoyed your ride on Viper, you should try out Sarajevo Bobsleds." Koepp

[DBru]

I don't really understand the point of the "ride recommendation" spiels.

 

-"Have a nice day, be sure to check out Tatsu!" Yes, because no one noticed that giant orange thing hovering over the park.

[Nicholas Loya]

Did anyone here take the survey that had to do with full throttle a while back? If you did, what did they ask on it?

I read that full throttle is the name for the sling shot and that the ride where LJ used to name ends with force, he couldn't remember the first part, and that the six flags facebook page asked what the name for their new 2013 coaster should be and what color it should be, the top names were Super Nova and Cataclysm and the top color blue i read all this here

[Brendan²]

While checking in at the Best Western just across highway 5, I asked about shuttle service to the park. They said that the city only provides one from Thursday to Sunday, and that there's no public transportation options. Bummer The hotel was decent. Some online reviews said that traffic noise was a problem, but we didn't really notice it. To be fair, though, after driving a few hundred miles, a day at the park, and some adult beverages courtesy of the local Albertsons (open until 11!), I wouldn't have noticed marching band practice in the parking lot.

 

So on Tuesday we woke up bright and early at 11 am, paid the nice man at the gate his pound of flesh, and got a parking spot right in front of the third tram stop. Another busy day, it seems. First stop was Tatsu, got in line at about 12:30. We skipped it on Monday because the line was just too long and we were too tired. Today, the line was just as long -- all the way through the switchbacks -- but we were in a much better state to wait around doing nothing.

Tatsu means "bored" in Japanese

And so we did nothing. We watched the trains, we tried to figure out where the people next to us in line were from, we watched crappy music videos, and we watched ads. Lots of ads. Lots and lots and lots of ads. One crappy music video, five crappy ads. Repeat. And repeat. (I started keeping track of all the different companies we saw ads for throughout the day, the list is about 30 long. We saw most of them in line for Tatsu.) Finally made it on the ride in an hour and 10 minutes.

 

I had never been on Tatsu before, but I had been on Stealth at (Paramount's) Great America. That ride had some severe issues, most notably ridiculous loading times, zero shade, and an underwhelming ride experience. B&M or SF obviously anticipated the loading time problem by building two loading tracks, but they were only using one. Shade was ample. The ride experience, though, was similarly underwhelming. The only part I really liked was the pretzel loop; the rest felt a bit pedestrian. Maybe I trust safety harnesses too much.

 

Roaring Rapids wasn't open so we made the short hike over to Superman to try our luck again. Got into line at about 1:45, starting at about the Gold Rusher lift hill. The line moved slowly but steadily, even though only the left side was running. The AC inside wasn't running, but it wasn't too stinky or hot. Made it to a "front row" seat in about 50 minutes. Since they turned the seats around, the line for the front row was actually the shortest, which was nice! The ride itself was solid, the car was regularly going very high up, close the the emergency brake things at the top of the tower. Not sure whether I like sitting backwards or forwards more.

 

Next up was Riddler's Revenge. 40 minute line at 3 pm. Got on the back row, which turned out to be a mistake. In fact, choosing to ride it at all was probably a mistake. Painful. Possibly worse than Viper. Not worth a 10 minute wait, let alone 40. The view from the queue was cool, though.

 

Seeking something that wouldn't try to kill us, we headed over to Lex Luthor. I was a little apprehensive after seeing one of the cars stuck at the top for four or five minutes, but, like I said, I trust the rides' safety devices. Not knowing if or when you're going to drop for that long though? That freaks me out. Anyway, I prepared myself and we got into line (read: Rebeccah dragged me in by the ear) at 4 pm. The line was right at the door to the building. At first, I thought the theming was really neat. The posters were cool, the schematics were cool, the soundtrack was varied enough not to get too repetitive, I liked thinking of why the locations on the map are where they are.

I've heard that somewhere before!

Someone needs a diaper change!

But there wasn't anything else to it. You're stuck in a dimly-lit copy of a boring office lobby with a broken elevator for a made-up company led by a sociopathic evil billionaire. For an hour. With at least a hundred other people. And you can't sit anywhere but the floor. Which is sticky because you don't make it to a trash can until you're 40 minutes in. And then the ride breaks and the line doesn't move for 15 minutes and you sit down anyway because your legs hurt from standing still on a hard floor and you just don't care anymore clothes can be washed can't they?*

 

Then they say it's been fixed and everyone cheers and you make it outside and oh my god it's so warm and so bright I cant believe how cold it must have been inside and you hug and you kiss because you made it and its almost your turn and you strap yourself in and wave to the people on the ground and keep waving man i must be grinning like an idiot and oh my god this really is high up this is going to be awesome and what was that voice saying i must have missed part of it i wonder if i can see my car nope lol too late falling falling i love this feeling this is going on for so long holy crap still falling brakes so smooth back on the ground safe i know im grinning like an idiot now how awesome was that i wish we could go twice in a row man i am shaking what did you think i loved it too ok get my bag walk out the gate what should we do next Then we saw the single rider line. All three of them.

 

Checked out Goliath, but the line was all the way up to the lockers (!!!). Went for Colossus instead. 20 minute wait for the front row from 6:05. Only the left track was running, but at least they had two trains running. One had a full wrap on it for The Great Escape, the other was plain black.

I want to escape from all the damn ads!

We got the black train. Not uncomfortable, still fun, but man do you go slowly through the big turns. And that brake run seems completely unnecessary. A 5 to 10 minute wait ride, for sure. 20 was pushing it.

 

Headed all the way back to Apocalypse to compare the woodies directly. Night and day. Rode twice at 6:45, basically walked on both times. Such and awesome, awesome ride. I hope it doesn't get neglected despite the seemingly low ridership. BTW, one solo rider was having trouble getting the bar to come up but the attendants didn't notice so we helped instead.

 

Took a nice little walk up the back path of the hill. Parts of the park really are quite nice. Serene even. Noticed that Roaring Rapids was still closed, which probably added to the serenity. Took another spin on Ninja; 7 minute wait at 7:05. Much more reasonable. "Ear-shattering PA syndrome" was noted here, too. Methods of transmission are as of yet uncertain, however in both documented cases the host body was a roller coaster of the "suspended" or "inverted" type. Train #3 was sitting in the yards in awful shape. I have a soft spot for Ninja, I hope they're not just waiting for it to shake itself to parts and then scrapping it.

Train 2 ain't dead yet though!

 

BTW, the floor of Ninja's station building looks like it used to have a big circular thingamabob in it, like a turntable for a water ride or chairlift. Any info?

 

Took the Orient Express down the hill. It puts the fun in funicular!

FUNICULATING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

 

We had to ride the Road Runner Express. I swear, some guy held us at gunpoint and made us do it! We weren't credit whoring! We didn't have a choice! He was crazy! 3 minute wait at 7:30. On an unrelated note, some little kids get extra cute when they're all tuckered out! Also went on the Buccaneer; 3 minute wait at 7:35. A nice little bit of air in the back row! The cycle was too short, though. Not as good as the pirate ship at Santa Cruz.

 

And, finally, Goliath for our last ride of the night. 59 minute wait for the front row at 7:48. Saw Lex Luthor get stuck again while waiting. It was the Batman side, just like the other time. Much shorter though, no more than 30 seconds after the other car dropped. They did an empty test run pretty quickly afterwards, so it seems they're getting a handle on the problem (or at least the reset procedure). Goliath in the dark was awesome. A great end to a great day. Not perfect -- it was more crowded than I had expected, several rides were running well below capacity, Flash Pass has some kinks to be worked out, the game selection in the arcades is really lacking -- but nothing that will really ruin your day. Overall the big surprise for me was Apocalypse. Not only how good it was, but how empty it was. Hopefully whatever they're replacing Deja Vu (good riddance!) with will help get more people to ride it, which hopefully will convince the park's management not to let it go the way of Ninja.

 

*At least there weren't any ads you couldn't escape from.

[Jew]

BTW, the floor of Ninja's station building looks like it used to have a big circular thingamabob in it, like a turntable for a water ride or chairlift. Any info?

 

There used to be a cable car that ran up the other side of the hill called the dragon that used Ninja's station. The lower station is that empty building by Jet Stream.

[Brendan²]

BTW, the floor of Ninja's station building looks like it used to have a big circular thingamabob in it, like a turntable for a water ride or chairlift. Any info?

 

There used to be a cable car that ran up the other side of the hill called the dragon that used Ninja's station. The lower station is that empty building by Jet Stream.

 

Ah, that makes sense! I noticed the other building, too, but I didn't make the connection.

[LaMapa]

Apocalypse usually has a 30-40 minute line between noon and 4PM, but any time other than that it can be a walk on. Also, why didn't you go on X2?

 

I also went on Tuesday and I had a little bit better luck with lines than you did. First, went to Lex and waited an hour for it to open and then got on at 11:30. Then went to Green Lantern and got on in 15 minutes. 10 for Batman. Then had lunch at Teen Titans Pizza. Went to Goliath and waited 15 minutes from the bottom of the steps. Used Lex Luthor's single rider line and got on in 5 minutes. Went to Scream and walked on. Then wanted to ride Colossus, but it was broken. Used Riddler single rider line, got on in 5 min. Then went up to Superman and waited about 40 minutes from right at the entrance around 2. Headed to get Dole Whips and got another single rider ride on Lex in about 10 minutes. Waited 10 minutes for Colossus. Headed up to X2 around 4:20 and waited 40 minutes (the park survey people are telling people to go to X2 around 4PM, spoiling our secret.). Went to Tatsu and waited 35 minutes. The line was moving really fast! Then went to Apocalypse and walked on at 6:30.

 

Oh yeah, and a refurbed Red Colossus train has shown up on the storage track at Colossus! It looks really nice! Maybe they are switching tracks soon.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

. Also, why didn't you go on X2?

I wondered that too. X2 is the best ride there, IMO. I've never waited shorter than 1.5 hours for it, but it's worth the wait to me.

 

I just hope Medusa has been looked after better.

YES. Medusa is still going as good as she always has.

 

I hope they gave the riders a warning before they finally dropped...

Not knowing if or when you're going to drop for that long though? That freaks me out.

OMG I completely agree, that's what makes drop rides freaky for me. With a coaster, you can see where you're going and when you're going there. With a drop ride, you're up there knowing what's going to happen but not knowing when. Being stranded up there for several minutes knowing that any moment they could drop you? *shivers*

[Jew]

Maybe he's not a sadist like you guys apparently are.

[jynx242]

Thanks for posting your trip report - it definitely made me smile!

[Brendan²]

I don't know, I've just never felt like X2 (or X) would be worth the wait. It's just not a priority for me. Maybe I'll finally get to it on my next trip.

 

Speaking of the next trip, when would be a good time to go again? The park is open year round, right? Sometime in the late fall or winter?