The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[Tmcdllr]

I was going too say that you seen to have a lot of anger, but you know what... I kind of agree with your comments and nothing is more frustrating than when a park build up a new ride, then when it does open it doesn't live up to the hype and what's interesting is many new rides sound like they are going to be incredible but turn out to be almost half assed done. This ride was billed to go 100 mph, but it doesn't for whatever reason, and that's a shame. Over marketing? Expectations too high? ...maybe both.

[John Knotts]

100 mph or not, the problem is that the ride is a one trick pony so the appeal was limited from the start. After you ridden it once or twice, the novelty simply wears off. I found the same thing (to a lesser extent) with TTDand KK. One trick and you're done.

 

I like the ride because it's fun to see how scared people are "before" they ride it.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

So I guess with the money going into Superman, my hopes of seeing an Intamin rocket in the near future are getting that much dimmer...I hope this works out for the park.

[Midgetman82]

I could be wrong, but it seems like it would really add a lot to the ride -- which the GP may or may not figure out depending on how MM promotes it. Knowing them, they'll stick a flamethrower and some speakers on it somewhere and pimp it out as a whole new experience etc.

 

Don't forget the random flamboyant buildings!

[ANJLOVER14]

I don't know why everyone is hating on superman. I always liked the launch, and looking back over the park. Plus the minuscule wait in the last couple of years is a definite plus.

[SharkTums]

So I guess with the money going into Superman, my hopes of seeing an Intamin rocket in the near future are getting that much dimmer...I hope this works out for the park.

 

Most likely yes, but don't give up hope on Intamin rides at the park just yet!!!!

[ebl]

Just to briefly derail the Superman discussion, I was at the park today with a friend. We arrived at opening and left about 6-ish. During our visit, we didn't ride much---Viper, Tatsu, Terminator, Batman, Riddler, Colossus, and Ninja. We didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for anything we rode, though we did notice that a couple of lines got longer later on. Tatsu was only running the left station, but opened the other one later. We also went up in the Sky Tower for awhile. X2's wait got to be over an hour so we skipped it.

 

My friend had not been inside Studio 6F, so we stopped in to get flavored Cokes. I got Caffeine Free Diet Coke with orange and he went with regular Coke with raspberry. That soda machine was a good idea.

 

One curious note: Deja Vu was closed, and there was a barrier blocking people from getting near the entrance of it. A sign next to the barrier said that the ride was closed and will reopen Spring 2011. Another rehab? An unannounced project? Hmmm...

 

It was strange being at SFMM without the loud noise of Superman. I wonder how much the noise will change if the cars are going in reverse (probably not much to be honest).

 

Eric

[Midgetman82]

^For the noise, I also bet not much. I'd hate it if they made the ride quieter, or just quiet, then it's boring. To me, the loud jet noise makes the ride better somehow.

[atem122]

^You can't really hear it while you're on the ride...and when you're off the ride, it's unbearably loud.

[ghost007jas]

^For the noise, I also bet not much. I'd hate it if they made the ride quieter, or just quiet, then it's boring. To me, the loud jet noise makes the ride better somehow.

 

They could put TOGO Stand-Up trains on that ride, take the audio away, and I'd be one happy camper.

[coasterking2981]

 

One curious note: Deja Vu was closed, and there was a barrier blocking people from getting near the entrance of it. A sign next to the barrier said that the ride was closed and will reopen Spring 2011. Another rehab? An unannounced project? Hmmm...

 

Maybe they might be continuing work on Mr Six's DanceCoaster? I know it won't go vertical for another couple months, but maybe it'll be like what they did when Terminator was going up.

[cbhunny]

Planning a trip mid June 2011. I think school gets out down there the end of May....? Anyone know if it will still be busy during the week then?

[atem122]

The LAUSD gets out on June 24th next year, so it wont be THAT busy, but a lot of schools will be out by then, so it wont be empty.

[cbhunny]

Oh awesome! Thank you! This will be my first time so SFMM so I'm super excited! Gotta long time until then to wait though lol

 

The LAUSD gets out on June 24th next year, so it wont be THAT busy, but a lot of schools will be out by then, so it wont be empty.

[coasterfreak101]

^I just went out to California this past June, from the 5th-12th. Minus the Disney parks, lines were pretty minimal all over. For SFMM, the longest waits we waited in (on a Thursday - we went the previous Sunday but got a FlashPass) were probably 30mins for Tatsu and the same for X2, though I think that the X2 line got to be almost two hours long later in the day. That's one you HAVE to hit first thing / last thing, and you won't have to wait in much of a line at all.

[kf2010]

It was strange being at SFMM without the loud noise of Superman. I wonder how much the noise will change if the cars are going in reverse (probably not much to be honest).

 

Until they remove the center rail on the track, the noise won't change at all.

[The Big So-So]

I spent a few hours at SFMM today, and Superman was testing the whole time I was there. It's still got the old cars going forward, but it was reaching significantly further up the tower than it has been in recent years.

[cbhunny]

Thank you!

 

^I just went out to California this past June, from the 5th-12th. Minus the Disney parks, lines were pretty minimal all over. For SFMM, the longest waits we waited in (on a Thursday - we went the previous Sunday but got a FlashPass) were probably 30mins for Tatsu and the same for X2, though I think that the X2 line got to be almost two hours long later in the day. That's one you HAVE to hit first thing / last thing, and you won't have to wait in much of a line at all.

[Gmaster562]

I spent a few hours at SFMM today, and Superman was testing the whole time I was there. It's still got the old cars going forward, but it was reaching significantly further up the tower than it has been in recent years.

 

What do you mean sagnificantly?

[ebl]

^ Of course I wasn't there today (I was yesterday, but there was no testing), but I'd guess that the cars probably got close to the brakes at the top of the tower during this testing.

 

We used to use the structural segments of the tower to gauge how far up the cars went, and often they used to reach halfway into the third segment. As you can see in this picture, the brakes cover the first and second segments.

 

Until the ride stopped running this year, it rarely got higher than the fifth section from the top.

 

Eric

[robbalvey]

Not sure if anyone saw the photo from the Tower of Terror thread, but some new photos have been posted to THIS WEBSITE

 

Is this what the Superman car could look like?

[Tmcdllr]

My questions would be....

 

Would this require completely new cars or is this just a matter of turning some things, or the entire cars around? On that other ride, did they re-use the cars or are they new ones?

[robbalvey]

Looking at the wheel assembly it would appear to be a totally new car.

[kf2010]

^Thanks for that link, Robb. Very interesting indeed.

 

Would this require completely new cars or I'd this just a matter of turning some things, or the entire cars around? On that other ride, did they re-use the cars or are they new ones?

 

To me it looks like those ToT cars are brand new. First, notice the size of the wheels and the wheel assemblies. No more 18" or 24" bulky wheels, and no more heavy axle along the rear and front of the car. The train is much more open, and the seating arrangement of the rear row loses a seat. It doesn't appear as if the frames are the same after looking at the space between the center of the car and the track.

 

Now, I'm not sure if Superman would require new cars per-se, but if they planned on improving the ride experience aka getting the cars further to the top of the tower, and I would assume that they would want the car to weigh less. It looks like that's what they did with the ToT car, and it may be what SF does to S:TE as well.

 

Also with the backwards launch requires a new restraint system, thus it may be more monetarily feasible to just get a whole new train with the new restraints installed, instead of trying to add them aka Revolution style which could pose problems with the computer safety systems.

 

As for the photo EBL shared, and the counting of structure sections to tell how high the car has gone, I thought some of you would enjoy this photo that proves the cars did actually make it up to the brakes at one point in time. It also shows how the trains used to launch simultaniously. As you can see, the ride had MUCH more to it when it when it was first running than it did the 10-12 years or so after.

 

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

My guess would be new trains. If you have to add OSTR's, the seats would need to be further apart, which would call for wider trains. With the effort and resources going into modifying the existing train, it would be more practical to replace it.

 

Also, as far as the theme goes, I'm a pretty big comic buff. If S:TE isn't getting a Bizarro overhaul, calling it Superman/Doomsday would be pretty cool and could lead to all kinds of storylines. It could link the backward train replacing the old one...Just a thought.