The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[Guy T. Koepp]

Hmmmmmmmmm! So the picture of X2 was a volcano. This does not say fire to me. It says hot molten lava! Are they going to fill the concrete pool at the end of the drop with hot lava? That would be awesome to watch your skin melting off as you passed over a lava lake. As the train enters the station just a bunch of smoking skelletons remain.

 

That would be awesome!

 

Guy "Great TR Jahan." Koepp

[robbalvey]

Hopefully SF will read this because honestly, I don't see how forcing a patron with belongings to pay a fee to store their belongings is a good business practice.

What I don't understand is why this is a big deal. Other big parks, like Busch Gardens, Sea World, and Cedar Point have been doing this for *YEARS*

 

Why is it suddenly an issue when Six Flags starts doing it?

 

The solution is simple - If you don't want to have deal with the lockers, don't bring a lot of stuff to parks.

 

--Robb

[Eunuch Provocateur]

Every damn time! This just gets better and better!

 

Jay, Neil, Tim: You guys are obviously trying to better this park. At first I was skeptical of all the hype surrounding the park, as if it were simply you guys buttering up the coaster community for good PR.

 

But months have passed and you're still on that same track. Keep it up, it's looking great! I have regained my liking of this theme park.

[ghost007jas]

Great update, Jahan! How does the water look for Jet Stream? Last time I went it was a lovely shade of.. brown actually.

 

I don't really have a problem with the locker policy, as I wont need to use a locker! Also, most families have at least one non riding member in their party, so it shouldn't be too big a problem.

[bflag]

The locker policy is bogus but I don't mind cause when I come to the park I leave my Gym clothes at home.

[Gordon Freeman]

They actually had the Revolution train on the storage track on Friday without a tarp.

 

So, being an employee that loves Revolution, I got a pic. As far as the bogies being different, they're not. I too was told that they were going to be, but after seeing them, they're the exact same. However, with new wheels, Revolution can be fairly smooth.

 

[trcg721]

Can you please make your picture a bit smaller please.

[vedved82491]

At least it looks very clean, and VERY shiny

[robbalvey]

The locker policy is bogus

What I don't understand is why this is a big deal. Other big parks, like Busch Gardens, Sea World, and Cedar Point have been doing this for *YEARS*

 

Why is it suddenly an issue when Six Flags starts doing it?

 

The solution is simple - If you don't want to have deal with the lockers, don't bring a lot of stuff to parks.

 

--Robb

[downunder]

^Agree with you there, I usually only take the bare minimum stuff like my wallet and a compact camera I can strap on my belt under my t-shirt.

[Gordon Freeman]

What I don't understand is why this is a big deal.

--Robb

 

Same here. It's not like ALL of the rides are doing it either. It's just four of them. Four dollars to keep your stuff safe in a locker at 4 rides, or, risk loosing your camera, wallet, phone, car keys...etc., which are worth MUCH more then that.

[upfrontjwash]

Revolutions new train looks amazing,Now they should paint the ride over to send it over the top, but this is a great start. The new management is showing a lot of love all around the park and it makes every visit just that much better.

 

~Justin

[Jew]

There's no doubt the locker policy is obnoxious. But it is what it is. I don't think $1 is too much to pay for the security of your items. If any guests are upset, $1 is easy to refund. And FAR less expensive than replacing something an operator accidentally damages or dealing with guests upset their stuff got stolen. Plus the added benefit of not having the excuse of bags will allow the park to better hold their operators accountable for crappy dispatches!

[Mechanic]

Nice update Jahan. We're looking forward to summer vacation so we can stop in for a day at SFMM on our way heading further south to bribe some mouse into letting us hang out with him and his pals for a few days. WCB was a major turning point in my opinion of the park and I really can't wait to get back for another visit. In all likelihood, we'll stop in again our way back home as well. It really is great to see the park looking so good. By the way, the picture of the Revolution train a few posts up looks great. It seems that every time I check in on this thread there's something being spruced up. Keep up the great work!

[ghost007jas]

The locker policy is bogus

What I don't understand is why this is a big deal. Other big parks, like Busch Gardens, Sea World, and Cedar Point have been doing this for *YEARS*

 

Why is it suddenly an issue when Six Flags starts doing it?

 

Because the majority of people complaining only ever go to Six Flags parks? That's my only guess.

[VivaLaVibora]

If you are trying to move the line quickly, why in the heck don't the two slowest loading rides have lockers? These would be Deja Vu, and Superman. Am I missing something? It sounds to me it's more about money than seeing how fast you can get people on rides.

 

I went to Busch Gardens Africa, and my brother put his hat in a bin on Sheikra. They must not have a locker policy than if he can do that. I thought In the Loop said that Cedar Point had a locker policy, and than they stopped it. Only on a ride like Top Thrill Dragster, you couldn't bring stuff with you because of two stations. I don't know about Sea World. I imagine they would be just like Busch Gardens because they are the same company. People don't complain about Universal because it's free for a certain time.

 

People complain about Six Flags because it's a chain wide thing. It's affecting a lot of parks.

[vedved82491]

If you are trying to move the line quickly, why in the heck don't the two slowest loading rides have lockers? These would be Deja Vu, and Superman. Am I missing something? It sounds to me it's more about money than seeing how fast you can get people on rides.

 

My guess is because 1)They only have one train each, so they don't have to worry about stacking, or sending out one train at a specific speed and 2) things can't get stolen if there's only one train since the next set of passengers wont come in until the previous ones have left. It would make sense to have that type of policy instated to make the cycle times go faster, but then again, they are short rides (especially superman) and doesn't make too much of a difference.

[VivaLaVibora]

^I understand what you are saying for part 2, but I don't agree with part 1. I think it's a whole lot more important for that train to go as fast as possible when there is only one. Those rides have really low capacity, and to increase it, I think the park should try this policy. In my opinion, I think who cares if Tatsu gets 1200 people, and this solution gets 1400 people flowing through.

 

Deja Vu only gets 400 people, and now it will get 600 people. That's a huge difference for a ride like Deja Vu compared to Tatsu. Yes, they are gaining 200 people (pretend), but is 200 people a big difference when you already get 1200 people right now? Obviously, they are going for more popular rides (as in more people in line), so they can make more money off of more people.

 

With 2 trains going or 3, you have to wait a little bit until you can send out the next train anyway. For Batman, it can't be released till the other one reaches the brake run. You think this policy would be used for the mice, boomerangs, and other shuttle coasters, but it doesn't seem that's what they want it for.

[robbalvey]

I went to Busch Gardens Africa, and my brother put his hat in a bin on Sheikra. They must not have a locker policy than if he can do that. I thought In the Loop said that Cedar Point had a locker policy, and than they stopped it.

That's strange. We were just at Busch Gardens Africa a few weeks ago and they still had their locker policy on Kumba, Gwazi, and Montu.

 

And Cedar Point is VERY strict about their lockers on Millennium Force & Top Thrill Dragster. Not sure about Maverick because I don't ever use the lockers, but I know for those other two rides they were kicking people out of line during our last visit.

 

It's not like ALL of the rides are doing it either. It's just four of them. Four dollars to keep your stuff safe in a locker at 4 rides, or, risk loosing your camera, wallet, phone, car keys...etc., which are worth MUCH more then that.

That's correct. And a good recent example is Eric (EBL) losing his camera at Superman. Had there been a $1 locker that he was told he had to put his camera in before riding, he wouldn't have lost it. Now granted, he did get it back a few days later but he was without it the whole day. The moral of the story is, if it's locked away, you know it's safe. (Sorry to use you as an example Eric, but it's totally valid!)

 

I think who cares if Tatsu gets 1200 people, and this solution gets 1400 people flowing through. Deja Vu only gets 400 people, and now it will get 600 people. Yes, they are gaining 200 people (pretend), but is 200 people a big difference....

You clearly don't know much about the operations of a park. You're just making up silly facts and figures that aren't even close to be accurate. My suggestion is go work at SFOT on a ride like Batman, Mr. Freeze, Titan, or Texas Giant and then come back and see if you agree with your same statement.

 

Those who are telling you reasons why the locker policy is there are all people who have experience or are currently working at parks. No offense, I'll take their actual working experience over someone who is just making stuff up to try to prove a point.

 

People complain about Six Flags because it's a chain wide thing. It's affecting a lot of parks.

That's a really poor reason to complain about it.

 

--Robb

[Jew]

Deja Vu only gets 400 people, and now it will get 600 people. That's a huge difference for a ride like Deja Vu compared to Tatsu. Yes, they are gaining 200 people (pretend), but is 200 people a big difference when you already get 1200 people right now? Obviously, they are going for more popular rides (as in more people in line), so they can make more money off of more people.

 

I should start by saying that I agree the policy is annoying. In a perfect world, it wouldn't exist. But the world isn't perfect. People are careless with their stuff and don't want to take the blame when something goes wrong. That's just the reality of the situation.

 

Anyways...

 

Have you ever worked in the amusement industry? You said yourself they are only doing it on their popular rides...perhaps that is because on "popular" rides, EVERY extra person you can push through counts. By your logic, parks shouldn't have a single rider line, since single riders only add 50 people at best an hour to the counts.

 

Your math doesn't make sense either. Going from 1200 to 1400 guests on Tatsu would be a 16% increase. Going from 400 to 600 on Deja Vu is a 50% increase. How do you figure that lockers would be SO much more effective on Deja Vu than Tatsu?

 

I can tell you from my experience as an operator/lead at RRv, bags were a huge cause of delay. Ride operators weren't supposed to handle guests bags (to limit liability), so all guests with bags had to walk their stuff over to the counter and come back to their seat. Since those trains are pretty narrow, it added about 30 seconds on average to a dispatch. I worked the ride when it still had 3 trains available, and that was probably the #1 killer of any momentum we had built up when we hauling ass and not stacking.

 

Plus, as I said...refunding $1 and explaining the policy costs a lot less than dealing with someone who has had their stuff lost or stolen on those rides with multiple trains where it is more difficult to control the platforms. The capacity increases are just an added bonus.

 

I also don't understand how you can complain about the lockers, and then criticize the park for not having it on other rides? Not having it on rides where it is not necessary (meaning loose articles cause minimal delays and it is easy to ensure the security of the items) just proves it isn't about the money. Otherwise they would be enforcing the locker policy on those rides too!

[Mr.Six]

Being someone who frequently works on two rides at the park. ( One with the locker system and one without ) I can tell its made dispatch times increase by a lot at the ride that does have the new locker system. While I can totally see what the argument is here, I can say that a lot ( if not all ) of the positives go perhaps a bit under the radar or invisible to the normal eye. But they're there for sure!

 

As Joey said, there's nothing worse than having to have a guest who brought a handbag set it aside.

 

-Talk with the guest

-Unlock that row and another adjacent row

-Have that guest walk it over

-Recheck that person's seat, their row, AND the other entire row that had nothing to do with the incident.

 

That's 30 seconds at least..and that's saying that there's one per train. Its not rare that that happens 2-5 times per train!

 

-Mike

[robbalvey]

And to VivaLaVibora, the above two posts is the kind of experience I'm talking about.

 

These are guys who work on rides and don't care about the $1 charged for the locker. What they care about is *PUSHING TRAINS THROUGH* to make that line shorter for you.

 

And if their experience says "the lockers make that happen" then I for one am 100% in support of it.

 

--Robb

[Tmcdllr]

I for one agree with the locker policy. I try to take as few loose articles with me in the park as I can but with the stuff I do have to bring, I will gladly pay the $1 per ride to safely store them and not worry about losing them on the ride or slowing down operations. If everybody who brought loose articles would follow this then imagine how it would speed things up. I think $1 is a very fair price tp pay to ensure the safety of my items on any ride.

[AllenA07]

If nothing else it is nice to see that Revolution has gotten a little more (they did paint a good part of the coaster right before Tatsu) TLC.

 

As for the lockers, if I go to the park with a lot of stuff, I just go grab one at the front of the park as soon as I get there, never been a big deal to me. I generally try to limit the amount of loose items I take onto a ride because I know that they can easily be lost without due care. God only knows how many baseball hats I've seen on the ground under coasters over the years. Basic point as others have said, if you don't want to pay the $1 for a locker, then don't bring things that you'll need to put into the locker. Problem solved!

 

Now for a question, when people say that Goliath Jr. has been turned 180 degrees do you all mean that they literally lifted the ride up, and turned it around? If so, how do they go about doing that, do they have to install new footers and such? Goliath Jr. looks about the right size that I would think they could literally flip the ride around without having to do a whole lot of work. Just wondering as there are not many pictures of this process.

 

For the record, I've got my Goliath Jr. (well before it was Goliath Jr.)credit from back in the late 80's.

[arrowfanman]

^ Goliath Jr. is a symmetric layout. It also doesn't have individual footers but rather one giant rectangular-frame shaped footer. So it really is just a matter of turning the sucker around. I'm not sure if new footers would have to be drilled--more than likely--but still, the process at least appeared easy as it happened so quickly.

 

 

 

Elissa, no where did I BLAME loose articles for slow Tatsu dispatches.

 

 

-Jahan