The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[gisco]

^QFT!

[chickenbowl]

FT doesn't even open for AT LEAST another 7-8 months and we are already talking about flipping the cars backwards? Construction hasn't really even started yet. Sheesh.

 

I thought people were joking about that. Haha, that's a terrible idea.

[Wes]

What if they gave Full Throttle the RMC treatment?

[Manic Monte]

And let's hope they retrofit the lap bars with OTSR.

[MrSum1_55]

Full Throttle sideways!

[Wes]

On-board audio would make it better. And fire.

[simaticable]

On-board audio would make it better. And fire.

Fire? What about explosions?

[rustyinpeace]

What about they put in a flaming loop at the top of the "tophat"/loop for the train to go through, oh and they can also intsall a rocket at the end of each train to make them go even faster through the track!

[smallish]

I'm thinking about going to Hurricane Harbor tomorrow, but now I'm thinking about that Gold Pass. If you buy the 2013 Gold Pass now, I know you get admission to Magic Mountain in 2012, but do you also get Hurricane Harbor and parking for 2012?

 

Because if you do...well, $30 for Hurricane Harbor tomorrow, $17 for parking tomorrow, $40 for Magic Mountain in 2013 to ride Full Throttle, $17 for parking for THAT trip...well, that's already $104. Can the 2013 Gold Pass cover all of that?

[SLUSHIE]

Enjoy Gold Pass benefits including Hurricane Harbor admission, Season Parking, unlimited visits for the rest of 2012 plus all of the 2013 season with no blackout days, over $300 in park discounts and free admission for friends on select days. Available with 12 Easy Payments!

 

Sounds like it but to be sure... (661) 255-4100

[smallish]

Thanks for the phone number, there actually was somebody there ready to answer my question, even at 8PM on a day when SFMM wasn't even open!

 

And apparently the answer is yes! Is it just me, or does the Gold Pass seem like a REALLY good deal?

[singemfrc]

Thanks for the phone number, there actually was somebody there ready to answer my question, even at 8PM on a day when SFMM wasn't even open!

 

And apparently the answer is yes! Is it just me, or does the Gold Pass seem like a REALLY good deal?

All the season passes are always a great deal if you plan on visiting any park more than once.

[rustyinpeace]

You know, I was recently at Pacific Park (Santa Monica Pier), and rode their only roller coaster. (which went excruciatingly slow.) and noticed that while entering the final brake run, the train pops up and gives some decent airtime for it's speed. This makes me wonder how SFMM can let little rides like that get away with more airtime then they already have.

[Manic Monte]

Has Apocalypse suddenly vanished from the park? Certainly not an airtime machine, but let's not act like SFMM has no airtime at all.

[LaMapa]

^Apocalypse doesn't have much airtime, even in the back. Colossus has some insane airtime on the first drop in the back row. You gotta try it out!

[alpengeist04]

Apocalypse is definitely not a airtime machine, but it has a couple decent moments. ...It's probably my favorite coaster in the park too.

[XYZ]

Apocalypse has some good abrupt floater airtime on that first small hill, but it really doesn't have that much airtime after that.

[MrSum1_55]

Pocky is a good ride, but it is one of the weaker new GCI's, IMO. It starts off excellent, but seems to lose much of its pace after the fly-through. Also, I have never gotten any airtime past this point, aside from one small pop on the dip out of it. Hopefully, Gold Striker will demonstrate the full potential of what GCI can do.

 

With the mountain's trend of liking to build cheaper rides, I do wonder what they will come up with next, because they clearly want thrill rides, but want to look for the most thrill for best value. I wonder what other ride designs offer high thrill for low cost. Hmmm

[XYZ]

With the mountain's trend of liking to build cheaper rides, I do wonder what they will come up with next, because they clearly want thrill rides, but want to look for the most thrill for best value. I wonder what other ride designs offer high thrill for low cost. Hmmm

 

I agree, if you look at SFMM's recent history of new rides, they are relatively cheap after Tatsu.

 

2006 - Tatsu ($21 million)

2007 - Nothing

2008 - X2 ($10 million)

2009 - Terminator ($10 million)

2010 - Nothing

2011 - Green Lantern/Superman: EFK ($10 - 15 million)

2012 - Lex Luthor (less than $10 million)

2013 - Full Throttle (around $15 million)

2014 - Some speculation it will be Sky Screamer (less than $10 million)

 

Six Flags management is definitely doing the "quantity over quality" strategy. So, I doubt we'll see anything very major anytime soon.

[AllenA07]

I'm just curious but where are you all finding the cost per ride? Generally that isn't something that is made public.

[Werner]

Well cheaper doesn't mean that things are worse then more expensive rides. And when you only build bigger and bigger you will go bankrupt anytime soon... So in this case for me less is more! I'll rather see some smaller new rides in every SF park then only 2/3 big rides in 2/3 parks and the rest getting nothing. It's like what Premier did with the SF name, build fast and BIG! and then almost go bankrupt because peeps and fans always want more from you and build it even bigger!

 

And about having a lack of airtime in SFMM? Blame B&M for that!

[XYZ]

I'm just curious but where are you all finding the cost per ride? Generally that isn't something that is made public.

 

Tatsu - Cost on RCDB page

X2 - Linky

Terminator - Cost on RCDB page

Green Lantern/Superman: EFK - Estimated numbers, DDD costed $9 million (according to RCDB), so I don't expect ZacSpins to cost much more. Superman's transformation probably costed much less than X2 since the trains and paint would both have a much smaller cost on Superman than X2. Trains are cheaper because they are much smaller and less complicated. Paint is cheaper because Superman has a smaller structure than X2.

Lex Luthor - It shouldn't cost much since SFMM didn't build a big cylinder but rather use Superman's structure, so costs will be much less. I don't expect this to be more than $10 million.

Full Throttle - Superman (SFDK) costed $6 million, so I wouldn't expect Full Throttle to cost anymore than $15 million. It would be much more expensive than Superman because of the longer length and more trains, but since Superman was pretty "cheap", I would expect Full Throttle to not cost much. Also, Full Throttle doesn't have that long of a length.

Sky Screamer - I really don't think this costs more than $10 million.

 

See, I don't post numbers just from the air, I have sources to back it up.

[A.J.]

But the costs you came up with for Green Lantern, Superman Escape from Krypton, Lex Luthor Drop of Doom, Full Throttle, and Sky Screamer (basically every one you didn't have a legitimate source for) were all based on speculation and assumptions.

 

Magic Mountain knows what they're doing. They want to build a record-breaking (which it is - tallest vertical loop) spectacle of a ride. We may not think it's cool, but we only represent a fraction of the population that goes through Magic Mountain's gates every day. People will flock to the ride to experience the vertical loop and the backwards launch. It will probably be featured in some sort of Travel Channel special, which will give it even more exposure and it will be called one of the US's "most extreme coasters", which will make it even more popular.

 

Also, what's up with this "quality vs quantity" argument? I understand that people would want them to improve the atmosphere of the park, but I certainly don't think that Magic Mountain has added any attractions of "bad quality" in recent years...

[Manic Monte]

^ Yeah I don't get that notion either. I think they have actually been very creative with the limited budget they have been given. My only real gripe the last few years has been capacity, the park is really overdue for a people eater, as Tatsu turned out to be anything but. That is the one "cost cutting" trend that I think really hurts the parks yearly operation. When it's time to pull a train from Full Throttle for rehab, it's essentially a single train operation without apologies.

 

Still, I think spending less, yet still coming up with ways to build "talked about" rides is very smart. Even the Rocky Mountain conversions are surprisingly cheap. If SFMM wants to go all out next time, I think Colossus will be the way to do it.

[Werner]

Even the Rocky Mountain conversions are surprisingly cheap. If SFMM wants to go all out next time, I think Colossus will be the way to do it.

 

That would be so awesome! A duelling RMC overhaul!

 

It's twice the fun...