The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[trcg721]

Every time I have been to Magic Mountain, Vipers crew has always been one of the best. Whether this is motivation, pride in their ride, or it's just plainly easier to operate that ride has one hell of a crew. Keep up the great work guys!

Its all of the above!!!!!

[bflag]

PURE, I am going to try to say this as nice as possible....

 

Please, just stop posting here. While technically you haven't done anything wrong, anything against our ToS, it hurts to read what you have to write. It makes no sense. You take things out of context. And you just come off so rude and obnoxious to so many people.

 

I'm asking you nicely... just please stop posting here.

 

Thank you.

 

--Robb "I trust a Scream Leads personal experience." Alvey

 

Thanks Robb!! Iam so happy that I don't have to read this guys LONG pointless comments about how everything @ SFMM sucks. He slams the park in one sentence then tries to throw in a nice comment to make us believe he actually cares about the park but then ends his post with something condescending. He thinks he knows everything and his expectations are so ridiculous even Disney couldn't fulfill them.

 

ADMIN EDIT: Removed unnecessary comment. No need to flame. Let's all be civil. - Matt

[haiderodes]

At Scream its very common for us to dispatch a train while the other one is going through the cobra roll.

 

^ Yeah , the lift acts as a VERY long block.

 

-Mike

 

It is the same with Riddler's. It says in the SOP that with two trains you're supposed to wait until it hits block brake, but the lift on both rides is 156 ft, so even you dispatch them one after the other, thats where it would be whne the next train clears lift anyway.

 

Sounds like the SOP rules regarding two trains are more for timing as the PLC works out all the blocking issues.

 

We had a similar rule on Rim Runner (water ride) at the Adventuredome. When running two boats you waited until the boat ahead cleared the lift (block B) even though you could technically dispatch the one in the station after it cleared block A. This allowed an even amount of time between dispatches so you wouldnt have a long period without a boat in the station.

 

With three boats you cleared the station as soon as block A was clear and you heard the splashdown from the third boat.

 

---

 

As for Scream, I have yet to ride it, but I rode Medusa this past weekend and they had just two people checking restraints for most of the day with two train op. The load op had to bring in the train, then walk down the gates with the height stick, check for Flashpass at the front, run to the back and open/close the gates, check restraints and then finally co-dispatch.

 

It seems that the Flashpass was the biggest impedience as the op had to take tickets, determine how many rows would be needed, signal to the panel op which rows for the announcement, let them in, then run back to open the gates.

 

Despite all of this they were working pretty hard, the majority of the stacking took place when there were people in the Flashpass line. To help move the line, they also avoided opening the Flashpass line every train and varied the rows used.

 

Oh, and they have a sign over the 4th row indicating its for larger guests so people already know which row to get in.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

There are some rides that Flash Pass work great on, other rides, not so much. But slow dispatch intervals aren't something you can just blame on the ride ops, at least not entirely. People hate waiting in line so they buy flas passes, and the idea sounds nice, but that leads to it's share of problems. How Tatsu used to be is they would hold off the last two rows of the train, but that led to complaints coming from people in stand-by because they were only being loaded in the first six. Riddler's flash pass is a nightmare because it only works if the line is longer than the outside queue, and even then the entrance point is problematic unless there is a grouper. These are things you can't blame on ride ops, the park, or the guest for that matter. It's just one of those things that come with the territory. My concern is that with all these automatics that come with the job, the ride ops don't make it easier on themselves when guests can see them on their cell phone while at panel or horseplaying with each other, because then that's when ALL of the blame gets put on them, and that's where you get complaints.

[Mr Stratosphere]

WOOHOO!! I cannot wait to see it!

Has anyone heard about the refurbished train on Revy?

Has it been running with passengers yet?

 

John

 

The next time you all come by Magic Mountain, you will be pleasantly surprised when you see Valencia Falls.

[robbalvey]

I got a call this morning from the park...

 

"We've turned Valencia Falls back on!"

 

I instantly grabbed my camera to check it out! For those of you who may not know the back story, "Valencia Falls" has been a park icon since Magic Mountain opened in 1971. It has been shut off ever since Tatsu was under construction because part of the support structure, in fact this "monolith" of a support sat *SMACK* in the middle of the lake where the falls would draw it's water from.

 

For the past couple of years people have been asking about the falls and recently there has been some effort made to restore them to their former glory.

 

Quite a bit of work had to be done to re-route the water and re-construct the lake so that it wouldn't impact the structure of Tatsu. I think this also is one more thing that shows the commitment of the new management to get broken stuff working again! Congrats guys!

 

Well, today it's all complete so lets check it out and also see a some other park updates including the status of Thomas Town...

It's Cranky The Crane!!! Yay!

 

OK everyone, that wraps up this update. There will be more soon! Including an announcement about an X2 campout on Friday night, May 23rd! Stay tuned!

And what's that I see poking out behind the trees?

The station is underway for Percy The Small Goliath...I mean...Engine.

This will eventually become "Tidmouth Shed" (And NO that is NOT something dirty!!!)

One train station under construction....CHECK!

OMG! TPR EXCUSIVE CEMENT BAGS SHOT!!!!

If you look really close you can see that all the train tracks have been laid down.

Buildings are starting to appear and lots of "Construction-looking Stuff" (That's a technical term boys & girls)

It's time for a Thomas Town update!

Please, do your share to help the environment. By placing your recyclables in here, you'll delay global warming by at least another day or two!

That's better!

Johnny Rockets Shakes and Fries is open...but this needs to be a little more "Derek Friendly..."

..and "Blood Curdling Red!"

X2 merchandise it starting to show up. This shirt is available in both "Angry Black"

There have been quite a few other improvements going on around the park lately....

 

The signs for "Family Friendly Attractions" are now all over the park.

And for you water fall enthusiasts...here you go!

But as you can see, water is flowing. It's breath taking...everyone take a breath now. Feel better?

It was this giant beast of a support that was one of the reasons the falls had to be turned off.

But as of today, they are BACK! And look, they didn't need to tear down Tatsu to do it!

Valencia Falls has been a park icon since 1971 and have sadly been missed since Tatsu's construction in 2005.

The falls that needed to be turned off due to Tatsu's construction are BACK!

So here is the "Classic Look" to the entrance plaza of Magic Mountain...but something has changed!

sfmmupdate_050208.wmv

Six Flags Magic Mountain VIDEO Update!

Valencia Falls, Thomas Town, Sky Tower Museum, Deja Vu, Riddler's Revenge, MORE!

sfmmupdate_050208.zip

Zipped Version!

[jackskellington101]

..and "Blood Curdling Red!"

 

It could also be fireball red! Flaming coaster of DEATH red! I like that one better.

[sfmmfreak101]

Very nice update, yay for the falls and Thomas Town!

[upfrontjwash]

Nice TR Robb!!!!

 

Glad to see the falls "Falling again"

Seeing the Thomas the Train area coming together nicely.

My anticipations raises Seeing those X2 shirts.

[AllenA07]

Great to see they have the falls up and running again, those make the entrance to the park look so much better. I was honestly really worried that they would not be returning, so this is a very pleasant surprise.

[coasterdude5]

It's great to see the park taking small measures such as this to make the park better. It's a reflection of Six Flags' overall improvement, in my eyes.

[Coasterlvr_nc]

Its awesome to see the falls running, they truly look great! Although I was never aware that they had been turned off until now.

[Mr Stratosphere]

Thanks for the update Robb! The park keeps looking better and better!

Cant wait to get back out there

 

John

[haiderodes]

I'm excited to see the falls again. I think they add some nice kinetic energy and atmosphere to the side of the hill. I always loved being in the park pre-Tatsu, at night with the flashing lights on Rev's loop. The trains speeding up behind the trees and into the darkness with the falls and fountains going.

 

What happened to the strobes they had on the hill for a while? Did they remove them?

[bflag]

New management is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!!!! These are just the things I can remember off the top of my head, I know Iam missing a lot more so if anybody wants to add to the list go right ahead. ALL THIS IN ONLY 1 YEAR!!!

 

1. X2

2. Thomas Town

3. Viper Repainted

4. Removed Flashback

5. Removed Psyclone

6. Removed Freefall

7. Sky Tower Museum

8. 3-Point Basketball Game

9. Cyber Cafe

10. Valencia Falls Running

11. Viper's Eye's

12. Johnny Rockets

13. CSI: Live

14. Repainted Goldrusher Station

[coastercrazed49]

Great update Robb.

Valencia Falls looks great. I'm glad to see its finally turned back on after those couple of years.

Also the X2 merchandise looks cool, especially the T-shirt designs.

Also, how many stations are there for the Thomas Town Train?

[AllenA07]

^ There is going to be more then one station? I was under the impression that it's a complete circuit all the way around the area, especially because they don't have that much room for multiple stations. However I could be wrong on this one.

[ECZenith]

I'm so happy to see the falls working, way to go SFMM!

 

Looking forward to the campout, I'll bring the sacrifical peeps...

[robbalvey]

I posted the video on page 461. Here it is again in case you missed it -

sfmmupdate_050208.wmv

Six Flags Magic Mountain VIDEO Update!

Valencia Falls, Thomas Town, Sky Tower Museum, Deja Vu, Riddler's Revenge, MORE!

[Tanks4me05]

SFMM is really looking nice now! AND Deja Vu is running!

[TheRapidsNerd]

Breathtaking. Good looking area with Tatsu, Rev, and the falls.

[TheStig]

Seriously, thats great they got the falls back on. Thomas Town looks great so far, its surprising to see how far they've come along since I was there two months ago! Anyways, major props to SFMM!

[cfc]

Valencia Falls--now there's a sight I haven't seen in thirty years. Good for Magic Mountain!

[AllenA07]

It always stuns me that the Bench: The Ride joke has lasted this long. Out of boredom the other day I went back and found the original Bench joke from 2000! 8 Years of bench jokes!

 

Really however I'm thrilled to see the park looking this good, I really hope I can get out there to see it in person this year. The falls look great and I would love to head up the tower and check out some of that stuff. Just wondering but when did Deja Vu start running again?

[XanderLee]

I am so glad to see a management team at that park that understands the sort of things that need to be done to bring that park back to where it needs to be.

 

Sure there is a long ways to go (as with all of the SF parks) but they seem to be well on their way!

 

Thanks for the update Robb.