The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[jamesdillaman]

"help, help, I'm drowning, I can't swim, I'm losing hope, there's a bright light, I see my dead grandfather!"

 

The lifeguards couldn't hear the little kid shout this before it was too late because flashback was insanely loud.

 

-James Dillaman

[SLUSHIE]

I don't think it added that much noise to all the noise that already goes on at a water park.

 

Really the only people who would have been affected by it are the people lounging in the area right by the fence next to Flashback.

 

Relocating it doesn't cost that much more than tearing it down.

[Director_Guy]

As my strange love for this ride is well known, let me just say that I weep softly for the death of the Intamin Space Diver.

 

 

Ahem: You were a coaster for the hardcore my friend. People never understood you. Much like the Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour. But some loved you. I did. I wish you safe journey to the other side. Why you died yet Grizzly at Paramount's Great America remains open is a sad bit of coaster unjustice. May you clank over chiropractors on your way to the scrap metal yard of our hearts. I'll never forget you.

 

*unavoidably sobs*

 

Okay, that was funny. Good job.

[TheArchfiend]

"help, help, I'm drowning, I can't swim, I'm losing hope, there's a bright light, I see my dead grandfather!"

 

The lifeguards couldn't hear the little kid shout this before it was too late because flashback was insanely loud.

 

-James Dillaman

 

Ohh.... Got ya! I didnt even give that a thought. I guess the park didn't give that much thought either since they decided to build their waterpark next to one of the parks loudest coasters. As the two Guiness guys would say... "Brilliant!"

[ECZenith]

Hehehe, at the joke, not the decay of the Space Diver.

 

SFNE and SFMM should definately trade flashbacks, you guys have the ill version and our solitary Intamin is quite lonely.

[chaos]

I don't think Flashback will ever reopen now, unless some other company buys Magic Mountain and decides to reopen it. Poor Flashback.

[sfmmFREAK]

if they tear down flashback, ill be pissed. i LIKE that ride, despite what most of the crybabies say about roughness.

[CaseyFish]

Okay now my two cents, THIS RIDE WILL NEVER REOPEN...there is NO WAY IN H*LL...why do you ask, okay have you seen it lately. There is rust everywhere. I mean really bad. It looks like it is about to fall down. It looks old like it hasn't been run in years. The tracks would have to be redone. I mean do you realize how much money it would cost for them to refurbish this ride. It is just not worth to the park to reopen the ride. Just let the ride die in peace. They need to just rip it down. It is a huge eyesore. So hopefully this ends the talk. If you didn't get your credit oh well such as life. Just implode it like they do Las Vegas Hotels

 

Casey"I got my credit on it"Childers

BOTBC

[lapseofreason]

Just implode it like they do Las Vegas Hotels

 

Haha, that would be cool. BLOW IT UP! I don't think I'll ever get the credit anyways!

 

Anyways, I'll be there tomorrow (Friday), pretty much all day, so I might try to put together some kind of an update.

[Mr.Six]

Try to find me. I'll probably be at Revolution.

_six

[lapseofreason]

Try to find me. I'll probably be at Revolution.

_six

 

OK... will try and make it over there

[taytig]

Sad it will probably not reopen. I rode it in 98 an dreally enjoyed it - there isn't much out there like it. It was rough, but not any worse than a typical SLC. Anyway - Too Bad for Flashback!

[kayoss]

Okay now my two cents, THIS RIDE WILL NEVER REOPEN...there is NO WAY IN H*LL...why do you ask, okay have you seen it lately. There is rust everywhere. I mean really bad. It looks like it is about to fall down.

 

This is totally false. There's rust on the tracks, yes, but most (if not nearly all) coasters have rust to some degree on the tracks. The trains need a good rehab, but they're not too far gone either. Totally fixable. What's more, the control panel looks functional. The Space Diver was made with some pretty heavy steel tubing. It's certainly nowhere near inoperable. It needs a couple weeks adjust on the trains and safety, and a couple of cycles with those INCREDIBLY heavy trains will sheer that surface rust right off.

 

It looks old like it hasn't been run in years.

 

It hasn't been run in years, but in my opinion looks MUCH better then other coasters closed for the same amount of time.

 

The tracks would have to be redone.

 

Not even in your wildest dreams.

 

I mean do you realize how much money it would cost for them to refurbish this ride.

 

Two, maybe three weeks of refurbishing the trains. It can't possibly be that much (not even close to the amount they spent on Freefall's refurbishing)

 

It is just not worth to the park to reopen the ride. Just let the ride die in peace. They need to just rip it down. It is a huge eyesore.

 

Even if it's not for all, it's an undeniable part of coaster history. No other Space Diver exists on the planet. It's a completely unique coaster. Granted, it should have new restraints made that make it more comfortable for the general public.... but even as is it should be opened. For those of us who know how to flex in anticipation of the rides' dives, it's a really really fun coaster with a ride experience and forces unlike any other.

 

So hopefully this ends the talk. If you didn't get your credit oh well such as life. Just implode it like they do Las Vegas Hotels

 

If you don't like it, don't ride it. I'm sick of unique coasters being destroyed. SFMM has plenty of coasters for all different riders. It takes up almost no space. It exists nowhere else in the world. It deserves to stay with the park.... even if it only operates when Hurricane Harbor is closed... so be it... I don't care. I want it preserved.

[CaseyFish]

^NOBODY CAN RIDE IT IT HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR THREE YEARS!!!!!!

 

And besides they are not going to spend money on this, are you kidding! This is one of the parks possibly up on the chopping block. Don't beleive me here is what I found, this is from there quarterly report:

 

In June 2006, we announced that we will be exploring potential strategic options with respect to the following six properties: Six Flags Darien Lake (outside Buffalo, New York); Six Flags Waterworld (Concord, California); Six Flags Elitch Gardens (Denver, Colorado); Wild Waves and Enchanted Village (outside Seattle, Washington); Six Flags Splashtown (Houston, Texas); and Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor (near Los Angeles, California). Although we cannot predict when, or if, any specific transaction will occur with respect to these parks, we are initially considering a sale of the parks as going concerns in a single transaction but may also consider a series of transactions, dismantling and re-utilizing certain rides and attractions and selling the underlying land for real estate development purposes, as well as other potential alternatives. The assets and operations of these parks are not shown as assets held for sale or discontinued operations in the consolidated financial statements.

 

Now see why would you want to even reopen this ride if something like that is in consideration.

Yes there is rust, but if you look at some part of the tracks it has INCHES of grime and dirt and all kinds of stuff on the tracks. Why would they want to spend two to three weeks to refurbish the cars. This ride is dead.

 

Oh and by the way this ride will only be open in your wildest dreams:) coudln't think of anything original...LOL

 

Casey"TEAR IT DOWN"Childers

[arrowfanman]

^Agreed.

 

 

Even if it were to reopen. Even if they refurbed it. It wouldn't be worth dedicating people to operate it! I mean, when it was open, I dont remember seeing more than 2-7 guests in the station at one time! It sits in a horrible location...on a relative tumor off of the main pathways. When guests see that vast ocean of concrete, they aren't attracted. They would rather stay on the main pathway. Not to mention, is location at the front of the park isn't helping anything.

 

I say tear it out, tear out the Metro station there, as well as the Flashback maintence shed, Metro transfer area, and that vast ocean of concrete pathway in front of the ride....tear that all out and donate the land to Hurricane Harbor. That park needs the land more than SFMM does.

 

Of course, thats assuming that the parks have a future and all.

 

-Jahan

[Freefallbestrideever]

That's plenty of metal for the foundation on a Johnny Rockets

[XII]

Even if it's not for all, it's an undeniable part of coaster history. No other Space Diver exists on the planet. It's a completely unique coaster.

theres a reason its the only Space Diver in the world!

[a7x4ever000]

well, im going tomorrow, so i'll try to get some pictures of whats going on.

[lapseofreason]

well, im going tomorrow, so i'll try to get some pictures of whats going on.

I was just there today, and I didn't see jack cookies going on. Anywhere. Everything looked in the same shape as when I was there 10 days ago. Some points from my trip:

 

-Freefall's car is still up near the top of the tower

-Circus Wheel and Orient Express are still in refurb

-Stupid Log Jammer was busted AGAIN, as well as Superman

-I saw for myself that they did remove the sign from Flashback. Not a soul in the area all day, either. It's not like I hung around there all day, but every time I passed, it was a ghost town.

-Tatsu was having problems with one of its trains this afternoon but we hung around and got a front row ride out of the deal... sweet

-Almost got my Deja Vu credit but the line was insanely long

-One train operation on Goliath and X, but 2 on Ninja... WTF???

-I finally rode Sandblasters (the bumper cars).. it sucked. Now my back hurts.

-We learned that it's easier to get wet standing on Tidal Wave's exit bridge than actually go wait to ride it

 

...Um, I think that's it. Not a lot of update-worthy material, but really, there wasn't much going on.

[kraxleRIDAH]

I don't think it added that much noise to all the noise that already goes on at a water park.

 

Really the only people who would have been affected by it are the people lounging in the area right by the fence next to Flashback.

 

Relocating it doesn't cost that much more than tearing it down.

 

It's not a matter of what YOU think, it's what is what happened as a result of Flashback's noise that made it as it is. Lifegaurds would repeatedly notify supervisors that the noise Flashback produced was a major distraction to a point where it became a safety hazard and prevented the lifegaurds from properly doing their job.

 

The ride then went down to "seasonal" operation, only operating during times when the water park was closed - meaning Flashback would be closed for pretty much the entire summer season. The ride itself lost a lot of patrons over the years due to its low visibility, hard-to-find location as well as its reputation for rider discomfort.

 

Eventually, while maintenance budgets remained relatively the same year after year with an increased demand for infrastructure funding, Flashback was one of the attractions chosen to be closed down in order to reallocate the money into operating the other more popular rides. So basically, the park realized a lot of money was going into operating and staffing it, while its turnstile numbers probably remained lower than most of the rides at Bugs Bunny World. End of story. End of Flashback.

 

I also want to add...a lot of people assume the main reason why the park is keeping Flashback in the park is to keep their coaster count up. That's not entirely true, although it's associated with the reason why it's still there! To just dismantle a ride the size of Flashback requires a lot of money. To make a comparison - when Six Flags America removed their Iron Eagle flat-ride (ala Knott's Hammerhead), it costed them $80,000. That's not counting the amount that will be spent on taking the parts off-site (relocation). Now imagine how much funding would be needed to just remove Flashback. The park is struggling with their current maintenance and infrastructure budget as it is, and it makes no sense from a financial standpoint (especially Six Flags' current financial standpoint) to remove a ride like Flashback just for the sake of "doing something with it."

 

It will only be dismantled if the space it occupies is needed for a future attraction that will fit in that particular footprint. Six Flags won't drop over $150,000 to remove a coaster and have an empty plot of land sitting there for awhile. Rather, having it closed and not removing it is a temporary solution that's most financially sound to them. Keeping it open is just as dumb financially for them because the ride draws no patrons and to keep it operating would be like burning up cash.

[sfmmFREAK]

^Agreed.

 

 

Even if it were to reopen. Even if they refurbed it. It wouldn't be worth dedicating people to operate it! I mean, when it was open, I dont remember seeing more than 2-7 guests in the station at one time! It sits in a horrible location...on a relative tumor off of the main pathways. When guests see that vast ocean of concrete, they aren't attracted. They would rather stay on the main pathway. Not to mention, is location at the front of the park isn't helping anything.

 

are you kidding!? i had to wait an hour and a half to get on it when i was there.

[iZak]

^^ Finally a decent, well-thought out post on the state of Flashback.

 

Also, when I worked at Flashback back in '03, on and off we'd have wait times of 30-45 minutes...The first day we operated it that summer, the line was all the way out of the queue and that wait was about an hour.

 

So, it is possible...Just now, it's not plausible.

 

It is indeed a shame to see this ride go, but I have the satisfaction of knowing that I was the actual last person to ever ride it and operate it.

 

RIP Flashback. May I see you in my backyard in 2008.

[Corkscrewed]

WOOOOOOOOOOO!!! BURN THE FLASHBACK!!!

 

I hope they hire Knott's to tear it down. If you saw what they did to Windjammer, you'll find that funny.

 

 

 

*happy dance for Flashback's imminent demise*

 

Well, yeah, I know it won't be taken down until the park itself is razed or they want to use it, but still. Each sign (or lack of sign in this case) is still a happy one. It is the only ride that I would not drag a friend onto (I've dragged friends onto Psyclone just to watch their expressions.

[sfmmFREAK]

^ jeez, everyone exaggerates so mutch about this ride, its not that bad!

[coasterjunkie91350]

Hmmm Wont that mean their claim as coaster capital will go down the crapper if flashback was removed? I say tear it down and recycle it the metal will help build some new office buldings somewhere lol