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The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread


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^I thought about that myself, and the the conclusion I've come to myself is this. If it didn't make somewhat of a profit, Management wouldn't keep it open. Of course there's also certain factors that may play into the parks year round operation, such as permissable weather, and competitor parks (Universal, Knott's ,Disney) operating every day. Plus, Southern California tourism doesn't really stop in the summer, so that may also be a factor. I honestly do feel that closure from January-March would help maintain the park without having to worry about operating it at the same time.

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And I disagree. A good crew and 3 trains wont change all that much. Because people will complain. Justified or not, they will complain. Look at any Disney park's fan site. I'm sure you'd agree.

Ill agree with the latter part of that statement, but if Tatsu's not running full capacity because of poor budget then thats that. When I ran SUF and it often had many bypassed seats that totally screwed up the capacity but they didnt have either the maintenence or labor budget to fix them. But I find it kind of silly that youd say running with good capacity and a good crew will not change much. With that logic, why bother opening it at all, people will just be pissed they have to wait in line for it.

I know from being a sup for SF that sometimes that aspect of service sometimes gets lost in the "are the rides open, is everyone eating" aspect that takes so much work to iron out on a day to day basis. But the whole point of park operations should be to make people want to come back. Not running capacity on rides when its crowded will piss people off, with good reason.

 

But I knew this was coming. After Tim Burkhart's carefully worded "we will run the maximum trains available" statement, it was obvious something was up. I just tryed to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I could list out a huge list of things Shapiro said that he did the opposite, SF will cut corners wherever possible because it looks better on the balance sheet and theyre in so much debt that at this point operating at a loss is catostrophic so if they are it hits the fan and becomes very noticeable onstage.

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^ I was wrong in saying "people", so much as I meant to say "enthusiasts".

 

 

 

 

 

I totally understand the business side of things, and that is fine by me if that is the direction the park wishes to take, but that statement seems like a total contradiction to what Jay and Neal have been working so hard to try and sell to us.

 

They've worked so hard to try and improve the park, and have made some visible improvements that we all enjoy, but if the real reasons behind Tatsu not having 3 trains the whole summer are "sacrifices you don't want to make, but have to"...That's the attitude of the old Six Flags.

 

But I knew this was coming. After Tim Burkhart's carefully worded "we will run the maximum trains available" statement, it was obvious something was up. I just tryed to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

 

 

I don't know how much it's worth my breath to share my understanding, as people don't seem to take kindly to my "excuses". And by no means am I defending how long it took Tatsu to get a third train, as I was ultimately more effected by it than whoever here had to wait 30 minutes to board Tatsu! My hesitation with what you're saying is the suggestion that Jay and Neal were letting us on in those Q&A sessions. Because last Saturday, EVERY ride was running max units, including the ones that didn't at the beginning of summer. And the last time that happened at Six Flags I don't even know. It's been a couple of years.

 

If deadlines have slipped due to a record number of park-wide maintenence projects (and the fun mechanical/electrical spider web that is X2), stretching the corporate-alloted budget to it's brink, it still hasn't stopped them from ultimately following through on the promises! That's the difference--that's how the park isn't the "old Six Flags". Today...TODAY I saw the Colossus County Fair signs (which probably havn't been touched with paint since the '70's) get a brand new paint job. TODAY. Season's over, and there's paint only going up now. And I'm not any less happy for that, the signs look beautiful! To be truthful, I'm personally surpised that the park is running max units, even if it is this late! That's totally an improvement from years past!

 

When I look at it from that perspective, it amazes me to think that Jay has been with the park for less than a year. Sure makes me intrigued and excited for next year.

 

 

 

-Jahan

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I might be oversimplifying things here, but my sense is that we see improvements and we're all for them, but we do not like inconsistency where and when we see that. We want the park to be running well consistently. Spotty good performance is great, but it doesn't cover over when the poor performance rears its head.

 

I'm going to head over to the Mountain tomorrow and see how things are going on a late August weekday.

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The debt was caused by over expansion and poor upper management decisions. Magic Mountain opened up coaster after coaster without any time to allow a return profit. As a result, they gained a national reputation of "The Xtreme park" and lost credibility as a family friendly park. Ultimately each park in the chain had it's downfalls, but in a nut shell, it was pretty much just adding too many rides too close together without time to collect residuals on them.

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So here's a few looks from a few hours at a relatively empty Six Flags...Somewhere. Enjoy!

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Good night Six Flags...Somewhere!

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Colossus light show!

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This is probably the billionth-and-1 time someone's taken this, but twilight shots look nice...

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Took one last brutally rough ride on X2 and headed out. From the X2 bridge, the other side of the park looks like it's about a mile away...

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It's about 6pm now, so maybe more parents with kids were here earlier, but there's no one around now. It's strange. This is not seen with other Thomas areas in other parks. I don't really know what to say...

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Not a whole heck of a lot...

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What's going on in Jay Thomas Town?

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Not sure if this is the sign Jahan mentioned or what, but it looks recently painted, and all the lights were on and working! Looked nice!

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Why am I always at Riddler's during sunset? Weird...

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Since everything needs a hip-looking graphic...

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Gold Rusher makes me happy. =)

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Spin Out is now a wood fence and an ad board. =(

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Sign looks great! Now we just need one of these in the front of the park, and in the pathway going past the stairs just past Tatsu's entrance. Increased awareness of this will bring increased attendance. People are interested in seeing this stuff, they just need to know it's there!

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Finally a sign!!! YAAAAAAAAAY!

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Lighter trains means increased reliability, but actually a rougher ride due to the unique design.

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Old & new trains together means only 2 trains are running. However this is an improvement since this time of year in year's past would only have 1 train op for X assuming it was open at all.

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Former unload turned stacking wait area looks like a cool Mars base looking thing.

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Now I can personally vouch for the fact that these trains are by no means AT ALL smoother. My spleen approves this message.

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This looks nice. Hopefully in a year or so it'll still be running...

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This coliseum looks a lot like a coaster loading house but ok...

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These signs hanging all over the place are a welcome addition IMO. Loading looked pretty bare before...

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Because Every Word Of A Sentence Must Be Capitalized.

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*sigh* Guys...a few seconds with a pressure washer...

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Here's a shot I'm sure you've NEVER seen before! ;)

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CYA queue signage

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Jay really wants you to know that 'Red' is the thing here.

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Interesting use of money here...

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The working TVs in the queue were nice to look at. It'll be nice if all the queues of the future have these, and the queues of the present eventually receive them.

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This way to a much improved coaster!

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New/old look since that arch always reminds me of that scene from National Lampoon's Vacation. Amazing how that little area remains unchanged even though just about everything else in the park has since that movie was filmed.

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Time for my first trip on X2! I know, I know, but I said before that I was going to ride it when I ride it. Well, today's that day.

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I hadn't seen how stuff is marked off by these painted lines before. In some ride queue's there is a similar red line saying "no loose articles beyond this point". While I appreciate the effort, it's going to be for naught once people realize enforcement isn't quite there.

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Sometime's a picture's worth 15 pages of discussion...

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Stacking? On Tatsu??? Can't be! I MUST be seeing things! Can't really be happy about what I saw. 2 trains, 1 station, about 6 minutes of sitting in transfer per cycle. Blame it on the fact that the line's not very long if you want to, but I really don't see why guests deserve that kind of operation simply because the queue's not astronomically long.

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Time to check out how the Tatsu crew is doing this afternoon...

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Hey Robb!

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Six Flags Media Network: Bringing down the debt one ad at a time.

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I have to say this paint job looks awesome. Revvy seemed smoother to me as well somehow. Maybe I'm nuts, and my head does go above the restraints, but it was nice to have a somewhat smooth ride on that for once.

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Revolution go ZOOOOOOOMMM!!!

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Yeah I know, but hey, at least that stage is being used for something again.

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Arrows of fury!!

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Cyber Cafe looking very cyberish today...

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Yes, do make it a great day. If you don't, a kitten will die somewhere in the world. Do you really want to be responsible for that?? DO YOU?!!

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Random electronic sign on the wall. I guess it's good know exactly how warm it is, even though the temp was still showing at 93 more than 3 hours later...

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Recycle bins? At Magic Mountain?? What's next? Clean bathrooms? =P

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Want some Thomas Town advertising? Here it is. Trouble is this is about it...

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Because trash cans have families too...

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I took the first picture, did a little a dance, came up right in front of him to take this picture, and the dude never looked up! He probably never knew I did any of it, AND THIS IS THE TRAM CROSSING GUARD!!! The worst part about it was when I turned around behind me to find a little brother and sister walking in the tram route right next to the fence around what's a blind curve for the tram. They were ready to get hit, but that guard certainly won't be saving them when he's texting!

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4 minutes into my visit, and the very first park employee I see is on a cell phone. *facepalm*

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It's a beautiful day in Valencia today!

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I just think its funny because during the opening show, the two kids use the clock to figure out how much time they have left. The second day the girl looked over and was like..."only 10 more minutes till the park opens and its 93 degrees. what? 93 degrees already?".

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^ I'm sorry I cant agree with that. If you have a temperature clearly displayed to inform your public, it should be working. They should either reprogram it to take off the temperature or just turn the whole thing off. Those things are not that difficult to reprogram.

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