The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[ebl]

^^ I agree with your logic about diverting the crowds away from coasters and "balancing the load," so to speak, but how many of us here would actually ride those flat rides? Personally, depending on the ride, I'd ride once just to say I did and that's about it.

 

One peeve of mine regarding Superman: It runs a single car on each track, not a "train."

 

About Deja Vu...I can't imagine why it would be closed till next spring unless it needs a major rehab or they just need to keep people out of the area while they get the Roller Skater up and going. One thought that did go through my mind was the remote possibility of the last Deja Vu joining its siblings and being removed. (I don't believe that to be the case, though, as it seems to run well here.)

 

Eric

[Sir Clinksalot]

Too bad we can't get X cars on Superman.

 

Launch face first, fly up the tower face first, flip and then back down face first.

[fatdaddy]

^Deja Vu hasn't run for me in like two years, every time I go it's running 'til I get in line and then it dies. I honestly have forgotten what it's like to ride it.

[DBJ]

If you want to experience the flat rides, I would highly suggest checking out the LA County Fair. The problem with the spinning flat rides is that they become dull, quickly, compared to the coasters. They work in a fair setting because the coasters, for lack of a better word, suck. That said, I agree that they do need a focuse on diversity of attractions in the future. Maybe once they are on more solid financial footing? For now, SFMM really only gets a boost in attendance when they are marketing a new coaster. So for 2011, that's Superman redux and "Mr. Six". 2012 - Project 18. Maybe in 2013 we will see a non-coaster addition?

 

Here's my conspiracy theory about Deja Vu. It's green. Just so happens that a movie is coming up in 2011 called Green Lantern. The Deja Vu theme is basically a painted sign. Add some decor to the line, and viola - a Green Lantern coaster. At least it would be another movie themed roller coaster next to Terminator, and the back half of the park is officially the expanded "movie district."

 

Or more likely is that it is just a cost cutting measure to close the ride seasonally.

[fatdaddy]

^I totally disagree, HI Miler is a classic, and flat rides serve their pupose. I know alot of people who are afraid of coasters, but love a scrambler or tilt a whirl.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Honestly, spinning flat rides don't really bother me as much as spinning coasters like Tony Hawk. One ride on Tony Hawk and I'm done. I don't typically get dizzy on Frisbee's or Revolutions, etc. Now when you add in the spinning and flipping upside down like a Kaos, then I'm out.

[John Knotts]

I guess I'm in the minority in not really caring that much if SFMM adds a bunch of flat rides or not. The people wanting flats so bad will be the same ones disappointed when they arrive at the park to find them closed half the time due to staffing issues *coughsfgradvcough*. I'd rather the park add a couple of REALLY good modern flats, and then move on to investing in a coaster that combines elements of thrill with a dark ride element. Something like Mystery Mine, or even a small scale pre-launch show like Blue Fire.

[AllenA07]

Honestly, spinning flat rides don't really bother me as much as spinning coasters like Tony Hawk. One ride on Tony Hawk and I'm done. I don't typically get dizzy on Frisbee's or Revolutions, etc. Now when you add in the spinning and flipping upside down like a Kaos, then I'm out.

 

Generally for me anything short of "Bench: The Ride" is going to get my feeling pretty dizzy. Generally I can handle a coaster, but if you throw me on something like Tony Hawk, well I don't suggest riding next to me. While generally I think SFMM is a coaster park first and foremost, I think at this particular moment in time they really could use a few new flat rides. Just because I don't particularly enjoy them doesn't mean that they are not necessary for the park.

[kf2010]

That video shows that it really isn't going that far up the track at all at the moment. If it hopes to make a real impact facing down it will need to go higher imo.

 

Yeah I agree. I think what that video shows is how perceptive the ride can be when you're facing forward up the tower, you don't really notice that you're not going that high up. Hopefully, the ride will reach its potential with this overhaul, as facing backwards at only that height doesn't appear to be that thrilling.

 

Well, that video is quite old. Not only was it uploaded in 2006, but Freefall is still in the video (as seen in the sideways shot).

 

It is an old video but if you count the tiers once the car goes vertical, you can see it goes up to the 5th, and the bottom of the car clears the 4th. I marked up the youtube video image to correlate with an image of the ride sometime this year at its highest point (you can tell because Superman isn't at the top). As you can see, the photo and video image line up almost perfectly as to the height of the car up the tower, and it proves that the car has pretty much reached that point for years now: 4-5 tiers below the brakes at the top. It just goes to show how the huge tower does a good job of deceiving the actual height the car reaches. Pretty sad, huh?

[mr. cockblock]

Wow, lets hope SFMM can make Superman get back to speeds that make the car go up higher then halfway up the tower. Judging from that video it doesn't seem too thrilling at all because of the lack of height it reaches. Im sure SFMM has something really good up their sleeves for Superman but if they can't make the car go higher its seem like the ride (assuming its gonna be running backwards) will lack in popularity once the GP realizes the car only goes halfway up IMO.

[ebl]

^^ Nicely done. The only difference with my "tower segment counting method" is that I count from the top. It would be nice if the park boosted the launch enough for the cars to reach the third segment (from the top).

 

Does anyone know if they're going to give the backwards treatment to both tracks? I think it'd be nice to leave one side forward just for the variety.

 

Eric

[mr. cockblock]

Does anyone know if Superman is going to get a new paint job? I remember a couple years back there was a picture of the base of the tower with red yellow and blue paint being tested on it, but nothing ever came of it. Looking at that video the track has a bunch of wear and tear on it, I hope they refresh it with a new paint job!

[ebl]

^ We don't know if the ride will even be keeping the Superman theme. My guess is if they retheme it to something else, then the entire track and tower will be repainted.

 

Somehow, the idea of Superman going backwards just seems so...un-"Superman." In other words, retheme...

 

Eric

[WFChris]

My personal opinion is that both sides should go backwards.... at least when it first opens. There is no point in re-marketing the ride and then only running half of it that way. Can you imagine the lines????? They were terrible when it opened and ran both sides, I can't see it being a very fun wait with half the capacity. Fact is, nobody will want to ride the forward side. They hardly do now.

[coasterking2981]

Here's a review of Tower of Terror with the new restraint system and the verdict is good.

 

http://www.rickupsidedown.com/?page_id=700

 

 

The New Vehicle;

The seats in the vehicle are very comfy and the bucket headrest makes for a comfy ride. The 4-4-4-2 configuration works well with very few empty seats due to the even numbers in each row. My only criticism of the vehicle is that if you’re in the rear rows – you won’t see very much as Intamin hasn’t incorporated their tiered seating into the vehicle. Also, this seems to be a hot topic at the moment so I will mention it quickly – the harnesses are very accommodating to larger riders. I’m quite a big guy and there was plenty of slack in the seat belt. The OTSRs don’t cause any discomfort and don’t hamper the floating sensation on the tower.

 

The Launch/Speed;

The launching was pretty consistent all night with the vehicle stalling around 10ft from the top brakes – so a much improved launch. The launch also feels much more fluid than it did before. On the old TOT it often felt as if there were two bursts of energy – but that has now gone and the launch is pretty much taken all in one movement.

Edited September 17, 2010 by coasterking2981

[davisal771]

Wouldn't having a lighter train make the train go higher up the tower without more power to the magnets?

 

Just a thought.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

[The_Mad_Hatter]

I cannot stop laughing of that woman's sudden head thrust two feet forward at the launch! I can't stop replaying it.

[John Knotts]

looks like fun! And the tunnel really adds to the effect...

[mr. cockblock]

It looks a lot more intimidating then I thought it would. I like what I'm seeing!

[ebl]

The Tower of Terror's car didn't get the stadium seating, but is it possible that between now and when Superman reopens, Intamin could design the new vehicle that way? Or maybe that would actually lesson the aerodynamics of it---when you think about it, it'd be like launching a wedge, thick side first.

 

It appears that the launch will still have something of a kick to it, based on that one lady's head when the car took off, but it doesn't look too bad.

 

Eric

[Gmaster562]

Oooow, i wonder what it would be like to have Lap bars only.

[Mechanic]

I wonder what it would be like if it launched backwards, with lap bars... On the moon!

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

I don't see a TOTAL retheme of this ride, but I can see them going a different route with the Superman story. Unless of course a Ride Of Steel is in the park's future, then I say rip the theme off of it....and do it now!

[robbalvey]

The Tower of Terror's car didn't get the stadium seating, but is it possible that between now and when Superman reopens, Intamin could design the new vehicle that way?

I'm going to assume that all of the trains will pretty much be the same. I can't imagine all that design and engineering going into this to only make three cars total, and two of them being different than the first.

 

--Robb