The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[waterviper]

I agree with that it was a bad location to find once you are in the park but I wouldn't say it was tucked away in a hidden corner of the park at at all! When you pass the ticket booths you can see it clear as day before you enter the park, it was a bit to the right stickin out like a sore thumb!

[kraxleRIDAH]

I guess I didn't word it well enough. What I meant was that it was seemingly tucked away in a off-location area inside the park which makes it hard to find (for those that are actually aware that the ride is even at the park).

 

Even though you can see Flashback from the main gate, how many people do you really think actually enter the park and head for "that blue one we saw when we bought our tickets"?

 

It's the truth though. Once you enter Magic Mountain, there are very few locations in the park (I can only recall 2) where you can actually SEE Flashback. It's pretty well hidden. They should have named the ride STEALTH

[Carnage]

The ride itself isn't very tall to begin with and is tucked away in a nearly hidden corner of the park away from the main pathway.

 

I've only been to SFMM twice. And I didn't even see Flashback until the second trip.

 

The first time I was at the park I totally forgot it even existed. After leaving the park I remembered it, but couldn't for the life of me remember even seeing it.

[ParkTrips]

I think Magic Mountain should just eliminate any extra-pay attractions except for Dive Devil (which is quite popular -- and profitable, from what I'm told).

I am pretty sure such attractions are lessees in the park, and though they may make some good money, the park's share of the profits are barely significant.

[GMAN962]

Anybody think that if they re-build it, (and that's a big if) they might move it over to where Psyclone is? Or does that land not belong to Magic Mountain?

 

-Mike

[Top Thrill Dragster]

^ I don't think they will rebuild it, just too much money for a crappy ride.

[kraxleRIDAH]

Though the park is entertaining the idea of re-assembling Flashback back in the park in the future, I really hope it doesn't happen. The space freed up by its removal will be greatly beneficial for the park to progress -- reintroducing it at a later date would not be the best decision in my eyes.

[supermanrosfan0810]

Flashback would certainly operate much better in a new location, since the noise won't be right next to the water park, which was why it barely ran before it's recent hiatus.

[lapseofreason]

Interesting... I might have to see if we can afford passes earlier than April, I'd like to go check out the dismantling/destruction .

 

... and funnily enough, I got an email from SFMM today saying that they were still going to be a Six Flags this year and also advertising Play Passes... on the left, they used pics of several coasters... and one of them was Flashback. Typical SFMM...

[Top Thrill Dragster]

^^ Also the ride is EXTREMELY rough and would most likely still have a low ridership if located to a new area of the park.

[kraxleRIDAH]

^ I wouldn't be so quick to say that. It's previous on-and-off operation due to its location next to Hurricane Harbor and its current near-hidden location led to a reputation of "always being closed."

 

It's definitely not the most comfortable ride, but I wouldn't say it's an "EXTREMELY painful" one either.

 

You put the ride in a place where it gets high visibility among visitors and in an area with a lot of foot-traffic, you'll see that Flashback is capable of drawing in and holding a sizeable queue wait.

[vedved82491]

Yeah. I've talked to people who've said that when they first when on Flashback, the lines were 45+ minutes. Obviously if they reopen it in a new location, it will get a major refurb. It would definetly get more attention, and more advertisment. Even people who have never been to SFMM wouldn't know about Flashbacks evil past and be willing to ride it.

[ebl]

^ Yeah, back in 1992 I waited in a 45-minute line to ride Flashback.

 

It is a novel concept; however, the trains have the wrong type of restraints. As has been said many times, a modified lap bar would keep riders perfectly safe and eliminate the painful shoulder and head banging.

 

I've said, too, that if Flashback were enclosed inside of a building with some sort of theme, it would improve the overall experience greatly.

 

Eric

[supermanrosfan0810]

If it got refurbed, I'm sure it would be much better than the rust-pile it is now.

[TheArchfiend]

Why bother spending money refurbishing and moving a ride like Flashback that is a minimal thrill (as far as coasters go) even if they got it back to brand new condition? This ride will not draw people to the park nor will it stand out compared to many other rides at Magic Mountain.

 

Sure, its a cool ride and can have a place in any park... but to spend a significant amount of money to get it working again, no way Jose. Bad call if they do that. If they go through the costs of refurbishing and moving Flashback then I will have endless nightmares of Viper being resurrected somewhere at Great Adventure again. *shudder*

[Xtreme-me]

Theres always a chance that they could move the ride somewhere else but if they did, it would be nice if they got some new trains like the ones on Kumba at BGA. In my past visits, ive had a ton of people ask me what the rollercoaster just standing there is and ive had to explain to them exactly what it does and why its special. Theyve all said they would like to ride it so it would be nice if they could reopen it again.

 

As for the markers on the trees. If you look at the picture, the old monorail track goes right by there. My guess would be that they are starting to work on getting the train idea running.

[vedved82491]

Yeah but wouldn't they use the already present metro track? Dunno. But i've said this regarding flashback multiple times, and it makes sense...you can't really get rid of the OTSR's...the clearance between a riders arms and the beams is minimal. The tights restraints keep people from raising their arms...however, the cars could definetly be modified, and the restraints COULD be more comfortable. I haven't been on it and I can't judge whether or not it was painful, but from other's retrospective, it would sure seem so.

[kraxleRIDAH]

You're right about the clearance issues on Flashback...as long as that ride is in operation, there will be horse-collar restraints. IN THE EVENT that the ride does get reassembled at Magic Mountain (I pray to God it doesn't), I hope the park does something with the vehicles. ANY kind of improvement or parts replacement (mostly restraints) would make the ride more comfortable.

[Dailey Enterprizes]

As an east coast park goer, I think SFMM is doing the right thing by cutting their losses and improving the quality of their park. Honestly, if the park had 30 coasters and poor park quality then I wouldn't even think about travelling that far, but now that the park has a decent coaster collection with good park service, then I'm starting to think when it's possible to go there.

 

Oh and another thing, don't bash so much on the Flashback and Psyclone. I mean, I'm sure they're terrible rides, but maybe SFMM can sell the rides to a park that will take care of them and I think they can be reborn. I do agree with a post above that says that even if the Flashback was fixed it still wouldn't pull a profit, but I think it would do well for another park somewhere. Those are just my thoughts...

[kraxleRIDAH]

^ Pscylone and Flashback aren't going to be sold or moved to other parks. It has been confirmed Pysclone will be scrapped after being taken down.

 

As for Flashback being re-assembled and not being profitable...I don't believe the purpose is to re-market the ride as a new coaster again anyway. They could do it, but I doubt that is their motive. Think of it more as the park relocating it, if anything else. (Again, I hope it doesn't get rebuilt).

[Ryan King]

Eh, i wouldnt MIND seeing it get rebuilt. I mean, give it the paint job and the attention it needs. If it DOES get rebuilt, i would rather see it get shipped off to a different park or just sold all together. It is a 1 of a kind coaster...so eh, some profit to be made, and the money could go towards more themeing and such.

Just my take

 

-Ryan

[metrock]

...and the money could go towards more themeing and such.

 

Yeah, maybe they can re-paint the parking lines under Scream!

[The Joker's Revenge]

They could just throw piles of dirt under Scream and let weeds grow over it. Definitely better than a parking lot!

 

As for Psyclone..... Good riddance, I rode it back when I was twelve and thought it was rather subpar on thrills and rather over the top on roughness. And for the record, back when I was twelve I was still easy to impress with rollercoasters.

 

Flashback however, I wouldn't however be surprised if Magic Mountain moved, Enclosed and then dubbed it as a "new" ride.

[RollerC]

They could just throw piles of dirt under Scream and let weeds grow over it. Definitely better than a parking lot!

 

As for Psyclone..... Good riddance, I rode it back when I was twelve and thought it was rather subpar on thrills and rather over the top on roughness. And for the record, back when I was twelve I was still easy to impress with rollercoasters.

 

Flashback however, I wouldn't however be surprised if Magic Mountain moved, Enclosed and then dubbed it as a "new" ride.

 

Kinda like they did with X-Flight?

 

It would be nice to see it repainted and have brand new cars with better viewing. The current ones are ugly as hell.

[vedved82491]

Hey Stealth/Borg Assimilator was moved to a new location[new park actually]. It got a paint job, new name, and a little bit of theming, and so many people have commented on how much better it is in its current location then when it was at PGA. For flashback, even if its not changing parks, any fix up would do it wonders.