The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[Bubba83]

Hi. It has been a really long time since I've posted but I'm attempting to get some info about a date at the park that I was planning on being there for.

Most Mondays are only open until 5pm, but the one I am looking to be at the park for is September 26th which says it's open until 8pm but provides no other information about why on the website. I'm worried about that since it seems like there may be some event reason that could make the park busier than normal, so if anyone knows it would be greatly appreciated.

Very excited to go as it's been nearly 5 years!

[ryder]

It's a day off for most schools in the area (Rosh Hashanah)

[CedarFlags]

Trip Report from 2022 Fright Fest

TL;DR - worth the $25 upcharge for the wrist band, especially if you haven't been in a while.  BIG dings for bad app and new maze not being ready.

The Good:

• Condemned (best of the night), Willougby's, Sewer of Souls.  All solid mazes with energetic talent.  Condemned has the most immersive design/build, and the theme is very creepy and unlike most other concepts at other local big haunts.  Willougby's is charming in its own way, though it could use some more oomph in some of its larger rooms.  Sewer Of Souls is another great concept, and even though build quality isn't at the top tier of what MM has produced before, it works.
• Talent overall.  Lots of energy, interaction, commitment to characters was good overall.
• Oktoberfest Food Fest.  I only tried a couple things, but they were really good and there were lots of other things on the menu that looked great too.

The Okay:

• Aftermath maze.  I love that they worked the post apocalyptic theme into the maze that's right next to Apocalypse.  It's smart and it shows that there is somebody in the park who understands how to work with theming.  Love that the queue has a video to explain the story.  But it needs more scenery.  The footprint of the maze is enormous and it's outside so you can't narrow people's focus.  Parts are good, parts feel barren.  But the fireball over your head is a scare that's hard to beat.
• Show Moment 1.  This is something I actually LOVE that they're trying but it needs work.  They wrote a little show moment for releasing the monsters into the park, over by Batman.  A track played, and then the gate opened for groups of monsters to walk through a cloud of fog.  It was a great concept, but... the speakers were way too quiet to give the moment the drama it needs.  And the groups of monsters were really small because of the way they broke them up into their character/zone types.  This big build up of narration, fog goes off, gate opens, aaand.... it's 8 people.
• Show Moment 2.  The front of the park scare zone has a new ocean/pirate theme, and they wrote another show moment to give the origin story of the zone.  Fabulous idea, but the execution needs work.  Once again. really underpowered audio, especially since the show was scheduled during a band set at the Full Throttle stage.  The script was also just hard to follow.  And there was a fog machine that kept cycling during the show and obscuring the action on stage.

The Bad:

• Ride Ops.  Lots of coasters running 1 train and having slow ops.  I got off Ninja, got back into line, made it to the gates, and got back on the same train I had just exited.  And I was not running.  Also there were multiple break downs in just a couple hours.
• No map and broken app.  When I bought the wrist band, I scanned a QR code that took me to a pdf map of Fright Fest.  But it was not really optimized for phone usage, and it mentioned several times to check the app for maze info and show times.  Except... none of that was actually on the app.  IMO, if you're going all in on an app and ditching physical maps/guides, then your app needs to be FLAWLESS.  Glitchy apps can be given grace only if there's something else as a back up.
• New Maze not finished.  This is the biggest ding.  There is only one new maze this year and it's not done.  I was told it will open next week, which is the THIRD week of the event.  And I didn't find this out until after purchasing the wrist band.  I feel like that is a big deal that should have been disclosed upfront.

Overall:

• I still think that Fright Fest offers the best value for your money of any of the theme park Halloween events in So Cal.  Especially if you have a pass already.  Build quality has been improving in recent years, and I see attempts to grow creatively.

[CedarFlags]

part 2, photos.

Wonder Woman has murals on what used to be blank walls.  I also felt at least a hint of air conditioning in the room.

 

And Woman Woman has more lockers.  Now it at least has enough to stop sending half empty trains.

 

And it almost has landscaping?  This was a giant hole in the dirt on opening day, so... Progress!

 

Oktoberfest menu (served at Ace Of Clubs).  There were also a few different beers and a cider.  I think the $30 options is a pretty good deal depending on which food you get.

 

This might have something to do with why Apocalypse was running only 1 train.  Clocked three 3+ min dispatches in a row too.  Love that for us.

 

Best maze of the night for me.

 

We love a cute little dark magic ritual altar moment.

 

Skipped this maze because it's mid-tier and I've been through it so many times.  But this is a fun shot.

 

That's one hell of a jump scare.

[Nrthwnd]

^ I would have gone with the Brat and the Tri Tip On A Stick. And a stein included, too? Easy Win.

Great tour of The New Coaster, there. Hope more ... uh .... foliage grows in, eventually.

[VF15]

Looks like SFMM is discontinuing year-round 7 day operations beginning in November.

[coasterbill]

Lol. Keep it up, you’re doing a great job.

[KBrylczyk]

[SoCalJasonland]

Booooooo!

[CedarFlags]

Can't say that I'm surprised.  7 day ops was a huge business mistake, even though it was awesome for the coaster nerds.

[jak146]

Can someone give me an idea of what the wait times are like for the mazes?  How many can you get through in a night?

[Arthur_Seaton]

I'm impressed SFMM was able to keep the full year-round thing going for so long. It always seemed like a terrible idea, but I took advantage of it often and would time my visits on days when I knew the place would be a ghost town. I remember hearing that SFFT was also open "year round," only to discover that meant "weekends only" for chunks of the year — days I try to avoid. Kudos to SFMM for keeping this up (along with dirt-cheap passes) for as long as they did, and I hope they put a moose out front on days they're closed.

16 hours ago, jak146 said:

Can someone give me an idea of what the wait times are like for the mazes?  How many can you get through in a night?

There are all kinds of variable involved, from the day you visit to proximity to Halloween. It's nothing like Universal where you can find lines hitting 2+ hours, but it can get pretty slammed. I don't think I've ever waited more than 30 minutes, even on busy nights. Many will be a walk-through if you time things well and are there for the SFMM equivalent of "rope drop" (in the Full Thröttle plaza area).

[SoCalJasonland]

It is a little off topic but if you live in LA, quit watching KTLA.   Big station but little heart. Two happy looking but fired faces.

[coasterlvr]

Theme Park Review was invited to Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest!

SFMM delayed the media night a week, which would now be the third weekend Fright Fest has been offered.  Finally, after some delay, weeks and even hours last night, their new maze, Truth or Dare opened.  The night started with Spirits with Spirits, a new food and drink option.  "A haunted happy hour with spirits of both natures and devilish treats to die for. Buffet +1 drink included. 6-9pm each Fright Fest night in the West Picnic Pavilion. Additional fee required. Park admission not included."   cost is $59.99 and for anyone who have attended West Coast Bash, they use the same picnic area.

Couldn't spend too much time eating our first round because we wanted to get over to DC Universe for Unleashed.  The monsters come out in smaller waves this year.  So, it's not just one big parade.  I think I like when they all just come out all at once. 

CarnivHell is a new scarezone in Bugs Bunny land.   Honestly, it was very lacking in scare actors.  I think there were 3 when I walked through.  Hopefully that changes in the coming weeks.  

I'm not sure if they are still working on Truth or Dare.  I'd have to guess it's not complete?  There are a lot of blank walls.  But some good scares and it has one of those laser fog rooms.  I think those are so cool visually.   There's a section with a long area of strobe light that completely got me lost for a moment.  I'm still shocked I just didn't walk into a scare actor or the wall.  

Condamned was my favorite maze this year.  It had the most scare actors inside at the time I walked through.   Aftermath 2 is always fun too because FIRE!  Who doesn't love fire?   

Anyway, had a Six Flags day!  While Fright Fest doesn't have or doesn't spend the budget as some of the other haunts, I still have fun.  The scare actors are awesome as usual and it's a fun vibe with GP types staying around since you can still experience a lot without doing the mazes.

 

[jramo14]

Planning on going to the park on Thursday October 5th. I was wondering what I should expect for crowds and if a flash pass is necessary? I know the park is only open until 5 pm, wanna make sure I can get several sides and the major coaster. My only previous visit was back in spring of 2018, however Twisted Colossus and Superman Krypton were both closed. Would appreciate any advice. The price of the platinum flash pass for $180 a day for only 6 1/2 hours of operation is ridiculous.... 

 

Also, I saw on screamscape that some of the coaster have been closed quite often during week days (ex: full throttle and superman krypton). Can anyone confirm/clear this up, along with any current rides that have been down/not operaitonal for a while?

 

Thanks in advance!

[ryder]

I was at the park today, and even though the park was open at 10:30, by 11:30, there were 23 rides still closed on the app, and only 15 rides (5 of which were kiddie rides) were open.  It was one of the worst ops I've ever experienced at SFMM.

Closed rides included:  Goliath, Drop of Doom, Buccaneer, Swashbuckler, Full Throttle, X2, Viper, Jet Stream, Scream (which the entire pathway to it was blocked off, implying it wasn't going to open at all), Wonder Woman, JL, Crazanity, WCR, Apocalypse, Ninja, and Superman.  The last three were going to be closed all day, the entire top of the mountain was closed.  Crazanity had a crane on site and a motor seemed to be on the ground.

To their very small credit, by the time I left around noon, a few of those rides finally managed to open (as far as I could tell:  Goliath, Ninja, FT, Viper, Buccaneer, and JL). 

If you're going on a weekday, you shouldn't need Flashpass.  But expect many closed rides, particularly: Superman, Ninja, and Apocalypse, which now only seem to operate on weekends.

[CedarFlags]

On 9/22/2022 at 1:38 PM, jak146 said:

Can someone give me an idea of what the wait times are like for the mazes?  How many can you get through in a night?

Like most things, it really depends on the day.  I went on a Friday night and the longest I waited for anything was like 5 minutes.  It will get busier as it gets closer to Halloween though, and I've seen maze lines get into the 30-40 min range in previous years.

If you can swing a Friday off of work, that's really the best option.  Get there in the afternoon to hit a few coasters while the lines are still dead, then spend the evening doing mazes and a couple of night rides if you have the time.

[CedarFlags]

8 hours ago, ryder said:

I was at the park today, and even though the park was open at 10:30, by 11:30, there were 23 rides still closed on the app, and only 15 rides (5 of which were kiddie rides) were open.  It was one of the worst ops I've ever experienced at SFMM.

Closed rides included:  Goliath, Drop of Doom, Buccaneer, Swashbuckler, Full Throttle, X2, Viper, Jet Stream, Scream (which the entire pathway to it was blocked off, implying it wasn't going to open at all), Wonder Woman, JL, Crazanity, WCR, Apocalypse, Ninja, and Superman.  The last three were going to be closed all day, the entire top of the mountain was closed.  Crazanity had a crane on site and a motor seemed to be on the ground.

To their very small credit, by the time I left around noon, a few of those rides finally managed to open (as far as I could tell:  Goliath, Ninja, FT, Viper, Buccaneer, and JL). 

If you're going on a weekday, you shouldn't need Flashpass.  But expect many closed rides, particularly: Superman, Ninja, and Apocalypse, which now only seem to operate on weekends.

Jesus Christ... that's definitely the worst I've ever seen from MM.  The sign at Superman says that it only runs during Fright Fest, but it was closed the whole time I was there.  Same with Lex and Scream.

[coasterbill]

We went to the park yesterday for the first time in years. It was a pretty huge shitshow.

By park close, "only" Crazanity, Scream, Ninja, Superman, X2 and Drop of Doom (or whatever it's called) and about half of the smaller rides remained closed for the entire day, but every major ride that wasn't up front opened around 2 despite a 6pm close. This included the brand new ride. The only exceptions were Goliath, Riddler and Batman that ran all day for some reason.

Also, the rapids and the only indoor air conditioned restaurant were closed for the entire day. It was 102 degrees.

As for positive things to say? Uh... the mountains are pretty and Tatsu exists. That's all I've got.

[13fishlips13]

I was going to take my nephew on Thursday.  He is only 52" so not enough rides open to buy him a ticket.  

[CedarFlags]

Controversial opinion... Magic Mountain is the new Geauga Lake and has outgrown its ability to support itself.  It has the world record for most coasters in a park and all those coasters need crews, but it's too far away and pays too little to be an attractive job opportunity like Disney or Universal.  Couple that with the fact that attendance fluctuates so wildly, and the park cuts staffing to the barest of minimums in order to make any money. 

 

Now add on top of all that... next year, more than half of the park's coasters will be 20+ years old.  In 2024, it's going to have five coasters that are 30+ years old.  It's going to be interesting to see what the next 10 years looks like for this park.  I don't think they're going to downsize, but I would certainly understand it if they did.

Edited October 1, 2022 by CedarFlags
clarifying

[KBrylczyk]

1 hour ago, CedarFlags said:

 It's going to be interesting to see what the next 10 years looks like for this park.

Maybe corporate is banking on the park burning to the ground with the rest of California and then taking the insurance money for bonuses.

[Manic Monte]

4 hours ago, CedarFlags said:

Controversial opinion... Magic Mountain is the new Geauga Lake and has outgrown its ability to support itself.  It's too far away and pays too little to be an attractive job opportunity like Disney or Universal,  Couple that with the fact that attendance fluctuates so wildly, and the park cuts staffing to the barest of minimums in order to make any money.  And couple that with the fact that it has the world record for most coasters in a park, and all those coasters need crews.

Now add on top of all that... next year, more than half of the park's coasters will be 20+ years old.  In 2024, it's going to have five coasters that are 30+ years old.  It's going to be interesting to see what the next 10 years looks like for this park.  I don't think they're going to downsize, but I would certainly understand it if they did.

That's not controversial at all. I'd actually say SFMM is the next CGA. In 10 years it will be sold and closed.

[AmyUD06]

33 minutes ago, Manic Monte said:

That's not controversial at all. I'd actually say SFMM is the next CGA. In 10 years it will be sold and closed.

Except that the land that SFMM sits on is hardly as in high demand as CGA's.  Don't get me wrong, I'm with you that SFMM is circling the drain, but not for the same reasons as CGA.

[grsupercity]

12 hours ago, Manic Monte said:

That's not controversial at all. I'd actually say SFMM is the next CGA. In 10 years it will be sold and closed.

Cedar Fair tried on multiple occasions in the past to sell GCA. Even at Six Flag's worst times MM has never been offered for sale