The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[TheErik]

You make it sound terrible. I can't stand the huge crowds and avoid SFMM altogether during the summer. If it's like that I'm gona swallow the 2 tickets and go home. Still gona take the gamble though

[RandallDuell]

Mountain Update:

 

All coasters are now running. Deja Vu opened today, and I rode it this morning. Typical busy Saturday. I'll return later today since they're open until 9. Quite chilly this morning.

 

Superman - Operations very sporadic

Tatsu - 1 train

"Pocky" - 1 train

 

Kind of an odd question, but can I ask what you do that you drop-in (and hangout) in SoCal as much as you do (considering you live in FL)? I've long wondered about the one guy who always posts about "possibly going there this weekend" all the time -- but you I find especially interesting. Obviously I have no right to expect an answer, I was just curious!

 

I have to say that the constant down time of multiple rollercoaster trains at the park is an amazingly consistent criticism of this park - and it's interesting that I don't read about this at any other "year-round/almost year-round" park (or at least not nearly as much). I know a lot gets said about the friendliness/speed of the employees, but is anyone else surprised that the whole "rehab" issue is such a big complaint, EVERY year? I agree that it seems inexcusable...just wondering if this is something ever brought up at any of the enthusiast-type events?

 

On another completely unrelated note, can anyone give me a rough estimate of where Magic Mountain's waterpark ranks amongst other SoCal waterparks? I know there is no defined list, just curious how it generally received in the area.

[coasternut]

Mountain Update:

 

All coasters are now running. Deja Vu opened today, and I rode it this morning. Typical busy Saturday. I'll return later today since they're open until 9. Quite chilly this morning.

 

Superman - Operations very sporadic

Tatsu - 1 train

"Pocky" - 1 train

 

Kind of an odd question, but can I ask what you do that you drop-in (and hangout) in SoCal as much as you do (considering you live in FL)? I've long wondered about the one guy who always posts about "possibly going there this weekend" all the time -- but you I find especially interesting. Obviously I have no right to expect an answer, I was just curious!

 

Not a problem, I'll answer. You're right I live 2500 miles away from "the Mountain." That's one he11 of a drive every morning. It is my home 6 Flags park, and my favorite park anywhere. My job allows me to travel all over the U.S. I've been working a lot in the LA area this year. I've been to Magic Mountain 15 days this year already. That is a record for me. I even vacation out here too. I'll be back for 2 more days this week.

 

As far as ride maintenance goes, all rides need periodic work. As other folks have said this park is open year round, so it's noticed more by the general public (GP). One ride that was only running 1 train for a long while was Riddler. It's been back to 2 train (full strength) operation for sometime now. This time early in the year is their "slow season." When summer comes most all rides will be at capacity.

[John Knotts]

Yeah people say the "year round" excuse is BS (and I know it's frustrating when you're in the park), but can anyone name another year round park with as many coaster trains as SFMM? There isn't another one in the world. It's simply a numbers game with that park. Each coaster, each designer, each coaster "type" has it's own timetable in which trains need to be rehabbed, and with 17 (soon to be 18) coasters all with at least 2 trains each (cept Deja vu)...well you can do the math, and NONE of it adds up to multiple trains running year round unfortunately.

 

SFMM should do like the Florida parks and order 4 trains for their larger, more popular coasters.

[Jew]

^It doesn't add up because SFMM doesn't want to pay to get it done. There are vendors they could turn to, or better yet, they could easily hire more people to get the job done. Stop making excuses. It's a business decision they are choosing to make. The cost to rehab the train probably fair outweighs the amount of money lost to pissed off guests. It's totally in line with the new managements emphasis on finances, but please don't try to spin it like it is some unique situation that's out of their control.

[RandallDuell]

^It doesn't add up because SFMM doesn't want to pay to get it done. There are vendors they could turn to, or better yet, they could easily hire more people to get the job done. Stop making excuses. It's a business decision they are choosing to make. The cost to rehab the train probably fair outweighs the amount of money lost to pissed off guests. It's totally in line with the new managements emphasis on finances, but please don't try to spin it like it is some unique situation that's out of their control.

 

Right, I totally get what you're saying - no matter how many operating days, and operating coasters, they have they COULD choose to schedule their "scheduled maintenance" a bit better. Or more efficiently. Or to get done faster. I just don't read about any other year-round/almost year-round park that consistently has so many "big" coasters running at 1 train (or in the case of DejaVu, down completely due to the nature of the ride). And in regards to DejaVu, who'd have guessed that Magic Mountain's maintenance department would be the last Six Flags crew working on that type of ride!?!

 

Thanks for the answers, by the way - that's quite a unique setup you have (living in FL, but getting to work in SoCal where your fav park just happens to be located)! Very cool.

 

On another topic, do we know where the old monorail vehicle are being stored? Are they up on the track somewhere, or have they been disposed of? It would have been a nice legacy of the Shapiro era if they had gotten that thing working again...I think the park needs it (or something like it).

[John Knotts]

^It doesn't add up because SFMM doesn't want to pay to get it done. There are vendors they could turn to, or better yet, they could easily hire more people to get the job done. Stop making excuses. It's a business decision they are choosing to make. The cost to rehab the train probably fair outweighs the amount of money lost to pissed off guests. It's totally in line with the new managements emphasis on finances, but please don't try to spin it like it is some unique situation that's out of their control.

 

Duh, of course it's a business decision..based on numbers neither you or I have access to. Don't act like SFMM is some stand alone entity that gets to make those decisions. It's a company wide decision based on a numbers game. and SFMM has the most coaster trains of any other park in the country, so being year round, of course rehab scheduals are going to run into off season operating hours. I'm not making escuses, it's common sense, parks with financial limitations don't have unlimited budgets, and the more trains you have that need schedualed maintanance, the more chance there's going to be a conflict. The fact is if you choose to visit SFMM between Nov-april (when most other parks are closed), you're going to have to deal with less trains available, whether you like it or not. As usual, we're talking about two sides of the same thing.

[Mechanic]

^^ The Metro trains were part of a backstage tour at WCB 2010. A quick search of the park index would probably bring up some pictures. Metro is not going to run again in any form according to the answers given during the Q&A sessions of the past several years' WCB events. The reason given is that it's simply not financially feasible to try to market the ride and recover any fraction of the cost to refurb the ride as it simply wouldn't equate to significantly more guests entering the park if it were operating. As I recall, no one even bothered to ask about it this year. (unless I just missed it)

[JJ728]

As I recall, no one even bothered to ask about it this year. (unless I just missed it)

You don't remember someone standing up and shouting Metro? Neal said does anyone know the answer? And the entire audience shouted "NOOOOOO!!!!!"

 

 

Returned from an intense day at Magic Mountain. I don't think I've spent a legitimate day at the mountain like this (except WCB, which is a little different). Brief report here:

 

Got to the park at 9:45. Was one of the first to enter the park, grabbed a Gold Flash Pass quick, and headed to Tatsu (one train of course) via Revolution exit. Got on it without having to use the pass, exited quickly, and headed to Apocalypse (also one train), without having to use the pass again. I exited and BEHOLD!!! Deja Vu reopened!! It wasn't available on the pass today, so I got on it with a one train wait (which turned out to be 10 minutes). Rant in next paragraph.

 

Deja Vu... I entered the station and went to the very back row. Immediately I overheard the ride operator complaining to another op that was being trained that they were understaffed. Two people working Deja Vu? (not counting one being trained). Wow. One more op would even make a huge difference. At least so the two ops don't have to be bouncing in and out of the control area. Overall, dispatches were slow to say the least, and the line had backed up to the entrance at over an hour when I checked later in the day. Maybe they got a third crew member later, but I didn't bother checking. On another bad note, Batman's crew was slacking, which it usually isn't that bad. I think the (very loud) person sitting in the row in front of me summed it up best: "Do you know what my favorite part of this ride is? Sitting here." ....you had to be there, it actually was pretty funny. Of course I have to add Tatsu to this list. At one point in the evening the seats in the station were stuck in the flying position. Superman's launches were super inconsistent. (hardy har har), but it was still running excellent with great speed and awesome forces. People in the station waiting were complaining (I don't blame them) about the Platinum Flash Pass people riding again without getting out of there seats. Probably increased about a half an hour to their wait time, especially the people waiting in the two seater row.

 

On a positive note, park was very clean and overall operating very smoothly. Rides running very well (as in being efficient) were Colossus (one train was on the lift hill when the other was on the second turnaround!), Apocalypse (when the train was in the station), Goliath, Ninja, Scream, and Riddler's. Didn't ride the front corner (or even walk through) to report on anything there (Revolution, Viper, and X2). Went up the Sky Tower to see if the museum was up, which it was still being renovated. Viper looked like there was a train on the tracks at all times. X2 looked a little slow, but I couldn't really tell. Lots of people on the paid attractions (Dive Devil and Cyclone 500) and playing the midway games. Park was bringing in some good profit there, which I thought was positive seeing people spending money on something other then admission and food. Had a good and long visit, stayed until closing. As I was leaving the tram crossing guard was talking to some guests and he seemed to think the park was open until 10:30 (??).

 

[edit]: Is it a bad thing that the ride op recognizes me in the single rider line for Riddler's?

[Mechanic]

I've got to be honest, I was nodding a bit during the WCB Q&A, but I do vaguely remember being awaken from my brief slumber by that particular moment now that you mention it. I've actually gotten a little numb to some of the "same old" questions that we hear year after year. It seems the park has too. The opening with Neal and Tim doing the bit with the restraints on Revolution was classic.

 

[Sir Clinksalot]

Spent a few hours at the park today as well:

 

Made the run to X2 when the park opened, the ride opened about 10:40 and we were on the 2nd train out.

 

Then headed up the hill and got 4 rides on Superman with only leaving the station once.

 

Rode Apocalypse, still only 1 train and then saw Deja Vu open.

 

Rode Deja Vu, crew seemed to be a bit better than what JJ728 reported yesterday, so that was good. My son has now ridden every coaster in the park (until the two new ones open).

 

Rode Colossus, and I have to say ... the re-tracking they did on the first two drops ... WOW. They were very nice and smooth. There were a couple of other parts where you could tell they had done some re-tracking throughout the ride, but the first two drops were the most noticeable improvements. I hope they end up doing the rest (and soon).

 

We also rode Goliath, Jet Stream and Log Jammer. The longest wait we had all day was for Apocalypse and that was due to the pre-show.

 

One thing I did notice, and it has me kind of worried, is the lack of popularity for Superman. The park spent a LOT of $$ on the ride, and it just doesn't seem to be that popular. Granted, I don't go to the park on busy days so I"m not sure how popular the ride is on those days. I did expect the park to be busier than it was today.

 

The reason I'm worried is because if they don't see a return on their investment on Superman they may not think putting any $$ into other older rides (Revolution/Colossus) is worth it. I hope that's not the case though as seeing those two rides return to their former glory would be spectacular.

[Todevod]

I'm heading out to SFMM tomorrow. Will it be crowded?

[SharkTums]

^It's another Spring Break week for some districts but not the 'BIG' Spring Break week so read over what other people have posted in this thread from the past week for a good game plan and you'll be okay. Just be prepared for one train operations.

[Todevod]

Alright So no ridiculous 2 hour lines for Goliath?

[SharkTums]

^Shouldn't be. That's one of the better capacity rides and crews in the park right now.

[Todevod]

Thanks for the info

[coasternut]

One additional item to add to the Magic Mountain critique by others. There was an incident on Riddler around 6PM today Sunday. A guest decided to jump the low fence where Freefall was to retrieve a hat (like most idiots). They had to hit the "e-stop" and "upset the apple cart." How stupid can the GP be??? I'm sure soon you'll see a taller fence in that area to slow down these idiots.

[coasternut]

Spent a few hours at the park today as well:

 

One thing I did notice, and it has me kind of worried, is the lack of popularity for Superman. The park spent a LOT of $$ on the ride, and it just doesn't seem to be that popular. Granted, I don't go to the park on busy days so I"m not sure how popular the ride is on those days. I did expect the park to be busier than it was today.

 

The reason I'm worried is because if they don't see a return on their investment on Superman they may not think putting any $$ into other older rides (Revolution/Colossus) is worth it. I hope that's not the case though as seeing those two rides return to their former glory would be spectacular.

 

You're right about the lack of long lines for Superman. If the ride was running more reliably, there would be no line at all. Not sure why the G.P. hasn't taken to it. They've done enough advertising out here. I feel they've done a great job, reinventing an old marginal ride. I love the change!

[killawhale925]

Superman's change to me doesn't seem like something that would bring a huge rise in attendance. Sure the experience is a little different It is more like an upgrade to the park, kind of like a new restaurant or the new versions of Tower of Terror. Not going to run to the park just to ride but if I'm already at the park I will definitely check it out. I think where we'll see some increase in attendance is in the opening of the Green Lantern: First Flight. Though even with this ride I'm wondering what will happen because as awesome the ride is, I don't understand why Six Flags put it in the one park in the country that already has a ride which has winged rotating seats (X2). Will the general public see at as something new? On a side note, I do like the name for the ride. The addition of First Flight makes me think that Six Flags put a little thought into how to connect the ride to the character. My interpretation is that the first flight is so noob for Green Lantern that there's no control and it's a little crazy. Thoughts?

[Tmcdllr]

One additional item to add to the Magic Mountain critique by others. There was an incident on Riddler around 6PM today Sunday. A guest decided to jump the low fence where Freefall was to retrieve a hat (like most idiots). They had to hit the "e-stop" and "upset the apple cart." How stupid can the GP be??? I'm sure soon you'll see a taller fence in that area to slow down these idiots.

 

 

Typical idiot disregarding warning signs and fences, risking their life (and causing a huge inconvenience for others) over a stupid hat! I hope security ejected that moron from the park.

[Jew]

The fact is if you choose to visit SFMM between Nov-april (when most other parks are closed), you're going to have to deal with less trains available, whether you like it or not. As usual, we're talking about two sides of the same thing.

 

Which other parks in their market are closed?

 

Just because it is a fact Six Flags is being cheap doesn't mean everyone should be OK with it. I've seen firsthand how much work can be done to a coaster in a week. I do actually have some firsthand knowledge of the maintenance department at SFMM. It CAN be done. Six Flags choosing not to do it is a reflection of the new management team. It's probably going to lead them right back into bankruptcy, but that's a story for another day...

 

The park is now open daily. It's spring break (which is the only reason I visited the park: my friend was on spring break). It's extremely frustrating for any guest to have 1 train running on any of the rides.

Edited April 11, 2011 by Jew

[JJ728]

Rode Deja Vu, crew seemed to be a bit better than what JJ728 reported yesterday, so that was good. My son has now ridden every coaster in the park (until the two new ones open).

 

Rode Colossus, and I have to say ... the re-tracking they did on the first two drops ... WOW. They were very nice and smooth. There were a couple of other parts where you could tell they had done some re-tracking throughout the ride, but the first two drops were the most noticeable improvements. I hope they end up doing the rest (and soon).

That's good to hear. It was opening day for the season so I guess I should have been a little nicer.

 

Colossus's retracking did make a big difference. It definitely had smoother drops then previously, which made a very nice ride. The MCBR was the only area I could see needs some improvement. I thought the train was going to fly off the track when it hopped up on the brakes!

[coasternut]

Good news!!! They're finally starting work on BJ's BBQ outside of the entrance to Riddler. They were taking down the Edwardo's sign when I was there. I miss the old BBQ place that was there last season.

 

Still no work on Green Lantern yet - nothing vertical.

[JJ728]

Good news!!! They're finally starting work on BJ's BBQ outside of the entrance to Riddler. They were taking down the Edwardo's sign when I was there. I miss the old BBQ place that was there last season.

 

Still no work on Green Lantern yet - nothing vertical.

It's good to hear of some progress. It seems like the park has been frozen in time in terms of construction lately. That BBQ was good, and lets hope this is just as good!

[Alonsolpz]

Hi.

I went to the park on Saturday and it was a great surprise to see Deja Vu running, and Superman Backwards it is a great upgrade, i rode superman a few years ago and i didn't like it very much but now it's a totally different experience, i really love it.

 

i get in to the park at 10 a.m. and i headed to Tatsu, i made a 20 minutes wait.

then i headed to Deja Vu hoping to see it running, the wait line was about 15 minutes.

 

And it was the same history in Riddlers revenge.

the next was batman, the wait line was minimum, but when it was my turn in the ride, something happened, the restraints stoped working, the operators unloaded the train and send it empty. after that everything was fine.

then the wait time in scream and colossus was really minimum.

 

Then Goliath, i made a 1 Hour wait, while i was waiting i saw superman running one side, and then, both sides start working, and it was nice to hear the noise of the speed.

after riding goliath i took a break to get something to eat.

 

after a nice chicken strips i head to Viper, and it was definitively, the most painfully ride i've ever had.

the restraints hurt my shoulders, and the ride was really really shaky, i ended up dizzy.

after that weird experience i ran in to X2, and the wait it was the longest of the day 1 hour and 40 minutes. but it worth every single minute. i rode X and i loved it but now X2 was way better.

i really loved the sound track, and the heart beat before the first drop was awesome.

 

After that great ride, i headed to SEFK, with both sides running i made a 60 minutes wait.

the acceleration was awesome, and G force that it feels it's just great, but the most amazing thing is the view from the top, that makes the ride perfect.

 

After a great experience in SEFK i went to Apocalypse, and besides the torture of the wait and the pre-show, the ride is really funny, and in the night makes it even more funny. and i ended up with a big smile in my face.

 

The last ride was tatsu again, and riding it in the night was great.

i hope to return to the park in the summer.

thanks and sorry for the bad grammar..