The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[AllenA07]

I renewed my Xtreme pass online but got a Play pass in the mail today. The card is green, says 2010 Play Pass on it, does not have the same bar code as my 09 Xtreme pass and does not say "parking" on the pass. Furthermore, my credit card was charged for the Xtreme pass renewal.

 

Is this a situation that I'd be able to fix by going to Guest Services at the park or would I need to do it through the site?

 

I would call the park and tell them what happened and I'm sure they can give you further instructions. Sounds like nothing more than a mistake, I'm sure they can get it taken care of for you.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

I would guss the the BIGGEST contributing factor to MM not hitting the numbers as other seasonal parks nation wide is simply put, LOCATION. As an amusement park operator, Six Flags kinda gets both ends of the double edged sword with their L.A. property. It's in the L.A. market, and as saturated as this market is, what with Universal, Knott's and Disney but a stones throw away (assuming there is post-apacalyptic like traffic) and Los Angeles offering more than just amusement/theme parks to tourists (sightseeing, the film industry, beaches, shopping, etc) it makes it that much harder to get a strong grasp on a steady attendance rate.

 

Despite being in the L.A. market, the second most populous region in the United States and according to Forbes sees about 58 million visitors a year, It rests on the outskirts of Metro L.A., far from where the central of this tourism and local buzzing is going on. Take Knott's for example. It's easier and less expensive to use MTA to get from Sylmar to Buena Park (though it'll take much longer) than it is to use Metrolink and Santa Clarita Transit to get from Sylmar to Six Flags. Despite Disneyland and Knott's being outside of L.A. County, they're closer to Metro LA and more of a convenience to get to than the almost outcasted Magic Mountain...which for the record is on the other side of these mountains.

 

Yup. It'll take them a while to get those numbers up, but looks like they're up to the challenge.

[WFChris]

^I get your point and agree with it 100%, except that on the other side of those mountains is Palmdale and Lancaster. Geographically, Magic Mountain is on the other side of the Santa Susana's, not the San Gabriels

 

Here we see Magic Mountain, the Santa Susana's, and that haze behind it, thats the San Fernando Valley. A little less dramatic than the San G's.

 

Sorry I'm just kind of a geography whore, don't want to be misleading!

 

Chris

[CoasterPrince]

Zomfg. That is such an ugly surrounding.

[ebl]

^ Not the greatest surroundings, but a lot better than being surrounded by the city like at Knott's or even Disneyland. But you don't see this when you're at the park---at least not till you get high enough on a ride or in the Sky Tower.

 

Eric

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^^Thanks for the better picture...I just wanted to use a picture tha represented the seperation difference between the center of the city and the valley, though the angle of the picture is looking NE, verses he park beeing more NW. But your picture better illustrates how the park is off all by itself.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Zomfg. That is such an ugly surrounding.

 

Actually, it's rather beautiful, especially from the top of Tatsu's lift hill.

[cooksta77]

I actually love the surrounding area. I don't know why people don't like it if it's a nice area in my opinion.

Andrew "The city just needs to grow a little more" Iorio

[atem122]

The best part of SFMM's surroundings is "South Point" at the Valencia Town Center.

 

I like the Southwest look surrounding it, but it looks just like a lot of Cali.

[ebl]

"...though the angle of the picture is looking NE..." (Bolliger&Mabillard)

 

Actually, the picture that WFChris posted is looking almost due south. This is why I've pointed out that the new coaster going in next to Deja Vu is actually in the southwest corner of the park, not the northwest corner that the various news articles and SFMM website say. But I'm just getting nit picky.

 

Eric

[FitchCoaster]

Haha the surroundings are pretty plain and not all that pretty, but I definitely don't think it's ugly. Part of why I love SFMM is it's surroundings, actually. It just wouldn't be the same plopped right in the middle of a city, or somewhere else. The bare hills kind of contribute to the whole name of the park... Magic Mountain.

[brand4d2]

I would guss the the BIGGEST contributing factor to MM not hitting the numbers as other seasonal parks nation wide is simply put, LOCATION. As an amusement park operator, Six Flags kinda gets both ends of the double edged sword with their L.A. property. It's in the L.A. market, and as saturated as this market is, what with Universal, Knott's and Disney but a stones throw away (assuming there is post-apacalyptic like traffic) and Los Angeles offering more than just amusement/theme parks to tourists (sightseeing, the film industry, beaches, shopping, etc) it makes it that much harder to get a strong grasp on a steady attendance rate.

 

Despite being in the L.A. market, the second most populous region in the United States and according to Forbes sees about 58 million visitors a year, It rests on the outskirts of Metro L.A., far from where the central of this tourism and local buzzing is going on. Take Knott's for example. It's easier and less expensive to use MTA to get from Sylmar to Buena Park (though it'll take much longer) than it is to use Metrolink and Santa Clarita Transit to get from Sylmar to Six Flags. Despite Disneyland and Knott's being outside of L.A. County, they're closer to Metro LA and more of a convenience to get to than the almost outcasted Magic Mountain...which for the record is on the other side of these mountains.

 

Yup. It'll take them a while to get those numbers up, but looks like they're up to the challenge.

 

It's a lot easier now to get from Sylmar to Six Flags now that Santa Clarita Transit runs an express bus from North Hollywood station to McBean Station. I think the last bus leaves Valencia at 9 pm so one should be able to stay as late as 8 pm at SFMM were they to utilize this option.

[robbalvey]

Haha the surroundings are pretty plain and not all that pretty, but I definitely don't think it's ugly. Part of why I love SFMM is it's surroundings, actually. It just wouldn't be the same plopped right in the middle of a city, or somewhere else.

The funny thing is that Valencia is actually quite built up now and very populated. While the park isn't built in the middle of the city, the city is right next to it. It just so happens to be that from the park, you can't really see the rest of Valencia, but if you look at this map, you can see that just down Magic Mountain Parkway, only about a mile away, starts the very built up area of Valencia (and our apartment!)

 

--Robb

[coasterking2981]

^Funny how Magic Mountain actually sits perfectly where it is. Just as you are driving along the freeway, and you look off to your right (or left) and boom, you see this big theme park, with almost every one of its amazing coasters in plain view.

 

You dont really get that with Disneyland or Knott's now do you?

[the ghost]

^ Thats the magic of Disneyland. At Disneyland park(not California Adventure) there are only like 3 places you can see outside of Disneyland. It is pretty cool to be driving and to just see six flags. Knott's has the coolest drive ever though, you drive underneath Ghostrider and Accelerator looks almost as crazy as it rides if you see it from far away.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

Knotts is pretty impressive looking from the 91 freeway coming from the 57 freeway.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

The best part of SFMM's surroundings is "South Point" at the Valencia Town Center.

 

Hmm...the only "South Point" I've ever known is in Las Vegas...

[atem122]

^It's some Argentinian restaurant, I only really like it because of the couches. The food ain't half bad either though

[SharkTums]

^^It's next to BJ's in the outdoor section of the mall.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

^ Oh...right...THAT South Point. Never been in there.

[coasterking2981]

SFMM posted two new promo videos if anyone wants to take look:

 

 

 

My favorite was the web video version of X2's promo.

[Calicoasters]

^Any video that has Ministry's song "Burning Inside" playing in the background is a cool to video to me!

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

You could totally tell one of the Terminator trains was full of employees.

[ebl]

Any more info on The Coaster for 2010?

 

Eric

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^Nothing yet as oftoday. My friend I talk to that still works there tells me that employees (at least field employees) still haven't heard anything about it. Granted they're the last people in the chain to know something, it's not a topic matter in the park yet. She tells me that half the operation employees don't even know they're adding anything.