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The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread


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First post from a longtime lurker here, and thanks for the great videos! I saw a ton of TPR logos today, so nicely done

 

I went today as well and got five rides in. I could have ridden more as the line was so short (15 minute waits), but I only stayed for a few hours. Kudos to the ops who did a *fantastic* job overall; it's very clear that they're working hard to sync the trains. Only the first out of my five rides failed to duel (the second train couldn't catch up on the lift hill), and the other four rides were perfectly synced for one of the two laps. With three trains, dueling should be fine, but it is going to require a lot of the ops as the GP isn't the smartest bunch. (One couple had an armful of infants and a stroller with them all the way through the line up to the station, at which point they got stuck and delayed everyone while the staff tried to figure out how to remove the stroller.)

 

Overall, it's a fun ride; intense and forceful. I personally prefer Full Throttle still because of the way the elements are sequenced on that ride, for me, is just perfect. TC is fairly disorienting in that it hammers you with one element after the next at such a pace that it's hard to fully appreciate them; I found that I had to try and pay attention to each element individually or I'd miss it. I can't help but wish that the overall size of the ride was increased just a tad — not to make it higher or faster, but to spread out and sustain the elements just a little more.

 

My first ride was out of sync, and it was in the front. Frankly, I was underwhelmed: the first drop didn't feel especially high when dangling over it, and the moments of air weren't sustained for long. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't as blown away as I'd hoped. I jumped back in line and this time got the backseat with a dueling ride and it made all the difference. The first drop in the back of the train is something else entirely. Although I personally find El Toro to be overrated, the enormity of that first drop is part of what makes it stand out. TC's first drop feels comparatively tiny, but the force and experience is (I find) far better than El Toro's.

 

I was never quite convinced that dueling would make a difference, but it really ramps up the fun as you feel close to the other riders for the first part, and then the interaction in the second half is excellent. Really well done throughout. As far as the elements go, I found the bunny hops at the start to be pointless as well, but I get why they're there — a sort of ironic "twisted" effect that anticipates what's to come. They're pointless, but they hardly detract.

 

The lift hill felt like being on Colossus again — which was strange! The left side can be very slow with the timing mechanism adjusting whether there's train next to you or not, but when the trains meet on the lift, it's fun to scope out who you're racing against. People seemed cordial, and no shots were fired.

 

As mentioned, the first drop is intense — one of the best first drops I've experienced (and I've traveled). In the front, it doesn't feel very high, but you feel the angle more than anything. In the back, it feels like you're being thrown out, but not in a violent way (like, say, Skyrush). The bunny hill at the bottom of the drop did very little for me, and the subsequent bunny hills (the one after the second blue drop, and the double-up type parts) were similar — okay, but they felt like filler when compared to the rest. The elevation into the hill that holds the hi-five is excellent, though. It feels steep as you climb it, and obviously, as you crest it, that's the ride's big airtime moment. It's way shorter than the airtime on El Toro, but it's fun—especially as it yanks you to the side. The Hi-Five was much better than expected. Weird on the blue side, and "holy crap" weird on the green side. The green side is very disorienting and unnatural feeling, but it's not unpleasant or jarring in any way — it's just a sudden, unusual movement. When it duels, this part is excellent as you really experience the close proximity of the other riders. It's the strangest of elements, but it works so much better than I thought it would.

 

The two drops out of the hi-five, I'm sad to say, didn't do that much for me. The head-choppers on the blue side didn't feel that close, and the drop was more about regaining speed than getting air. The green side is just weird and shuffly more than anything. It bounces you a little, but I wouldn't really call that air either — more like awkward lateral movement. The top gun stall is fantastic from both tracks. The blue certainly throws you up, but I found myself too distracted by the train overhead to enjoy the air. The hang time on the green side is exactly what it looks like in the video — sustained far more than gravity should allow. The subsequent flip provides another great moment of interaction, but it's not quite as fun as the top-gun, and then the double-ups were just sort of filler for me. They felt like the bunny hops throughout and reminded me of hitting bumps on the freeway. The outward bank hill feels more intense, but that's mainly because it's made to make you feel like you're going to slam into the supports.

 

Even though, to me, TC really has just five notable moments of intense airtime (the main drop in the back, the hill before the high-five, and the blue track under the top-gun stall), it didn't need any more than that. Rides like Skyrush, I find, are kind of the equivalent of a Transformers movie — all flashy explosions and very little thought. TC is a kind of an ADHD coaster in that respect as well — one intense move slammed up against the other — but it maintains the right degree of fun through the dueling and the interaction. There's so much going on all at once, I think you have to ride it several times to really experience it completely.

 

Overall, it's a great ride and it'll be a huge hit with fans of extreme, non-stop, blistering action. Although it's not my personal favorite at the park, it's definitely in my top 3 there. Again, kudos to the exceptional crew who did a fantastic job throughout the day. They've got their work cut out for them with TC, so fingers crossed they'll be able to get a good system down and keep it going strong.

Edited by Arthur_Seaton
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^Give them a break, it opened on time, early for their standards, and it looks absolutely incredible.

 

I know right, I get the excitement and especially out west were they sorely lack airtime, and we all know Six Flags will flub everything up, but man just opened and already the flak is flying! Give it a month or two before the rage

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Just rode Twisted Colossus in the back seat - AMAZING.

 

As stated above, they're only running the purple train right now, the lady at the front told me a wheel got a hole in it so they have to polish it off - they're opening the ride for GradNite tonight until 3 am.

 

she told me the crew was handpicked from major rides (X2, Tatsu, Full Throttle) and are the only ones working the ride (she said she's been here all day and will be until 3 am) They're going SUPER quick though for only having one train, but each cycle with loading/ride/unloading is about 6 minutes.

 

Also, the blue chain is normal speed and the green train and extremely slow (probably adding a good minute to the ride time) I'm assuming this is because the ride is only running one train and it's programmed to wait for blue.

 

UPDATE: Orange is back on, hopefully we see blue too after the wheel is fixed and 3-train operations?

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Arrived 10:00 and was 8th in line at 10:20. TC opened at 11:05; boarded second train in back row. Ride was awesome, but there were squeaks everywhere and it seemed like the ride needed a good greasing. Later on, wait times went from ~35 minutes to just 10 minutes during two-train operation. After they took off the orange and blue trains, they ran a disappointingly slow one-train wonder with 50-minute lines. I saw a couple of guys fuming because they were only running one.

 

So that was the entirety of six flags operations in one day: great in the beginning, but, well, you get the idea....

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To be fair, it's very early on in its life. I think the biggest area sfmm drops the ball with is communication. They should do what Disney and universal do and be up front it's a "preview and subject to close/make changes at any time." They could also have offered a exit clearance to come back another time since the people coming today are coming just for the ride. But that's why sfmm is sfmm.

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Can't believe they're down to 1 train ops ALREADY! Are you EFFIN KIDDING ME SFMM!?! The day after media day. That must be some kind of record!

ZOMG, a coaster that's only been open a few days is having issues that are being worked on? Jeez, that never happens at any other park.

To be fair, it's very early on in its life. I think the biggest area sfmm drops the ball with is communication. They should do what Disney and universal do and be up front it's a "preview and subject to close/make changes at any time." They could also have offered a exit clearance to come back another time since the people coming today are coming just for the ride. But that's why sfmm is sfmm.
Definitely. Small things like that make a huge difference in a guest's perceived experience.
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People...it's a PREVIEW which SFMM was kind enough to invite you to. When something "soft opens" or "previews" the expectation should not be of "normal operations" but more like a "test and adjust". In exchange for being somewhat of a Guiney Pig you get the pleasure of being one of the first to ride this awesome brand new attraction. So yah, they might be only running one train or the line might be moving slower but you get bragging rights!

 

I was able to ride it 9 times in a row media day Wednesday morning without getting up. I was completely blown away. I had a real hard time walking after getting out and was a tad nauseous but it was completely worth it. Green Side Stall. Its everything.

 

Incidentally we didn't have much of a choice but to ride continually as after a few laps...and to keep the trains timed properly for racing... they were only letting 4 people out of the train at a time.

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I was able to ride it 9 times in a row media day Wednesday morning without getting up. I was completely blown away. I had a real hard time walking after getting out and was a tad nauseous but it was completely worth it. Green Side Stall. Its everything.

 

I rode it 10 times Tuesday, and then I watched journalists ride it from the parking lot Wednesday before I rode other coasters. I saw lots of empty seats on the media rides. I was like, hey I am willing to ride!

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Can't believe they're down to 1 train ops ALREADY! Are you EFFIN KIDDING ME SFMM!?! The day after media day. That must be some kind of record!

Are you EFFIN KIDDING ME for bashing SFMM for operations on a ride that has not even opened to the public yet. You need a reality check.

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Someone already said it a few days ago, but I too often have a love/hate relationship with this Thread...that said, I'll be there tomorrow with my son and hoping for the best and am eagerly anticipating my first rides on this coaster we've been waiting for...hope to meet any of you out there, I'll sport some TPR wear to always draw attention to myself...

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When did Gold Passholders not constitute the public?

 

Again, as I said a few posts ago, this was NOT advertised as a soft open. That's where they dropped the ball. Waited 30 minutes just for them to open the queue and not a single spiel was made. Security were the ones walking the line instead of rides management/team members. No signage indicting "this is a soft open. The ride will be running at limited capacity and subject to close at any time." No spiels or apologies for the limited capacity.

 

Is it expected a brand new ride will have issues? Absolutely. But the reason SFMM will always have the reputation it does is because they chose to think that it's no big deal. Show the guests you care about them and they will be understanding. Act like you don't give a crap about them and they will be like me: Spend the $6/month for a gold pass (or even less if they just have a regular pass) but not a dime more inside the park. They have a WORLD CLASS ride. Like top 10 world wide good. If their operation could match the ride...

Edited by Jew
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Got a bunch of rides in today, and absolutely loved it! I'm not sure if it's my favorite of the RMC's, but it's in my overall top 5 somewhere. The ops were working very hard to crank the trains out. They now have it down to where if the guests cooperate, they can reliably duel. The only problem is that there's absolutely no margin for error. If anyone has to do the walk of shame, it's too late. If more than 3 or 4 bars have to be re-checked, it's probably too late. I imagine that when the ADA entrance is being used, that will become an issue as well. The time it takes for the trains to park and for the restraints to release isn't helping them much either. Again, the loaders were hauling a** pretty much all day. I never personally saw a failure to duel that wasn't related to a guest. Hopefully some of these obstacles can be reduced over the next few weeks so that common delays are manageable, and a guest's simple mistake doesn't throw things off.

 

This is one of the few rides where I can honestly say there isn't a bad seat on. I rode all over the train, due to the strict "no preferred seating" policy. There wasn't a single ride I felt wasn't thrilling, especially when racing the other train. That said, I the airtime is substantially better in the very front and very back cars. The most notable moments are the beginning of the first turnaround, the top-gun airtime hill (blue), double-up if you're in the front (blue), and the two main drops (blue or green) in the back row. It's wonderful that the park now has a drop that's shaped so well to balance out the (in my opinion) incredibly unexciting ramp-o-doom on Goliath.

 

The stall on the green side is now my favorite inversion on any coaster. It's done perfectly so that you don't feel like you're hanging excessively in the restraints, but you're not exactly planted in your seat either. It feels like a perfect zero-g moment that goes on strangely long. As others have said, simultaneously having another train rushing underneath you close enough to make eye contact and wave with the riders takes it over the top.

 

One of my favorite moments was riding behind some random teens. As we climbed the first lift, they were pointing at goliath and saying things like "wow, this isn't even half the height of it". Watching the opinions change over the course of just the blue side was extremely entertaining. They were caught off-guard by so many of the elements, and by the time the ride ended, they were cheering just as loud as the other enthusiasts on the train as it returned to the station.

 

I think everyone is going to react well to the ride, and I just hope they can find a way to buy the ops (and guests) a bit more time. Hopefully having a test seat will help, and maybe they'll get the lap bars cooperating more.

 

All in all, a great ride, and West Coast Bash can't come soon enough!

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