The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[scottiemon]

Don't ever let a Six Flags cashier put the first day wrist band around your souvenir bottle; put it around your wrist. Next, put colored duct tape around your cup with your name on it or partially rip off the sticker. Do something to make it "unique" and the chances drop that yours will be stolen.

 

People see stringy, knotted dental floss hanging from your cup and they will go for a different one

 

yes, i agree with this. On that duct tape, take a sharpie and write on it something like "I like dorks, or I like to eat my boogers". Nobody wants that bottle!!

[CruzClan]

^ even better, just write "Emergency Bathroom" on the cup. Lets see how many people steal it

[disney4me2001]

The X2 policy is ridiculous. Essentially, you buy a $15 cup in order to be able to buy soda for the same price that it is outside the park for one season, and then they force you to pay even more for a fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo when you want to ride a ride, and refuse to let you leave it in the station.

 

Such is life in a Six Flags park. TC is the only reason why I have not given up on SFMM entirely.

 

I agree, but I was given an explanation why they require the lockers. One of the leads/supervisors told me that the fire marshal now requires that the pathway to the exit remains clear in case of a fire, and since bags can partially obstruct the path, the lockers are now mandatory (you used to be able to leave your things outside). Doesn't change the fact that they could at least offer them for free since it's not the guests' fault (similar to how Manta at SWSD or Revenge of the Mummy at USH offer free ones for 60-90 minutes), but it's for safety reasons from what I was told. Yes it's only $1 for an hour, but it sucks having to go to the machine, inserting $1 or a credit card, and then entering your pin and storing your stuff before choosing a row! I know we hear a lot of things from employees that just aren't true, but this sounded legit.

 

Side note- I didn't own a refillable cup at Six Flags for the first couple of years I had a season pass because at the time they were doing mandatory lockers on almost all of the rides, and I didn't want to fall into that trap of paying for the cup plus refills on return visits plus lockers at each ride (this was also before they offered the all-day ones that are valid at all the major rides). I only started buying them when I found that they had stopped that policy and were allowing riders to leave things in the station!

[buck funny]

GayCoasterGuy wrote:Don't ever let a Six Flags cashier put the first day wrist band around your souvenir bottle; put it around your wrist. Next, put colored duct tape around your cup with your name on it or partially rip off the sticker. Do something to make it "unique" and the chances drop that yours will be stolen.

 

People see stringy, knotted dental floss hanging from your cup and they will go for a different one

 

 

 

yes, i agree with this. On that duct tape, take a sharpie and write on it something like "I like dorks, or I like to eat my boogers". Nobody wants that bottle!!

 

 

maybe just a 'mountain dew' sticker is all you need.

[WFChris]

Totally knowing that the l o c k e r filter is because of THIS VERY THREAD, I'll say this:

 

I am totally cool paying $1 for a lock_er while I ride. What I'm not cool with is when lines are long, you not only end up waiting forever to ride, but then you have to pay an extra buck to get your stuff back. Has only happened once but it's kind of a burn.

 

Heck, even California Adventure has FREE lo_ckers for the rapid ride!

 

/end

[pixelated85]

Visited Magic Mountain for the first time since '93 this past Sunday. Some observations:

 

 

*Tatsu was fun!! I don't seem to come across many positive reviews (or I could very well be overlooking them), but I thought it was fantastic. I also didn't experience any terrible operations in the station.

*X2- The first drop and raven turn were awesomeness. What a strange feeling. The following flips and curves were strange but enjoyable. And then... that final raven turn. I seemed to have also overlooked any warnings posted that this would flap my legs violently against the seat bottoms. Talk about unprepared for that moment... I was also in the very last row (or front row? I was in row 7) so maybe that was the case. Regardless, my calves are still sore. Also was not warned that the leg divider on the seat was wide enough for my OBGYN to do an inspection. Would totally ride again though.

*Green Lantern- So.. it was me alone on one side, and two small girls on the other side. Needless to say, the weight distribution was off and I spent most of the ride facing the ground. No real flipping that I can recall, and that last drop above the station (face down) seemed to have readjusted my neck. Would like to ride again with a different weight situation going on in the car.

*Batman- This one seemed to ride faster to me than the others, although everyone's said that about each particular Batman at some point. Maybe it was the furious dry heat, who knows. Had a ton of fun on it.

*Superman- A bit forgettable, sadly. Was expecting more perhaps. Having grown accustomed to backwards Freeze, perhaps the backwards-up-the-tower thing isn't as crazy to me as it is to others. Not a bad ride though, just not terribly exciting.

*Ninja- my favorite surviving suspended coaster. Love the backseat on this one.

*Apocalypse- hmm. The first drop and subsequent airtime hill were fantastic. The rest was kinda meh. Still weird to see a woodie with that level of theming.

*Lex Luthor- woot! Love a good free fall tower, and this was no exception. Definitely my favorite free fall ride.

*Full Throttle- scored a front seat ride and loved it!! Got some killer air going over the top hat, and some equally killer hang time through the loop. "Please secure all loose articles" is no joke.

*Goliath- The helix made me see stars for the first time ever on a ride. Good times. The rest of the ride was a little boring. I've ridden Titan in Texas and, surprise, shared the same sentiments.

*Scream- The poor bastard child of the B&M coasters that only gets mentioned when one's talking about parking lots. It was ok.

*Riddler- Not so bad, but a bit forgettable. Definitely smoother than the other two big stand-ups out there.

*Viper- got headbanging in strange places where it shouldn't exist. Still confused.

*Revolution- sigh. Those trims everywhere are SO necessary. I mean, I'm certain I would flying to my death if they didn't completely stop me like twice during the ride. I thought we were gonna valley after threading the loop.

 

All in all, despite the fact that I had not yet adapted to the arid climate and had managed to sweat out every ounce of moisture in my body (and probably some of yours as well), I had a great time and will gladly go back for another round, perhaps on a cooler fall day.

[iloveblueberries]

^glad your visit went well! For future reference though, the front seats of the two back cars on Viper provide a really smooth ride.

[singemfrc]

*X2-...And then... that final raven turn. I seemed to have also overlooked any warnings posted that this would flap my legs violently against the seat bottoms. Talk about unprepared for that moment... I was also in the very last row (or front row? I was in row 7) so maybe that was the case. Regardless, my calves are still sore.

lol yeah it's brutal. Unlike any other coaster I've ridden or heard about, there is as far as I can tell no possible way to avoid that pain. No matter where you put your feet/legs or what you try to do they will be inevitably slammed into the car, the forces are too great to try and hold your legs down and pulling them up doesnt help either. I complain about it often, but the rest of the ride still makes it worth it to ride at least once a day.

 

Would totally ride again though.

Just don't do it more than once per day. Sometimes I get off the ride, I walk around for a while and I think "Its not that bad, I'll just go ride it once more" and I pay for it for several days.

 

Have you ever seen the pads that baseball catchers wear that they strap to the back of their legs to support their knees when they crouch? I could marathon it if I had a pair of those!

 

[coasterlvr]

*X2- The first drop and raven turn were awesomeness. What a strange feeling. The following flips and curves were strange but enjoyable. And then... that final raven turn. I seemed to have also overlooked any warnings posted that this would flap my legs violently against the seat bottoms.

 

yup, i hate that. i rarely ride X2 though, but i always remember that's what it does to me.

[Fire2box]

*X2- The first drop and raven turn were awesomeness. What a strange feeling. The following flips and curves were strange but enjoyable. And then... that final raven turn. I seemed to have also overlooked any warnings posted that this would flap my legs violently against the seat bottoms.

 

yup, i hate that. i rarely ride X2 though, but i always remember that's what it does to me.

 

I never had issues with my leg's failing around on x2. But whenever I've rode it, I've felt like I've been slapping myself in the head for about 3 mins, maybe I just don't notice i'm not keeping my headback.

[iloveblueberries]

Sherry sure love roller costur

[singemfrc]

I never had issues with my leg's failing around on x2. But whenever I've rode it, I've felt like I've been slapping myself in the head for about 3 mins, maybe I just don't notice i'm not keeping my headback.

It's not that your legs flap around for the whole ride, it's just for a second in one particular spot; the rest of the ride is fine. On the second and last raven turn the car rotates in a jerky way that first flings your legs out in front of you and then quickly back the other way so your legs and calves slam into the car. It could be due to wear and tear causing play in the gear that rotates the car or maybe wear on the third rail. It happens in the exact same spot every time and regardless of which train or seat.

 

Another way you could stop this would be ankle restraints similar to those on Tatsu and other B&M flyers. Some may not like their feet restricted when it's not really necessary, but I'd take that trade off. If you did a canvas/cloth type strap it could even be added in now pretty cheaply. I don't see anything like this happening though - I don't think it's nearly bad enough where MM would address it..it certainly isn't hurting the rider numbers.

[Jew]

One of the leads/supervisors told me that the fire marshal now requires that the pathway to the exit remains clear in case of a fire, and since bags can partially obstruct the path, the fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo are now mandatory (you used to be able to leave your things outside). Doesn't change the fact that they could at least offer them for free since it's not the guests' fault (similar to how Manta at SWSD or Revenge of the Mummy at USH offer free ones for 60-90 minutes), but it's for safety reasons from what I was told. Yes it's only $1 for an hour, but it sucks having to go to the machine, inserting $1 or a credit card, and then entering your pin and storing your stuff before choosing a row! I know we hear a lot of things from employees that just aren't true, but this sounded legit.

 

That's not true. Non-combustable, easily movable items would be allowed under the LA County fire codes. Although every inspector is different, so it could be something the inspector assigned to SFMM was anal about.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Hey, maybe the new Apple Pay system would be of help here

[KBrylczyk]

I'm late to the party, but I just had to mention how great of a time West Coast Bash was. Complete change from my last, horrible, terrible visit in 2011. It wasn't perfect but it was a LOT better.

 

Unfortunately the awesomeness didn't carry over into the regular operating hours. Morning ERT was fantastic, evening ERT was purely excellent (shout out to Supes crew!), but everything in between was just "good" with some "oh my god this place blows" mixed in. Part of that can be attributed to the wonderful clientele Six Flags attracts, part of it can be attributed to the employees and operations. Riddler's crew, in particular, was worse than you can imagine. Running two trains on that super long ride, they still managed to stack every single time. Dispatches varied between 5 minutes to 10 minutes (no, I'm not exaggerating). This wasn't due to difficult guests or problems with the ride, it was just because they were extraordinarily lazy.

 

Apocalypse, though? WAY better than last time! First off, they don't force you to sit through that god-forsaken preshow anymore. We walked straight into the station and they were pumping the trains through with no stacking at all. I rode it 5 times and didn't ever witness an issue outside of the fireball not erupting during one of our rides. 4 out of 5 ain't bad for fire!

 

Anyways, I'll spare the details for the TR I'll post soon. Just wanted to jump in and say how much fun was had! Supes ERT won in a huge way with their crew and double-shots! WHOOOO!

[VCXfreak]

*X2- The first drop and raven turn were awesomeness. What a strange feeling. The following flips and curves were strange but enjoyable. And then... that final raven turn. I seemed to have also overlooked any warnings posted that this would flap my legs violently against the seat bottoms.

 

yup, i hate that. i rarely ride X2 though, but i always remember that's what it does to me.

 

I love X2 but being 6’2 and having a jock frame. It does get uncomfortable once in awhile. You have to know how to ride it and were to hold legs in. The second raven turn I always hold my legs against the seat for that reason.

 

Ok another note, Saturday my partner and I took a trip to the park. We had a great day till we rode Batman. I’m a coaster freak, always have been always will be. I can ride anything, nothing makes me sick. OH HOW THAT CHANGED! Walked to Batman and of course no line. I thought hell yeah front row, sandals off wind breezing through my feet, loved it! Till the train came back in the station, I could not get off fast enough. A ride was finally going to made me PUKE! I was so upset, Batman made me so nauseous I ran head first into a trash can.

 

My partner was laughing so hard and even took a pic, I wanted to kick his ass!

[RandallDuell]

This blue font is a direct attack on my eyes, Sir.

 

Is Ninja still running one train...I've lost track of what the gameplan is for the ride's vehicles going forward from the accident.

 

Completely unrelated, do we know the current status of that old dog kennel/SFMM artifact repository? I believe I've asked about it before, but it's been awhile and with land being the way it is in CA I do occasionally wonder how long until that guy/his family sells the land/stuff.

[KBrylczyk]

Is Ninja still running one train.

 

Yup. Second train is on the transfer track mostly in pieces.

[singemfrc]

Is Ninja still running one train.

 

Yup. Second train is on the transfer track mostly in pieces.

Sure that's not the third train? (The one thats been parting out for years)

[VCXfreak]

This blue font is a direct attack on my eyes, Sir.

 

Is Ninja still running one train...I've lost track of what the gameplan is for the ride's vehicles going forward from the accident.

 

Completely unrelated, do we know the current status of that old dog kennel/SFMM artifact repository? I believe I've asked about it before, but it's been awhile and with land being the way it is in CA I do occasionally wonder how long until that guy/his family sells the land/stuff.

 

No one has had a problem with before, maybe it's the eye's going bad?

 

I'll change it because I don't want to anyone to start a fit up in here!

[MFJorts]

No one has had a problem with before, maybe it's the eye's going bad?

 

I'll change it because I don't want to anyone to start a fit up in here!

 

I skipped over every one of your blue font posts. Thanks for switching it up, makes it so much more readable!

[VCXfreak]

No one has had a problem with before, maybe it's the eye's going bad?

 

I'll change it because I don't want to anyone to start a fit up in here!

 

I skipped over every one of your blue font posts. Thanks for switching it up, makes it so much more readable!

 

WOW, okay i guess it was bad!

 

Just kidding! Fine i will leave on this boring yellow color........

[805Andrew]

WCB at SFMM on Sunday was great. Unfortunately I couldn't make Saturday at Knott's due to work, but one day of WCB is better than nothing!

 

Anyways, both AM and PM ERT was great. In the AM I got three rides each on Batman, Green Lantern, Lex Luther, Goliath, and Full Throttle (15 morning ERT rides) including one unbalanced Green Lantern ride where we were upside down for half the ride and facing down at the end for 10 minutes before maintenance turned us right side up, lol. For PM ERT I got two rides on Tatsu, three double rides on Superman (six rides) and six rides on X2 for 14 evening ERT rides. The lunch was much improved from last year (which was horrible) as I enjoyed the turkey leg. The ride ops were faster and much more enthusiastic than last year overall (Tatsu being the only slow loading ride I encountered), and the crowds were lighter than last year (being the first Sunday of NFL season probably helped). The temperature was about 6-7 degrees cooler than last year but still hella hot at 95F during the day w/ some humidity. Last year I took a bunch a pictures, so this year I only took three, lol. So here they are.

 

Little did I know that when I snapped this picture of Colossus that the track at the top would be completely gone the next day, lol.

 

Total rides: 47 (beating last year's 45)

X2 (8)

Superman (6)

Apocalypse (6)

Full Throttle (4)

Tatsu (3)

Goliath (3)

Batman (3)

Lex Luther (3)

Green Lantern (3)

Viper (2)

Riddler's Revenge

Revolution

Ninja

Scream

Gold Rusher

Tidal Wave

 

49 rides if I include two inclines on Orient Express

[KBrylczyk]

Sure that's not the third train? (The one thats been parting out for years)

 

Sure, let's say that. Only one train was cycling and one was in pieces. If there is a third train it isn't anywhere visible.

[rcdude]

^Yeah, that's the part donor train on the storage track. It hasn't moved from that spot in years. Since they had to remove the damaged train I'm guessing they took the whole thing backstage and won't put any of it back on track until it's ready to return to service.