The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[alexinla]

They are just replacing the old kidssplash area at HH in the middle of the park. Flashback area has not been touched

[mike0mike]

Hey guys,

 

Visiting SFMM Friday may 21st (Coming down from WA), what are the crowds like? should I get a flash pass?

[SuperShawn]

^ I don't know about the crowds, but the 21st is the day of the AAA event. I would suggest either getting a ticket if you have AAA or finding someone who does to really make your day worth it. 6pm-midnight is a private AAA event in the park. Here's a link to the thread talking about the event: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54615

[mike0mike]

^I was just checking that out lol, I'm guessing since there is an AAA event, attendance might be slightly higher.

 

I don't have AAA, but know some people who do. Does anybody know if I need to present a AAA card or if I can just have my friend buy tickets for me?

[coasterfreak101]

Question for everyone: How are crowds the first/second week of June? I'm headed over to California from Saturday the 5th to Saturday the 12th, and we're hitting SFMM on Sunday and Thursday, I believe. Are California kids still in school? That'd be ideal. But if not (or if so), how are the lines around that time?

[Chrisrad]

I went around that time last year on a Sunday.

 

X2 was over an hour, as was Tatsu. Terminator, since it was a new ride, was about 45-60 minutes. Riddler was a good half hour or more.

 

It was 'busy', but manageable. We were able to ride all of the main rides.

[GoogleMickey]

Question for everyone: How are crowds the first/second week of June? I'm headed over to California from Saturday the 5th to Saturday the 12th, and we're hitting SFMM on Sunday and Thursday, I believe. Are California kids still in school? That'd be ideal. But if not (or if so), how are the lines around that time?

 

 

The LA school District still will be in school, but all the local schools right around Six Flags will be out by the 4th. You'll probably see some heavier crowds but not as bad as it will be after the 12th

[disney4me2001]

So while we're talking about summer crowds...how bad is it in early July? Obviously there's Independence Day, but what about say, July 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th? I have those days off from my summer school classes and me and a few friends are thinking about making a quick trip.

[gforce532]

Weekdays in July or just the summer in general usually have moderate size crowds. Some of the rides will have over a half a hour line, but its not really bad. I would spend the whole day and just about get on everything. Just avoid saturdays as much as possible. I once had gone on 4th of July weekend and it was very crowded, pretty much to the point that I didn't even have fun.

[AWill961]

They are worth every penny b=to the point where your talking to your group and saying things like " we've done ALL the rides and its only 3:00. lets go RE RIDE SOME RIDES!!!

 

That's strange...I've done that many times without a flash pass.

[ECZenith]

Saturday (5/15/)

 

Just got back from a great day at the mountain. Today about 10 of us Disneyland Attractions CMs from Adventureland and Frontierland [we wondered who was working Indy and Thunder today with all of us off... ] braved the Saturday crowds of SFMM and came out satisified.

 

We started at the back of the park where I was finally able to try out Terminator Salvation: The Ride. We waited about 45 minutes and I was lucky enough to get myself and my girlfriend into the front row without any extra wait, lucky me! The ride was short and sweet and a much needed replacement for Psyclone which I had ridden on my last visit. The first drop was great and I loved the tunnels. Fire effect was a nice touch and the preshow rooms actually were effective in killing some of the wait time. They were actually more themed and impressive than I had imagined with moving props and loud, intimidating audio all around you. Unfortunately on-board audio wasn't working today, would have liked to have heard it. While going up the lift I noticed a few pieces of Vekoma skater track off in a field, these of course being pieces of the yet-to-be built 2010 addition.

 

We made our way over to Jet Scream which had a 5 minute wait, and walked right onto Goldrusher which I feel is a bit under-rated. The track makes great use of the terrain and most of the layout is hidden which is a major plus IMO. Ninja had about a 30 minute wait. They were cycling the rolling advertisement train for the Karate Kid but not taking any passengers in it. I was also surprised to see a giant AXE body spray banner across Viper's beautiful station building, as well as the trains wrapped in advertisement skins. Not really a big deal, just didn't know they had done this on multiple attractions. As far as I'm concerned if this is healthy for the park and makes the park additional money to keep their collection of coasters looking as fresh and well-painted as they are now (Batman and Goliath look cleeeeean in new paint!) then I feel it's a fair deal. Speaking of looking fresh, I was super impressed to see a much better staff than I did several years ago on my first visit to SFMM. The park was much cleaner and well-staffed with security guards in the ride queues and energetic, smiling dispatchers in the stations.

 

We waited about an hour for our only ride on Tatsu. We rode at about 8 pm and the crew was energetic, friendly and most importantly, were getting those beautiful dragon trains out of the station as fast as their dispatch interval would allow. A major plus from its early days when loading seemed slower. This coaster is always worth the wait and I have to say that Tatsu's pretzel loop is still shockingly intense and my favorite moment on any coaster I've been on.

 

We saved X2 for last. I wanted to love X so much after the first time I rode it years ago but found the ride, while fun and intense, a bit too rough and shaky... I knew to expect a smoother ride and fire effects. I somehow had no idea that the ride had onboard audio and how amazingly well put together it was! Jim Morrison, Frank Sinatra, Aerosmith, and Metallica to name a few made up a twisted remix soundtrack to one of the most unique coaster experiences in the world. The wait time was posted at 2 hours but we waited 45 minutes. I was willing to wait the 2 hours for the remade X but was surprised to only wait less than half of that. Needless to say, my first flight on X2 was amazing. I rode on the inside of the car and it was nice and smooth except for one bump towards the middle of the circuit. This ride has been given a new life, and certainly deserved it giving it's difficult debut to the park. Fire effects and giant monitors in the station were awesome! Just an overall assault on the senses, could possibly be my new favorite coaster. The crew here was also noticeably energetic, efficient and friendly. Tatsu and X2 crews deserve recognition for being extra efficient with the park's big toys. They kept the busy Saturday crowds flowing through the queues with less than an hour wait time. Kudos to them and kudos to the entire park for continuing to improve dramatically.

 

Tomorrow it's back to work at Disneyland and while I'm sending out my EMVs at Indiana Jones Adventure, I will be just a little bit jealous I'm not dispatching those sweet X2 trains.

 

Thanks for a great time SFMM!

 

Pros:

*Improved Crews from last visit all around, coaster crews have always been decent here IMO

*Fresh paint on the coasters, rides looked fresh out of the catalog

*Wait times kept around an hour for major rides on a busy, hot Saturday

*Terminator packed a surprising punch, wow.

*Much cleaner park, visitors kept in check by many security guards preventing line jumpers

 

Cons:

*Wait times were mostly incorrect and way off, X2's wait time posted 2 hrs, actual 45 min, some wait times posted lower than actual

*Not too many entertainment options, wish there were some more shows

* locke rs should be free if we're forced to use them. Not that it's terribly expensive but it was a pain to fish out a dollar at the last minute. I miraculously discovered a dollar bill in my pocket for X2's lockers but had I not had a buck, one of us would have had to wait off to the side and hold everyone's stuff. Not a huge deal but

 

Wait times for Saturday May 15, 2 pm to 10 pm averages)

--------------

Batman The Ride: 50 mins

Scream: 40 mins

Tatsu: 60 mins

X2: 45 mins

Terminator Salvation: 45 mins

Ninja: 30 mins

Goldrusher: 5 mins

Goliath: 60 mins

Viper: 15 mins

Revolution: 15 mins

Jet Scream: 5 mins

Deja Vu (posted 90 (?), did not ride)

Riddler's Revenge (posted 45 did not ride)

Superman (posted 45 did not ride)

 

Questions or comments on what to expect on your future visit, please feel free to ask!

[ebl]

^ Just a note, I believe that X2 uses Harry Connick Jr.'s version of It Had to be You. But I'm glad you enjoyed your visit and that Ninja is back up and running.

 

Eric

[gforce532]

Wait times were mostly incorrect and way off, X2's wait time posted 2 hrs, actual 45 min, some wait times posted lower than actual.

 

Those wait time boards are completely pointless. Whenever I go I never look at those signs anymore. I just go by the length of line and how many trains they are running to make my own frequent visitor prediction. I would see guest (mainly the troubled teens) play around and change the time on those boards every now and then. Once in a while the employee at the entrance would be telling guest as they entered the queue the approximate wait time. It would seem that most of those boards post the wait time from that point in the line, not the overall wait time. It would be great to see the park someday get a system similar to Disney or Unversal.

 

It is great to hear from someone who hasn't been to the park in a few years to point out how much better the park has become. Being a frequent visitor to the park it is harder to notice some of the gradual improvements. And I'm glad you had a great time for a saturday visit.

Edited May 17, 2010 by gforce532

[RCFreak]

Me being a monthly visitor

 

This made me lol.

[FrightFest1408]

Th mist were working on terminator on friday when i went,But do you guys know that wierd turn after the second tunnel,The trains made a stratch loud noise.plus the audio on both trains weren't working.

[AWill961]

^ I was about to say.

 

50 minutes for Batman?

45 minutes for Riddlers?

 

Do these rides' lines get this long?

 

I've never seen them with long lines, ever. In 1998-2000, yes. But seriously.

[knottslover77]

^ I was about to say.

 

50 minutes for Batman?

45 minutes for Riddlers?

 

Do these rides' lines get this long?

 

I've never seen them with long lines, ever. In 1998-2000, yes. But seriously.

 

last time i was at the park Riddlers had a 2 hour wait, But that was 2 summers ago.

 

--Jay

[ebl]

Got bored and took a very unexpected second-in-a-week run out to SFMM. More crowded today than last week when I went, but not that bad.

 

Took the Orient Express up the hill to get my first ride of the year on Ninja. I rode the Karate Kid-wrapped train. Fun as always. Only waited a few trains to get on.

 

Just for grinsies, I rode Jet Stream and had Boat 10 all to myself. It's been ages since I rode that and it was fun. Didn't get too wet, either. During the ride, a Ninja train went right over me.

 

Terminator's line was maybe 15 minutes when I got in it. Both trains were running

 

Batman was almost a walk-on. Two trains were running, but I noticed four- to five-minute dispatch times. I don't like the new recorded spiel. It sounds almost like they took it from Terminator. ("Glider pilots?" "Utility belt?")

 

Colossus had a two- or three-train wait. Two trains were running.

 

Scream! ran two trains and the wait was less than 10 minutes. While riding it, I almost started laughing when I looked down at the parking lot below because I figured that it wouldn't matter if there was any other theming because the real parking lot is within view anyway!

 

Goliath was almost a walk-on---maybe a two- or three-train wait. Two trains were running.

 

X2 had a 15-minute wait at the most. Two trains were running; one with audio, one without. I got the silent treatment on my ride...

 

Eric

[RandallDuell]

Me being a monthly visitor

 

This made me lol.

 

Yes, me too. I immediately thought of good ole Aunt Flo. Very funny.

 

Is Goliath running well, lately? Has there been any rumors as to what they're going to do with Flashback's old area? I'm surprised that the new waterpark thing doesn't have anything to do with that piece of land. Are they using it for storage, or anything, right now?

 

Just found this site, and LOVE it. Incredible the amount of information here, it's actually a bit overwhelming!

[ebl]

^ Welcome RandallDuell. You probably already knew that the real Randall Duell was one of the people behind Magic Mountain in the first place, so it's appropriate that your first post here is in this topic.

 

Anyway, in my opinion, Goliath is running just as well today as it did in 2000 when it opened---and I was there on Media Day for it, too (in the rain, I might add...). The only thing different is that the mid-course brake is turned up vs. how it was ten years ago. But the ride is just as smooth as it was.

 

Eric

[nojarama]

I finally got to return to the park yesterday (seems like it's been almost 5 years methinks). A very fun-filled day and evening! Rode: X2 (long wait, but worth it IMO), Viper, Tatsu (rode for the first time ever-LOVE it!), Gold Rusher (a fave old school classic), Jet-Stream (to cool off- badly needs some TLC: the old boats and old paint floating the water is very bad show IMO), Terminator (very fun, not what I was expecting- the ghostly remains of the past horrid experiences of Psyclone still make me cringe), Riddler (always fun), Batman (ditto), Colossus (my fave of the classic old-school rides) and finished with Goliath (my second fave coaster of the park). Sadly, Revolution wasn't running anymore before we left (at around 8:00). Also wanted to ride: Scream, Deja-Vu and Log Jammer. Maybe next time!

[ebl]

^ I see by your location that you live close to me---we should meet up and go sometime, especially since we were both there yesterday.

 

One funny thing...I got to chatting with a guy who was there with his daughters---also from Camarillo.

 

Eric

[nojarama]

'Tis a small world indeed! I met up with a few fellow Disneyland passholders (how blasphemous of us... He-he!) I knew as well whilst running amok in the park. Next time I plan on going to MM, I will letcha know.

[cooksta77]

^^Eric I was looking at pictures of Goliath in 2000 and there was fog in the first tunnel. Since you were there on Media Day can you tell me if this is true? And if so why did they turn it off?

Andrew "I'm a effects freak" Iorio

[Top Thrill Dragster]

I rode Goliath during it's opening year and there was mist in the tunnle.