The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[JeromyL]

So. Was on Luther and ride goes up 10 feet and gets stuck. Then. Last ride on superman. Only excelerates about 50mph. And barely makes it up the curve in the tower Lol. Gets stuck halfway to the station for 15 min. At least they switched us to the other side and relaunched. Rofl

[rustyinpeace]

^ Hey, at least you can say you've experienced a rollback on S:EFK!

 

Oh wait....

[nachos26usa]

Can you grab me a few of last years maps and mail them to me?

[GreatAmericanCoaster]

Hi, I'm Great American Coasters and I'm new to TPR. I will only post park updates on this thread.

Bonzai Pipelines parts are behind Tornado!

[RollerCoasterAwesome]

^Maybe that's why the crane was out by Colossus.

[SbSteveZ]

^ Hey, at least you can say you've experienced a rollback on S:EFK!

 

Oh wait....

 

that's hysterical.

[JeromyL]

Two ride failures with me on it. Now I'm getting ready to board a flight back to Vegas. (NO ROLLBACKS PLEASE)

[AusCoasterFan]

In regards to the seatbelt-lapbar issue, for me it would make sense to have signs on the back of the seat in front of you, telling you not to lower the lapbar till your seat-belt has been checked too. Also for busier days, have an instructional video playing on TV screens, instructing riders to not bring on loose items, move to the last seat in the row and to NOT LOWER YOUR RESTRAINT TILL THE RIDE OPERATOR TELLS YOU!

 

Another option it to see if there is a possibility to lock the lapbars up so it is physically impossible to lower them until the ride operators are satisfied with the seatbelts.

Or else, they can copy those inverter rides, where the buckle is positioned on the outside of the train, and the seatbelt correspondingly is positioned on the outside of the lapbar. This would allow the lapbar to be lower and the seatbelt to be buckled all in one hit...

[gerstlaueringvar]

Premier's older coasters have the belts attach to the side metal bar of the lap bar on the out side and I think they worked pretty well. Both Mr.Freezes and Poltergeist has pretty high capacity thanks to the restraint design. I wonder why they stopped using that?

[GayCoasterGuy]

^I would guess that having a 2nd, completely separate restraint is the reason. If the lap bar isn't down far enough, a belt attached to the bar isn't going to help. The seat belt should go around a bigger person's waist, while the lap bar may still be resting on their belly

[singemfrc]

^^^ I have no doubt that future Premier coasters at Six Flags parks will be designed for seat belts, but I don't think that Six Flags will invest the time and money necessary for those upgrades to the current coasters when they can just keep doing what they're doing.

[Vonni]

In regards to the seatbelt-lapbar issue, for me it would make sense to have signs on the back of the seat in front of you, telling you not to lower the lapbar till your seat-belt has been checked too.

 

 

That does sound like a good idea in theory, but honestly, how many people follow the directions on the back of the seat in front of them? For example, I have seen lots of Coasters have sign on the seats that say "Hold on to lap restraint" and "Keep head against head rest". I almost always hold my hands up (as do most people) and I never place my head against the head rest. So, I still don't think that would solve the problem of pulling the lap bar down prematurely.

[gerstlaueringvar]

In regards to the seatbelt-lapbar issue, for me it would make sense to have signs on the back of the seat in front of you, telling you not to lower the lapbar till your seat-belt has been checked too.

 

 

That does sound like a good idea in theory, but honestly, how many people follow the directions on the back of the seat in front of them? For example, I have seen lots of Coasters have sign on the seats that say "Hold on to lap restraint" and "Keep head against head rest". I almost always hold my hands up (as do most people) and I never place my head against the head rest. So, I still don't think that would solve the problem of pulling the lap bar down prematurely.

But that's because you are an enthusiast. GP just know it's a coaster that goes upside down two times(arguably three times) with the worlds tallest loop. But for an enthusiast, we know the right position to ride Maverick, put hands up but not to the side, lean back on most coasters but not rough woodies that we need to avoid body contact with the trains etc etc.

 

If there's no sign that tells the GP to hold up the lap bar, they would think it's perfectly safe to do whatever they want as long as they are locked. The fact is that for most woodies, riders on the trains can actually touch the handrail or even the cat walk on the sides. Dump GP's curiosity can make the park pay a lot of money for them. Similarly, some GP would lean forward on a coaster with lap bar if no sign tells them to put their head back. We all know it is damaging to the neck especially on some crazy Anton loopers that pulls around 6G's.

 

Putting up a sign is also a way to avoid paying for the dump GP's mistakes.

[AusCoasterFan]

Premier's older coasters have the belts attach to the side metal bar of the lap bar on the out side and I think they worked pretty well. Both Mr.Freezes and Poltergeist has pretty high capacity thanks to the restraint design. I wonder why they stopped using that?

 

Yes. This sounds very much what I'm referring to. I do acknowledge however, that the issue is that the trains would have to be modified, and would Six Flags be willing to do that? I doubt it...

[gerstlaueringvar]

Premier's older coasters have the belts attach to the side metal bar of the lap bar on the out side and I think they worked pretty well. Both Mr.Freezes and Poltergeist has pretty high capacity thanks to the restraint design. I wonder why they stopped using that?

 

Yes. This sounds very much what I'm referring to. I do acknowledge however, that the issue is that the trains would have to be modified, and would Six Flags be willing to do that? I doubt it...

I think weld a lock at the side of the lap bar and attach the belt to the metal bar on the side wouldn't take too much work. Two tiny holes on the seat could make it.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

In regards to the seatbelt-lapbar issue, for me it would make sense to have signs on the back of the seat in front of you, telling you not to lower the lapbar till your seat-belt has been checked too. Also for busier days, have an instructional video playing on TV screens, instructing riders to not bring on loose items, move to the last seat in the row and to NOT LOWER YOUR RESTRAINT TILL THE RIDE OPERATOR TELLS YOU!

 

You're placing far too much faith in SFMM riders' capacity and/or willingness to read these notices and abide by them. At least 40% won't notice because they're playing tonsil hockey the entire time they're in the queue.

 

Most everyone expects themselves and their stuff to be accomodated, rather than having to read/notice instructions on how to accomodate the coaster. When nearby parks like Universal and Disneyland provide facilities for loose items and SFMM doesn't, that lack of somewhere to put their stuff is not what they're expecting.

[Locostitch]

Honestly, the best solution is to do what Knott's berry farm does on silver bullet. Don't have restraints lock until ride operator presses a button and say they can lock. That prevents from anyone pulling it down.

[singemfrc]

^ Another nice design idea, but these coasters have already been built, so it's a little late for that.

[mattnz]

Sounds from the update that SFMM are doing quite a bit to improve certain areas of the park, and operations are good too. Long may it continue!

[SFMMGeek27]

X2 opened with the park today and is now back to 2 train operation! Sounds like a good day!

[fpsphil]

^ Another nice design idea, but these coasters have already been built, so it's a little late for that.

 

It actually wouldn't be that hard to program into the rides control system. Probably wouldn't require more then a change in a few lines of code.

 

A simple line to hold restraint unlock until the button is pressed again is all that it would take.

[Myself]

^That's essentially how it works at Kennywood with Sky Rocket's rolling stock that is functionally identical (minus the new seatbelts that is) to Full Throttle's trains.

[coastercoaster5]

Went to the mountain from 2:15-closing.

 

YOLOcoaster: Dispatches were actually a bit quicker from recent experiences. Line took 20 minutes.

 

Tatsu: Dispatches seem quite slow. Line took 25-30 minutes.

 

Riddlers: Line was so long i had to do single rider. I was on the front row of the first train that came in! Sweet!

 

Scream: Train 1 ran flawlessly. Train 2 ran like a confused bucking bronco.

 

S:EFK: Rode it twice. No wait.

 

LL:DOD: Rode one with long wait so i used single rider.

 

Apocalypse. I rode this three straight times and the two in the second row were pretty rough but he one on the second to last row was pretty smooth. All in same train.

 

X2: I finally got my friend to ride it cause he hates how painful it is. I told him it just cam back from a """refurb""" And it should be fine. I WAS RIGHT. SMOOTHEST RIDE IV'E EVER HAD ON IT! AMAZING!!!!!

 

Great day at the park!

[Jew]

^ Another nice design idea, but these coasters have already been built, so it's a little late for that.

 

It actually wouldn't be that hard to program into the rides control system. Probably wouldn't require more then a change in a few lines of code.

 

A simple line to hold restraint unlock until the button is pressed again is all that it would take.

 

Any modification of a ride in California requires state approval. So even if the programming is a simple fix, SFMM would need the manufacturer and the state to approve it before it can be put in use.

[DJeXeL]

^Thus why Disney programs their own attractions. Still need state approval to change programming but they do not have to consult the manufacturer as they make themselves the manufacture. 1 less step.

 

FT's operators are dealing with the same thing that Xcelerator's operators deal with. All it takes is 1 idiot to pull down their lap bap while sitting on their seat belt to delay the entire train while all lapbars are released and rechecked.