The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[sky8899]

How are lines here on a Monday in "Winter"? I'm looking to visit on 2/12 as I'll be in town for work. I say winter as I'm from New England.

[Manic Monte]

Yes, I saw that on Instagram. I am still not completely sure how pouches like that could speed up operations, since most people have bags and cups, which still must be set in the cubbies. Most people will small enough items to fit in that pouch (like phones, wallets, and keys) typically ride with them in their pockets.

 

I hope I’m proved wrong, because of course I’d love to see the trains race more often!

 

It's not the larger items that slow down the loading process as those obviously go into the storage bins. It's the smaller loose stuff (glasses and small bags) that people think they can ride with (or sneak on) that kill ride's racing. People with smaller, not seen items sit, only to be told that yes they need to place those items in the bins. Meanwhile, everyone else is ready. I think more needs to be done, but these pouches are a good start.

[coasterlvr]

Yes, I saw that on Instagram. I am still not completely sure how pouches like that could speed up operations, since most people have bags and cups, which still must be set in the cubbies. Most people will small enough items to fit in that pouch (like phones, wallets, and keys) typically ride with them in their pockets.

 

I hope I’m proved wrong, because of course I’d love to see the trains race more often!

 

It's not the larger items that slow down the loading process as those obviously go into the storage bins. It's the smaller loose stuff (glasses and small bags) that people think they can ride with (or sneak on) that kill ride's racing. People with smaller, not seen items sit, only to be told that yes they need to place those items in the bins. Meanwhile, everyone else is ready. I think more needs to be done, but these pouches are a good start.

 

i just see people fumbling with the velcro, or whatever is keeping that thing closed, either trying to put something in it, or take out before or after their ride. along with also taking their drink bottle to the bins. looked like they bought one of those pencil pouches you use for a notebook binder and screwed it in. LOL

 

how about adding the seat lights like on other RMC's so the crew doesn't have to walk back and forth when they don't have a lap bar locked down in position. to me, i see that a problem more than anything.

 

anyway, i also hope i'm wrong with the pouches.

[Bubba]

Hard to believe huh? New year, new mountain?

 

i just believe we have different definitions of racing/dueling.

I don't understand where this assumption that I don't know what racing/dueling is? That's quite rude to be honest, but go ahead and sulk in that negativity man you sound like a blast.

 

Hopefully those new bags on TC help speed things up. I love that they have them on Disney rides. Only difference is I don't remember Disney having many guest carrying soda cups as they do at Sixflags.

Edited January 31, 2018 by Bubba

[Bubba]

Double post

[coasterlvr]

Hard to believe huh? New year, new mountain?

 

i just believe we have different definitions of racing/dueling.

I don't understand where this assumption that I don't know what racing/dueling is? That's quite rude to be honest, but go ahead and sulk in that negativity man you sound like a blast.

 

it's called being a realist. TC doesn't duel every single time. not even every other time. out of i don't know, 200, maybe 300 rides, i've gotten a dual, duel, like 5-10 times. i can't even remember it's so uncommon. maybe i'm salty because a thousand people got the same thing over and over every time the days you went.

 

some people think that being on the track at the same time is dueling. you said racing, it's not a racing coaster, fyi. so sorry if that's rude.

[CedarFlags]

Is there any way to find out what rides are ACTUALLY operating on a given day?

 

The app and the website don't currently match up. Also, they use the phrase "temporarily closed" for everything, so there's no way to know if they mean... "open today, but currently down" or "closed for rehab".

 

It's really frustrating to not be able to know before I go.

[coasterbill]

Is there any way to find out what rides are ACTUALLY operating on a given day?

 

The app and the website don't currently match up. Also, they use the phrase "temporarily closed" for everything, so there's no way to know if they mean... "open today, but currently down" or "closed for rehab".

 

It's really frustrating to not be able to know before I go.

 

Short answer: no

 

Long answer: no, but regarding that second part, use Queue-Times instead of the app, it pulls data from the same source but If you're not sure if a ride is closed long term or if it's temporarily down for a short mechanical issue, click on it, go to "Last Week" and use the interactive chart.

 

For example: Batman the Ride is closed right now. If I click on it I see that it opened with the park (I think this website is on EST by the way) and has been down for the last 50 minutes or so. If I click on Green Lantern, I see that it hsn't operated in a week (I assume that blip on the 25th was in error).

 

Right now it seems that Green Lantern, Apocalypse, Slingshot, Sand Blasters, Scrambler, Tidal Wave and Jet Stream are all down for extended maintenance.

[Bubba]

Is there any way to find out what rides are ACTUALLY operating on a given day?

 

The app and the website don't currently match up. Also, they use the phrase "temporarily closed" for everything, so there's no way to know if they mean... "open today, but currently down" or "closed for rehab".

 

It's really frustrating to not be able to know before I go.

 

Short answer: no

 

Long answer: no, but regarding that second part, use Queue-Times instead of the app, it pulls data from the same source but If you're not sure if a ride is closed long term or if it's temporarily down for a short mechanical issue, click on it, go to "Last Week" and use the interactive chart.

 

For example: Batman the Ride is closed right now. If I click on it I see that it opened with the park (I think this website is on EST by the way) and has been down for the last 50 minutes or so. If I click on Green Lantern, I see that it hsn't operated in a week (I assume that blip on the 25th was in error).

 

Right now it seems that Green Lantern, Apocalypse, Slingshot, Sand Blasters, Scrambler, Tidal Wave and Jet Stream are all down for extended maintenance.

Goliath might down too. It was oddly down all three days I visited 2 weeks ago. Not sure what the status is for it today.

I honestly think the best bet is to just call before visiting.

[coasterbill]

Is there any way to find out what rides are ACTUALLY operating on a given day?

 

The app and the website don't currently match up. Also, they use the phrase "temporarily closed" for everything, so there's no way to know if they mean... "open today, but currently down" or "closed for rehab".

 

It's really frustrating to not be able to know before I go.

 

Short answer: no

 

Long answer: no, but regarding that second part, use Queue-Times instead of the app, it pulls data from the same source but If you're not sure if a ride is closed long term or if it's temporarily down for a short mechanical issue, click on it, go to "Last Week" and use the interactive chart.

 

For example: Batman the Ride is closed right now. If I click on it I see that it opened with the park (I think this website is on EST by the way) and has been down for the last 50 minutes or so. If I click on Green Lantern, I see that it hsn't operated in a week (I assume that blip on the 25th was in error).

 

Right now it seems that Green Lantern, Apocalypse, Slingshot, Sand Blasters, Scrambler, Tidal Wave and Jet Stream are all down for extended maintenance.

Goliath might down too. It was oddly down all three days I visited 2 weeks ago. Not sure what the status is for it today.

I honestly think the best bet is to just call before visiting.

 

You quoted that whole post where I literally linked to a graph of each ride's uptime with data pulled directly from the app and told everyone how to navigate it by correcting that list I posted to say that "Goliath might down too", that you "don't know what it's status is" and that the "best bet is to just call before visiting" when I just told you how to check it's "status" up to the minute?

 

I'm confused.

 

Goliath is not down. You can see that by doing exactly what I said in that post you quoted. It's operated every single day for the last week.

 

It was down for about a week after Holiday in the Park with a mechanical issue but it's been running reliably for the last week or two.

[Bubba]

^Missed that, my fault. That’s awesome though thanks for sharing that link I’ll be using it from now on.

[VTown661]

How are lines here on a Monday in "Winter"? I'm looking to visit on 2/12 as I'll be in town for work. I say winter as I'm from New England.

 

Should be no lines for the 12th.

 

It is Lincolns Birthday but i sure cant find anyone having it listed as being off. USPS, LA School and local high schools all seem to be in session. So lines should be non-existed.

 

Arrive around 10 get sweet spot and ride till you puke. We know you can ride all the rides that are open at least 10 times but dont try it just go nice and easy.

 

Based on current weather pattern it might be around 85 degrees unless hell freezes over. So bring some sunblock and leave all the other stuff in the car.

[Coconut Pete]

How are lines here on a Monday in "Winter"? I'm looking to visit on 2/12 as I'll be in town for work. I say winter as I'm from New England.

 

Should be no lines for the 12th.

 

It is Lincolns Birthday but i sure cant find anyone having it listed as being off. USPS, LA School and local high schools all seem to be in session. So lines should be non-existed.

 

Arrive around 10 get sweet spot and ride till you puke. We know you can ride all the rides that are open at least 10 times but dont try it just go nice and easy.

 

Based on current weather pattern it might be around 85 degrees unless hell freezes over. So bring some sunblock and leave all the other stuff in the car.

 

This is great news, thanks for the info. I too will probably be there on the 12th. My son just hit the magical 54 inch height, and is looking forward to adding a few more coasters to his arsenal.

[CPGemini08]

How are lines here on a Monday in "Winter"? I'm looking to visit on 2/12 as I'll be in town for work. I say winter as I'm from New England.

 

Should be no lines for the 12th.

 

It is Lincolns Birthday but i sure cant find anyone having it listed as being off. USPS, LA School and local high schools all seem to be in session. So lines should be non-existed.

 

Arrive around 10 get sweet spot and ride till you puke. We know you can ride all the rides that are open at least 10 times but dont try it just go nice and easy.

 

Based on current weather pattern it might be around 85 degrees unless hell freezes over. So bring some sunblock and leave all the other stuff in the car.

Thanks for the recommendations! I'm visiting a friend Thursday from NE Ohio, and we're heading to the park for our first time on Friday the 9th. Hoping that for most of the day the lines will be minimal. I've been checking on queue-times.com Bill mentioned frequently leading up to the trip to see on average what to expect. Looks like for a sunny Friday, I shouldn't expect much (at least until the schools let out for the weekend).

 

For any other locals or often visitors, as a first time visit is it best to head left towards X2 and make the loop around the park if we arrive at open? Or head right and work our way left?

 

Thanks for all the advice! Can't wait!

[coasterlvr]

For any other locals or often visitors, as a first time visit is it best to head left towards X2 and make the loop around the park if we arrive at open? Or head right and work our way left?

 

Thanks for all the advice! Can't wait!

 

if it's a ghost town day like i expect, it won't matter. the only thing i'd think about is if apocalypse is closed, just don't waste walking over there at all.

[VTown661]

How are lines here on a Monday in "Winter"? I'm looking to visit on 2/12 as I'll be in town for work. I say winter as I'm from New England.

 

This is amended to my previous answer.

 

The 12th should still be very empty of guests.... but...

 

It seems Kern County High Schools (50 miles away) have the 12th off and they are sneaky and some times come down in droves of buses.

[VTown661]

 

 

For any other locals or often visitors, as a first time visit is it best to head left towards X2 and make the loop around the park if we arrive at open? Or head right and work our way left?

 

Thanks for all the advice! Can't wait!

 

SFMM is unique that you can see or get a glimpse at least about 10 rides prior to even entering the park.

 

So focus when parking your car as to what rides you might see warming up or running such as , Twisted, Scream, Superman, Drop of Doom, Goliath, Buccaneer.

 

And when at main gate see if X2, Viper, Tatsu, Ful Throtell, are in play yet. I would then head the direction that you might have spotted the most rides open.

 

Personally I would take Orient/Honda express up the hill (or take short cut if you know it) and hit up Tatsu, Ninja, and Superman and then you have that beast of a hill knocked out then just work your way around. Of course make sure that Superman has cycled otherwise it seems to come and go through-out the day.

[SimiGeek]

Green Lantern has been closed since September. Today Tidal Wave was closed (seasonal) as well as bumper cars (they are redoing it) scrambler (refurb it). Apocalypse was closed (no reason given) and they were visibly plugging the leaks on Jet Stream (also closed). Roaring rapids was open. Goliath was back open.

[CrazedZooChimp]

Thanks for the recommendations! I'm visiting a friend Thursday from NE Ohio, and we're heading to the park for our first time on Friday the 9th. Hoping that for most of the day the lines will be minimal. I've been checking on queue-times.com Bill mentioned frequently leading up to the trip to see on average what to expect. Looks like for a sunny Friday, I shouldn't expect much (at least until the schools let out for the weekend).

 

For any other locals or often visitors, as a first time visit is it best to head left towards X2 and make the loop around the park if we arrive at open? Or head right and work our way left?

 

Thanks for all the advice! Can't wait!

 

In my experience (I'm not local but make it to the park a few times a year from Northern California), X2 and Tatsu have the longest lines, and tend to have reliability issues. So if you see those running, I'd start with them. At the same time, park should be pretty empty so it likely won't be a problem either way.

[singemfrc]

For any other locals or often visitors, as a first time visit is it best to head left towards X2 and make the loop around the park if we arrive at open? Or head right and work our way left?

 

Thanks for all the advice! Can't wait!

You could do X2, Superman, or Tatsu first to get one of those out of the way if you want.

 

X2 is usually busy right at the start but gets shorter later in the day. Has a tendency to not open with the park, and will close in a breeze or a slight drizzle, but otherwise usually ok.

Tatsu doesn't go crazy at the beginning, but probably has the most consistent line. It doesn't get crazy but it never gets to a walk-on either. If you want to ride it multiple times, maybe start there.

Superman doesn't get a crazy long line usually, but it can be very slow moving line, especially with only one side operating, and its a ghost town in the morning. If you start here, you can probably ride it a half dozen times without getting up. Also note that one of the lines when you get close goes to the front row that only loads 2 people per row instead of 4. Obviously, the line for this row moves twice as slowly, so pick another row and you'll get there faster. Superman also will close at the absolute first sight of the possibility of a rain drop. If there's a possibility of rain that day and you want to ride it, ride it early.

If you have early entry, "Not-Empty" Throttle is a good place to get the early ride in as the line can be a bit much sometimes, and its close enough that you can usually snag an early ride and still get to something else before the park opens.

 

I should mention Twisted Colossus, if you haven't been to MM you might think of starting there, but even if the line may appear long at first, it (almost always) runs three trains and the line moves pretty fast. On all but the busiest days and/or unless you want multiple rides theres no need to prioritize it. Unless its way out of the station, its not really that long.

[steamedturtle]

Went to the park for a full day today, for the first time since 07, and I wanted to share some thoughts! First of all, if you can make it out to the park right now on a week day, DO IT. Wow it's empty. It felt like there were a couple hundred people in the park max. We didn't wait for anything at any point in the day, except X2, and even that was ~15 min.

 

TC was my first RMC today, and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. The ejector air is ridic in every seat, and the stall is succchhh a cool element. Got 8 rides in, and 3 of them were cresting-over-the-first-drop-at-the-same-time-bonafide-duels. And the ride ops worked very hard to get duels in. TC was running 2 trains, so I understand it wasn't always possible to make them duel, but when it was, they hustled, and it showed.

 

X2. Ugh. I have such positive memories from riding it in its opening year, and then later in 07. Today it beat me up good. I hated it. Could it have been my seat? Sat in the front outside left side.

 

Of the B&Ms, I loved Tatsu and BTR - it's amazing how smooth and well BTR runs. I wasn't feeling RR, but it wasn't rough at all, like other stand ups, and it's very photogenic with its new paint. Scream had a gnarly rattle. I'm guessing the issue is with the trains, and not the track, and that it can be fixed. But that combined with it being a parking lot coaster made it very unenjoyable.

 

Other than that, what a great day. Non stop coasters for almost 8 hours with no lines.

[singemfrc]

X2. Ugh. I have such positive memories from riding it in its opening year, and then later in 07. Today it beat me up good. I hated it. Could it have been my seat? Sat in the front outside left side.

Partially, the outside is usually rougher than the inside, and the bigger you are, the more that's amplified. It will beat you up just about anywhere though. IMO it's still worth it for that first drop

 

Ill be there for an hour or two tomorrow and then for most of the day Sunday, so we'll see how a February weekend looks.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Congrats on the RMC cherry! TC is a really great coaster, and one of RMC's better ones. They're all good though, and all among the best coasters I've ever ridden.

 

So....when are you traveling to your next RMC?

[coasterbill]

X2. Ugh. I have such positive memories from riding it in its opening year, and then later in 07. Today it beat me up good. I hated it. Could it have been my seat? Sat in the front outside left side.

 

Yes, it was probably your seat...

 

The problem was that your seat was connected to an X2 train, that's why you had a sh*tty ride. Next time try riding in a seat and row that's connected to a Tatsu, Ninja or Twisted Colossus train and see if you have a better experience.

[steamedturtle]

Congrats on the RMC cherry! TC is a really great coaster, and one of RMC's better ones. They're all good though, and all among the best coasters I've ever ridden.

 

So....when are you traveling to your next RMC?

 

Thank you! Yeah, I think TC has to go straight into the top 3 for me. Next RMC will be TT back home in March, and then SteVen in May. I think yesterday got me even more hyped than I was before.

 

 

Yes, it was probably your seat...

 

The problem was that your seat was connected to an X2 train, that's why you had a sh*tty ride. Next time try riding in a seat and row that's connected to a Tatsu, Ninja or Twisted Colossus train and see if you have a better experience.

 

There's no mincing words with you. I'm curious what kind of words you have for the ride you hate the most...