The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[SharkTums]

Just got word that the park closed early today.

 

Not confirmed, but someone texted me who is there today.

 

I will try to get confirmation soon.

[alexinla]

Park is listed as closed for today on the website, so it is official

http://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain/info/parkInfo.aspx

[Guest]

Qbot - Yes, we are getting Qbot in December, yes it will not be free with the Xtreme Pass. The 'rumors' are that the pricing will be slightly higher than SFGAd

Ouch, here were SFGAdv's prices earlier this summer:

 

[Jhcbiinoc]

That's good to know on the Flash Pass. I'm getting my 2009 Xtreme Pass next weekend and was not aware of the fact we were going to QBot. If they are including the free rental, that would be great, but if not, the pass is still worth it to me.

 

I have not used the QBot (almost did last time I was at SFOG) but it seems as if it is a lot more efficient. What is the major difference in how it works?

[ParkSecurity]

I am planning a trip to SFMM on either Saturday December 6 or Sunday Dcember 7 and thought I might be able to get some help from you guys. I have only been once and that was about seven years ago (before Scream, Tatsu, Deja Vu, and X). I was wondering how the lines will be for the popular rides on a Saturday or Sunday in December. The longest we waited when I was there before was 2 hours for Goliath (we were there on a Thursday in July of '01). I have heard horror stories about the line for X2, but I didn't know how true that would be in December. Also, are there any expected ride closures in December? Any help or information is appreciated! Thanks.

[Mechanic]

I've got to say that I'm really floored by those Qbot prices for SFGAd. And SFMM's will be even higher? Yikes! I'm well aware that I don't HAVE to buy the Qbot, but I'd be considerably more inclined to buy it if the price were a little more reasonable. Hopefully, the discount offered to passholders will make the price a little more palatable.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

Wow, the pricing on Qbot is ridiculous.

 

So they are removing the free flash pass offer on the Xtreme Playpass and not lowering the price of the pass? What a ripoff.

 

It looks like I will now have to pay $30+ so I can bypass the piss poor operations on Tatsu.

 

Honestly, I don't understand why don't they just keep the ticket system of Flash Pass for season pass holders.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

FYI - Interstates 5, 405 and 210 have reopened. 14 is still closed at San Fernando Road (Newhall Ave.) because of the fire that's still burning on the southeast corner of the SCV.

 

As for the QBot, those prices are INSANE!! No wonder the people who use it love it so much. It outprices just about everyone, so those select few who do use it don't have any competition.

 

But, as nutty as it is, it's like selling water in the Sahara desert. When the summer weekends come, people will pay that & more to not have to wait in those horrendous lines in 100+ degree heat. Ergo, the park makes insane amounts of money, which is GOOD for a place like Magic Mountain. Boatloads of revenue with little to no operating expense. It's nuts, but it's the kind of thing a debt-laden park chain needs. So, I for one, welcome our new QBot overlords.

[TriboElectric]

That's good to know on the Flash Pass. I'm getting my 2009 Xtreme Pass next weekend and was not aware of the fact we were going to QBot. If they are including the free rental, that would be great, but if not, the pass is still worth it to me.

 

I have not used the QBot (almost did last time I was at SFOG) but it seems as if it is a lot more efficient. What is the major difference in how it works?

 

Based on current information the extreme pass for 2009 will only include a discount on the Rental of the device, there is a price for the rental of the device itself and a price to actually activate each guest to use it. It is still going to cost at least $30 for a single rider to use the Electronic flash pass AKA Qbot (this is assuming that they waive the device rental fee)

[YoshiFan]

If everyone thinks those Flashpass prices from Great Adventure are expensive, I have some bad news for you. Those are from this past summer and the prices have been raised a lot since then. Here is the current Great Adventure pricing:

 

Regular

1 person - $45

2 people - $74

3 people - $103

4 people - $132

5 people = $161

6 people - $190

 

Gold

1 person - $90

2 people - $144

3 people - $198

4 people - $256 (I can't read the last number but it looks like a 6, I took a picture of the price list with my phone so it was a small picture)

5 people = $306

6 people - $360

 

Based on that it could be $50 for 1 person for regular and $100 for 1 person for gold with the price decreasing for each person added.

[coolhandluke]

But, as nutty as it is, it's like selling water in the Sahara desert. When the summer weekends come, people will pay that & more to not have to wait in those horrendous lines in 100+ degree heat. Ergo, the park makes insane amounts of money, which is GOOD for a place like Magic Mountain. Boatloads of revenue with little to no operating expense. It's nuts, but it's the kind of thing a debt-laden park chain needs. So, I for one, welcome our new QBot overlords.

 

Yeah, they charge almost twice the admission for a gold one because they can and they will still sell. I've heard that GAdv consistently sells out on weekends.

 

As ridiculous as the prices are, though, I'll admit that I'd cough up the dough for one if I was somewhere other than my home park.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

Regular

1 person - $45

2 people - $74

3 people - $103

4 people - $132

5 people = $161

6 people - $190

 

Gold

1 person - $90

2 people - $144

3 people - $198

4 people - $256 (I can't read the last number but it looks like a 6, I took a picture of the price list with my phone so it was a small picture)

5 people = $306

6 people - $360

 

Based on that it could be $50 for 1 person for regular and $100 for 1 person for gold with the price decreasing for each person added.

 

WOW, just wow.

 

Looks like I will be spending more time at Disney and Knotts this summer. Two parks that actually know how to satisfy their guests.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

As ridiculous as the prices are, though, I'll admit that I'd cough up the dough for one if I was somewhere other than my home park.

 

I don't think I would. I'd try the old tried & true strategy of trying to go on an off-season Tuesday-Thursday. But if that failed & my only choice was either cough up the dough or have a really miserable experience waiting in long lines in horrendous heat...that'd be a tough choice. It would depend on the park & how much I really wanted/needed to ride everything that day.

 

Now I'm curious, why don't they just say a regular Flash Pass is $45 for the first person & $29 per additional person, and Gold is $90 & $54 per additional person? It's a simple pattern. That language would sound a whole lot better than having the big, scary three-digit figures up there on the sign.

 

Listen to it: "Buy the Flash Pass $45 AND add your friends for JUST $29 each! Buy the GOLD Flash Pass for $90, plus JUST $54 for each additional friend!" Doesn't that sound better than those scary multiplied numbers that intimidate the crap out of you?

[Sean Menefee]

I'm actually more of a fan of the bottom line pricing on the boards above. Although adding the advertising lingo may sound nice at the beginning, some people may end up a bit confused and agitated when the actually see the prices add up at the cash register.

 

I'm going on the fact that most people (GP) leave their brains in the car when they visit theme parks. Although the larger prices may carry a bit of shell shock at first, it's better then having to explain the add-on system a few hundred times a day, to people who thought that their $90.00 bucks got Q-Bot for their whole family.

 

I think it just helps keep the confusion down for the staff and park guests. I do see your point though on the "wow" factor at first glance. I know my girlfriend and I both had the same thought when we visited SFGAdv last summer. (Yet we still paid the money and had an amazing day because of it.)

 

-Sean

[Mechanic]

Like PeoplemoverMatt, I'll be more likely to try and hit the park on less busy days and avoid shelling out the bucks for the Qbot.

 

On the bright side, the $1 ride lockers look like quite a bargain now, don't they?

[robbalvey]

Gold

1 person - $90

2 people - $144

3 people - $198

4 people - $256 (I can't read the last number but it looks like a 6, I took a picture of the price list with my phone so it was a small picture)

5 people = $306

6 people - $360

You get 6 people on a Gold Q-Bot at Great Adventure and even at $60 a person it's worth it's weight in...well, gold!

 

Seriously, would you rather wait in a 2 hour El Toro line or have 10 rides in that time? We had people on our East Coast trip pretty much credit run Great Adventure in three hours with the Gold Q-Bot...THREE HOURS!!! And they took multiple rides on some coasters.

 

Gold Q-Bot has to be expensive for a reason and it's a damn good reason! It really is the golden ticket to every ride in the park with zero wait as many times as you want.

 

I have no idea how it's going to work at Magic Mountain, but I can tell you that at Great Adventure, New England, Geogia, Texas, and Great America where I have used it, it's ABSOLUTELY worth it!

 

Now would I use it as a local that visited the park on a regular basis? Probably not every visit, but if I had people in town that needed all the credits or wanted to whore out Tatsu or something, I would do it.

 

The $100 price hike for 6 people is kind of steep in one year. $16 bucks per person is a lot to increase, IMO, but still, it's worth it!!!

 

--Robb "Gold Q-Bot Supporter!" Alvey

[Mechanic]

Very valid points Robb. I must confess that if I was only making one visit to a park, and it happened to be at a busy time of year, then I'd probably spend the money on the Qbot. Conversely, the price of the Qbot will make me more carefully plan so as to try to avoid those busiest days. I guess that's a win-win for the parks because they're going to sell out of Qbots on busy days anyway so they're not losing anything from the people that don't buy them, while possibly encouraging more attendance than they may have otherwise had during the slower times of the season.

 

Another bright side is this makes the TPR trips look like an even better value. (Knowing that you set up trips with perks like the Qbots included.) While current circumstances have once again precluded my taking a TPR trip this coming year, I do still look forward to one sometime in the future.

[XII]

Wow. I had no idea SFMM was getting Qbots for next year. I'm sure they'll be great at SFMM. As for the no free fast pass with the season pass, the deal for a season pass is good enough already, so taking away one gimmick from the overall deal doesn't really effect the value of it.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Well with the QBot pricing structure, it's kinda impossible for a free QBot to be included without jacking up the Xtreme Pass' price well past $200. However, doing that might be the only way I'd ever use a Q-Bot, just like having the Flash Passes included was the only way I ever used them. (Not that I'm against the Q-Bot idea, I just don't see myself ever being in a position where I'd buy one at Magic Mountain.)

[TriboElectric]

Just so I understand correctly, The Qbot system "regular" would cost over $50 for one person (with the rental fee and single person addon) and would still require the user to venture to each attraction, "Scan" the ride I want to get into a "virtual que" for and still require the user to wait the full length of the current wait time for that attraction. Meaning if one wanted to go on X2 and the que was 3.5 hours long, they would still have to wait 3.5 hours from the moment you scanned the system till the moment you would return for a ride. Granted were not standing in the que for 3.5 hours, but what else would we do during that 3.5 hours? were going to have to be standing in a que somewhere or get into our cars, leave the park go see a movie and return 3.5 hours later.

Now lets just say I had lots of extra cash (which in this current economic situation is highly unlikely for most people) and I just decided to try the very expensive "gold" Qbot option this would reduce the virtual que by half, meaning for the 3.5 hour regular X2 wait, we would still be waiting up to 1.7 hours to ride X2, and this is after already paying almost $100 dollars for the privilege (it is stated that gold can give you "Up to" a 75% reduction in wait time but I am assuming a 50% reduction with gold is more customary, based on the lingo used)

 

Sorry this just does not seem like a good deal to me, The extreme fast pass at $80 a person now (allowing unlimited fast pass uses) is a MUCH MUCH MUCH better deal and frankly if I was paying the high price of the Gold Qbot option I would expect it to get me onto a ride much faster then even half the time of waiting in the que. Not a good deal IMHO.

[SharkTums]

^Again, it seems like you haven't really USED the system.

 

I've seen giant crazy lines for normal rides and Gold Qbot is always more like a 99% reduction of wait times! Superman at SFGAm comes to mind with a three hour line and I believe we had to wait about 21 minutes.

 

The new Qbot system allows you to reserve a ride from ANYWHERE in the park. You do NOT have to go to the ride.

 

X2 is not currently on Flashpass and I wouldn't expect it to show up on 'normal' Qbot. I could however see them adding it in for an upcharge or maybe for Gold Qbots. I know when we've talked to the LoQ People (company that makes and operates the Qbot Systems) they've always said that the parks have never taken advantage of all the capabilities of the Qbot. Including having it flash deals or specials, adding the ability to go on a ride not normally on the system, etc.

 

Again, this is not something you're going to use as a local...but it is an amazing life saver when you have to go to the park when it's busy, or you're visiting a park far away and only have limited time.

 

Sucks for me as a SFMM Local, but it's amazing for the park, and will be great for our TPR West Coast trip!

[Vffreak07]

Good move for SFMM. I went to 8 parks this past summer, and let me say that the QBot at SFGAM was just amazing. We only got the regular flashpass (or QBot in this case), and soon after we bought it, we found out from a park representive that it was the busiest day of the year already at the park. We got 6 rides on Raging Bull skipping a 2-3 hour line for that, S:UF 4 times skipping a 3 hour line for that, Iron Wolf skipping a 45 minute line, and much more. It's so worth the money believe me.

[TriboElectric]

^True, I have not ever used the system, although I based my preliminary opinions on the information received from the SFGAV website regarding the two classes of the system. Regular and Gold, with regular Qbot giving you the same wait time as the que just allowing you to not have to stand in line and Gold allowing "Up to 75% reduction" in wait time. For a single person $100 bucks and having maybe a 75% wait reduction in each line, is just not a deal. I understand it beats waiting in full length lines on a saturday. But based on current economic conditions and Magic Mountains main customer base which is Local customers, it just does not seem like a good idea. Sure if I was on a trip from the East Coast and I had lots of money and 1 day at the park, perhaps it is something I would Think about, but in reality most of the guests are locals and this is just not something most people could afford after spending money on food, drinks and parking. Flash pass itself was already a push at $20 dollars, but for a minimum of over $40 extra to use this system. I just do not see the logic of this based in this present economic condition.

 

Good move for SFMM. I went to 8 parks this past summer, and let me say that the QBot at SFGAM was just amazing. We only got the regular flashpass (or QBot in this case), and soon after we bought it, we found out from a park representive that it was the busiest day of the year already at the park. We got 6 rides on Raging Bull skipping a 2-3 hour line for that, S:UF 4 times skipping a 3 hour line for that, Iron Wolf skipping a 45 minute line, and much more. It's so worth the money believe me.

 

Since you purchased the Regular QBOT, you still had to wait the 2 hours for each ride of raging bull, you just did not wait standing in the que. Correct?

What did you do to pass the time for each 2 hour blocks of time you waited to ride? Based on the regular Qbot, that was 12 hours of "Virtual que" waiting. (6 rides X 2 hour lines= 12 virtual hours)

Assuming the park was packed and every ride had a minimum of 1+ hour waits, you were still waiting in lines while waiting for your Qbot to announce your ride was ready, correct?

 

ADMIN EDIT: Please DO NOT DOULBE POST! You can edit your original post to add more to it.

[robbalvey]

^ I really think we should create a rule that says "People who have never used Q-Bot are not allowed to make comments about Q-Bot!"

 

Seriously, unless you've used the system, I just don't see how someone can have an opinion of it or pass judgement about it.

 

Ask as many questions as you want, but if you know how a traditional virtual queue system works, this works basically the same, but is better in every aspect. It's not brain surgery, it's easy to use and it makes total sense. I'm not going to go into each detail, just try it if you're interested, or don't if you're not. It's really that simple.

 

I'm getting really sick of the people who have used it keep saying how awesome it is and totally well worth the money and then the people who haven't used it arguing with the people who have.

 

It's just silly.

 

Think about it, in the grand scheme of upcharge items that Six Flags has introduced, is there any other product which has received such rave reviews across the board?

 

I have an idea...let's end the whole Q-Bot discussion now, and those of you who haven't used it, come back here after you've used it and THEN give us your comments. Fair enough? GOOD!

 

--Robb

[gotdane]

While there's no doubt that it is pricey, it's an amazing product. It made a busy day at SFGAM extremely enjoyable.

 

It will be interesting to see what rides are on SFMM's Q-Bot system.