The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[michaellynn4]

There's one on Wonder Woman at Great Adventure (#26, facing Nitro), so I'm sure there must be one for Crazanity.

Really? Is that somewhat confirmed? (At least in terms of enthusiast confirmations?)

 

Yes, from both several riders (myself included) and employees working the ride.

[Arthur_Seaton]

There's one on Wonder Woman at Great Adventure (#26, facing Nitro), so I'm sure there must be one for Crazanity.

Really? Is that somewhat confirmed? (At least in terms of enthusiast confirmations?)

 

Yes, from both several riders (myself included) and employees working the ride.

Thanks! I've never noticed that and will have to keep an eye out for it. I've ridden it a ton of times now, generally sit facing the control booth, but the ride experience seems completely random and different each time. I haven't been paying attention it seems!

[Superbatboy]

I wonder if people will avoid MM for a few days with all these quakes. Can't even imagine the fear of being at the top of Goliath or Drop of Doom and a tremor begins...

[Arthur_Seaton]

I wonder if people will avoid MM for a few days with all these quakes. Can't even imagine the fear of being at the top of Goliath or Drop of Doom and a tremor begins...

True. Might be a good time to visit. That last one was gnarly!

[SteVeUrkle]

Can't even imagine the fear of being at the top of Goliath or Drop of Doom and a tremor begins...

 

So amazing the difference of opinion.

 

If a quake were to start, there's no place I'd feel safer than being on a roller coaster. They're ridiculously over-designed for safety. You're strapped in to a device with no loose falling objects around you. Yeah you'll be shaking real good, but you're SO safe.

 

These things withstand hurricanes (Batman SFNO). They're going nowhere and you're strapped in to save your life just while riding. An earthquake might scare over-dramatic young folks because a big one hasn't happened in 20 years, but people really are safe.

[SharkTums]

^Um. Ninja and Psyclone were both damaged in the 94 Northridge quake. I would have no desire to be on a ride during an earthquake.

[pǝʇɹǝʌuı]

You would be completely not in control if you were on a roller coaster during an earthquake. The fact that Steel Dragon 2000 cost twice as much as Millennium Force because the park wanted to ensure that it was earthquake-proof shows that most rides aren't necessary designed with earthquakes in mind. I would hope that SFMM takes some extra safety measures in their ride design since the LA area is very prone to earthquakes, but I agree with Elissa, I would rather not be on a ride when one hits. Better to be somewhere where you can run and take cover.

[Nrthwnd]

I would rather be in the bar at that time, if such a quake happened.

 

"I'll have mine shaken, not stirred."

[Superbatboy]

^Um. Ninja and Psyclone were both damaged in the 94 Northridge quake. I would have no desire to be on a ride during an earthquake.

This.

 

Those of us who lived through the '94 quake remember the violent shaking just being in houses/apartments. Imagined being LOCKED in a seat 400ft in the air...my God!!

[thrillseeker4552]

Luckily, that Superman tower isn't going anywhere even in a massive earthquake. That thing is ultra sturdy (since it is mounted horizontally along the mountain as well as vertically). It would be terrifying, but sitting at the top of that tower would actually be quite safe if you can (mentally) deal with the shaking.

 

That sky tower though... yikes. If a "big one" hits the area anytime soon, out of all of the structures in the park, that red sky tower would be the one that worries me the most, even though it's not open. I wonder if the park is still performing daily/weekly/monthly inspections on that structure despite it being out of service for several years now.

 

We all know rides are much better (and more accurately) designed and constructed now than when Ninja and Psyclone were back in the late '80s and early '90s. I wouldn't *want* to be on a ride during a quake, but I do think there are several worse places to be.

 

This stuff interests me a lot. I guess being half way through my structural engineering degree is paying off...

[SharkTums]

^I've talked to employees at the park that swear they have seen a disaster plan based on the Sky Tower falling over so I'm not convinced it's super safe either!

[Superbatboy]

Luckily, that Superman tower isn't going anywhere even in a massive earthquake. That thing is ultra sturdy (since it is mounted horizontally along the mountain as well as vertically). It would be terrifying, but sitting at the top of that tower would actually be quite safe if you can (mentally) deal with the shaking....

The tower may not collapse, however, there's no guarantee the car couldnt detach and/or malfunction causing injuries. If a tree branch was able to derail Ninja a couple of years ago, I definitely wouldn't feel safe atop a 400ft tower in a quake where the epicenter was 15-20 miles from the park like Northridge was.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

When the earthquake is 100+ miles away, like these two were, parks like SFMM aren't going to have much of any problem.

 

Would I want to be on or near a coaster when a quake hits? Of course not. Nothing would save you from falling debris. But, coasters built here in CA, as opposed to a place like Ohio, are built to withstand even a strong earthquake that strikes nearby. The Sky Tower is another matter entirely. That's a whole mess of a legal circus just waiting to happen. The park should have a controlled demolition before an uncontrolled one happens.

[Arthur_Seaton]

there's no guarantee the car couldnt detach and/or malfunction causing injuries.

I have a totally irrational fear of the Drop of Doom track peeling off the tower like something out of a Road Runner cartoon. I love S&S drop towers; I even find them relaxing. But Drop of Doom — despite being a mediocre drop — really taps into my anxiety. The openness of the restraints combined with the general wobbliness of the tower still freaks me out.

 

The Sky Tower is another matter entirely. That's a whole mess of a legal circus just waiting to happen. The park should have a controlled demolition before an uncontrolled one happens.

It must be a nightmare task to get that thing out of there. They can't really Jenga it because of how much other stuff's close by, so I assume they'd have to dismantle it from top to bottom. They'd be better off slapping a ride onto it and using the construction as a way to develop some new kinds of reinforcement.

[RollaroundBadness]

Obviously I deserve to die.

Edited July 12, 2019 by RollaroundBadness

[ryder]

But Drop of Doom — despite being a mediocre drop — really taps into my anxiety. The openness of the restraints combined with the general wobbliness of the tower still freaks me out.

 

You find it mediocre? Why? What do you consider a good drop tower? Not trolling, genuinely curious.

[Arthur_Seaton]

But Drop of Doom — despite being a mediocre drop — really taps into my anxiety. The openness of the restraints combined with the general wobbliness of the tower still freaks me out.

 

You find it mediocre? Why? What do you consider a good drop tower? Not trolling, genuinely curious.

 

More of a technicality than a hard-line position to be honest. It's not like I spend the drop meditating on how it could be better, but, for a while, I couldn't figure out why the drop itself never did that much for me until some folks here explained it. S&S towers (like Supreme Scream) seem to have tame drops — which I prefer, as I'm not a fan of violent or overly-aggressive airtime. ARM / Larson drops seem to be the most intense, in part because there's no pre-drop warning. However, what also makes them more intense is that they hit maximum velocity almost immediately (weight of ride vehicle?) Drop of Doom picks up speed as it drops, so the initial release feels almost buffered. I think, for me, the ride's all intimidation — height, shaky tower, open restrains — and when the drop hits, there's always a feeling of "I was freaked out about that?"

[Superbatboy]

Can't even imagine the fear of being at the top of Goliath or Drop of Doom and a tremor begins...

 

So amazing the difference of opinion.

 

If a quake were to start, there's no place I'd feel safer than being on a roller coaster. They're ridiculously over-designed for safety. You're strapped in to a device with no loose falling objects around you. Yeah you'll be shaking real good, but you're SO safe.

 

These things withstand hurricanes (Batman SFNO). They're going nowhere and you're strapped in to save your life just while riding. An earthquake might scare over-dramatic young folks because a big one hasn't happened in 20 years, but people really are safe.

 

I'm genuinely curious- not blatantly trying to discredit here- Have you been through a substantial Earthquake? Because I have- twice. Coaster 'nerdery' aside, earthquakes aren't exactly something you'd rather be "anywhere" in other than "a million miles away from wherever that particular tremor is occurring." Even if the coasters at SFMM are 100% the most safe place structures to be in the proximity of during a quake (which is a huge if,) it doesn't really strike me as an intriguing situation to be in. I get it, hypothetical and all, but speaking from experience that's about the equivalent of hypothesizing which running river would be "best" to drown in.

 

Yeah I know, insert p**sy ass California joke here, but let's be clear: if 7.0+ earthquakes hit California as often as hurricanes hit the East Coast, California would be nothing but rubble and fault line (and we already have enough fault lines). (Not to throw shade at East Coasters by any means, but (large) Earthquakes are a special kind of terrifying.)

 

And yes, I have no doubt Tornados are even worse.

[coasterlvr]

But Drop of Doom — despite being a mediocre drop — really taps into my anxiety. The openness of the restraints combined with the general wobbliness of the tower still freaks me out.

 

You find it mediocre? Why? What do you consider a good drop tower? Not trolling, genuinely curious.

 

i think the tight restraints have a lot to do with this being said very often. overall, i really like drop of doom. but the actual drop might be the worst part of it.

[Jew]

^I've talked to employees at the park that swear they have seen a disaster plan based on the Sky Tower falling over so I'm not convinced it's super safe either!

 

That was a question on a leads test many years ago! What to do if you were at log jammer and it fell into it! There was also a question on what to do if a train was in the brakes at B:TR and the other train still went over the lift....

 

The thing to remember about earthquakes and rides are two fold:

 

1. is the ground underneath them still stable?

2. many parts on a ride are still subject to wear and tear AND human error/inspections. No telling what could potentially happen if a bolt is one ratchet too loose, too worn down, etc.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Jew

[stejorin]

At Magic Mountain right now... The power on crazanity went out as well as the rest of the carnival area and Johnny Rockets. That's all that's affected. The rest of the rides in the park are operating normally. The pendulum just swung until it stopped and now the ride ops are trying to figure out how to get everyone off the ride.

 

Edit: They are using a tool to open the restraints and getting people off

 

Edit 2: Power's back on now.

[winningfreak]

^That's pretty crazy. Did they reopen Crazanity? Wonder what caused the outage, if it's internal or from there power source outside the park

[robbalvey]

I'm genuinely curious- not blatantly trying to discredit here- Have you been through a substantial Earthquake? Because I have- twice.

OMG. Twice? TWICE?!?!?! You've been through TWO WHOLE EARTHQUAKES!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!! I simply CANNOT BELIEVE THAT!!!! That is just CRA-CRA-CRAZY!!!!!

 

I grew up in Southern California. I spent 30+ years there. I have also spent on average about 2 weeks a year in Japan since 2004. I have probably been in no less than 30 moderate to major earthquakes in my life....

 

Yeah I know, insert p**sy ass California joke here,

Man, what a p**sy you must be!!!

 

but let's be clear: if 7.0+ earthquakes hit California as often as hurricanes hit the East Coast, California would be nothing but rubble and fault line (and we already have enough fault lines). (Not to throw shade at East Coasters by any means, but (large) Earthquakes are a special kind of terrifying.)

Ok, I just have to address this because it might be the stupidest thing I'm going to read all year. Maybe even the last 2-5 years. And I'm assuming based on how insanely stupid this is, that anything I might tell you may not sink in because, anyone who would write something that insanely stupid could not possibly comprehend something intelligent, but DAMMIT, I'm going to give it a try....

 

First of all, I don't think you quite even understand "hurricanes" because it's not like hurricanes are hitting the east coast every five minutes. We may get a half a dozen a year at best, and it's not like every one that rolls through is a Cat. 5 Hurricane. Just like not every earthquake you get in California is a 7.1 hitting right under a major metropolitan area doing significant damage where thousands of people die.

 

Sure, we get thunder and lightning storms every day (here in Orlando) that would probably bring most Californian's to tears. This is a "realitime" lightning map from the other day...

[twitter]

[/twitter]

 

And when a somewhat significant hurricane DOES roll through, like Irma in 2017, that's pretty much your house shaking and making weird noises for a few hours as the hundred+ MPH winds and rain storms are hitting your home. Now we were "safe" throughout that, but I will tell you, having lived in SoCal, it was kind of like being in an earthquake that lasted several hours. And yes, in our neighborhood we had trees down, concrete areas destroyed, canopies on buildings blown away, signage down, and if I wanted to focus on all that minor damage and create a video that make it LOOK like the end of the world hit our town, I probably could have. But I wouldn't, because as scary as it was *at that time* it really wasn't that big of a deal, and you immediately move on with your life without having to draw attention to yourself.

 

"Earthquakes are a special kind of terrifying." But so are hurricanes, tornados, tropical storms, tsunamis, lightning storms, and driving on I-405, so what makes you think you are so special?

 

I mean, sure, earthquakes are terrifying, I guess if you think you are ACTUALLY GOING TO DIE or something. But if you're not smart enough to realize that the "odds are in your favor" and if you look at even some of the WORST recorded earthquakes in California, take the largest in recent history, Northridge quake that happened TWENTY YEARS AGO (and yes, I was there, it was bad but way waaaaay over dramatized), where the death toll was a staggering 57 people compared to Hurricane Katrina where nearly 2,000 people lost their lives. (And note that of the 57 who died in the Northridge Quake, many of them were noted to have died of indirect causes like heart attacks.)

 

In comparison, I can see the stats that in 2018, the state of California reported around 3,651 motor-vehicle deaths on their freeways, so if earthquakes are a "special kind of terrifying" where 57 people died twenty years ago, shouldn't just getting in your car and driving to work be exponentially MORE terrifying???

 

Using the logic of "a lamp is shaking" during an Earthquake shouldn't most Californians be posting on a daily basis "OH MY GOD!!! I JUST GOT IN MY CAR!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!! I MIGHT DIE!!!!!" (maybe I shouldn't be giving them any idea?)

 

It just seems to me that most Californias LOOOOOOVE to draw attention to themselves whenever an earthquake, no matter how severe happens, and they make it out to me the most DISASTROUS thing that has ever happened. Seriously, if I had to sit through one more video of someone going "OH. MY. GOD... A LAMP IS SHAKING.... **A LAMP IS SHAKING!!!!!!!** Seriously, I'm not over exaggerating. Posts like that ACTUALLY EXIST!!!

 

And I'm just sitting here going... FFS, your lamp is shaking but I just had a lightning strike in my backyard and it is NO BIG DEAL and no one here is freaking out about it or reporting it, or "marking themselves safe" in our "daily lightning storms."

 

Another case in point, last summer we were in Osaka Station in Japan when that 6.1 earthquake HIT FREAKING OSAKA!!! The epicenter was 3.5 miles away from us. You have NO IDEA how hard we felt that one. The jolt knocked people to the ground where we were standing. And yes, it was on the news, and yes, some of the train lines were down most of the day, and yes, people were "concerned" but you know what? I will tell you that, an hour later, from Osaka station, we hopped on a train and went to another amusement park and most people just "went about their day" because they know that, as "terrifying" as it COULD be, they know that it's really nothing to make a huge deal out of. And by the next day everything was perfectly back to normal.

 

But California, on the other hand.... OMG!!! STUFF JUST FELL OFF THE SHELF IN THIS ONE STORE IN THIS REMOTE AREA SO EVERYONE BRING YOUR CAMERAS AND SHOW THIS ONE STORE WITH WINE BOTTLES FALLING AND CRASHING AND PLAY THAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO THE REST OF THE WORLD TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE LOS ANGELES IS CRUMBLING TO THE GROUND!!!!

 

And that is EXACTLY what it looks like to everyone else and that is EXACTLY how California wants it to look. They want as much "Hollywood" as they can squeeze out of pretty much anything to draw more attention and drama because that's just what they do.

 

I would have a lot more respect for those people in SoCal when an earthquake hit if there were all "Oh, that happened, we're fine... let me go back to eating my sandwich now..." you know... like they do in Japan but instead, all I see is...

 

Look, I get it... California DOESN'T have earthquakes every day so that's why it is "news." But you have to see how blown out of proportion it is being made. I mean, when you have this level of earthquake...

Yes, THAT is big news. Yes, that would be more than acceptable to show the world because that is a REAL disaster! But lamps shaking and wine bottles crashing? C'mon guys. You're California. You have Hollywood and Beyonce... do you REALLY need to be that insecure?

 

/end rant

 

And yes, I have no doubt Tornados are even worse.

Clearly, you've never had to quickly huddle under a table in a restaurant you were eating at for an hour because a tornado popped up a couple of miles away destroying a neighboring town. Or had hotel security come down the hallway of the rooms shouting "GET OUT AS QUICKY AS YOU CAN. GET IN YOUR CARS AND HEAD SOUTH!!!!" You should give it a try sometime!

Edited July 12, 2019 by robbalvey

[powpig]

I grew up in NorCal and have been through several moderate quakes but only 1 "major" quake. A lifelong Giants fan, I'd waited my whole life (26 at the time) to see them play in the World Series, and I was there at Candlestick.

 

My only critique of Robb's novel would be that above average quakes like the one he spoke of in Osaka are not the same as "major" quakes. After the one in 1989, "by the next day everything was" not even close to "perfectly back to normal."

[robbalvey]

My only critique of Robb's novel would be that above average quakes like the one he spoke of in Osaka are not the same as "major" quakes. After the one in 1989, "by the next day everything was" not even close to "perfectly back to normal."

It wasn't a competition.

 

I know that's a REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hard concept for a Californian to grasp. Trust me, I grew up there and this kind of obnoxious "I'm better than you" attitude is one of the reasons I couldn't stand to live there anymore, so please don't go telling me that "your quake was better my quake" because, you weren't at both and neither was I, and... again, I know this is a REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hard concept for most Californians to grasp but IT REALLY DOES NOT MATTER.

Edited July 12, 2019 by robbalvey