The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[ArizonaGuy]

I would rather parking just not be included in the passes, and the toll be kept at a reasonable $10. But that's just my opinion. if SDC and HW can afford to maintain, and staff a Parking Lot and not charge anything to park, then SF can manage to charge $10.

 

I totally agree with you there. I remember back in the day (mid to late 90's) when parking at SFAW was $4 and SFFT was $5.

[Jew]

I would rather parking just not be included in the passes, and the toll be kept at a reasonable $10. But that's just my opinion. if SDC and HW can afford to maintain, and staff a Parking Lot and not charge anything to park, then SF can manage to charge $10.

 

They wouldn't charge $10 in Southern California.

[JeromyL]

They should just up the price of the tickets and offer free parking. Wouldn't they make more money if everyone paid it, instead of each car load?

[TopThrill182]

The Mountain seems to be adopting a fee-oriented business model more akin to what the airline industry is currently using: hook guests with a low admission price, then hit them with fees throughout their respective visits to make up for it. When researching an amusement park trip / vacation, I'd argue the most important determinant in that search (for most people) is the parks' admission prices. Admission to a park is generally the most significant cost and can often be the factor that causes a family to choose one park over another. $25 for parking in this case is, of course, ridiculous, but like having to pay for a tube to use in the lazy river at Hurricane Harbor, I think those fees remain secondary concerns that have less of a capacity to deter guests from visiting than do costly upfront admission tickets.

[Jew]

How dare a business make money!!!

 

Vegas hides its resort fees, airlines publish fares without the fees and taxes, hotels hide their parking fees. Even Buffalo Wild Wings charges for ranch and veggies on their promotion days. We don't like it, but we accept it, and ultimately it doesn't hinder our experience. In the case of SFMM, it's everything else that hinders the experience...

Edited January 2, 2014 by Jew

[TopThrill182]

I fully support SFMM, and any business for that matter, trying to make as much money as it possibly can. But ultimately, given the unapologetically crappy state of affairs at the park currently, I'm not sure how far SF management can really push that envelope...

 

Following the DC Universe revamp, along with other improvements in the years leading up to that, I had hopes SFMM was on the up and up. But after the embarrassment that was / is Full Throttle, I fear the park is regressing to its old ways: attend to its hollow Xtreme Park image while neglecting everything else.

 

With each passing year, the park's infrastructure (in my opinion) looks increasingly dilapidated and trashy (and, as mentioned above, Full Throttle's chain link fence theme isn't helping matters), thereby degrading the entire in-park experience. I love roller coasters as much as the next enthusiast, but I also believe a pleasant park environment is integral to my and others' enjoyment of a park. I'd love the see the park invest more in that environment, but I'm not sure what would ever convince current park management to do so...

[SharkTums]

^Exactly. It's totally fine for a business to make money and if SFMM is making money in its current state than good for them! But more and more of us are going to keep our dollars at other parks or activities until they clean up a bit.

 

Show of hands...who misses Jay Thomas!?!??!

 

::Raises Hand::

[DJeXeL]

[jynx242]

^

[JJ728]

I just called the park to clarify the season pass upgrade deal. The guy said that you must purchase the four passes by January 5th, but you must process them at the park by JANUARY 26TH, and you don't have to process all four of them at one time either.

 

I can't find any information on their website to confirm this.

[coasternut]

^^^^ I totally miss Jay, he was the best. I still go frequently, and enjoy myself with the Ice Queen in charge now. I just go for the rides...

[Manic Monte]

Isn't the current Park management a direct graduate of the Del Holland/Gary Story school of running SFMM? There is your problem right there. That parks doesn't need any more insiders who think it's as wonderful as ever. It needs more outsiders who can clearly see the problems.

 

I'd love to see what someone like Jack Falfas could do with the park.

[singemfrc]

I'm heading to SFMM for the first time in 3 years on Saturday or Sunday...hoping to just get YOLOcoaster, Green Lantern, Lex, and get out of there. Should be entertaining to see how difficult this may be?!?

If you're by yourself don't forget to use the Single Rider lines on Lantern and Lex. Will save you loads of time of there's any kind of queue. You can just hit YOLO first and then use the SR lines, theoretically you could be done in less than an hour.

 

Wow, wish I saw this.

 

I waited an hour for YOLOcoaster, 45 for Green Lantern, and 30 for Lex. Had no idea single lines existed!

 

I also rode Terminator and Tatsu before heading out. Oh yeah and got robbed by an ATM!

YOLO has no SR line, and Lex's SR line can sometimes still be a 15-20 min wait, but you can almost always get on Green Lantern within 5 minutes through the single rider line no matter what kind of que there is. They are pretty hidden though, most people have no idea any of them exist.

 

For future reference, for Lex, walk up the exit and on your left there will be a portable blue sign that says "Single Rider Line In Use Today" and you walk up to the chain in front of that sign and wait for the operator to assign you to a side.

For GL, you walk up the exit and go up the stairway with the blue sign at the bottom, it should take you to directly behind the operator who is dispatching trains. Sometimes you have to get their attention to let them know you're there but try not to distract them from doing their job if possible. When they tell you, you walk right past them and onto the row they specify.

Viper and Revolution never actually need a SR line, but you just walk straight up the exit for those.

 

I'm a huge fan of single rider lines, I often visit parks solo and I like being able to get on faster obviously, but I also like seeing the trains go out full which means everyone gets on faster, everyone wins. The only other parks I know that use them are Disneyland and California's Great America.

[Jew]

Isn't the current Park management a direct graduate of the Del Holland/Gary Story school of running SFMM? There is your problem right there. That parks doesn't need any more insiders who think it's as wonderful as ever. It needs more outsiders who can clearly see the problems.

 

I'd love to see what someone like Jack Falfas could do with the park.

 

I doubt it is that they "don't see the problem." The more accurate description would be "we keep costs down and build rides because that's what our new owners like---the stock price is through the roof since we went back to being a crappy park/chain!"

 

I miss the first few years of Jay Thomas. Towards the end of his tenure, the park was already reverting back to its old ways. Whether that was because he gave up because he couldn't get buy in from his troops, or corporate gave up on their new vision is up for debate.

[WFChris]

^Jew, do you know if KBF's investments are paying off? I think the only hope we have left is that SFMM sees that their infrastructure improvements are worth the investment. I'd love to see SFMM even...sorta kinda resemble a tiny bit...what it used to be. Like what Knotts is starting to do.

[CoasterKings908]

Show of hands...who misses Jay Thomas!?!??!

I do!

[Jew]

^Jew, do you know if KBF's investments are paying off? I think the only hope we have left is that SFMM sees that their infrastructure improvements are worth the investment. I'd love to see SFMM even...sorta kinda resemble a tiny bit...what it used to be. Like what Knotts is starting to do.

 

Cedar Fair's stock price is up since Kinzel and Co. nearly destroyed Cedar Fair, but that's an apples to oranges comparison. Knott's was a great family park for many years before Cedar Fair took things off track for awhile. Magic Mountain hasn't been known as family friendly for…30 years?

 

Again, there's no doubt SFMM is a terrible park. That is what happens when you pay your staff so little and don't invest in infrastructure. BUT, will any of us stay away when they build their next large credit? I am guessing the answer is no. They don't have to invest in anything because their business model is based on roller coasters. Everyone just sort of accepts all the crap that comes with those coasters.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Jew

[JeromyL]

I'll be heading out to Magic Mountain Jan 19th (need my coaster fix!). (And Knotts on the 18th of Jan)

[gisco]

I haven't bought a season pass in years. Nothing makes me want to go to that park more then once a year at most so it is not worth it. The park is just not some place I want to spend the day hanging out because of the environment. Clean up the park. Get better operators. (pay them more). Invest in something besides coasters. Maybe then I would buy a season pass again.

[Wes]

I haven't bought a season pass in years. Nothing makes me want to go to that park more then once a year at most so it is not worth it. The park is just not some place I want to spend the day hanging out because of the environment. Clean up the park. Get better operators. (pay them more). Invest in something besides coasters. Maybe then I would buy a season pass again.

 

This. I haven't been in basically 2 years at this point. It's not worth it.

[Jew]

I'm in the same boat. I went back for Yolocoaster, but didn't buy a pass. But I'll definitely come back at least once for their next big coaster.

[SFMMGeek27]

I was just there Wednesday, but I'm going back tomorrow!

 

Sure, it's not the best park, but it does have a great variety of coasters! People still love it because they know that the environment isn't going to be that great, but they are okay with that. This year will be down in attendance due to them not building a major new ride. That's just how it works.

 

And anybody out here will pay $20 for parking. Parking for LA Live downtown is $25+. People are used to it. When I went to DL and saw it was only $16, I was in shock and actually had extra $ since I was expecting $20 parking. I really want to change the park, but it's not going to because people aren't going to stop coming. Their competition has already dominated all other areas other than roller coasters. There's no "spirit" left in this park, it's entirely a business. But, since it works for them, they won't change, so we just will have to accept it.

 

After all, a credit is still a credit, even if it's on a parking lot or zooming around through trees on a mountain, right?

[Jew]

^Magic Mountain is like the uncle whose house you go to every year for a holiday dinner only because you feel obligated to do so for the sake of your family. I doubt many people "love" SFMM. BUT, as I've said, it's the only place to go locally if a person enjoys coasters---so it will continue to do decent business as long as they can afford to keep adding rides.

[singemfrc]

SFMM is what it is, which is just a park full of coasters. They clearly aren't trying to be anything else. If you just love riding high thrill roller coasters, then it's a great place to do that. If you want to do anything else, then there are plenty of other parks to visit.

With that in mind, the one thing that always jumps out at me is the lack of paint on highly visible rides. If Goldrusher hasn't been painted in 20 years it doesn't really matter cause its in the trees anyway..but when Tatsu and Scream are in desperate need of a paint job, you dont even need to be in the park, you can see it from the highway. It's an extremely visible blight.

 

Unrelated, I hear unconfirmed rumors that the Sky Tower may be closing permanently. They have semi-permanent barriers up in front of the que area. Glad I was able to finally visit it last time I was there in August for the first time, every time I had visited before over the years there had been a slight breeze so it was closed for weather.

[Vonni]

^ I'm surprised the Sky Tower has stayed around this long! I expected them to remove it eight years ago.