The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[MagicMountainMan]

^Would it really be that easy? As Ty would say, "Let's do it!"

Oh and I once heard that the reason why they stopped launching both sides of Superman simultaneously because one day in 1998 or thereabouts on a very hot summer day, both sides were launched and the last shed that houses the controllers for the magnets caught on fire due to so much heat and electricity. I have absolutely no clue if this is true or not but it makes an interesting story, although I did hear it from a former ride op that worked at Superman.

 

I don't think Gold Rusher would mind seeing that big hunk of concrete gone from over top of it, but then again, this is only a wild dream that will never come to fruition.

[SharkTums]

KUDOS to Magic Mountain's Guest Services...

 

I have to compliment the greatly improved guest services at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I bought a season pass to the park in January knowing that I was going to be traveling to the park last week. I am also planning a trip to Six Flags over Texas and Great Adventure but since I was going to Magic Mountain first, I purchased the pass for that park. Well I made the trek from Salt Lake to Magic Mountain this past weekend, and like the Griswalds, when I got to the park it was closed (due to weather).

 

I spoke with the park today about the situation and that I would not be coming to the park after all to process my pass. They were so friendly and never once did they lead me to believe there would be a problem in resolving the issue. The woman (I wish I could remember her name because she was SO NICE) told me that she would call the Texas park and put a note on my confirmation number explaining the situation. Not more than an hour later I received a call from Brandon in the Six Flags Magic Mountain Guest Services confirming that they had spoke with the Texas park and not only would they resolve the problem but they would refund me the difference in the prices between Magic Mountain & the Texas Park.

 

Thanks Magic Mountain for a very positive experience.

 

Sorry you missed out on the park, but Brandon is one of SFMM's best employees so I'm sure he took good care of you.

[G-Force!]

Now that I think about it, forget about Superman being brought down. It may be far from its glory days, however, the ride is still fun, pulls in crowds, and is still fairly new when compared to other rides. How about instead focus on Colossus. The ride has seen better days, and was way better before all the modifications from what I have heard. Now I know many people would hate to hear this, but what about removing it for something way better and thrilling, like an El Toro. I'm surprised we haven't seen anymore of these types of coasters in the US parks, and it would be a huge draw for the park. Colossus takes up a huge amount of space, so imagine the possibilities. Of course, some might say that is out of the question, as it is a MM classic and I agree completely. Anyway, just a thought I'd throw out there because I would definetly take that over a B&M Hyper any day.

 

Now, if the park ever decides in the future to go all out on some crazy steel coaster, I say go the Giga route if they plan to go big again. An Intamin Giga would be the only one on the West Coast if they went though with it. Also, I still believe Knott's will still somehow squeeze in a hyper, thus making it more sense to go bigger because there is more space. Thoughts?

[coasterking2981]

I've thought about Colossus's future myself, but I don't see it being removed for a few more decades. When it does happen, I would hope SFMM does consider a custom Intamin Woodie, or a GCI Racer like the one being installed at Efetling.

[Chrisrad]

[sings] Step by step, day by day.......

 

I would be pretty upset if Colossus ever became sawdust.. (ok, well pieces of it are replaced constantly).. But the ride itself, classic. It's smoother than Ghostrider, has better drops, and greets every visitor in the parking lot.. (((Gosh.. it must have been a lot of work to put a parking lot over an ocean )))

 

Speaking of Colossus, why are there 'patrol booths' in two locations on the track? Was it a way of controlling guest conduct back in the day?

[andre8]

I have an idea for Superman.

 

Change it to Superman vs. Bizzaro, turn one side into Superman and one into Bizarro, make the big standing Superman a cross between Bizarro and Superman. Bizzaro on one side, Supeman on another, Bizzaro's includes a flamethrower, both include a holding break, the tunnel has mist, there is on ride audio, the seats look better, and the storyline changes and makes it fit in with Samurai Summit.

[cooksta77]

^Or they could take it out and put in something bigger and better in like 3 or 5 years.

Andrew "Lets get mist on Goliath and Batman working first" Iorio

[XII]

While I may not care too much for Superman, I would hate to see it torn down. It's always the first thing I see when heading to SFMM and has always been an icon of SFMM. For me, it'd be like removing the Sky Tower.

[austinlee]

Why is Batman going to be closed again? It was just closed for what, a month while it was being painted?

 

I thought the same thing when I first saw that it would be closed. It seems strange to me that Batman will be closed again so soon.

 

I still enjoy Colossus partially for nostalgic purposes since it was the first wooden coaster I ever rode and the second SFMM coaster I ever rode on my first trip to the park with my parents in 1983. I suppose I could bite the bullet and accept it if the park ever decided to remove it and put in something better. 20 years ago I never would have believed I would say that someday. It is not one of the best coasters in the park anymore but I do still like it and I would miss it to some extent if it was gone. It would be very strange to drive into the parking lot and not see it.

 

^^^^ I am not sure what the "patrol booths" on Colossus were for, but I do remember seeing people sitting in them when I visited the park many times in the 80's.

 

As far as Superman, it is not one of the best either, but I do still like it and ride it on most visits. Generally I don't go to the top of the mountain anymore unless Superman and Ninja are both open, but when they are both open I do still ride them. I am not convinced that removing Superman is a good idea since it does still draw crowds. I have had some visits when Superman was either the only coaster which had a line, or had one of the longer lines in the park. I know that is partially due to low capacity but if people didn't like it anymore I don't think it would generate a line longer than X2, Tatsu, Goliath and Terminator on any kind of semi-regular basis.

 

I have had many good experiences with Guest Relations, including times I have e-mailed the park and received a response within a few hours or the next day, even though their website says to allow up to one business week for a response.

Edited February 10, 2010 by austinlee

[ebl]

^ Honestly the reason for long lines at Superman is due to the low capacity. You figure that usually only one track is open, and each car can only hold up to 15 riders at a time on about a two- to three-minute cycle time. (I've timed it.) That's pretty low. Even if both tracks were to operate at the same time, it'd still be a slow line.

 

Eric

[jray21]

I would hate for colossus to go, but it is far past it's prime. It's probably the most iconic part of the park, for me, because of the Vacation movie!! Of course, I would be more than thrilled if they built a single track GCI on the same huge lot! Of course it would have to be painted white. In regards to the patrol booths, if I remember correctly, it was for watching the guests to make sure they were being good little riders. When they actually used to race, you could reach across at some points to the other cars, and the restraints could be pretty loose at times as well and people would sit a little too tall for the drops .

[Nicole.]

I made a trip out to SFMM in December and almost everything was closed. I did get to see Goliath's new paint but I didn't get to ride it. This is sad considering I came all the way from the east coast. I did get to ride X2 but it broke while I was waiting for it. I really liked Super Man. That could be because I really love Intamin. Overall SFMM was better then what I expected. I can't wait to go back!

[atem122]

^Did you go on the 22nd? That was the day before I went, and it sounded like a terrible day.

 

And I don't get why everyone's calling for another GCI or another woodie, we just got one. People think that Termy is just Psyclone with a new name, so why would they invest in another wooden coaster so soon?! Put a spinning coaster in Free Fall's old spot and Batman's overflow queue and you've got a decent winner.

[austinlee]

I don't know why the park would want another woodie either. The one they just added is awesome. If they spend a lot of money on another big coaster it should be a type of coaster they don't currently have. I like the diving coaster idea which was posted recently or an improved launch coaster, similar to Incredible Hulk. A spinning coaster would be good too, but not as extreme. This could be a good addition which thrill seekers and families could both enjoy. I usually only enjoy the most extreme rides and I think Sierra Sidewinder is a very fun ride.

[SFMM fanboy]

Anyone know when the discount booklet comes out? The one with all the cupons, like free friend admission.

[trcg721]

I was told that they come out in March.

[cooksta77]

Well if you think about it if they for some strange reason tear down Colossus and build another racing woodie, we'll have the same problem as Terminator. But as a person who loves special effects why not put fog or mist back in Goliath's tunnel? Or get everything in Batman's queue working again? I think small details will make SFMM a better park.

Andrew "Plus I love fog" Iorio

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

Colossus is fine, and It's stable enough to say there. I also don't get where people are getting the idea "we need another GCI". If we did need another woodie, for the love of God please just clone El Toro...

[Skycoastin Steve]

^What, you don't want a second wooden coaster from the same exact manufacturer at the same park? On top of that, it's a coaster designer known for its rides all being strikingly similar. That's the best idea ever! Why didn't Shapiro think of that???

[CreditCrazy]

^ Because Hershey already came up with the idea!

[Skycoastin Steve]

^In fairness to Hershey, Lightning Racer is what Wildcat SHOULD have been. They didn't exactly get GCI's best effort on Wildcat. But Lightning Racer is a fantastic coaster.

[ebl]

When you stop and think about it, parks have multiple steel coasters from the same manufacturer; I don't see why there couldn't be more than one wooden coaster from the same company. If GCII were to design a nice out and back design for SFMM, then why not?

 

Eric

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Yeah, but you don't see two B&M hypers at a park, or two Gerstlauer spinners, or two Intamin impulse coasters. Steel coasters are different because of how diverse they are. Another compact GCI twister in place of Colossus would just be silly. If they tear down Colossus, they sure as hell better build either a GG or Intamin woodie there, because a small GCI wouldn't exactly do the memory of Colossus any justice.

 

And before anyone mentions it, I realize that there are parks that have multiple CCIs (HW, Indiana Beach, and Mt. Olympus immediately come to mind). However, CCI had a little more creativity and diversity than GCI (not to mention they were practically the ONLY wooden manufacturer in the country for years). I think Elissa is the one that's said it before: while GCIs are good, they aren't exactly unique from one another in very many ways.

[rcdude]

Getting a second GCI at Six Flags Magic Mountain makes about as much sense as La Ronde getting an SLC. Why build a similar/identical coaster when you've already got one of equal/better quality? If Six Flags Magic Mountain gets a new woodie, it better be a Gravity Group or Intamin Prefab. Anything else would be too similar to Colossus or Terminator.

 

However, Magic Mountain doesn't need a new wooden coaster, at least in my opinion. I think what Magic Mountain could use most is a complete circuit launched coaster, perhaps something similar to Maverick or Blue Fire. It would be really neat if the park could find some way to make use of the natural terrain, but I don't know how much room they have on the actual hill for a large roller coaster (they've already got about five using it in some way).

 

Also, if they need to remove a coaster, I would say that Viper might be a good choice. It never seems to get a line anymore, it isn't exactly unique compared to what else the park has, the ride is somewhat rough (though not too bad by Arrow standards) and out of the park's major coasters it would clear up the most room. Sure, Viper is a good ride and everything, but it does seem a bit dated.

[TonyG]

I would like to come to the defence of viper, it may not be the "best" ride in MM but it still has a pretty good punch for its age, as i was pointing out to my brother as we were about to ride it on sunday, its 20 years old and it may not have a huge quaere line like tatsu and X2 but it still has a decent amount of people willing to ride it or at least more than colossus and revolution which in my opinion are more "rough" and i still enjoy at least once every visit. I generally love all the rides in MM and would hate to have any taken away. If hey were to do anything they could always use the area once occupied by flashback and build from there, we all know coasters take allot of space up in the air but the area once accupied from flashback could be a decent launch station and build up and around other areas.