The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[SoCalCoasters]

Sorry guys, I played the Song of Storms this morning.

 

Funny, it was pouring this horribly last year too!

[dylanreich]

I took a few pictures at the park today. Ride operations were ok for the most part on the rides that were open. Goliath took a while to get going during ERT (about 45-60 minutes in), but was fine after that. Tatsu had a few hiccups when the park opened, but going going very quickly.

The Director of Operations (Neal?) told me during lunch that Lex Luthor will most likely open between the end of May and early June, but they have no set date as of now. He didn't really have a response for me when I asked about the Six Flags post talking about a ride named "Full Throttle," just that there are rumors out about the upcoming ride. He said that the name of the ride (not confirmed as a coaster) is indeed set.

There's a campaign going on at the park for the new Three Stooges Movie. There was also a "wrap" on the train. There were also many posters up around the park.

I could see from Tatsu's lift that they were cycling boats (is that the right word?), but the ride was closed.

I noticed that on the graphics for Lex Luthor there were a few alignment problems with it's track. (:

The poster for the Three Stooges movie on the side of the structure of Colossus facing the parking lot.

[Tmcdllr]

^They better fix Lex's track if they want to run that ride!...lol

[Chrisrad]

So.. anybody going to comment on the lunch? Food offered/quality/etc.

 

And what ended up happening for the after hours ERT?

[dylanreich]

^The lunch was the exact same as West Coast Bash, except for them not having the soda fountain machines ready/working. They did nothing at all about the night ERT. I should also mention that the comp ticket was for everyone who went to SFMM that day, not just the event-goers. It doesn't affect me since I have a season pass, but even considering everything, they were only offering event-goers an upgrade to a season pass at the $39.99 price offered to anybody who goes to the park. There were definitely some upset people who traveled longer distances for the event.

[Chrisrad]

^ Thanks for the info!

 

So wait.. the park closed at noon, right? And then there was still no 'evening' ERT for the event goers?

 

If you spent $49 on the event, and you already had a season pass, what was the compensation, a free ticket?

 

 

[dylanreich]

^No problem, and yes, the compensation was a free ticket (pretty much useless, although I suppose you could bring a friend, but I would have just used the coupon book for that). When leaving the park they handed all park-goers a comp ticket. There was no 'evening' ERT, Neal (director of operations) pretty much gave a "well, sorry guys" talk to everyone. I'm pretty disappointed about spending $49 for pretty much nothing, but I can't complain when ACE members flew here for this. I think a lot of people (myself included) were looking for more compensation than what was given to all park-goers. It's not like I'm going for the food. (:

EDIT: The park was closed at noon, which was announced around 11:30 (to answer your question).

[Chrisrad]

^ WOW

 

I was actually thinking about going to the event, but now I'm really glad I didn't.

 

Sorry that it turned out to be disappointing.. I'm assuming there will be a lot of people sending complaints.

[bostonlva]

^ WOW

 

I was actually thinking about going to the event, but now I'm really glad I didn't.

 

Sorry that it turned out to be disappointing.. I'm assuming there will be a lot of people sending complaints.

 

But really there is nothing they (SFMM) could do. It was pouring at my house since 11 this morning, and i doubt people want to be outside in pouring rain for a whole day and end up getting sick. Now if it was sunny the whole day and this happened then yah. But like every event says in fine print "we are not responsible for weather that causes us to cancel or alter the event"

[Manic Monte]

^ How is the weather suppose to be tomorrow for the Knotts event?

 

That really sucks (especially for those who travelled to get there). But it's always a possibility that rain can ruin any kind of outdoor event.

[dylanreich]

^^Yes, they didn't "have" to do anything, but that isn't how one gests business, is it? I'm not going to use the best analogy since it had nothing to do with weather, but it's TPR-related, so, Carnival can legally offer the cruise that TPR went on (the Klassy Kruise), but they certainly lost any future business from the TRP members that went on it with the service offered by Carnival. In turn, the point is that SFMM didn't do anything at all to even try to make up for the fact that the rides weren't going to happen (and I'd bet they knew ahead of time, considering Neal talked about how their radar was showing that the rain would be hard all day). They definitely offer a different type of hospitality compared to the way TPR was welcomed by Knott's for West Coast Bash.

 

^I believe Knott's will be experiencing the same type of weather.

[bostonlva]

^^Yes, they didn't "have" to do anything, but that isn't how one gests business, is it? I'm not going to use the best analogy since it had nothing to do with weather, but it's TPR-related, so, Carnival can legally offer the cruise that TPR went on (the Klassy Kruise), but they certainly lost any future business from the TRP members that went on it with the service offered by Carnival. In turn, the point is that SFMM didn't do anything at all to even try to make up for the fact that the rides weren't going to happen (and I'd bet they knew ahead of time, considering Neal talked about how their radar was showing that the rain would be hard all day). They definitely offer a different type of hospitality compared to the way TPR was welcomed by Knott's for West Coast Bash.

 

^I believe Knott's will be experiencing the same type of weather.

 

 

difference is, that Carnival had terrible service which is something that they are responsible for. Six flags can't force the sky and tell it "YOU BETTER NOT RAIN SKY!" they were open so people at least got some rides in, and its better then driving all the way out there and having it not even open at all

[Chrisrad]

^^^^True. And that's completely understandable for average park goers who paid to get in for a typical day at the park - "Here's a ticket to come back for the same experience."

 

However, with people who paid $49 to go to a 'special' event, I would be somewhat disappointed.

 

With WCB 2011 at SFMM, there was rain, but ERT was still AMAZING. Same with Knott's in 2011 - ERT was insane, and they went out of their way to make everyone happy.

[dylanreich]

^^I agree, they can do nothing about the weather. However, maybe I'm asking for too much, but I think that the park should have at least attempted to give event-goers something to try to make up for them paying $49 (many of these annual passholders, who of course are really only going for the too-awesome ERT) for not much of anything. Again, they didn't have to do anything, but it certainly couldn't hurt their image if they tried to offer something.

[robbalvey]

But really there is nothing they (SFMM) could do. It was pouring at my house since 11 this morning, and i doubt people want to be outside in pouring rain for a whole day and end up getting sick. Now if it was sunny the whole day and this happened then yah. But like every event says in fine print "we are not responsible for weather that causes us to cancel or alter the event"

Actually, SFMM could have done anything they wanted to do, it's their park. I'm actually kind of surprised they didn't say they would at least re-schedule an ERT session or something, to at least *try* at make up for it.

 

For example, had this happened at West Coast Bash, we had least had a "Season passholder" and "non-season passholder" price, so those people who were season passholders didn't lose out too much, and those who were non-passholders would have at least gotten an bonus ticket to come up.

 

But in this case, the passholders paid an additional $49 on top of their pass, and got a ticket they couldn't really use as compensation, unless they just give it to a friend.

 

It would have been nice if they would have said "There is nothing we can do about the weather, here's a comp ticket, and we'll do an hour of ERT on X2 next weekend for those of you who bought tickets to the event." While I realize that doesn't benefit people who came from out of town, it would be a nice gesture to those season passholders who are local and paid the full price.

 

Case in point, do you remember the Knott's day of West Coast Bash last year? LINK - it freaking POURED the last part of the day, and they had to close most rides.... BUT.... Knott's opened up whatever rides they could run in the rain for us that afternoon, and we ended up having an INSANE ERT session on Supreme Scream, Log Ride, and Sierra Sidewinder in a torental downpour!

 

All around, it's a bad situation that obviously the park cannot control, but they do have the ability to put their best foot forward to help compensate in case something like this does happen.

 

It's exactly the reason why I wanted a season passholder/non-season passholder option for West Coast Bash.

 

--Robb

Edited March 18, 2012 by robbalvey

[MrSum1_55]

Now, one thing I do wonder is how hard does it have to rain to determine if a park must close.

 

The first time I went to Great Adventure, I arrived at 1:30, and they refused to let me in, as they were closing at 2pm. All the staff said $60 wasn't worth it for one ride on El Toro. Apparently, we live in the world where a traveler from California who flew across three time zones and drove five hours mainly to ride El Toro can't make his own decisions.

 

In all seriousness, I have probably told this story one too many times, and the park must have had reasons for closing; it's not like they can just say, "we have your money; get out! (well, I guess maybe they can) There must me a "rain limit" on how much they can handle before closing (it was raining pretty hard). I don't know the details on rain closures, but I do think the staff could have handled the situation better. On the opposite side, (again, not that I know the details) maybe SF parks can kick people out as they choose, because they could still run a few rides (El Toro mainly), but decided to close anyway. Really, Six Flags seems like the chain "most likely to close for any reason", but, for the third time, I don't know SF's safety policies.

Edited March 18, 2012 by MrSum1_55

[dylanreich]

^I also can't comment on their policies, but I do know that Tatsu was running LONG after they changed the closing time to 12PM, so it's not as if it wasn't too wet to keep allowing people who got in line before 12PM on. As Robb said, there's many things that they could have chosen to do. This is all a mute point now though. I'm home, warm, dry, and I can't stay disappointed forever.

[Manic Monte]

I do agree they should have done something. I think even offering $49 dollars off of Flash passes for another day, or front of the line passes for Drop Of Doom. This seems to be where SFMM always fails, going above and beyond what guests expect.

 

The current management of this park just don't seem to get it.

[Double0Kevin]

Now, one thing I do wonder is how hard does it has to rain to determine if a park must close.

 

Generally from my experience, they close based off of attendance. If the park is a ghost town and it's getting to the point where even if it stops raining it's unlikely anyone will show up, they will call it and close early. They don't make any money off of being open and so they would rather jeopardize repeat business from the people that did show up rather than lose some money that day. It's really a perfect example of how Six Flags only ever focuses on the moment and never works towards a future.

 

The other reason is safety. If the storm is just so bad that it creates unsafe conditions for guests, they will close the park. This generally doesn't happen because by the time it gets that bad they have already closed for the above reason.

 

All this is based off my experience at another Six Flags park, but I know all follow a fairly similar guideline.

[coasternut]

I do agree they should have done something. I think even offering $49 dollars off of Flash passes for another day, or front of the line passes for Drop Of Doom. This seems to be where SFMM always fails, going above and beyond what guests expect.

 

The current management of this park just don't seem to get it.

 

It's your last line that speaks volumes about Magic Mountain! It's sad... I'm glad I attended the TPR event and didn't fly cross country for this.

[MrSum1_55]

^This is why SF customer service seems to be getting worse, while CF is much better. If you show up at an SF park about to close with a pre-purchased ticket, the response will probably be "come back any other time in the season"

 

Yeah, if you happened to fly in for the event/day, that probably isn't going to happen.

 

So, really, SF's rain policy may not really be based on rain. It may actually be based on "we already have your money, so we can kick you out now and use rain as our excuse". Before I arived at the about-to-close-Great Adventure, I spoke to a real person who said that they would not close as long as they could still operate at least a few coasters. By the time I arrived, I could see about 5 coasters running (the same five they said would be open), and they announced they would be closing!

 

I know this is a harsh criticism on SFI's part, but I do not really think this is the right way to treat guests. SF can probably get away with this easily due to the fact that most of their visitors are locals, meaning they can come back at any time.

 

I say all of the above assuming attendance numbers do have something to do with closures. If not, then I am wrong.

[netdvn]

Actually, BGW acts pretty much the same way when it comes to rain. Once attendance drops below a certain level, the park automatically closes, regardless of who comes in. This is done with individual rides as well.

 

Most of the time, the park has a form of compensation for rain (come back next day for free) and I know KD did something like this when they had to shut down for a weather condition (I think it was the earthquake).

 

The park did offer a comp ticket for everyone who visited that day, which seems like the default response to an early closure. I agree with everyone that the park could've done more for event goers, but they could've just pushed everyone out without a free ticket. Does it benefit people just flying in? No (the park would've done more with a ticket that lets someone into any SF park instead of just MM, though or as someone mentioned, discounts on FP's/FP's for Drop of Doom). But in the end, a free ticket is better than nothing at all I guess.

[LaMapa]

I'm gonna brave the park this afternoon, and hopefully the rain will scare some of the GP away..

 

Photo TR coming!

[Reuschini]

^^I agree, they can do nothing about the weather. However, maybe I'm asking for too much, but I think that the park should have at least attempted to give event-goers something to try to make up for them paying $49 for not much of anything.

 

I think they should have just refunded everyone their $49 back. Not that hard to do.

[Ed Farmer]

Actually, BGW acts pretty much the same way when it comes to rain. Once attendance drops below a certain level, the park automatically closes, regardless of who comes in. This is done with individual rides as well.

 

Most of the time, the park has a form of compensation for rain (come back next day for free) and I know KD did something like this when they had to shut down for a weather condition (I think it was the earthquake).

 

The park did offer a comp ticket for everyone who visited that day, which seems like the default response to an early closure. I agree with everyone that the park could've done more for event goers, but they could've just pushed everyone out without a free ticket. Does it benefit people just flying in? No (the park would've done more with a ticket that lets someone into any SF park instead of just MM, though or as someone mentioned, discounts on FP's/FP's for Drop of Doom). But in the end, a free ticket is better than nothing at all I guess.

 

 

One of my fondest memories of Busch Tampa is being given tickets for another day during a rainy day during Montu's first year. We decided to leave around 2 pm on a day that the rain just wouldn't go away and ended up getting admission for another day. They weren't closing the park early or anything, and the thrill rides were the only non-operational attractions. We were driving back up to Chicago the next day, but managed to enjoy a half day at an empty park before we left.