The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[Nrthwnd]

Does anyone know if they’ll be a Meetup for Six Flags MM and/or Knotts this year?

 

By this time, I doubt there's going to be one (West Coast Bash) in September. I would think they would have announced it by now, so that people can buy tickets, plan a bit ahead, etc.

 

But then again, who knows? Last minute announcements are possible, yes? No?

Best place to keep checking is the section above, TPR Events. I do. And have.

Me and What's-Its-Name. WCB-2016.

[cparkes92]

WCR opening late is not a surprise because of a few things:

1. SFMM has a track record of delayed openings for new rides (the only major ride I can think of that's opened on schedule [i.e. Memorial Day or earlier] in the last 10-15 years is Twisted Colossus)

2. SFMM has a different peak season than the other Six Flags parks (their peak season is Fright Fest through New Year's)

3. Galaxy's Edge may have had a role to play with it.

 

Side note: According to queue-times.com, Apocalypse hasn't run since July 8, 2018. Is it time for it to be considered SBNO (even though it isn't listed as such on RCDB)?

[coasterlvr]

2. SFMM has a different peak season than the other Six Flags parks (their peak season is Fright Fest through New Year's)

 

where does this come from? besides the weekends, the park is a complete ghost town during this time. i've heard people say this before. it makes no sense to me from someone who waits until that time of the year to go to the park to avoid the crowds.

[Kylis]

Side note: According to queue-times.com, Apocalypse hasn't run since July 8, 2018. Is it time for it to be considered SBNO (even though it isn't listed as such on RCDB)?

 

The thing is the only reason Apocalypse is not running is because of WCR construction. So I wouldn't technically categorize it as such as there is nothing wrong with the ride iteself, just its placement necessitates it being closed. Thats just my personal opinion on it though.

[MagicMountainMan]

WCR opening late is not a surprise because of a few things:

1. SFMM has a track record of delayed openings for new rides (the only major ride I can think of that's opened on schedule [i.e. Memorial Day or earlier] in the last 10-15 years is Twisted Colossus)

2. SFMM has a different peak season than the other Six Flags parks (their peak season is Fright Fest through New Year's)

3. Galaxy's Edge may have had a role to play with it.

 

Side note: According to queue-times.com, Apocalypse hasn't run since July 8, 2018. Is it time for it to be considered SBNO (even though it isn't listed as such on RCDB)?

1) While true, this delay is mostly Premier's fault, not Six Flags.

 

2) This is not true, the park's peak season is the summer where they are consistently pulling 10k+ guests for a few months straight. Fright Fest is busy on Fridays and Saturdays (we're talking 25k-35k capacity busting numbers) but that's only 6 weekends out of the year.

 

3) That's not how Magic Mountain makes decisions at all. There is also very little market overlap between Disneyland and Magic Mountain. If anything, Magic Mountain benefits from the increased interest and tourism that Disneyland brings (although much less than Knott's) as some people will inevitably peel off from Disney and end up at another LA area theme park. As Sue Carpenter said recently, "A rising tide raises all boats", which is the mindset that marketing has towards Disney. They are in different market spaces and offer different products.

[coasterlvr]

 

3) That's not how Magic Mountain makes decisions at all. There is also very little market overlap between Disneyland and Magic Mountain. If anything, Magic Mountain benefits from the increased interest and tourism that Disneyland brings (although much less than Knott's) as some people will inevitably peel off from Disney and end up at another LA area theme park. As Sue Carpenter said recently, "A rising tide raises all boats", which is the mindset that marketing has towards Disney. They are in different market spaces and offer different products.

 

having finally started going back to disneyland after not for something like 4-5 years, i forgot how different the consumer make up is. disney brings in a completely different crowd. i'd be interested to see some real data about this. i bet it would be something like 5% or less that make their way to magic mountain.

[SK4494]

You know, I'm starting it get annoyed with Six Flags starting construction to new rides really late. This year is halfway over and they're STILL not halfway done with completing West Coast.

[coasterbill]

Just have the mindset that whatever they announce each August won't be open for at least a year and you'll stop being disappointed. It's hilarious but not worth getting annoyed about, just adjust your expectations (and by "adjust" I mean "remove").

[southpuddle]

With 365 operations, does it really matter? I could see being annoyed if the ride opened late September and then the park was closed November thru April, but that’s not the case. It’s best to just laugh about it. Because Six Flags. What’ll be really funny is if SFMM announces their 2020 attraction at the end of the month along with every other SF, or if they’ll see the irony in that and hold off until after West Coast Racers opens. Aw, who am I kidding?

[scooterdoug]

Took a trip to the park yesterday. The crowds weren’t too bad. I was there with my daughters, so we stuck to the 48” rides. Goliath held steady at about 20 minutes all day. Revolution was 5-10 minutes. TC was only running 2 trains, the line was just under an hour. X2 has a broken part (according to guest services) and is waiting on that. The crowds definitely seemed more reasonable than the reports from last week. All in all, a good day. My daughters got to expand their coaster repertoire. Revolution and Goliath were their favorites. TC is still my favorite. I swear that coaster runs faster each time I visit. It was very aggressive, and the airtime was gloriously strong.

[Yubstep101]

X2 has a broken part (according to guest services) and is waiting on that.

 

 

Any idea on when the part will arrive? A week? Two weeks?

[southpuddle]

What makes you think the park would divulge such information?

[scooterdoug]

X2 has a broken part (according to guest services) and is waiting on that.

 

 

Any idea on when the part will arrive? A week? Two weeks?

I didn’t even bother asking. If it gets fixed within a month, consider it a bona fire miracle.

[thrillseeker4552]

^It's peak summer season. When else would SFMM do essential maintenance on their coasters? In the off-season? LOL.

 

In all seriousness, I am heading to the park this Sunday for the last time until November or December. I have no expectations of X2 being open or Twisted Colossus running three trains, but I'm still looking forward to a good time. I'm mostly excited to check out West Coast Racers construction.

[Jew]

^It's peak summer season. When else would SFMM do essential maintenance on their coasters? In the off-season? LOL.

 

In all seriousness, I am heading to the park this Sunday for the last time until November or December. I have no expectations of X2 being open or Twisted Colossus running three trains, but I'm still looking forward to a good time. I'm mostly excited to check out West Coast Racers construction.

 

As I am sure you all know, I'd be the first one to call out SFMM for anything...but it's not like they planned for it to be down during summer season.

 

Since a lot of roller coaster parts are expensive and specialized, no park keeps an inventory of EVERYTHING they need. They will keep a stock of all the commonly used items and some of the other items that they feel might need replacement, but not much else. If the part that is now broken is expensive and was expected to last longer, I don't fault the park at all. It would be a dumb business decision for any park to sit on millions of dollars in parts inventory that has very little chance of being needed before its mandated to be replaced.

[TatsuXtreme]

I just hope that while they're waiting on the part, they take the time to give the trains the refurbishment they need, buuut, I don't have my hopes too high on that one. Also I saw on Sunday that the orange train on Twisted Colossus was taken off the tracks which means it's off to refurbishment and we should see the green train back any day now. What's weird to me though is Scream got it's third train back from a huge refurbishment a couple months ago, yet they're still running one train operations on it.

[Kylis]

I wonder if they are trying to get some of the refurbishment out of the way right now so all the rides are tip top when WCR opens later in the year.

[coasterbill]

I wonder if they are trying to get some of the refurbishment out of the way right now so all the rides are tip top when WCR opens later in the year.

 

Yeah, no.

[Superbatboy]

So we looking at a Fright Fest opening for WCR??

[coasterbill]

I'm going Holiday in the Park

[coasternut]

I just hope that while they're waiting on the part, they take the time to give the trains the refurbishment they need, buuut, I don't have my hopes too high on that one. Also I saw on Sunday that the orange train on Twisted Colossus was taken off the tracks which means it's off to refurbishment and we should see the green train back any day now. What's weird to me though is Scream got it's third train back from a huge refurbishment a couple months ago, yet they're still running one train operations on it.

 

I've heard unofficially that Scream will be running 1 train for at least a year. This I don't understand...

[MagicMountainMan]

So we looking at a Fright Fest opening for WCR??

No, by this point, a November opening would be optimistic.

 

Once the last track piece is in, give it at least 2-3 months for electrical installation, ride PLC programming, and testing. Considering this coaster has 4 launches, I would say 3 months is being hopeful.

[grsupercity]

As long as its open by dec 31 then its a new 2019 attraction lmao

[Arthur_Seaton]

A couple of quick WCR update pics. I’d say the track’s about 80% complete. There’s a little shop thing there now pre-selling junk. I’m not one for theme park couture, but they have t-shirts and flip flops and other items for those who care. Just saw someone puke with gusto on Tatsu’s brake run. Also, Crazanity seems to be busted. The moose out front said it’d probably be down for the rest of the day.

 

[coasternut]

^Yea, that store has been there for awhile. I've heard rumors that it maybe becoming a membership lounge.