The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[bhslhs]

I wouldn't know. I've only been to the park once sadly enough , but I will say that the helix is very intesne, thats for certain.

[alexinla]

I was there for Goliath opening pressevent when it was pouring down rain and the midcourse brake hardly touched the train. GForces were insane that day, will never forget it!

[atem122]

^That is funny, cause I have never blacked out on a coaster and tried really hard to once on Goliath. I failed

 

Was the MCBR always trimmed so hard, or is that a recent occurrence? I just seem to remember when I was back there awhile ago that the helix was significantly more intense than it was when I was there in March.

It has been slowed down a ton due to the extreme forces in the helix, I mean no ride designer in the right mind would brake a ride that hard on the MCBR unless they direly had to

[themeparkman25]

^Time Machine is a pretty hard trim on the MCBR. Though I don't know if I could necessarily relate the two having rode them so far apart in time.

[coolcalicoaster]

^That is funny, cause I have never blacked out on a coaster and tried really hard to once on Goliath. I failed

 

Was the MCBR always trimmed so hard, or is that a recent occurrence? I just seem to remember when I was back there awhile ago that the helix was significantly more intense than it was when I was there in March.

 

Why the hell would anyone want to black out on a coaster

[doh91105]

Last few times I rode Goliath, it pretty much stopped on the MCBR which made that dive off the brakes feel like Flashback's dive turns. But I can see why -- when it first opened, that final spin was incredibly intense.

 

It seems that they have also slowed Viper, Colossus, and Revolution over the years too. Last time I rode Viper, it crawled through those corkscrews and I really thought Colossus would get stuck on that final turn before the bunny hills.

 

I think I must be lucky -- I've never found Scream to be rough or shaky at all... in fact I much prefer it go something like Riddler's or Tatsu. It's not super thrilling, but has a good balance of elements, transitions, and speed -- and is way more comfortable than Tatsu / Riddler's "riding position" gimmick. My only issue is riding it three times in a row, it gets a little nauseating.

[Calicoasters]

I've been riding Goliath ever since it opened, and I don't recall a time where the MCBR wasn't an intense stop. The drop following has always been slow and pretty scary on the left side of the train.

 

Then again, I was pretty young when Goliath first opened and though I loved coasters, I didn't pay too much attention to detail.

[alexinla]

Trust me on that one, the mid course break did not "almost stop the train" you when it first opend, it was rather intense

 

There is a video of Goliath in 2000 POV, here on TPR

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22603

 

As you can see, the midcourse break slowed the trains down but not even close to on how it is done these days. Plus on Media Day they were even less "on"

[themeparkman25]

 

Why the hell would anyone want to black out on a coaster

 

I am not really sure, maybe just as experience? I mean you hear and see people all the time on that ride about their experience, and I felt left out. I still feel left out.

[coolcalicoaster]

^If that makes you feel left out you should seek some help! No offense

[GivenOneChance]

^ Hearing that you wish you could have blacked out gives me the creeps. I never blacked out on a ride, I wouldn't want to. Because I really don't know what it is like. Sure, you hear accounts from other people...but still, that's something I don't aspire to experience when I venture to ride a particular ride.

 

If you really feel like you're lacking the ability to relate just because you can't black-out with you friends, you have some issues. There's a lot more to talk about and relate to than whether you blacked-out or not. Keep in simple, talk about how enjoyable the ride was or something... for starters.

[CreditCrazy]

How close have any of you guys gotten to blacking out on Goliath's helix. I got really close one time when I wasn't really paying attention because I was watching Colossus for some reason. I heard from an operator that they have 2 or 3 people black out on Goliath everyday. Also, do you guys have methods of handling the g forces. What I do when I'm ready for it is flex really hard and squeeze my toes to keep the blood flow out of my legs.

 

I black out nearly every time I ride Goliath. It's no big deal, I'm used to it and it adds a whole new thrill to the ride. It's like the helix is in a tunnel for me. I can understand why someone would be jealous.

[doh91105]

Yeah, it's a pretty dramatic difference from its early runs -- but again, it's clear why they needed to do that. I can certainly relate to some of those near-black-out moments -- now it's much more tolerable. Still a fun ride!

 

On the other rides, I'm not so sure. Most of the extreme face punching on Revolution takes place before it hits those brakes, so the purpose is clearly not to enhance the rides comfort. Same with Viper -- the MCB and that brake before the corkscrews only seem to draw out the violence even more. I actually found it more tolerable when it went through those transitions quicker -- now you're hanging in the restraint as it crawls through that last corkscrew. Of course I would only assume that the intent is to minimize the wear and tear of the tracks / trains.

 

The neutering of Colossus actually seems more structural, though. I swear that first drop used to be steeper back in the day.

[GivenOneChance]

Does anyone think Colossus is going to need a major fix or refurbishment or something any time soon (atleast to its track)?

 

Riding that ride scares me. I don't know how to explain much about this ride, but if you've rode it lately, it just seems to me its life is limited before some type of fix is required.

[ZeroG001]

I think Colossus should get a little fixed up, too. It was actually surprisingly fun, and smoother than Ghostrider to me. The last turn is really slow, though. That was one of the most boring parts of any ride I've ever been on. The lap bars also hurt my thighs every time we went down a drop.

[stuartnz]

I love Colossus. There are some great drops on that thing

[cooksta77]

I actually would love to see Colossus get some love. Even a new coat of paint would be nice because to be honest it's not a bad ride just an old, rickety, wooden coaster.

Andrew "I say redo the whole Colossus County Fair area" Iorio

[rba13]

I think Colossus should get a little fixed up, too. It was actually surprisingly fun, and smoother than Ghostrider to me. The last turn is really slow, though. That was one of the most boring parts of any ride I've ever been on. The lap bars also hurt my thighs every time we went down a drop.

 

I was on it a couple days ago and I thought my thighs were going to break. I could see someone getting seriously hurt something isn't done about it.

[ebl]

I was at SFMM today, and no one in our group wanted to ride it, even with a barely minimal wait. Honestly, it's really sad that what was once such a great ride is no more than an overgrown kiddie coaster.

 

And a rough one at that.

 

Regarding today's visit to the park, waits were all but non-existent, except for X2, which was only running one train. We got two rides on Terminator within ten minutes, about a three-train wait on Goliath, and a two-train wait on Scream! We didn't spend much time there, but it was nice getting to see the brother-in-law and niece.

 

Eric

[cooksta77]

Regarding today's visit to the park, waits were all but non-existent, except for X2, which was only running one train.

Does anyone know why X2 is only running one train? Is it just because they think there won't be huge lines or what?

Andrew "I hope they are running 2 trains on the 11th" Iorio

[Top Thrill Dragster]

Does anyone know why X2 is only running one train? Is it just because they think there won't be huge lines or what?

 

They are just being cheap and lazy.

 

X2 should be running 2 trains at all times. Its just way too popular there really is no excuse for 1 train operation especially when the ride has 3 trains.

[brand4d2]

I was at SFMM today, and no one in our group wanted to ride it, even with a barely minimal wait. Honestly, it's really sad that what was once such a great ride is no more than an overgrown kiddie coaster.

 

And a rough one at that.

 

Regarding today's visit to the park, waits were all but non-existent, except for X2, which was only running one train. We got two rides on Terminator within ten minutes, about a three-train wait on Goliath, and a two-train wait on Scream! We didn't spend much time there, but it was nice getting to see the brother-in-law and niece.

 

Eric

 

Actually, X2 was running 2 trains later in the day when I had my mini marathon of 3 straight rides. This was around 2-3 pm, by the way and all 3 rides were walk ons!

 

I had a great day and set a personal best with 33 rides, including 7 on Terminator.

 

I'm joining the club of those of us who can't take the outside seat on X2 anymore.

[GivenOneChance]

Colossus is the only ride where I feel the butterflies in the stomach thing. Whatever that is when you feel that weird sense in your stomach, chest prior to descending down a drop. Therefore I value it for that. Haha.

 

I lost that feeling on rides like Goliath and Deja Vu several years ago. I think it has something to do with riding Perilous Plunge 13x straight one time at Knotts.

[bhslhs]

My one ride on Colossus had me thinking one thing. . . why did I do that? It was very painful. When I got back to the hotel in the middle of the day I was actually a little bruised up on the sides of my ribs. They weren't like bruised to the point were I looked like a full back in the NFL, but there were a few spots of bruises. My dad seemed to think it would be a good idea to go on it, maybe its because the line was a zero train wait, but I guess that made him and me even for me convincing him to go on Batman for the first ride of our trip. But anyways, I think its kind of funny how the two roughest rides in the park are next to eachother. I could tolerate Scream! so I enjoyed it, but Colossus was just too much. How bad was Psyclone? It sounds like it had quite the reputation for pain. And for X2 should be running two trains all of the time, I'm sure they would if they could. If there isn't two trains running on the most popular ride in the park, there's probably a good reason for it.

[CreditCrazy]

My opinion on Colossus:

 

I hate the ride. It has to be one of my least favorite coasters and I rarely ride it anymore. It's not as rough as some other woodies (Ghostrider, Mean Streak, Voyage, Legend) and the roughness isn't even the main reason I hate it. It's the layout! I hate these out and back racing coasters like Racer at KI and Colossus. They can be rough but most of all they get really boring and they don't have any airtime. Colossus has a decent first drop but it is so loud you have to cover your ears and the MCBR is really strong. I'd say the least rough/most enjoyable spot to ride Colossus in is the back but really in every spot it is pretty bad woodie.