The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[DLex]

Third thought: Sigh, even Dueling Dragons doesn't duel anymore... due to some idiots throwing things at each other... and if there's one thing MM is known for it's the idiots that go there. If these are synchronized up you can bet they won't be for long due to some a-hole throwing pennies at the car below them.

 

I applaud MM for taking on such an interesting project... and I sincerely hope they prove the doubters like myself wrong about the whole "never duel" thing... but even if they do I don't know how you get around that third thought.

 

I'm hoping they duel. Lightning Racer at Hershey still duels. I think the IOA situation was both unfortunate and unique. That being said, even slightly off-sync racing will have the public excited.

[BugEyed]

The synchronization of the trains is automated and precisely timed; not just at the whim of the ride operators. Correct?

[coasterlvr]

sorry if i'm late about the iron horse track, but doesn't anyone know how long Six Flags has this exclusive?

 

"The advanced technology, available exclusively at Six Flags, provides ride experiences never before possible on wooden coasters, such as over-banked turns and inversions."

[mike_kelly]

I just hope Rob can get an earlier date for WCB next year..

[scbt]

sorry if i'm late about the iron horse track, but doesn't anyone know how long Six Flags has this exclusive?

 

Hopefully not too much longer, I would love to see more coasters get this treatment.

 

 

Even if SFMM doesn't duel the trains, I have no doubt that this will be an absolutely insane airtime filled ride.

[iloveblueberries]

I have a feeling RMC and Six Flags took into account that there will be a ton of jerks that want to throw something at the other train and designed the ride to work around that. Hopefully they keep the trains dueling as much as possible! That high five element better not leave me hanging!!!!!!

 

So pumped!!

[neil009]

The synchronization of the trains is automated and precisely timed; not just at the whim of the ride operators. Correct?

 

All it takes is one person too big to ride and throwing a fit, or one disabled person taking a little longer to board, or one person who wants to get off after restraints have been locked and checked, to completely mess up the timing. They can't dispatch the train if it isn't ready, and like I said, they're not going to make the other train sit and wait on the lift hill. I don't see how this ride could consistently duel even at a properly run park. I don't believe any other coaster has ever been built this way (am I wrong?), and there's probably a reason for it.

[coasterkid124]

Does anyone think that SF will run the non stop station program like at SFOT? That would allow for more precise dispatches. Not always a good thing, but still an option.

[BugEyed]

All it takes is one person too big to ride and throwing a fit, or one disabled person taking a little longer to board, or one person who wants to get off after restraints have been locked and checked, to completely mess up the timing. They can't dispatch the train if it isn't ready, and like I said, they're not going to make the other train sit and wait on the lift hill. I don't see how this ride could consistently duel even at a properly run park. I don't believe any other coaster has ever been built this way (am I wrong?), and there's probably a reason for it.

 

That makes sense. Sitting at a dead stop on the 2nd lift hill waiting for barf to be hosed away would kind of kill the momentum.

Edited August 28, 2014 by BugEyed

[laqueefa]

Anyone care to speculate what max speed the trains will reach?

[Password121]

Anyone care to speculate what max speed the trains will reach?

My guess is 62-64 mph

[iloveblueberries]

It's pretty impressive what they were able to pull off with a smaller drop! Keeping that allure of riding Goliath intact. Smart move!

[coasterkid124]

Anyone care to speculate what max speed the trains will reach?

 

65 Possibly maybe a little more or less based on the 128 foot drop

[coasterlvr]

 

I like the Magic Johnson jersey. Nice touch!

[tororific]

Anyone care to speculate what max speed the trains will reach?

 

65 Possibly maybe a little more or less based on the 128 foot drop

 

I think it said maximum was 57 mph, either on the fact section or in the LA times article quoted above -- too lazy to backtrack.

65 mph sounds too high for 128.

 

Edit: okay, not so lazy, from LA TIMES

 

Following an extreme 80-degree drop at 57 mph, riders will travel through a “high five” element where the tandem trains tilt inward 90 degrees, allowing riders to almost touch hands during a dramatic near-miss moment

.

[neil009]

Ok, I've been going over in my head how this whole dueling thing is going to work, and here's my thoughts. Maybe someone who knows more about coasters can help me out with this.

 

1. Three trains HAVE to be running for it to work. If one train is taken off for maintenance or cost-cutting measures, boom, no dueling. (This one's obvious, train 1 loads while trains 2 and 3 are dueling. If you've only got two trains, then train 1 will be loading when it's supposed to be dueling with train 2.)

 

2. As long as only one train is allowed in the station at a time, then train 1 must be loaded/unloaded by the time train 2 has finished the first half of the ride (dueling with train 3 as it does so). This would require a LOT of precision. They can slow the second lift down, but only by so much. The nice thing is, if this actually happens, then the ride will never ever stack, because by the time train 3 makes it to the break run train 1 will already be rolling out of the station to duel with train 2.

 

3. I take back what I said earlier, if train 1 misses its interval and you end up with one non-dueling cycle, it will be easy to correct it and get the ride dueling again, because train 3 will be already be waiting on the break run to get loaded/unloaded by the time it takes train 1 to get to the second lift. Trains 1 and 2 will both only have 1/2 of the ride non-dueling.

 

So, in Theoretical Land where the ride ops are always on their game, and three trains are always running, this could actually work out quite nicely. I'll leave it up to you to decide how often you think this will actually happen in reality. In any case, you certainly won't end up with a Lightning Racer situation where the ride always always duels no matter what.

[Rotura Violenta]

^That's kind of what I was thinking -- the whole thing will be largely automated so that dueling will be the norm and occasional single launches will occur to allow operations to get back to the norm of dueling. It actually sounds very efficient.

[scottiemon]

Am I the only one who couldn't care less if they duel or not? This ride looks amazing. The high five part looses some steam if you are not dueling, I know. But having ridden the racers at Hershey, it did not matter if my train "won". It was an amazing, cool ride. This ride looks to be the best thing we have ever seen at the mountain.

[BugEyed]

The coaster will be amazing regardless, but the intertwined dueling inversion section will be just that much more unique with two trains properly synchronized to one another.

[Diamondbacker27]

Am I the only one who couldn't care less if they duel or not? This ride looks amazing. The high five part looses some steam if you are not dueling, I know. But having ridden the racers at Hershey, it did not matter if my train "won". It was an amazing, cool ride. This ride looks to be the best thing we have ever seen at the mountain.

Dueling makes the ride a little cooler. But, I don't really care, as long as I get to ride

[boldikus]

This thing looks awesome. I still have yet to ride an RMC and have close friends in L.A. so a trip in 2015 is definitely happening. As far as the dueling aspect, it would be great if it did always run that way but it is Six Flags so its a great, flashy way to market the new ride, and will look great on media day, but I doubt it will run this way permanently. The first thing I thought when I saw the two trains pass each other was Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge and how its only a matter of time before some jerk loses their phone trying to take selfies of himself and knocks out someone elses eye.

[coasterlvr]

Am I the only one who couldn't care less if they duel or not? This ride looks amazing. The high five part looses some steam if you are not dueling, I know. But having ridden the racers at Hershey, it did not matter if my train "won". It was an amazing, cool ride. This ride looks to be the best thing we have ever seen at the mountain.

 

 

when it happens it will be cool. but, i don't care much at all. green side looks pretty sick after the high 5. that small drop then the drop out after, followed by the Top Gun!?! yes, please!

[Jodon]

Anyone else out there think that this could be a 4 train ride. Colossus is already set up for a duel station. With two trains unloading/loading at the same time, it would give the ops more time to get the trains loaded to keep up the "racing" aspect of the ride.

[iloveblueberries]

Now if magic mountain can devote a month to improving ride operations and the theming/quality of the park, then they're easily the best amusement park on the west coast. Repainting all the sun bleached rides will be a good place to start.

[BugEyed]

Considering the amount of thought and detail that RMC have put into all of their previous installations, I think it's safe to assume they've gone to great lengths to ensure that the dueling aspect happens as often as possible.

 

I'd also be willing to bet they strongly considered SFMM's operational history of diminishing returns on new rides (beyond the first season or two anyway) and included a healthy amount of a buffer.