The Flash Pass!

[Atarashiihito]

I was just hoping for a practical low-down on The Flash Pass at SFMM. How does it work, is it worth it, how many of them would I need for a family of four?

 

We're planning on going on a Thursday in August (I'm guessing it'll be crazy busy), and it's been about 5 or 6 years since I've been to the park. They didn't have The Flash Pass, and Tatsu wasn't even a twinkle in B&Ms eye yet.

 

So I guess I'm also asking for a feasible attack plan on how to tackle SFMM in one day as well. My younger sister just discovered her love for coasters, so I'd love to get in as much as we possibly can.

 

Thanks for any constructive input in advance!

[ebl]

^ It's more or less like FastPass at Disney, only at SFMM you have to buy them. Many rides have a FlashPass entrance, and you just go in there and the attendant will take one ticket for each rider, then send you over to join the regular line.

 

Simple, huh?

 

Eric

[Atarashiihito]

Which rides do you think warrant the Flash Passes? I see that X2 doesn't take them which is a bummer...

[ebl]

Since I have the Xtreme Play Pass, I get four free tickets on every visit. That pass is so worth it if you visit SFMM often.

 

Anyway, I usually use mine on Tatsu, Riddler, and Goliath (sometimes Batman, too). Other rides either don't take them, or the regular line isn't that bad.

 

Just my opinion, though.

 

Eric

[Atarashiihito]

First off, thanks so much for your input.

 

So I guess I'll get four Flash Passes then (4x4, right?).

 

Is X2 the ride that should be dashed for at opening or Tatsu. Since they're both new to me I'll be excited to ride them both (well I've ridden X).

 

And then after those two it's to Deja Vu and then clockwise from there?

[Gav]

Anyway, I usually use mine on Tatsu, Riddler, and Goliath (sometimes Batman, too). Other rides either don't take them, or the regular line isn't that bad.

Wouldn't it be a waste to use it on Riddlers, since there is a Single Rider Queue, or have they taken that away in the year or so since I last visited?

[Atarashiihito]

Well, I don't think the single-rider line will be much of an option because we're planning on riding everything as a family.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

There is an important difference between Magic Mountain's Flash Pass & Disney's FastPass. Disney's FastPass is free, and requires a return at a later scheduled time, or sometime later than that. Usually, a good amount of wait time is required, though you're free to roam around the parks at your leisure during that wait time.

 

Magic Mountain's Flash Passes can be take to any ride they're good for as soon as you buy them.

 

Recommended strategy for a family is to try & hold off from waiting for high-demand attractions (i.e. X2, Tatsu, Goliath) during the day as much as possible & explore the lesser-traveled back corners of the park during that time. Check out the shows if they're on, the places for kids to play like Looney Tunes Lodge, the Magic of the Mountain Museum at the Sky Tower, and other stuff that won't have a giant line to wait in for. This will minimize the amount of time being stuck sweltering & baking to death in line in the hot summer Valencia heat.

 

Then as evening comes, it's a little cooler & the sun's going down. Now's the time to back to those high-demand attractions & you'll likely find the wait has gone down from where it was during peak time. Immediately before closing, lines are generally quite short. Many rides can be had in the last 2 hours or so of the operating day.

 

If you arrive at opening, go straight to the back of the park and get as many rides on Superman, Ninja, Scream, Colossus, Riddler's, Deja Vu, & Batman as possible as most of the crowd stops at the first attractions they see which are X2, Viper & Goliath. At 11am, I've seen Viper have a 60min wait while rides like Batman & Scream have little to no wait.

[SharkTums]

^I totally disagree.

 

Please try to find some other threads, but get to the park early. Do X2 then Deja Vu. Get Flashpasses and use them later in the day on Tatsu, Riddlers, Batman, Goliath.

 

Ride other stuff that has short lines mid morning to early afternoon. Reride other stuff at night as you wish.

 

With the dependability of X2 and Tatsu I would NEVER wait till night to get on them! We were just at the park tonight and Tatsu was 'barely' running two trains and had nearly a full queue one hour before park closing. Didn't look at X2 but I'm sure it was a similar situation.

[robbalvey]

^ Yeah, I totally agree with that. On our walk around Magic Mountain tonight pretty much the ONLY rides we saw long lines at were X2 and Tatsu.

 

Why would you skip past X2 in the morning when you can get it in with virtually no line when it's almost guaranteed to have at least a 2 hour line the rest of the day.

 

I'm a firm believer of "Don't wait in a line if you don't have to" and IMO if you can avoid a 2 hour line for X2 by simply getting to the park early and doing the running of the bulls and also avoiding a 2 hour line on Tatsu by buying Flash Passes, why would leave those rides until last?

 

To answer your question about what ride to dash to in the morning, it's absolutlely X2. It doesn't have Flash Pass. And if the groupers are doing their job at Tatsu then your wait the rest of the day should be about 15 minutes with Flash Passes there.

 

Do know that once you get on X2, if you want to ride it again, you wait will be no less than 2 hours, even first thing in the morning.

 

I've seen a 2 hour line build up for that coaster by 10:10am.

 

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is plan your moring so you can be AT THE PARK GATES by 9:30am. (assuming the park opens at 10am) That means you should be pulling into the parking lot booths no later than 9:10am. This is KEY!

 

If for any reason you stroll up to the park 30 to 45 minutes AFTER opening, X2 is going to be 2 hours. Don't ride it then. At that point, I'd say Matt's advice isn't half bad. Go hit up Deja and the back of the park while all the crowd is still at the front of the park getting on X2 and Tatsu. If you're going to have to spend 2 hours in line for X2, might as well do it after you've gotten everything else done.

 

But if there is anyway you can be sure you'll be at those gates by 9:30am (or earlier if possible) you can get in X2 and STILL be ahead of the crowd. When you get off of X2, you'll see the 2 to 3 hour line of people who WON'T be in line for anything else!

 

I hope this helps!

 

--Robb

[ebl]

"Wouldn't it be a waste to use it on Riddlers, since there is a Single Rider Queue, or have they taken that away in the year or so since I last visited?" (Gav)

 

Actually, you're right. Since the single rider line and FlashPass use the same entrance there, I do ask if they're doing single rider (because they don't always, which I find interesting). If they are, I'll do that instead of using a Flash Pass because I don't care where I ride on Riddler's. There've been a couple of times where there was an empty seat in the front row.

 

In fact, I went single rider today on it.

 

Eric

[Atarashiihito]

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is plan your moring so you can be AT THE PARK GATES by 9:30am. (assuming the park opens at 10am) That means you should be pulling into the parking lot booths no later than 9:10am. This is KEY!

 

First of all thanks for the brilliant advice, I know you guys are the experts on the SFMM front.

 

Second, that's what we're planning on... BUT we will be coming from San Diego that morning, which I've been told will be about a 2.5 hour-ish drive (right?). Which I guess isn't that bad, what I'm not looking forward to is driving back at the end of the night...

[PeoplemoverMatt]

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is plan your moring so you can be AT THE PARK GATES by 9:30am. (assuming the park opens at 10am) That means you should be pulling into the parking lot booths no later than 9:10am. This is KEY!

 

If for any reason you stroll up to the park 30 to 45 minutes AFTER opening, X2 is going to be 2 hours. Don't ride it then. At that point, I'd say Matt's advice isn't half bad. Go hit up Deja and the back of the park while all the crowd is still at the front of the park getting on X2 and Tatsu. If you're going to have to spend 2 hours in line for X2, might as well do it after you've gotten everything else done.

 

Yeah, I generally tend to skip mornings entirely & arrive at the parks sometime after opening. The last time I was at a park's gates at opening was the last time I went to Tokyo DisneySea, and that was because of their morning show out on the lake...can't remember it's name...went on before Primavera...crap. Well anyway, people snatched the prime viewing spots first thing in the morning, so we didn't have much choice if we wanted to see it. I've just never been much of a fan of being in that 'running of the bulls'.

 

X2 is only one ride, so where do you go after X2 first thing in the morning? NOT VIPER! That's how Viper can have a 60min line before anyone's in the back of the park, people just walk in like lemmings/RCT guests right into the next closest ride not knowing that they just chose to be stuck in line when 60% of the park's attractions still has 0-10min waits. Don't be like that. Head up the hill & go right past Tatsu, unless it doesn't have a line, and go scout out the likely very empty back of the park.

 

Second, that's what we're planning on... BUT we will be coming from San Diego that morning, which I've been told will be about a 2.5 hour-ish drive (right?). Which I guess isn't that bad, what I'm not looking forward to is driving back at the end of the night...

 

Traveling from San Diego up here to Valencia isn't so much a function of distance as it is traffic. If the sun is out when you leave SD, you WILL hit traffic at some point, probably at multiple points, depending on your route. My advice there is to ride I-15 up north to the 210, then take West 210 all the way until it ends at the I-5 in Sylmar. From there, head North on I-5, and Magic Mountain is about 10 minutes away. I think that route adds about 40mins, but you'll avoid just about all possible traffic headaches, including trying to get through Downtown LA.

 

It's always taken me at least 3 hours to get down to San Diego from here, and that was under ideal traffic conditions.

[robbalvey]

Second, that's what we're planning on... BUT we will be coming from San Diego that morning, which I've been told will be about a 2.5 hour-ish drive (right?). Which I guess isn't that bad, what I'm not looking forward to is driving back at the end of the night...

 

Wow, that's going to be quite the drive! While birdseye it's 2.5 hours (LINK) , I beleive you also said you would be coming mid-week (thursday?) which means if you're planning to be at the park by 9am, you'll be driving through through Los Angeles during rush hour (7am - 9am). It could take you 2.5 hours just to go 20 miles!

 

Is there no way you guys might be able to get a cheap hotel up here the night before and crash out next to the park?

 

If that would be possible it would make your drive home much easier because you wouldn't be having to get up at the crack of dawn to get to the park.

 

And if for whatever reason you DO hit some traffic accident or something gnarly that makes you late for the park, it could really impact your day.

 

My advice would be, if at all possible, stay near the park! It could really make your day that much better.

 

There are at least a dozen hotel within a 2 mile radius, and about 50 hotels within a 10 mile radius.

 

--Robb

[cfc]

^I'd recommend using Hotwire.com and searching for hotels in and around Valencia. I had pretty good luck with them in January, when i got a room at a perfectly good Extended Stay America for less than $60 (it was one exit south of SFMM and ten minutes from the park).

[Atarashiihito]

Yeah, I hear 'ya all. But unfortunately for me I'm the only coaster fanatic (I even offered to pay for the hotel for the night) in the family, and the reason we're staying in San Diego is to try to maximize our time with my grandmother (pft, family, LAME I know). I keep telling her to move closer to Valencia if she wants me to visit more often.

 

Anywhoozle, since the hotel is out of the question, I'll just keep my little fingers crossed that leaving San Diego at 5am will suffice and I'll get in as much coaster riding as I can on a Thursday in August...

 

I guess it's better than nothin'!

 

Again, thank you all for your astounding advice. I hope to utilize it as much as I can!

[sfmmrules!]

I will FINALLY be at SFMM next Thrus! But only from opening until about 5 since that is the day my parents & I are driving back. I've been on them on how important it is for me to be at the gate at 10:00 since it opens at 10:30. We will be driving from the Ayres hotel in Orange to SFMM Thrus morning. What time do you think we need to leave so we get to SFMM at 10? & how can I make them understand how important it is to be there at 10? I have to keep reminding them. They don't seem to get it! I'm soooo excited about going on X2 & Tatsu! Never been on those! I am also buying 2 fast lane tickets: 1 I will use for 4 rides on Tatsu & the other for the other coasters. I can't wait I can't wait!!!

[snoflake15]

I will FINALLY be at SFMM next Thrus! But only from opening until about 5 since that is the day my parents & I are driving back. I've been on them on how important it is for me to be at the gate at 10:00 since it opens at 10:30. We will be driving from the Ayres hotel in Orange to SFMM Thrus morning. What time do you think we need to leave so we get to SFMM at 10? & how can I make them understand how important it is to be there at 10? I have to keep reminding them. They don't seem to get it! I'm soooo excited about going on X2 & Tatsu! Never been on those! I am also buying 2 fast lane tickets: 1 I will use for 4 rides on Tatsu & the other for the other coasters. I can't wait I can't wait!!!

 

I take it you can get more than one flash pass per person then? Might get two just to make sure I can get round everything. It will be a long time (if ever) when I get back there!

[sfmmrules!]

Does anyone know how soon X2 will be on the fast lane list? I so wanted to ride it again but no way was I going to wait in the 2 1/2 hour line again!