Six Flags Magic Mountain Announces "X2"

[Dailey Enterprizes]

Wow! Six Flags Magic Mountain is doing what Kennywood did to their Steel Phantom (except for the loop removal I think). Good for them, I'm curious to see what "improvements" that they'll be making to the track itself, if any.

[superdad1029]

I am for them adding to anything. It is good to see the thousands of dollars I have spent over the years at sfdk and sfmm going into stuff. I finally got to ride x this summer for the first time and loved it. I have always loved roller coasters but was 345 since high school so have only been able to fit on Goliath and revolution. Last March I had lap band surgery with the main reason so that I could ride all of the coasters with my daughter. Well I am happy to say I am down to 215 and looking forward to getting my Tatsu credit this weekend to finish out riding all the rides in the park. you think your crazy about riding coasters I had surgery to be able to fit on them..lol. Seriously as far as Thomas Town I have said I was disappointed by the one they put in up here at sfdk but I would like to see it put in the back of the park. THe one at sfdk could easily fit in the Phyclone area without removing Deja Vu. The reason I would like to see it in the back of the park is simple. Having a 10 and a 5 year old once you get past the scrambler area there is really nothing for the little ones to ride during the "lap" until you get all the way back to the front of the park. It would be nice to have something back there to keep both kids happy!

[Manic Monte]

It amazes me that people even wince at the price tag for this.

 

New trains, redesigned station, paint job AND new effects?

 

I would imagine that the trains have been paid for already. I don't foresee them spending the $10 million all at once, but rather the trains and other additions separately. Six Flags and Cedar Fair are famous for inflating press releases to make them sound more impressive than they are.

 

I bet the real *2008* figure (not including the trains) would land somewhere around $3 million.

[ECZenith]

I really enjoy X and while it's not the smoothest coaster in the world I don't find the ride unbearable. I welcome the additions to the ride and can't wait to see them for myself. I've always hated the pink and yellow scheme so anything will look better IMO.

[kraxleRIDAH]

Six Flags and Cedar Fair are famous for inflating press releases to make them sound more impressive than they are.

 

I bet the real *2008* figure (not including the trains) would land somewhere around $3 million.

 

So you're saying they're lying? Now what could be the reason for that?

 

Just because some people here such as yourself are unable to comprehend that such a project could cost so much doesn't mean the park straight up just lied about the cost.

 

None of us here even knows how extensive these special effects are -- how extravagant these audio, visual, and sensual additions will be.

[nasai]

I gotta be honest here...

 

I rode X 10 times yesterday (don't ask!) and it wasn't nearly as rough as Eejanaika with the 'new trains'. I worry that these new trains won't make any difference and the ride will still be as rough as it has been. I guess maybe the new trains will help make the ride more reliable and cost less in maintenance and that's why they're going for it. But don't expect to go ride Son of X and expect it to be smooth like the opening few months.

 

Oh, and I HATE when parks market old crap that sucks as new and great, when in reality the stuff sucked and needed to be fixed. I hated it when Disneyland did it for the 50th and I hate it just the same that SFMM is doing it!

 

To paraphrase Elissa, you can't polish a turd.

[Manic Monte]

Forget I said anything...

[arrowfanman]

Guys, no need to get all worked up. Yes, parks hype up their new additions--that's what they have to do. You dont exactly drop $10 million on a new investment and not tell anybody about it. You need to take the few pieces of the upgrade and push them to sound like the greatest thing to happen since Frozen Cokes.

 

That being said, I highly doubt that they're manufacturing false expenses to make it sound like they're doing more. This is going to cost $10 million, some way or another.

 

 

 

 

-Jahan

[Manic Monte]

I basically said that very thing in the post above. I'm not sure where Krax was getting the lying part from.

 

Anyhoo, who cares? I like the fact that they've made this decision and that's what matters.

 

Save the drama for my mama...

[Manic Monte]

[q

 

To paraphrase Elissa, you can't polish a turd.

 

LOL! Are you kidding me, I've seen people make art out of turds!

[the sound]

X2 + X = X3. But I'm sure that has no relevance whatsoever, unless you are a visionary.

 

I think it's sounds actually pretty cool. The audio affects should be pretty interesting. I think it would be really cool though if everyone was wearing like virtual reality things, with a video of the ride but then with all of this other stuff happening, like monsters coming out and attacking you, with really cool audio and physical affects to help it. Now that would be an awesome Halloween idea!

[Tmcdllr]

^Yeah and it should throw broken glass at you in the tunnel. I would just be happy if the new trains are less painful then everything else is a bonus.

[RIP Psyclone]

Why limit it to just a tunnel? Enclose the whole thing, a la Disaster Transport! Better yet, install a few skylights, to let the sunshine in!

[disneylanddork50]

So. . . . . new trains. . . . . . . . . new tunnel. . . . . . . . . what else? Really, what else are they doing to the ride that's worth 10 million? Are the trains THAT expensive? They have to be doing more. What they should do is add really really good bose speakers to the ride and add music to the ride that goes with the new theme. Nothing crappy like DCA's Screamin music. Half the time I put my own music to that ride. Anyways they should consider putting music on the ride.

[Tmcdllr]

It would be kind of interesting to see a breakdown of the budget they are spending on this to see exactly what it is being done, then the ten million might make more sense. I would like to know what the trains alone cost.

[AllenA07]

^My thought exactly, I'm sure the new trains are not going to come with a low price tag. While I admit 10 million seems a bit high, who knows how much everything will actually be when you factor everything in. Also as far as paint goes, I wouldn't expect to see a new set of colors, I'm sure they're just planning to touch the ride up, if even that much.

[stricklandCC]

$10 million=Moving X to former Psyclone location, adding a new unique pre-lift segment and reconfiguring load/un-load sequence, and "happy ending" for all at the end...

[Freefallbestrideever]

Will this be enough to overtake Tatsu as my number 1? We'll see I don't really like the name change...

[CHILLERLC1]

I doubt that this will make X smooth. After seeing how bad the vibrations on teh windwalker trains were, I think that cantilevering seats off the track on a high-speed coaster is just not stiff enough to prevent these vibrations.

I'm actually most fearful of that. I was hoping the new trains would be a better remedy towards this. It's what I most look forward to. I could see new billboards for this updated ride. "You are here."

[DRACHEN_FIRE_FAN-BOY]

Why limit it to just a tunnel? Enclose the whole thing, a la Disaster Transport! Better yet, install a few skylights, to let the sunshine in!

 

NO! disaster transport sucks balls! Partially enclosed is fine, but not fully enclosed!

 

I wonder where the tunnel is gonna be....

 

I like that its going to be dual loading ^_^

 

if X2 is going to be crimson that's fine, but if it's gonna be bright red, that's gonna be slightly annoying, not as bad as the pink and yellow (thank god)

 

I've been on X a lot, and I thought that it was pretty smooth.... especially the front row.

 

if they are moving X the where Psyclone was, that would be pretty amusing...

[Saecron]

I'm sorry, all I heard was

 

 

Blah

 

Blah

 

Blah

 

Six flags is marketing on a compensatory measure for their old failures again. Isn't that adorabe?

 

 

In which case I agree.

 

 

I can see where this is going:

"Wow! Has anyone else ridden the new Sine X/2pi yet? In this model, they changed a lightbulb in the station!

[Ultimate Coaster]

Question - when those of you claiming "Oh, they only say 14 world class coasters, Deja Vu MUST be on its way out!" - how many of you actually clicked the link that says "Learn More"?

 

I mean, surely if they claim 14 world class coasters, they'd bring you to a page of....14...world...class...coasters...right?

 

So I went ahead and did just that.

 

This list was presented to me (I'm only going to list the coasters):

 

1. Batman The Ride

2. Superman The Escape

3. The Riddler's Revenge

4. Colossus

5. Deja Vu

6. Goldrusher

7. Goliath

8. Ninja

9. Revolution

10. Scream

11. Tatsu

12. Viper

13. X2

 

Now let's consider something for a second. What are the two coasters that don't appear on that list? Canyon Blaster and Goliath Jr. Alright - now if I went to the park today, which credits would I be able to get? The 13 I just listed, and Canyon Blaster. Goliath Jr. isn't available to anyone over 54" tall. Coincidentally, I highly doubt that many people under 54" tall that would care enough to actually ride Goliath Jr. is even going to be browsing the Six Flags website.

 

If you were to actually look at the pages of the rides, you would also notice that Six Flags never even uses the words "Roller Coaster" in conjunction with Goliath Jr. - merely calling it a "ride" multiple times. Canyon Blaster's description, by contrast, specifically refers to it as a coaster.

 

Of course, let's not forget the fact that both S:TE and Colossus are twin coasters, or that Dive Devil is a Sky "Coaster".

 

My point is that I don't buy that just because there are suddenly 14 "WORLD CLASS" coasters listed instead of 15, that suddenly means Deja Vu is on its way out. Some of you sit back and present all the circumstantial evidence you want for it - but no one ever sits back and considers other facts that are probably a bit more important and conclusive:

 

1. Each Six Flags park essentially makes its own business decisions. This notion that so many people have that SF Corporate headquarters makes all the decisions for every park is garbage. Each park makes its own decisions as for what rides to add, based on its own operating budget determined by Coporate based on said park's earnings the previous year. Sometimes some parks are given a bonus to make improvements - which is probably why SFMM is able to throw $10 million on X.

 

There are other times when Corporate may strike a deal with a manufacturor, and then offer said deal to its parks to give them something new. This is probably the case with the new Dark Knight coasters - but make no mistake, each park is paying for its own coaster.

 

So, the point here is that SFMM, SFGAm, and SFOG each decide what to do with their own Deja Vus. It's not some corporate decision that removes rides and gives rides to parks - that's called a ride-trade program, and Six Flags ended it years ago.

 

So clearing up that misconception alot of you have ends those "Well the other parks are doing it, so SFMM must too!" arguments.

 

2. It's apparent by now that the Six Flags parks have updated their sites, made most of their press releases, and shown off most of the changes they're going to make for the 2008 season - every park's page displays something new, the removed rides are off of the park pages, etc. etc. - and yet, SFMM's Deja Vu remains firmly placed on SFMM's Thrill Rides page. Hell, Deja Vu is on the massive banner at the TOP of the page.

 

3. Regarding SFMM itself, Flashback is still standing and yet the ride is being removed and isn't listed on the thrill rides page. So if Deja Vu is being removed, why hasn't it been removed from the thrill rides list page too? Oh wait. Because it's probably not being removed.

 

4. There is NOTHING but circumstantial evidence for the removal of Deja Vu at SFMM right now. It think the issue is that too many people read too far into little, minute details without considering the bigger picture.

 

The minute detail is that SFMM have apparently changed their minds about what they consider a "World Class" coaster.

 

The bigger picture is the fact that despite all of the ride removals, all of the site changes, all of the announcements that have been made, SFMM still keeps Deja Vu on their thrill ride list, and the ONLY thing that you "It's leaving" people have in your corner that is based on a proven and in-arguable FACT is that two other Six Flags are removing their clones of this ride - and as I've just demonstrated through explaining how Six Flags works, that in no way gives any weight to SFMM removing theirs.

 

Yes, Deja Vu is being removed from SFOG and SFGAm because it is unreliable. But, as we've just seen from their willingness to put so much money into X, SFMM is apparently well-conditioned to dealing with such rides.

 

Some of you really need to step back and look at ALL the facts, and not just stretch the circumstantial ones to suit your own views. There is no evidence that SFMM's Deja Vu is going anywhere.

[Guy T. Koepp]

I gotta be honest here...

 

I rode X 10 times yesterday (don't ask!) and it wasn't nearly as rough as Eejanaika with the 'new trains'. I worry that these new trains won't make any difference and the ride will still be as rough as it has been. I guess maybe the new trains will help make the ride more reliable and cost less in maintenance and that's why they're going for it. But don't expect to go ride Son of X and expect it to be smooth like the opening few months.

 

Oh, and I HATE when parks market old crap that sucks as new and great, when in reality the stuff sucked and needed to be fixed. I hated it when Disneyland did it for the 50th and I hate it just the same that SFMM is doing it!

 

To paraphrase Elissa, you can't polish a turd.

 

You didn't see the "Transformers" movie did you? It IMHO is the definition of a polished turd. And it was one of the most successful films this year.

[TheGreatOne]

I gotta be honest here...

 

I rode X 10 times yesterday (don't ask!) and it wasn't nearly as rough as Eejanaika with the 'new trains'. I worry that these new trains won't make any difference and the ride will still be as rough as it has been. I guess maybe the new trains will help make the ride more reliable and cost less in maintenance and that's why they're going for it. But don't expect to go ride Son of X and expect it to be smooth like the opening few months.

 

Oh, and I HATE when parks market old crap that sucks as new and great, when in reality the stuff sucked and needed to be fixed. I hated it when Disneyland did it for the 50th and I hate it just the same that SFMM is doing it!

 

But marketing old crap and adding a tunnel works in RCT!

[thomas2]

I dunno but to me this feels like 'because we don't have a on-off-a-kind coaster anymore (with Eejanaika), let's add some crappy new things to it so it's unique again' "cough" "cough". I mean 'from the 5th dimension'?? C'mon what a crappy slogan is that!