The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[FireandBlood91]

There's some theming and theres a video and sound effects. When I was on it only took them about 30 seconds to send us out on our second lap!

[coasterlvr]

Great photos! So what exactly takes place during the “pit stop”. Do you just sit there awkwardly or is there some basic theming?

 

more or less. there's currently one monitor on the left side. Ryan from WCC greets you, and then walks away to check on progress of something and says he'll return, which i never saw him do. the screen is playing a brady bunch video of squares from some of the old west coast customs tv shows, pimp my ride, inside west coast customs, west coast customs, etc.

 

the front row can't see the monitor at all unfortunately. there's sounds playing you'd here in a tire shop. also, some motor reving sound effects.

 

i'm following #westcoastracers on instagram. i saw a post from someone who said they had just finished doing all the voice over for the ride. well, the only person talking yesterday, was that short clip from ryan. so i assume there's more to come that just isn't finished yet.

[caleb.stone]

Having never ridden a coaster with comfort collars, are they just intrusive? Do you find yourself banging your neck against them? etc.

[coasterlvr]

Having never ridden a coaster with comfort collars, are they just intrusive? Do you find yourself banging your neck against them? etc.

 

at times, it's possible. a lot depends on your height and body shape as well. they aren't ever tight. you'd have to be really, really big for them to be tight. since they are a certain length without any adjustment, the can just flop around. i'd say little kids could have the worst problem with them. i've seen smaller kids with the sides of them right next to their head. can't be fun.

 

since they are thin, and pretty hard, when getting hit with them, it can feel like someone karate chopped you to the neck.

 

all that being said, it's not bad on this ride really. they are just more annoyingly in the way. getting in and out of them quickly takes some technique without hitting yourself too. lol

 

from what i witnessed, it does seem like a faster alternative to checking seatbelts and lap bars on yolo coaster.

[Kylis]

The collars were less obtrusive than I thought, they didn't restrict much up and down movement but they were a bit stiff around the neck. I find them less objectionable than I thought they would be. I still think given the small amount of seats to check seat belts would have been fine. I can cheat those to be relatively loose though I suppose I can do the same thing with these as their tightness would be determined by the lap bar (they clip to the middle of the lap bar).

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! Is the actual queue line not too long in terms of length or is it unfinished? Or did that many coaster nerds come out that an overflow queue was needed?

[FireandBlood91]

Great report! Is the actual queue line not too long in terms of length or is it unfinished? Or did that many coaster nerds come out that an overflow queue was needed?

 

I think just that many coaster nerds came out that the overflow was needed. The line moves pretty quick though. Yesterday (Sunday) the line had died down to about a 20 minute wait by mid day, and a walk on at night (It started raining and cleared a lot of people out.) I got a total of 7 rides on it yesterday, 4 during the day, and 3 at night during the rain. I think it might end up knocking TC out of my top 3! I gotta ride both a few more times to be sure, but WCR is an EXCELLENT ride!

[throatytoast]

It's nice to see some new rollercoasters being built now that have a low to the ground layout that focuses on keeping speed throughout. Cheetah Hunt is one of my fav coasters and this reminds me of it!

[coasterlvr]

Great report! Is the actual queue line not too long in terms of length or is it unfinished? Or did that many coaster nerds come out that an overflow queue was needed?

 

so there's some inside, and outside under a tarp on some lighting truss. i'm not sure if that's permanent or not. it was being held down by some straps and block weights and not bolted down. then, after the line filled that, it spilled out into portable sections of the queue.

 

the overflow was definitely needed during the day. i saw it cleared out pretty good at night. yesterday and today it was pretty dead from what i've seen on social media. the coaster nerds were out in full force saturday.

 

it doesn't seem like the inside and outside areas of the queue are that big. but now thinking about it, it's probably as big or bigger than Tatsu's queue line.

 

the actual inside queue is still being worked on. i saw some visual upgrades today that cleaned up some parts that had me thinking what the plan was before. i'm excited to see the full finished product when it's complete.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Having never ridden a coaster with comfort collars, are they just intrusive? Do you find yourself banging your neck against them? etc.

 

I’ve been on several coasters with the “comfort collars.” I’m a little over 6 ft.... and while I never noticed the collars during the ride (no neck chopping or anything.) The real annoyance I’ve noticed with them is trying to board the train and get underneath the weird floppy harness thingy.

[FireandBlood91]

Having never ridden a coaster with comfort collars, are they just intrusive? Do you find yourself banging your neck against them? etc.

 

In addition to the above comment, I didn't notice them when I was wearing a hoodie, but there was a bit of neck chopping in the back when I just had a t shirt on. It wasn't painful at all, but a little annoying, but in no way a deal breaker.

[coasterbill]

Everyone has different experiences with them depending on height / body type / whatever. Personally (assuming they're the same as the ones on Tempesto) they don't bother me when I'm actually riding the ride but they make the loading process slow and getting in the train is just a convoluted clusterfuck.

Edited December 24, 2019 by coasterbill

[Canobie Coaster]

I agree. I've never found comfort collars to impact the ride, but it does slow loading. And those Premier trains are already a challenge to get in and out of. I feel like a contortionist when I'm getting into those things.

[chickenbowl]

I just want to point out that the loading process on WCR is actually faster than Full Throttle because they don't have to check every seatbelt before lowering the lapbars anymore. WCR doesn't have the secondary seatbelts so you pull down your restraint once you're seated. Also, WCR has a loose-article system that happens well before riders load into the trains, so that quickens loading as well. This is possible because load/unload happens on the same side of the station (like Skyrush).

 

Also I have never had an easy time loading onto any Premier coaster. Their seats have always been designed with such minimal rider space that it's such a pain navigating into/out of them. The collars make that difficult process even worse. I seriously feel like I'm on the verge of spraining my ankles every time I have to shimmy into the far seat.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ That's actually a fair point that the comfort collars will speed up the restraint checking since the belts aren't underneath the restraint.

 

I'm just spoiled by the Premier trains at Lake Compounce on Phobia that have no seatbelts nor comfort collars.

[xVicesAndVirtues]

Ugh, of course Six Flags went with comfort collars for WCR. I don’t find them uncomfortable at all during the ride but they make an already-awkward train entry and exit have an additional degree of awkwardness. The one thing I do wish Premier would change would be to put soft-touch (or more than angular metal) material on the lower surfaces. 9 times out of 10 I bang my shin or ankle trying to get in and out.

 

And comfort collars f*ck up my hair.

[Canobie Coaster]

There's an interesting tidbit I found in a Los Angels Daily News article.

 

If you aren't a member or passholder, it looks like you can ride West Coast Racers in 2019 if you either buy a Flash Pass or a West Coast Racers t-shirt. So basically the ride is an upcharge for the few guests without a pass or membership.

 

Link to Los Angeles Daily News article

 

Not a Magic Mountain passholder or member? You can still ride the new coaster starting Dec. 23 if you buy a West Coast Racers t-shirt in the park. The same goes for park visitors using a Flash Pass during the passholder preview period.

[Jew]

There's an interesting tidbit I found in a Los Angels Daily News article.

 

If you aren't a member or passholder, it looks like you can ride West Coast Racers in 2019 if you either buy a Flash Pass or a West Coast Racers t-shirt. So basically the ride is an upcharge for the few guests without a pass or membership.

 

Link to Los Angeles Daily News article

 

Not a Magic Mountain passholder or member? You can still ride the new coaster starting Dec. 23 if you buy a West Coast Racers t-shirt in the park. The same goes for park visitors using a Flash Pass during the passholder preview period.

 

Flash pass is understandable, but a shirt? That's so Six Flags.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Maybe it’s just me... However.... I’m still shocked that it’s 2019 and people are actually getting to ride this thing!!

[Nrthwnd]

^ It's a (non specific) Holiday Miracle, man!

Sort of, I guess, maybe....uh yeah.

[Arthur_Seaton]

I figured the park would be quiet today (it was), so it seemed like a good moment to drive up and check out the new ride. It was maybe a 10-minute wait to get on, which was nice, and I ended up riding it about 10 times overall. Theming is minimal (some video screens in the station of random mechanics), and some loud rumbles in the midway holding room. A few scattered tools laying around, and another video screen with random tween idols and cars and stuff. Operations are excellent; you feel like you’re only stopped for a short time in the noisy room before you race again. The trains are as cramped as Füll Thröttle’s which makes the overhead restraints hilariously hard to slip into and some particularly-gnarly shin restrains ensure you’re sufficiently uncomfortable. The overhead restraints barely touch you, but they do slap you in the face a few times throughout the course.

 

My first ride was in the very back seat and I found it a bit disappointing. I've kept my expectations fairly low since the design was revealed, and the ride turned out to be what I was expecting overall: a good looking family-style coaster that gestures toward the kind of thrills other rides in the park can offer but doesn’t really thrill that much itself. It’s kind of fun overall, but I didn’t really find the racing to be that compelling because the trains are mainly doing the same thing in the same spots; there’s not a lot of back and forth between them. I warmed to it more with subsequent rides, finding the front seat to offer the best ride by far. Night rides were even better as the ride seemed to warm up a bit then. It’s a ride that looks great in the space, which I think is a major selling point for the GP, but it’s not a ride I’d prioritize when visiting, probably only jumping on if the line’s super short. One of the ride ops described it as “family-ride plus,” and I think that’s pretty accurate. It wouldn’t crack my top-10 at Magic Mountain, but I don’t think that cracking my top-10 list was their priority.

 

In terms of the track and the elements, it’s a mixed bag. The first hi-five element is really great on the white side — a bizarre twisting ejector moment that’s super snappy and throws you around. It’s a great way to start the ride, but the launches leading into that moment are disappointingly tame. Of course, the scale of the ride wouldn’t really allow for anything more, but it’s a bit of a bummer how gradual the acceleration is. There’s quite a bit of hang time on the ride, most notably in the white track’s top-gun stall while the yellow train kind of putters along beneath. The second launches are weird; they’re oddly brief and a bit rough. They feel less like a smooth boost and more like getting kicked from behind. If you’re not braced for it, you’ll hit your head against the head rest. The corkscrews are slow and hangy, and the subsequent helixes are surprisingly forceful. There are several little bunny hop / airtime hill moments throughout that I was looking forward to experiencing, but they don’t seem to produce much of an effect. The first part of the white track is busy and fast-paced; the yellow is more about simple undulations. The helixes are basically the same on both sides — a tight figure-8 for the most part.

 

I also took a couple of rides on Apocalypse having not ridden it for a long time. The ride was running fairly rough IMO, with the final helix’s jackhammering now spread throughout much of the ride. The drop seemed to lack the back seat’s ejector moment, and the area before the first tunnel was rough as hell. It’s such a shame as it really is a great coaster when it runs well. I thought this thing was getting re-tracked?

 

The park was dead, so pretty much everything was a walk-on with multiple re-rides later at night. Furthermore, the park looked fantastic. I’ve seen the Holidays in the Park business before, but it seemed like they stepped it up quite a lot this year in terms of lighting and themed areas. It really did look impressive. Anyhow, I’m looking forward to reading other people’s takes on the new ride. I think it’ll be a hit with the GP, especially in the summer months as that area can hold a good amount of people.

 

A few pics of the new ride:

 

Edited December 25, 2019 by Arthur_Seaton

[joelwee]

My plans to visit relatives fell through this evening after they all got sick with the flu, so I headed down to the park for a few hours. Like Arthur said, the place was a ghost town.

I got 6 rides on West Coast Racers in a little over an hour - and the only reason it wasn’t more was because it broke down for about 15 minutes at one point.

My thoughts on WCR:

It’s definitely a family coaster, but it’s a really good family coaster. It stays low to the ground the whole time. The launches are pretty tame, but the launches out of the station pick up speed about halfway through. The mid-course launches felt like a sudden burst of speed and smacked my head against the headrest on my first ride.

You get some good ejector airtime on the high five - especially on the white side. There are a couple of other light floater moments on that side, as well.

The inversions offer some great hangtime, and the helixes / turnarounds deliver some great positive g’s.

While you are guaranteed a race every lap, you don’t interact with the other train as much as on Twisted Colossus. Other than a couple of dueling moments, the trains typically travel side by side and go through the same elements at the same time.

The trains are similar to Full Throttle’s, but with comfort collars instead of seatbelts. This is the first time I’ve ridden a Premier coaster with comfort collars, and I didn’t really care for them. I’m 6’-2” with long legs and already have a hard time getting in and out of Premier trains. The comfort collars tend to get in the way, and I have a hard time maneuvering around them. I didn’t have any issues with them during the ride, though.

There were a few things that seemed unfinished. The most obvious item was the on-ride cameras. They weren’t running, and I didn’t even see a photo booth anywhere. Maybe I just missed it...? The other thing is the video halfway through the ride. It shows the owner of West Coast Customs talking about going to see what his guys are up to, but there is no follow-up footage. Side note: I wish they would play some car revving sound effects while the trains are waiting on the launch track - similar to Top Thrill Dragster.

The theming looked great, and this is arguably one of the best themed rides in the park.

One thing I haven’t seen anyone else mention is that you have to dump out your drink before heading up the stairs in the station. It kind of sucks, but it makes sense when you see their loose article storage - which is one of the ride ops putting everyone’s loose articles into several plastic storage bins. Since the bins get moved around a lot, there would definitely be spillage if full drink cups were in there.

WCR’s ride ops had almost a Cedar Point level of enthusiasm tonight. It was great to see them having a good time - and it’s something rarely seen at this park.

Overall, I really liked this coaster. It’s not a giga, but it provides a badly-needed refresh to that corner of the park - and is a pretty decent ride.

 

On a side note, Twisted Colossus’s crew was dispatching trains so quickly, the blue-side train typically reached the top of the lift hill before the green side. That’s the first time I’ve seen that happen.

Total ride count:

West Coast Racers X 6

Batman X 2

Twisted Colossus X 3

Scream X 1

Goliath X 1

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rachelmadcow]

Reminds me of Backlot Stunt Coaster. Is that an apt comparison? A modernized version?

 

They need to clone this for Illinois and NJ.

[coasterlvr]

The mid-course launches felt like a sudden burst of speed and smacked my head against the headrest on my first ride.

 

While you are guaranteed a race every lap, you don’t interact with the other train as much as on Twisted Colossus. Other than a couple of dueling moments, the trains typically travel side by side and go through the same elements at the same time.

 

There were a few things that seemed unfinished. The most obvious item was the on-ride cameras. They weren’t running, and I didn’t even see a photo booth anywhere. Maybe I just missed it...?

 

One thing I haven’t seen anyone else mention is that you have to dump out your drink before heading up the stairs in the station. It kind of sucks, but it makes sense when you see their loose article storage - which is one of the ride ops putting everyone’s loose articles into several plastic storage bins. Since the bins get moved around a lot, there would definitely be spillage if full drink cups were in there.

 

 

i also noticed the lack of interaction between the trains. it's weird because you are often side by side, but your focus isn't aimed at the other train. i think some fly by elements would have been really cool.

 

i assume the on ride camera booth will be inside the gift shop which when i was there saturday, was empty besides one counter.

 

i don't mind dumping out my sports bottle, i just wish there was a freestyle machine nearby like there is by justice league. when i was there early saturday, no one had a bottle, but i did see the sink and just thought it was theming. LOL what i do recommend is making sure your bottle has some clear identification. i saw in someone's video showing a bin with about 5-6 of the same bottles in a tub. i have no idea how you can make sure you have the correct bottle. i'd expect some taste testing when you may not even know. gross.

[thrillseeker4552]

I rode West Coast Racers for the first time yesterday. What a nice ride! The best way to describe it is an exact cross between Full Throttle and Twisted Colossus (as others have before). That is exactly what it feels like, however it is less intense than either of those coasters. This coaster definitely falls into the “family” category for me (despite its absurd 54” height requirement).

 

I actually thought the interaction between the trains was great. The fact that they shuffle throughout the course (like TC) is exciting. This is one of the rides where racing/dueling makes the ride fun. Twisted Colossus is still awesome even when it doesn’t duel, but I don’t think I could say the same for this coaster. My favorite moments were the high five, the top gun stall (which is nice without a net, might I add), and the final corkscrew crossover near the brake run. None of the launches are particularly intense, but I think this is the perfect coaster to introduce launches to someone who has never experienced one.

 

Overall love the coaster and think it fills a nice gap in the lineup, despite its similarities to two other coasters in the park. I wish the height requirement weren’t 54” (isn’t Ice Breaker 48”, and it has the same trains?). In terms of thrill level, I place it alongside higher-thrill family coasters like Ninja, Revolution, or Apocalypse. I will also add that the area around the ride is excellent and is a VAST improvement to what the area used to be since Deja Vu’s removal.

 

I won’t make it back to the park until March, but now that this coaster is essentially open, I may actually make an effort to visit that corner of the park now. It will help distribute crowds and balance out coaster placement in the park.