The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[ShoubraStreet74]

Can anyone who's been to SFMM in the past few days or lives in the area tell me about the weather? My girlfriend and I are planning to make the trip from San Diego to go to SFMM tomorrow, but it looks like it's going to be 100 degrees in Valencia, which worries me. I know there's trees, mist machines, etc. but do you think it's worth it to come this weekend or will it be unbearably hot?

 

Also, how are crowds on Fridays typically?

[PeoplemoverMatt]

It's going to be roast your tail off hot this weekend here. Make sure to stay well hydrated, but conserve water because there is a drought.

[VTown661]

I live in Valencia so perhaps you and I can change houses for the weekend as I'm heading to San Diego for Comic Con and Linkin Park. If they say it will be 100 it will really be 108. Take in the 2:30-4:30 magic shows stay indoors. Ride roaring rapids, jet stream, tidal wave. DRINK WATER ride the bus from parking lot. It will be wait times of 15-45 use single rider lines to your advantage. Crowd won't be bad as day camps and such don't seem to go on Fridsys. Bottom line 20 years from now your girlfriend and you can look back and recall this hot ass day you went to SFMM and that's what is all about memories.

[Gnome]

Maybe this is a good opportunity to xeriscape half the mountain. SFMM could run a PR as a way of making park operations more sustainable especially for California when they're experiencing drought conditions.

[Someotherguyuser]

Maybe this is a good opportunity to xeriscape half the mountain. SFMM could run a PR as a way of making park operations more sustainable especially for California when they're experiencing drought conditions.

I walked under the Jet Stream flume yesterday seeing a massive leak. SFMM really cares about conservation. They'll shut most of their coasters down due to the heat than to conserve water. It's true.

[DBJ]

Some water friendlier landscaping would be good to see at the mountain. There are thousands of examples in CA of how to make that kind of landscape look quite attractive. One option they could have pursued in addition to select tree removal is to build tunnels or sections of track with a roof to proctect the ride from falling branches. The Ninja theme of the coaster pretty much dies the split second it leaves the station. So what if the ride actually passed through and among some temples and ruins? Going with the barren hillside look though does fall in line with my expecations of the park though. And if they are serious about water savings, they should remodel the bathrooms to have the water free urinals. Be great to see some basic infrastructure improvements on a continual basis.

 

Speaking of flat rides, or lack there of at SFMM, locals should check out the OC County Fair and the upcoming LA County Fair. They do have some of the KMG/Zamperla, etc. rides that none of our theme parks will ever get, well worth the visit to experience those kind of high intensity flats. Go on the unlimited ride days however. The fairs are quite overpriced on a per attraction basis, 7 to 10 dollars per ride, and often the amount of time on the ride is pretty limited.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Maybe this is a good opportunity to xeriscape half the mountain. SFMM could run a PR as a way of making park operations more sustainable especially for California when they're experiencing drought conditions.

I walked under the Jet Stream flume yesterday seeing a massive leak. SFMM really cares about conservation. They'll shut most of their coasters down due to the heat than to conserve water. It's true.

 

That leak has been there for YEARS! And really, its on the mountain and just goes into the biol at the bottom, lol. (Im sure some goes into a drain, too)

[Duff]

I don't get why everyone gives Magic Mountain such a hard time.

 

I visited SFMM on a weekday in February (I was on a business trip) and had a nice visit, partly because the crowds were so low. I can imagine that on a Saturday during the hot summer months when the park is packed, it would be less enjoyable depending on how SFMM manages large crowds. I was also surprised by the lack of flat rides, theaters, and shows. The focus of the park seemed to be purely on coasters -- so when the park is busy I would expect those lines can get awfully long because there didn't appear to be many other attractions to alleviate the coaster lines.

[HauntedIndy]

Here is a trip report from my visit on Sunday, July 20.

 

Thanks to singemfrc for posting the information about the single rider lines. Those came in handy.

 

I haven't been to Magic Mountain since 2006. Tatsu was the newest ride at the time. I live in Southern California and have been visiting Magic Mountain since the days of the Sarajevo Bobsleds (1984?) back where Apocalypse now sits. I took 3 of my kids to the park for their first visit (ages 14, 11, and 10). My 10 year old could not ride everything, since he is 52" tall.

 

We arrived at the park around 11:15 am or so, and quickly realized it might be a crowded day since we parked in front of Scream (but not yet in the other lot behind Scream). We walked to the entrance and went through the bagless security line, which was nice. By the time we got into the park it was 11:54 am. We took a look at the line to YOLOcoaster (Full Throttle) and decided to save that for later since the posted wait was 90 minutes and the line was forming beyond the white tent and heading toward the old Log Jammer station.

 

Ride 1: Drop of Doom (in line 11:58 am, waited for about 30 min). The line was inside the building and it was about half full. This line moved much faster than I thought it would—hooray for the ride ops! Everybody liked the ride experience and wanted to do it again later in the day if there was time.

 

Ride 2: Green Lantern (single rider line, waited about 15 min). The kids liked this ride. For me, I don’t need to ride it ever again. It wasn’t horrifically painful, but I just didn’t think it was that fun. We finished here at 12:57 pm.

 

Ride 3: Superman (in line 1:05 pm, waited about 40 min). Everybody liked this one. I prefer the backwards version to the original version because I can see straight down. I don’t like the arm shields on the edge seats—can’t figure out why those are there. Finished Superman at 1:47 pm.

 

We headed to Ninja next, but even though the lifts were operating the ride had not opened yet. So, we decided to head to Apocalypse. My Dad arrived at the park and joined us at Apocalypse.

 

Ride 4: Apocalypse (in line 2:03 pm, waited about 30 min. Operating 2 trains). Great ride ops here, too. The line moved quite quickly. Everybody liked this. It was a little bit bumpy for a GCI, but it was still quite fun. I don’t know if it has gotten bumpier since it opened, but I really enjoyed it. Finished Apocalypse at 2:38 pm.

 

We saw Ninja was working, so we headed back up the hill to ride Ninja.

 

Ride 5: Ninja (in line 2:46 pm, waited about 50 min. Operating 1 train—and there was a sign posted at the entrance that wait times would be longer because only 1 train was operating). The Flash Pass here slowed down the line. When the Flash Pass line was long enough, they took over an entire train. I wanted to make sure we rode this just in case it goes the way of the Big Bad Wolf in a couple of years. I enjoy Ninja, but I think my kids were bored with it. Finished Ninja 3:40 pm. The ride op were asking “Ninja riders how was your ride!!!” Silence. Then the ride op would say “Silent, like the Ninja.”

 

Gold Rusher: My Dad and 10-year old rode this while they were waiting for the rest of us to get done at Ninja. I think they had a 5 minute wait. I think my 10-year old thought it was going to be a different kind of ride.

 

We were getting hungry for a snack, so we got two slices of pizza at the food place next to Gold Rusher and cut them in half (my Dad ate before he came to the park). The person serving us was quite helpful.

 

Ride 6: Jet Stream (in line 4:04 pm, waited about 40 min). Grandpa didn’t want to get wet, so he waited nearby and then he eventually went to the single rider line at Ridder’s Revenge. The kids sort of liked this. While riding the Jet Stream you can see all of the trees that were cut down or trimmed as a result of the Ninja tree crash.

 

Ride 7: Riddler’s Revenge (single rider line 4:51 pm, waited about 15 min). My 14 year old thought this was too rough, but my 11 year old really liked it. Riddler was pretty much the same as I remembered it, and it’s still my favorite stand-up coaster. Finished Riddler at 5:08 pm.

 

While we were waiting for Riddler, Grandpa and my 10-year old went to Colossus got in line over there.

 

Ride 8: Scream (in line 5:12 pm, waited about 35 min). Both my 14 year old and 11 year old liked this. It was pretty much the same as I remembered it—nice and fun. At this time Grandpa and my 10-year old had finished riding Colossus. So, my 11-year old and I went to Batman while everyone else went to the single rider line at Drop of Doom. The line to Batman was very near the entrance, so I knew that would take at least an hour, so we joined everybody else at Drop of Doom.

 

Ride 9: Drop of Doom (single rider line 5:53 pm, waited about 15 min). We all really enjoy this ride. Grandpa was impressed as well.

 

Ride 10: YOLOcoaster (in line 6:18 pm, waited about 1 hour and 10 min). YOLOline was its own experience. The YOLOband started playing around 6:30 pm, and after they finished their set, there was a YOLOcontest to eat a churro from a fishing pole while blindfolded. The announcer told the losing team to keep the churro, because they are usually like $13 and getting free food at an amusement park is amazing. After that was the YOLOdancers. Then the YOLOband returned. Finished YOLOcoaster at 7:26 pm. Everybody liked YOLOcoaster, and I was surprised by the airtime dropping down the loop entering the brakes.

 

We got hungry again so we got 2 hot dogs at the place behind YOLOcoaster and split them in half. Grandpa left to go home, and then we went to Revolution.

 

Ride 11: Revolution (in line around 7:42 pm, waited about 10 min). Finished Revolution 7:57 pm. Not as painful as I remembered it. Kids seemed to like it.

 

Ride 12: Viper (in line around 8 pm, waited about 10 min). Finished Viper 8:15 pm and jogged to Colossus. Pretty much the same roughness as I remembered. I forgot about the pain on the shoulders from the Arrow harnesses. 14 year old didn’t like it. 11 year old was glad to have ridden it, but probably won’t ride it again.

 

Ride 13: Colossus (in line around 8:20 pm, waited about 35 min). Finished Colossus 8:57 pm and ran to Goliath. Everybody liked this, but they liked Apolcalypse better. It was pretty much the same as I remembered it. I’m looking forward to the makeover from RMC—which is hopefully what will be happening.

 

It was 9:03 pm when we got to Goliath, and the ride ops had just closed the line. We did not ride Tidal Wave, Roaring Rapids, X2, Tatsu, or Goliath (and Goldrusher). But those rides should all be there the next time we visit.

 

I was surprised that we had a pretty good time at Magic Mountain. I was warning my kids that lines take forever to move there, but that was not the case. Also, the single rider lines really helped. Park operations were better than I expected overall. I’ll probably visit again with my kids when all are tall enough to ride all the coasters. Thank you for reading all of this if you got this far.

[Tmcdllr]

Single rider lines are awesome.

[Kyle Coleman]

Every ride everywhere should have a single rider line.

[SFMMGeek27]

Currently at The park and the operations are really horrible today, but it's not their fault. X2 only had one train until about 2:00 PM and Tatsu has been down to one train all day (currently in line for that). Colossus also had only one train with the line out the entrance. The front has been taken off the other (red) train and it looked major. Ninja also only has one and has a really long line.

 

It's hot but not too bad.

[KBrylczyk]

Currently at The park and the operations are really horrible today, but it's not their fault. X2 only had one train until about 2:00 PM and Tatsu has been down to one train all day (currently in line for that). Colossus also had only one train with the line out the entrance. The front has been taken off the other (red) train and it looked major. Ninja also only has one and has a really long line.

 

That's cute.

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

[singemfrc]

We arrived at the park around 11:15 am or so, and quickly realized it might be a crowded day since we parked in front of Scream (but not yet in the other lot behind Scream). We walked to the entrance and went through the bagless security line, which was nice. By the time we got into the park it was 11:54 am. We took a look at the line to YOLOcoaster (YOLOcoaster) and decided to save that for later since the posted wait was 90 minutes and the line was forming beyond the white tent and heading toward the old Log Jammer station.

Yeah it gets this way within 20 minutes of the park opening, you have to go straight to it when the gates open. 90 is a bit much, usually its only about 60 at that time.

 

Ride 3: Superman (in line 1:05 pm, waited about 40 min). Everybody liked this one. I prefer the backwards version to the original version because I can see straight down. I don’t like the arm shields on the edge seats—can’t figure out why those are there. Finished Superman at 1:47 pm.

It's the ride envelope, which means if those shields werent there you could stick your arm out and and get it chopped off by the edge of the building. If you sit in the front row there's only 2 seats so there's no shield.

 

Finished Ninja 3:40 pm. The ride op were asking “Ninja riders how was your ride!!!” Silence. Then the ride op would say “Silent, like the Ninja.”

Thats actually pretty funny, good of that ride op to keep it light like that.

 

Gold Rusher: My Dad and 10-year old rode this while they were waiting for the rest of us to get done at Ninja. I think they had a 5 minute wait. I think my 10-year old thought it was going to be a different kind of ride.

It's pretty fun for what it is. If you ever get a chance to ride it in the dark with no lights during Fright Fest DO IT - it was the highlight of Fright Fest for me last time I was there, surprisingly awesome!

 

Ride 12: Viper (in line around 8 pm, waited about 10 min). Finished Viper 8:15 pm and jogged to Colossus. Pretty much the same roughness as I remembered. I forgot about the pain on the shoulders from the Arrow harnesses. 14 year old didn’t like it. 11 year old was glad to have ridden it, but probably won’t ride it again.

I always forget about that too. From now on I'm riding Viper in the morning before my shoulders are already sore.

 

Glad the single rider lines made your day easier!

[DNUT]

Visited Magic Mountain last week. Used the Gold Flash Pass on Sunday and the Regular Flash Pass on Monday. We had rode every ride at MM (before this trip) except SuperMan, Lex, X2 and Full T. We rode Superman 4 times, LL once and X2. When we got off X2 my wife and I were speechless. X2 is the most excellent ride ever.

 

On the Colossus closing. If they replace Colossus with something bigger than El Toro, I will be very pleased. Go big or Go home.

 

The single rider option is awesome. We had the flash pass and would wait around 10 minutes. We would go to the single rider line and wait only 5 minutes.

 

Thanks SingleRider.

 

"I'm a Single(Straight) Rider You Don't wanna F with me" Tupac

 

 

 

 

 

[Swornenemy]

So I'm planning a trip down to the park on the 5th. Since it's a Tuesday I was curious about crowds. I was also wondering about some of the restraints themselves as I am a bigger guy I wanted to forgo any walk of shame. I'm mainly wondering about Goliath, X2, Superman, Drop of Doom and Tatsu. Since I'm driving down from Northern California early in the am I am hoping to hit as many as I can before leaving to drive back, so I'm hoping for light crowds.

[JeromyL]

Not sure how big you are but superman will be tough. Goliath probably not so much

[CPSFMMCW]

Has anyone ever experienced a roll back on full throttle? How was it?

[Swornenemy]

Not sure how big you are but superman will be tough. Goliath probably not so much

 

 

Are they the newer intamin OTSR's? Because those didn't seem to be a problem for me at Busch Gardens a few months ago.

[TM3988]

Has anyone ever experienced a roll back on YOLOcoaster? How was it?

 

Good question! I wonder what it's like during a roll back on Full Throttle

[WFChris]

Currently at The park and the operations are really horrible today, but it's not their fault. X2 only had one train until about 2:00 PM and Tatsu has been down to one train all day (currently in line for that). Colossus also had only one train with the line out the entrance. The front has been taken off the other (red) train and it looked major. Ninja also only has one and has a really long line.

 

That's cute.

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

 

Why do you even read this thread? You're like that guy that has to point out everything crappy in life and ruin everybody else's day.

 

On another note, did anybody go to the Colossus event last night? I would have paid $36 just for the buttons they were handing out!

[laqueefa]

operations are

at SFMM

[singemfrc]

Not sure how big you are but superman will be tough. Goliath probably not so much

 

 

Are they the newer intamin OTSR's? Because those didn't seem to be a problem for me at Busch Gardens a few months ago.

I believe they are considered the newer ones. I've never seen anyone with a problem on it. Goliath should be no problem either. On X2 you're fine as long as the seat isnt broken, some of them dont go up and only fit small people, but even then you can just pick a different seat usually. If you're also really tall you may have trouble fitting into Gold Rusher's train, that's the only one I can think of. Now that you mention it I think SFMM's rides are pretty accommodating to larger guests. I cant really remember ever seeing someone get the walk of shame. Maybe Batman depending on how big you are, I've seen it on Flight Deck which has the same restraints.

[SFMMGeek27]

Not sure how big you are but superman will be tough. Goliath probably not so much

 

 

Are they the newer intamin OTSR's? Because those didn't seem to be a problem for me at Busch Gardens a few months ago.

I believe they are considered the newer ones. I've never seen anyone with a problem on it. Goliath should be no problem either. On X2 you're fine as long as the seat isnt broken, some of them dont go up and only fit small people, but even then you can just pick a different seat usually. If you're also really tall you may have trouble fitting into Gold Rusher's train, that's the only one I can think of. Now that you mention it I think SFMM's rides are pretty accommodating to larger guests. I cant really remember ever seeing someone get the walk of shame. Maybe Batman depending on how big you are, I've seen it on Flight Deck which has the same restraints.

 

 

Since we currently have SFOT's Batman trains, we have two "big boy seats" on each train! Our trains do not have those so it's quite nice having them, even though I've been stuck with them for the last two times I've been on.

 

Tatsu may be a little difficult to fit into, depending on body shape. I've seen some not-very-large people be walk-of-shamed from Tatsu just because of their shape and the restraint's shape. But that's the most common one where people don't fit. Sometimes the restraint will even lock but the computer will not register it as locked. It's weird.

[Jew]

Why do you even read this thread? You're like that guy that has to point out everything crappy in life and ruin everybody else's day.

 

To be fair, saying a park isn't responsible for only running one train on multiple major rides definitely deserves a comment on a message board discussing theme parks. That's the whole point of a discussion. The youtube video was probably a bit excessive, but he was making a fair point.

 

Let's keep the discussion civil. Everyone is entitled to their opinions on SFMM. I think only Disney can match the polarizing nature of comments when it comes to theme parks.