The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[TheCoasterGuy]

I was at the park today and took a pretty close look at the area around the base of the tower. There is a fence between Paintball Alley and Guest Necessities that looks plenty wide enough to accomodate an entrance to the area. Judging by the aerial photo above, there also appears to be plenty of room to build queues without having to remove or repurpose any existing buildings. I'm guessing this is their plan.

[smallish]

4.2 earthquake hit 5 miles SE of Santa Clarita 20 or so minutes ago. The park is open today, always wondered what it would be like to be in the Sky Tower during an Earthquake.

 

I was just getting on the Batman train once when there was an earthquake. The train shook a little bit; my first thought was that someone was rocking the train or something (I guess they'd have to be pretty strong to do that). Anyways, they immediately unloaded the train and closed the ride. In fact, they immediately closed every coaster in the park and cycled empty trains for an hour or so.

Anyone been to the park lately? Are any coasters down right now?

[ABW]

S:EFK leaves a good 30-50 feet between it and the actual top of the ride (Where the drop towers will be located) so unless the car is rising and S:EFK is running (Which I doubt it, they'll probably have a schedule or put mufflers on) when you're at the top it won't come close.

Have you seen how high S:EFK goes now? Try 20 feet. It kisses the ass of the emergency brake at the top!

[805Andrew]

This looks very promising. 48" height requirement is good too. My only concern is the length of time S:EFK is going to have to be closed while tower is modified to accommodate Lex Luthor.....

Granted I would assume the majority of work would be done during the days the park is closed.

 

My guess is they would close one side of Superman while installing the Lex Luthor drop on that side and then reopen that side of Superman while closing the other side of Superman to install the Lex Luthor drop on that side. That way they can keep Superman open, even if it is just one side (especially since they just redid it and it is "new"). They probably would do the bulk of the construction during the week when park will usually be closed in the off season.

[Geauga Dog]

Just when you thought SFMM had dropped the "Extreme Park" moniker along comes Lex Luthor. Geez, I don't have any issues with height but this is almost pushing my limits but I wouldn't hesitate to ride it. I'm sure night rides are going to be awesome.

 

Should have been called Bizarro as it will be bizarre freefalling from 400 feet up but this looks great and I agree, California has stolen the show for 2012.

 

A bit off topic but IIRC wasn't Thrill Shot supposed to have been removed from SFMM?

[trcg721]

I wonder if they work on Lex during the weekdays and keep Superman open on the weekends.

[ImmelMatt]

Considering Dreamworld did this eons ago, you have to wonder what took them so long to finally realize what has been right in front of them for 15 years. Looks insane.

[Zeppelinfreak]

^That would work out the best I think.

[Director_Guy]

Showed up at the park today apparently after an earthquake hit. Didn't feel it, but all coasters were down for a bit. Then X2 was walk-on all day.

[Calicoasters]

Considering Dreamworld did this eons ago, you have to wonder what took them so long to finally realize what has been right in front of them for 15 years. Looks insane.

 

Revenge! Dreamworld stole their car design and the idea to run it backwards. SFMM steals their drop tower idea and provide a coaster that can acutally hit 100mph (evnetually both backwards and forwards.) I'd say SFMM for the win!

[Arkhamar]

I've got an idea! Why don't we ask the people on the Australia Trip how noisy it was riding Giant Drop while Tower of Terror was running? That should answer the question. I'm assuming both rides have similar noise levels since they are built by the same manufacturer and are the same type of attraction.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Any Aussies in the house?

[redmenace8]

Is it bad that the first thing that happened when I saw this was I felt like hyperventilating? I don't mind heights, but the unexpected drops get to me. I forced myself several times to go on the Mega Drop at the county fair to try to get over that feeling, didn't work so great. I could handle a launch, but this, wow. The intimidation factor will probably keep the lines more manageable than people would think. All that being said, being the record version of a drop ride, I will force myself on this ride somehow. Liquid courage anyone?

[deathbydinn]

Dreamworld stole their car design and the idea to run it backwards.

 

Tower of Terror backwards was announced before S:EFK, and opened before S:EFK...so I'd say SFMM stole both.

[John Knotts]

^ And did both better!

[la2lvtom]

Noise is not reduced ... at all.

 

When I was there a few weeks ago it actually seemed louder when standing under the bend. It's really loud

[ABW]

Dreamworld stole their car design and the idea to run it backwards.

 

Tower of Terror backwards was announced before S:EFK, and opened before S:EFK...so I'd say SFMM stole both.

Actually, if you were at WCB you would know that SFMM came up with the idea and went to Intamin first, so don't assume that SFMM copies everything because they in fact don't.

[Calicoasters]

Tower of Terror backwards was announced before S:EFK, and opened before S:EFK...so I'd say SFMM stole both.

 

Dreamworld was working with Intamin for a new car for Tower Of Terror before, but it was Six Flags that came up with the idea to make the car so it was capable to run both forwards and backwards. Intamin shared this with Dreamworld, and they were to first to get their car(s) manufactured.

[Mrlittle]

I love the idea and ride but I have to wonder if Six Flags will push a no penny on Superman policy. Just saying, there is a possible penny to the face while riding Lex Drop Tower. Which brings me to another thing, they should do a voice over of Lex saying something when you drop recorded by Clancy Brown. Anyways, I love that today was Six Flags announcement day.

[WFChris]

I was never expecting the first (inevitable) complaint about the ride to be "But Superman is so loud."

 

People are IN those trains making all the noise.

The scrambler is right NEXT to the track.

The Goliath line is right under the tower.

A PATH goes under the tower.

Gold Rusher runs around the ride.

A restaurant is located next to the tower.

 

The nose isn't a concern with any of the above mentioned places, and it won't be a concern with the new ride.

 

That being said, I haven't been this excited for a new ride in the area since X was being built!!!!

[Tmcdllr]

I was never expecting the first (inevitable) complaint about the ride to be "But Superman is so loud."

 

Well it had to be something!

[Airtime&Gravity]

I wasn't expecting the drop tower to be placed on the side of Superman, rather, but I have to say, this looks like it will be a great ride. The view should be amazing, and considering how scary a 200ft tall drop tower is, this ride looks terrifying. Also, it looks like riders will have their vertical view blocked like the carnival style drop towers(forget the manufacturer), which is one of the more terrifying aspects of those rides given their height(should be even more terrifying on this). Now if only this drop tower would drop riders immediately upon reaching the top like those carnival ones.

[Hskbrowneyes]

That looks pretty INTENSE! And looking at the video superman cars don't go up that high lol

 

I think it's a great use of space, and really took advantage of the tall superman tower.

My only concern is the capacity. Gyro drop in Lotte world holds 40 guests but this only 16 with two cars.

 

It would be cool if the cars were two tier.

 

Yay for world's tallest drop tower! Looks awesome & scary!

[stuartnz]

Awesome. I always wondered why SFMM hadn't done the same as Dreamworld and added a drop tower to their existing structure. I rode The Giant Drop at Dreamworld when I was a lot younger, but apparently age has chipped away at my nerve and on my recent trip I chickened out of riding it.

Looking forward to this SFMM addition, and hopefully I'll be brave enough to ride it

[JamesMC]

Wow, I think this is an awesome idea, and it makes great sense using an existing ride as the supports.......however, from an engineering standpoint......will the forces of Superman impact how the drop tower operates, or is new ride being built upon the existing structure?

 

Not trying to be a party-pooper, but if the new ride utilizes the 'same' structure as "Superman", how is the effect of the launch figured into the rattle in the tower into the new drop ride. I would think that there would need to be some serious 'dampering' in the construction of the new ride to offset the vibrations of the existing ride, should they be launched/dropped while the counterpart was in operation. In other words, you can't have a straight drop if the forces of a launched coaster put the tower in nothing short of a 90 degree drop.

 

Maybe it's been discussed before ,but I am just curious

[Tmcdllr]

I'm sure the awesome engineers at Intamin have already factored that in and it looks like they have come up with a design to fit onto the existing structure. All (drop) towers sway a little, some more than others, if they did not move at all they would break, so really this should not be a problem.

 

I always thought seeing the tower sway like that was sort of scary, but at the same time kind of cool to watch.