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The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread


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Honestly don't see Viper going anywhere soon. If anything, they'll probably just add new trains to it and market it as "The New Viper". With Knott's supposedly building a new major coaster next year, and with Disneyland nearing the completion of Star Wars land, I don't doubt that SF is exploring the possibility of building a new 20+ million dollar coaster as the park will have to invest quite a bit in the coming years to remain relevant. So here's my prediction:

2018: Renovated Viper and a new Zamperla Giant Discovery.

2019: New 20+ million dollar coaster.

 

Think about it: 20+ million for #20.

 

Also, I did not mind Viper at all. I thought it was pretty strong for an Arrow. Little to no headbanging, not too rough

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Massively successful JL's? I've read ridership has fallen off big time at the parks where they have been installed, on Sunday JL at the mountain had a 15 minute line....'18 sky tower, revamp

 

There have been anecdotes at other parks of JL's falling off too. What were 1 -2 hour waits are now 15-20 minutes, sometimes less. But to most they are a success and SF thinks so. I was never a fan of them to start, as I was skeptical of them, as well as the 4D Free fly's long term staying power. Neither IMO is going to be viewed as a solid ride 20+ years later like the B&M Batman invert clones.

 

The JL rides don't need to perform as well as multi million dollar coasters to be considered a major success for Six Flags. The fact that they have been replicated across the chain for a fraction of the cost of a multi million dollar coaster IS the success.

 

I will say that I bet Six Flags will be keeping a close eye on how this does at a hard core thrill park like SFMM. That is the one possible wrinkle in their strategy. The SFMM teen crowd isn't going to show up for Super Loops and Sky Screamers long term. Eventually they will need to put a major thrill ride in that park. At least on the scale of a Yolo or TC. Moderately priced coasters that LOOK deceptively expensive.

 

Vekoma, S&S, Mack and others have recently announced a bunch of those.

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Think about it: 20+ million for #20.

 

Also, I did not mind Viper at all. I thought it was pretty strong for an Arrow. Little to no headbanging, not too rough

For many, including myself, Viper is a bit of a headbanger and is easily the least most popular coaster at the mountain (besides the kiddie coasters). Hence why Viper is almost always a walk-on when other coasters consistently have a solid queue. In terms of its fate at the park, SF will probably just repaint it, order new trains, add a new lighting package, re-theme the queue, and add new landscaping to the immediate area and call it "The New Viper" or "Viper 2". This way, the park can market it as a "new thrilling coaster", while only spending $1-$2 million on the renovation. And I'm sure that the GP would eat it up just like they did with "The New Revolution".

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Hey folks, planning a trip for end of August. Havent been to the park since the YOLOcoaster was brand new (and I didnt get to ride it because the line closed before the park did).

 

Looking at the hours for the end of August...

 

10:30am to 6pm

 

Even on Fridays.

 

WTF

 

Has that always been the case? I used to go to the park 1-2 times a year and I can never remember leaving before dark, never mind at 6 freaking pm.

 

For comparison, Great Adventure is open until 10pm for the entire month of August, as is New England, which is a small park. Universal looks to close at 7pm, but opens early at 8am.

 

I would guess the park is closing early for some late night private event going on in the park that night. Or it has to do with being on the tail end of summer and during those Friday school days the park is probably going to be relatively dead. I agree that is strange though, I like getting some night rides and having to leave at 6pm is pretty lame!

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Hey folks, planning a trip for end of August. Havent been to the park since the YOLOcoaster was brand new (and I didnt get to ride it because the line closed before the park did).

 

Looking at the hours for the end of August...

 

10:30am to 6pm

 

Even on Fridays.

 

WTF

 

Has that always been the case? I used to go to the park 1-2 times a year and I can never remember leaving before dark, never mind at 6 freaking pm.

 

For comparison, Great Adventure is open until 10pm for the entire month of August, as is New England, which is a small park. Universal looks to close at 7pm, but opens early at 8am.

 

I would guess the park is closing early for some late night private event going on in the park that night. Or it has to do with being on the tail end of summer and during those Friday school days the park is probably going to be relatively dead. I agree that is strange though, I like getting some night rides and having to leave at 6pm is pretty lame!

 

Do you know if there is a way to check if the park is hosting an event?

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Its not unusual, theyre not closing early for an event, its just that school is back in and they dont expect to be as busy. Look at every Friday for about 6 weeks afer, they close at 6pm every Friday until Fright Fest starts up. It's just a time of year where Fridays arent as busy, so they close earlier. Count your blessings that the park won't be as busy.

If you want night rides, you're gonna have to go on a Saturday and deal with the crowds. As a general rule of thumb the park just isn't usually open at night unless they're going to be busy. The busier they are, the later they stay open.

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Its not unusual, theyre not closing early for an event, its just that school is back in and they dont expect to be as busy. Look at every Friday for about 6 weeks afer, they close at 6pm every Friday until Fright Fest starts up. It's just a time of year where Fridays arent as busy, so they close earlier. Count your blessings that the park won't be as busy.

If you want night rides, you're gonna have to go on a Saturday and deal with the crowds. As a general rule of thumb the park just isn't usually open at night unless they're going to be busy. The busier they are, the later they stay open.

 

My primary goal is to ride everything. And I mean everything, not the "coaster fanatics top 3 everything." Ok, not everything, not the kids rides. but yes many of the flat rides, including the swings and teacups.

 

So im concerned that 8 hours isnt enough time.

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Its not unusual, theyre not closing early for an event, its just that school is back in and they dont expect to be as busy. Look at every Friday for about 6 weeks afer, they close at 6pm every Friday until Fright Fest starts up. It's just a time of year where Fridays arent as busy, so they close earlier. Count your blessings that the park won't be as busy.

If you want night rides, you're gonna have to go on a Saturday and deal with the crowds. As a general rule of thumb the park just isn't usually open at night unless they're going to be busy. The busier they are, the later they stay open.

 

My primary goal is to ride everything. And I mean everything, not the "coaster fanatics top 3 everything." Ok, not everything, not the kids rides. but yes many of the flat rides, including the swings and teacups.

 

So im concerned that 8 hours isnt enough time.

 

Magic Mountain has a whopping total of 4 flat rides (plus the carousel), and they're never crowded. You won't have any issue getting on those.

 

In my experience, the park usually isn't crowded on days when they close at 6:00. Like others have said, school will be in session by this point, so the park should be a ghost town during the day. On uncrowded days, I've been able to cover every coaster in the park (excluding the kiddie coasters), plus a few re-rides, in about 4 hours. So if you arrive when the park opens, you should be able to cover everything (and even have a few re-rides) before the park closes.

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Its not unusual, theyre not closing early for an event, its just that school is back in and they dont expect to be as busy. Look at every Friday for about 6 weeks afer, they close at 6pm every Friday until Fright Fest starts up. It's just a time of year where Fridays arent as busy, so they close earlier. Count your blessings that the park won't be as busy.

If you want night rides, you're gonna have to go on a Saturday and deal with the crowds. As a general rule of thumb the park just isn't usually open at night unless they're going to be busy. The busier they are, the later they stay open.

 

My primary goal is to ride everything. And I mean everything, not the "coaster fanatics top 3 everything." Ok, not everything, not the kids rides. but yes many of the flat rides, including the swings and teacups.

 

So im concerned that 8 hours isnt enough time.

 

Magic Mountain has a whopping total of 4 flat rides (plus the carousel), and they're never crowded. You won't have any issue getting on those.

 

In my experience, the park usually isn't crowded on days when they close at 6:00. Like others have said, school will be in session by this point, so the park should be a ghost town during the day. On uncrowded days, I've been able to cover every coaster in the park (excluding the kiddie coasters), plus a few re-rides, in about 4 hours. So if you arrive when the park opens, you should be able to cover everything (and even have a few re-rides) before the park closes.

Yeah I agree I don't think it will be an issue. Should be extremely light crowds and walk-ons for almost everything. And if not, that's what a Flash Pass is for.
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The JL rides don't need to perform as well as multi million dollar coasters to be considered a major success for Six Flags. The fact that they have been replicated across the chain for a fraction of the cost of a multi million dollar coaster IS the success.

 

 

JL's cost more than 4D's by 3-4M and as much as a moderately priced coaster. They do need to perfrom as much as coaster when they coast as much or more. That may be the problem SF is noticing, the drop off in JL's lines might make then rethink the ROI on them.

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I was able to go to Magic Mountain yesterday in order to ride the new Justice League, and I can't say I went into it with an open mind. I've been very skeptical of these rides from the start, especially with the disappointment that is Voyage to the Iron Reef at Knotts, and was expecting a hardly themed, screen heavy, short ride. I was wonderfully surprised after I went straight to the back of the park and was able to be near alone in the preshow areas, which while some parts were laughable, like Cyborg shooting the Lexbot, were wonderfully detailed. While I do think the ride vehicles could use a little more designs on them, they were very comfortable and the blasters were easy to use, and not tiring like the ones on Midway Mania at DCA. The blue fog "antidote" had me worried at first at the quality of the theming, but I was wrong. The animatronics were all smooth and the special effects were well timed, even if they were having trouble with the fire later in the day. In the digital sets, the motion was well synced up to the screens and there was little nausea, which I found to be a problem on Iron Reef. The only on-ride complaint that I have was that the Harley Quinn at the end seemed very out of place and added as an afterthought. Other than that, I found the ride to be great and hopefully it will hold up with time. The metropolis area was okay, a little too much concrete and would have really benefited from one more ride. The beer garden area was very weak, hot empty concrete with an near unused bar. Overall, this has been a great addition to the park that I really did not expect. It is easily one of my new favorites in the park.

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JL's cost more than 4D's by 3-4M and as much as a moderately priced coaster. They do need to perfrom as much as coaster when they coast as much or more. That may be the problem SF is noticing, the drop off in JL's lines might make then rethink the ROI on them.

 

If I were SF I'd be more concerned about the guest drop off in general throughout their parks. I think that may be a factor in the shifting going on in the CEO department. Perhaps it's time to get a little more creative than a one or two ride "one size fits all", buying in bulk like you're shopping at Costco formula, that just isn't going to work long term. You've got to know your markets, and be prepared to adapt when what you're doing begins to stale.

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JL's cost more than 4D's by 3-4M and as much as a moderately priced coaster. They do need to perfrom as much as coaster when they coast as much or more. That may be the problem SF is noticing, the drop off in JL's lines might make then rethink the ROI on them.

 

If I were SF I'd be more concerned about the guest drop off in general throughout their parks. I think that may be a factor in the shifting going on in the CEO department. Perhaps it's time to get a little more creative than a one or two ride "one size fits all", buying in bulk like you're shopping at Costco formula, that just isn't going to work long term. You've got to know your markets, and be prepared to adapt when what you're doing begins to stale.

 

The fact is Duffy hasn't been around long enough to be blamed for down attendance if it's actually happening. I do think SF is possibly about to report a below forecast Q2 earnings and Duffy may be the preemptive sacrifice. If attendance is down this may be the 1st crack being shown in the SF plan. They reported 60% of attendance last year were season passes, one would assume those people are still coming and even so SF has already got some money off them with passes. The down attendance may be in 1 day people. SF did add a bunch more bonus BFF days and that may have been to boost lagging attendance.

 

I think attendance across all parks SF, CF, etc... may be down. I have been to a lot of big parks this year and the crowds have been very light, even for weekdays. I have friends at Carowinds, KD, BGW this week and they have been messaging about the abundance of walk on rides or minimal wait times. 2017 the parks took a year off with lack of new big attractions and many people might have taken a year off too.

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You know, I didn't think Viper was that bad. Not the best coaster there, but still quite fun. I hear the Ninja conversion in Georgia was quite successful. Maybe whatever they did there could improve Viper so that more can enjoy it?

The Ninja was transformed into Blue Hawk and is a vast improvement. New trains were installed along with re-theming. No more head-banging on the restraints! I don't know if SFMM would try this on Viper but it is certainly doable.

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You know, I didn't think Viper was that bad. Not the best coaster there, but still quite fun. I hear the Ninja conversion in Georgia was quite successful. Maybe whatever they did there could improve Viper so that more can enjoy it?

 

The problem is Ninja desperately needed it, it's been a while since I've been on Viper, but even from what I've seen and read it's not riding near as bad as Ninja was at it's peak of suckiness.

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Viper, front seat is still a decent ride IMO especially at night. I'd take that over any row, any time of the day on Scream.

 

I couldn't agree with you more, on both points. Scream was a one-and-done for me last week. I loved Viper in the 90s and I still love it. Compared to the 4 other Arrow mega-loopers I have ridden (Vortex, Shockwave, GASM and Steel Phantom) Viper was rather 'easy' to ride. I still try to like Vortex every couple years; I always walk away from it considering it a good try on my part.

 

Different strokes for different folks -> a good thing!

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Viper, front seat is still a decent ride IMO especially at night. I'd take that over any row, any time of the day on Scream.

 

I agree with this, except it's second to last row for me. I've found it quite fun on my last couple trips, especially at night, while Scream has gotten worse in my opinion.

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Viper, front seat is still a decent ride IMO especially at night. I'd take that over any row, any time of the day on Scream.

 

This is a GREAT comparative to Viper that I've never even thought of. Probably because they're on opposite sides of the park, it kinda fogs the perspective on the park as a whole. Great point! Thank you for saying this.

 

Scream, for me on any day of of any visit, unless it is just walk on, even if it is walk on, I will skip. It's probably because it's just another B&M which being in a park with Tatsu, Batman, & Riddlers, really doesn't procure me to take a ride. I won't even think twice, it's a "whatever" ride, and as I've even heard GP saying when seeing it, "It's just like Riddlers!" And Riddlers is a better coaster. After riding TC, there's really nothing notable about Scream that I find to be "gotta get on it!" If I have friends who've never ridden it fine, let's go...but the queue for Scream is consistently about as empty as for Viper.

 

Now Viper, is a whole 'nother monster. It's not like any of the other coasters in the park. I actually dig Viper and want to get on it when I walk by it. It's first half before the brake run is super intense, and the ride as a whole has some redeeming, old school coaster, qualities. Compared to other BIG Arrows that people mention worldwide, with modifications made throughout it's life (unbeknownst to me, and many thanks to Jew here on TPR bringing them up at one point in this thread) it's gotta be one of the best designed 7 loopers ever made. I've said it before, but it's iconic. It's underrated until people ride it.

 

I think a *BETTER* move for Magic Mountain is to get rid of Scream and put something in it's place that would actually be something I'd have an urge to get on after going on TC. And think about it...the palette of Scream is flat... the park could put ANYTHING in it's place. And while it's not in view of visiting guests driving up Magic Mountain Parkway as is X2 or Viper, you'd see it from the parking lot, and think..."We GOTTA go on that!"

 

Before Magic Mountain ever rids of Viper, I would vote for Scream to be replaced with a bigger, better coaster. Even if it *has* to be another, UGH!, B&M. And also as far as I can remember, Viper is not very "problematic" at all. It's always open, it has very few mechanical issues, it's still a very solid coaster in the line up at Magic Mountain.

 

I'm kind of interested if people would rather have Viper or Scream removed.

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Strictly comparing the two coasters, I would much rather have Scream removed for all the reasons you said. But let's be honest, the land that Viper sits on is much more interesting than the slab of asphalt that Scream sits on. If they removed Scream for another ride, it would likely be another boring ride thrown on top of an old part of the parking lot. Especially if it was a B&M clone. There's just so much more they can do with Viper's land as it sits right now. For all I care they can remove Scream and replace it with nothing. Even when it's running well I don't find it that great when it's right next to TC and in the same park as X2, Tatsu, Apocalypse, Batman, etc.

 

If we're pretending that SFMM would remove Scream, rip up that section of parking lot, and put in something interesting that at least attempts to fit with the theme of the Screampunk District, then I'd much prefer a Scream removal to Viper. But that's not happening based on their recent history.

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I don't think Scream should be removed. In my coaster designer dream, I would have them remodel it after the Hulk at IOA. Viper on the other hand, unless a refurb can fix, like New Revolution, maybe it is time. Although they have a eyesore level junkyard behind Apocalypse, which would be a perfect spot for another large coaster installation. They really should relocate Slingshot to a place where people might walk by it, like say the Full Throttle plaza.

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I don't think Scream should be removed. In my coaster designer dream, I would have them remodel it after the Hulk at IOA. Viper on the other hand, unless a refurb can fix, like New Revolution, maybe it is time. Although they have a eyesore level junkyard behind Apocalypse, which would be a perfect spot for another large coaster installation. They really should relocate Slingshot to a place where people might walk by it, like say the YOLOcoaster plaza.
The junk yard behind Apocalypse hasn't existed for two years now, it's been reclaimed by Newell Land and Farm.
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I'm going to just butt-in here(SFSTL homepark) and say this... Magic mountain had 19 coasters, if they do remove a coaster and build one in it's spot it will still be 19 coasters... how long is SFMM going to wait to get that title of 20 roller coasters.... you think that would be an awesome market ad as they have 20 roller coasters and the capital of amumsent parks... it would look alot better with title of 20 and not 19.

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