Six Flags Magic Mountain Terminator Salvation: The Ride

[Ace Of Spades]

I gotta say. Coming from the Atari forums, where posts come every five minutes and approximately 3 to 4 posts is the average that will follow you in one night, I'm seriously not used to the lightning quick post speed in these threads. So, if one is looking for a moral to that short rant, this is why I'm referencing my post 4 pages earlier.

 

Let me make something clear: There are at least four or five parks I could name off the top of my head that this exact coaster, theeming and all, would go well in. But, when you put it in SFMM, and try to squeeze it in the relatively small space Psyclone occupied, it comes together awkwardly, as if it just doesn't fit right. You know, when you get that vibe that something just will not fit in a specific place...well...yeah, that's what I'm feeling.

 

Now, lets go back to the early 2000's. If an early 2000's GCI (AKA: Roar Wildcat) was put here, it would much more elegantly take up the space, as it would seem rather large and exciting. However, they waited until the contemporary, more reserved GCI's came in, where they seem somewhat underwhelming, an image that should never be associated with SFMM.

 

And on to the theme. We've all seen ridiculous ideas in theeming pulled off more than once. So, truth be told, the overall theme for Terminator could work. But even so, there might be a few flaws...

 

-From what I understood from the press release, it almost sounded like on board audio. Now, consider the design of these trains. The Millennium Flyers were designed to look like trains of yore, streamlined, elegant, and tight enough to get close to your date. To try to add speakers to these already tight trains would just seem tacky and possibly not even fit.

-As per the concept art and animation, it seems that insofar the coaster doesn't have a single ounce of theeming outside of the name. I mean, since when did the Terminator associate with plain grassy areas and generic loading stations?

-And finally, as many I've heard argue this, why at all would anyone associate the Terminator with a coaster straight out of the 20's? Plot twist be damed! It just shows lack of common sense in Six Flags' detail department.

 

If this coaster ditched the ridiculous theme and went with something more Boardwalk-y (I mean, hell, the area is called Cyclone Bay), this ride would actually drastically improve in my view.

 

Yes, like throngs of others, I will ride this. Possibly, I might have my socks blown off (I don't know what, but whatever they did to Viper this year, it rocketed it for me from second to last to #6 on my top ten, so miracles can happen). But, more likely than not, I'll probably come off feeling cheated by a second-rate slapdown of a coaster...

 

And, as for Robb's comment: Nope. I adore press releases, and I'm very excited for HRRR, Saw: The Ride, Ring Racer, Diamondback, and even somewhat for Carolina Cobra (Ha!). I nearly died when X2 and Behemoth were announced last year! But this, this announcement just feels awkward and stupid, and somewhat bumbling as Six Flags continues its uphill battle...

 

Also, because I just noticed...I have every right to find this coaster to be pointless. If I have no right to not join the general consensus in shouting, "NEW COASTER OMG LOVE ITT BECAUSE THE COOL PPL LUV IT LOLZ!!!!1!!!", then this post might as well have been meant for hogs.

 

My retaliation is done. Rejoice.

 

AOS

[Electerik]

Why do people feel the need to complain about "complaining"? Is it just so they can post something without actually needing to have anything useful to say? The new "new ride thread" meme should be six people whining about how everyone is complaining before anyone actually does.

 

Criticism does not equal complaining, and discussion is why we're here. What, should we all just Paul Reuben all over ourselves every time a new ride is announced?

 

Labeling people who disagree with you as "complainers" seems to me a rather cowardly defense. And busting out the rather obvious statement that everyone should wait until they ride something before judging really just seems like a fancy way to say, "OMG, it's gonna be awesome, shut up!!!1!"

 

Yeah, it might be awesome. Or it might not be. But if we can't speculate, then why even have a thread? Just go read Screamscape instead.

[JimmyBo]

I think just because there is no theming in the video it doesn't mean that there won't be theming around where the ride is. I'm not the head of SFMM but in the press release it did say that there was going to be theming around the coaster (and for those of you that just watched the video and didn't read the press release and then b*tched about the ride...READ THE PRESS RELEASE! Reading is good for you)

 

In my opinion I think this is a great addition to the park. Having ridden most woodies on the west coast (and my favorite being Tremors at Silverwood) I'm very excited for this coaster. I have become a huge fan of GCI woodies and they really know how to design a coaster that doesn't have to be the biggest, fastest, tallest, or most advanced in technology in the world to make it a great ride. They just straight up design great coasters. And if those so-called "hardcore" coaster enthusiasts on this forum that complain about how short it is...THEN DON'T RIDE IT!

 

My feeling is, if you complain about it because it's not what you wanted it to be then you suck at keeping an open mind for new experiences. That's what GCI delivers. Every GCI I have been on has delivered a different ride experience (unless it's a clone of course).

 

I think if a place like Bonfante Gardens said they were building this then no one would b*tch about it because it's such a great ride for that park. You have realize that SFMM can't build coasters that are bigger and better than the previous coaster they built or they will go bankrupt. And since they are going for a more family friendly style park I think this is a great addition.

 

So I say "Way to go Six Flags Magic Mountain. I will glady drive out to California the day this opens so I can say that I was one of the first to ride it." And I will do it without being a little punk and complain about the name or theming or anything. I'm glad you guys are building a quality coaster!

 

Jimmy "Six Flags Magic Mountain Rocks" Bo

[SFMMMan17]

^Good point JimmyBo, I'm totally with you.

 

Also,

 

"It will draw thrill seekers from around the world."

 

[speedracer]

Shapiro himself said it would be a family coaster when he very first let it slip way back when, so I don't get all the disappointment that it's not an El Toro clone. Pretty sweet looking family coaster if you ask me, and the only new for 2009 SF coaster, could very well end up being the last new SF coaster for a long, long time.

 

Since Salvation takes place in some post-apocalyptic desert in 2018, they already got the desert like natural setting back there. Can throw in some menacing cyborgs here and there, maybe some indoor que sections with some special efx, which leads to your only escape aboard a rip roaring classic wooden coaster zipping across the apocalyptic desert. Er, forget it, even I can't stretch this one!

[Ace Of Spades]

I never said that it had to be Uber-Hardcore-X9-Insanity, in fact for the most part smaller rides can be awesome (Space Mountain at DL and Roller Coaster at Lagoon, two of my favorites, for example). And, when reviewing the footage again, it wasn't as odd as it originally seemed.

 

As for the location, it goes without saying that it will be very hard to top X2, Tatsu, and Goliath And, the more I see this coaster, the more I see it as a larger, better ride. And my problem isn't with quality either. It just seems less than adequate, second-rate. The possibilities of theeming (which is mainly an annoyance), the possibilities of a different location, and the overall possibility for this ride to really excel, which I feel it didn't. Its just...awkward, the best possible descriptive adjective in this case.

 

Now despite my continued revisions, I give it approximately five minutes while I go floss my teeth for someone to pick apart my statement entirely.

 

AoS (Long live the pointless enthusiast debates!)

[U2Rox]

Received this Exciting news today at work and it really made my day!

First thing I did was tell my co-workers, New coaster at Magic Mountain!!

My world is made just a little happier every time a new coaster is built!

 

I think it's going to be great! Great for SFMM and great for us!

 

My brother and I were just at Magic Mountain this summer and all I have to say is "I'll be Back"!!

[Ryan King]

For all we know, in the upcoming film, a cyborg might travel back in time and decide to ride a 1920's style wooden coaster...

....and perhaps they have to figure out a way to push the wooden coaster up to speeds of 88 miles per hour to get back to the future...

 

Nah! That would be just silly.....

 

 

--Robb

 

 

But Seriously...

I honestly can't believe how many of you are ragging on the theme of this coaster. Like Ive said before in the past Magic Mountain Posts, NO MATTER WHAT Magic Mountain does, someone, somewhere, will find something to complain about.

 

Even if Magic Mountain offered free sex after every coaster ride, people would still find room to complain. Seriously...

Get over it! Get a Life! Or rather, just go away. Please.

 

-Ryan

[Manic Monte]

^^^ LMAO! That was the post of the week!

 

Nothing better than FREE sex after a coaster ride!

[iamscottevil]

Saying quit complaining to an internet forum like beating a dog for not doing your calculus homework. Might make you feel better, but it's not really fair to expect anything.

 

I still think it's weird to have the 'choo choo' millienium flyer train design have "TERMINATOR" across the front. Thomas the tank engine would have been better branding for those cars.

 

And we've begged before: The more retheming spillikin/bay gets the better. Take a jackhammer to all the buildings coaster girls through xtreme zone and leave it mid-construction. Instant apocalypse.

[Mechanic]

I could have sworn that somewhere back in the early discussion about this ride (several months ago) that someone (Robb, I thought?) had said the new coaster definitely wouldn't be built in Psyclone's old spot. Having that stuck in my mind (for whatever reason, real or imagined) had me thinking it would be a terrain coaster, built to take advantage of the mountainside. It was a little bit of a letdown when the first construction pics showed up and it was confirmed that it would be built on top of Psyclone's grave. That said, I'm honestly not disappointed with what I see so far from the promotional art and video. Yeah.. It would have been awesome to get a terrain coaster, but I really like the speedy look of this layout. It does seem a little bit on the short side, but I'll take quality over quantity.

 

While it's not exactly what I was expecting, I'm still excited about it and I can't wait to ride it. Like many others, I wonder how they'll pull off the theming. I guess I'll just hope that I'm pleasantly surprised when I actually see it all done.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

You know what, I'm going to totally take back my previous concerns about a Terminator theme being too intense/possibly being a turn off for families.

 

If this ride follows Magic Mountain's standard theme pattern (for the coasters that attempted to have a theme), the theme only pertains to the entrance/queue/exit, maybe gives the trains a certain look to them, and that's all. That can be done pretty well at Magic Mountain given what they've done to X2's queue as an example of a Jay Thomas-era attempt at themeing a coaster.

 

Even though the first 2 Terminators were R-rated movies, I think T3 was PG-13 and I believe Salvation is supposed to be aiming for a PG-13 rating as well. Doesn't sound like there'd be any problems actually creating this theme, assuming they make a real attempt at themeing.

 

Also, when you really think about it, how much of a theme can a roller coaster, steel or wood really have during the actual ride? Think about it. You're going waaaay too darn fast to notice hardly anything whizzing by you. So I don't really see how much it really matters to have a Terminator theme if you're flying through inversions on a steel, or bouncing around on a wood coaster. 99% of any coaster's theme is done in the queue and loading house! The coaster is then the coaster. If anything, having a woodie makes the props set up along the route (assuming they do that) more easily noticed than on steel coasters.

 

Having a Terminator-themed queue can be really well done & fun with proper investment of money, time & creative effort. After that, a fun GCI woodie puts the ribbon on the package. When the real ride is built, I doubt anyone at all will wonder why they're riding a woodie instead of a steel.

[Mr Stratosphere]

I'm totally excited for this ride, everything that Six Flags has done recently has been positive in every way! I believe this will be an amazing addition to and already diverse selection of coasters! I look forward to heading back to SFMM!

 

John

[DaveH80]

Definately very excited about this coaster, what I really enjoy about GCI is how well they re-create the nostalgic woodie look (right down to the Millenium Flyer trains used on most) w/ a modern twist. Old woodies were not always smooth but for a real coaster enthusiest very enjoyable. I'm a very big fan of GCI and what they do & believe El Toro & Intamin pre-fab woodies almost sit in their own category (a VERY good one that is )

[meme901]

I guess I was just hoping for some more airtime. That park is in serious need of some good ol' fashioned bunny hops. I can't think of any serious air in that park except for Goliath's third hill...

[spaceace12]

I wonder if Arnold will be the first rider?

[DBJ]

One important thing about the choice of the the theme is that the coaster is now a sponsored attraction from day 1. Hopefully, they cut a good deal with the studio to pay for marketing/construction costs of the ride. That is part of the brilliance of Disney. For the most part, all their rides are sponsored by other corporations to various degrees. So while the Terminator theme is unusual for a wood coaster, it makes more sense looking at the business side of it.

 

All in all, my only construction wish is that they have a dedicated lane for Qbot holders. Other than that, imo, this choice of coaster is a great choice for SFMM.

[Corkscrew]

I never said that it had to be Uber-Hardcore-X9-Insanity, in fact for the most part smaller rides can be awesome (Space Mountain at DL and Roller Coaster at Lagoon, two of my favorites, for example). And, when reviewing the footage again, it wasn't as odd as it originally seemed.

 

As for the location, it goes without saying that it will be very hard to top X2, Tatsu, and Goliath And, the more I see this coaster, the more I see it as a larger, better ride. And my problem isn't with quality either. It just seems less than adequate, second-rate. The possibilities of theeming (which is mainly an annoyance), the possibilities of a different location, and the overall possibility for this ride to really excel, which I feel it didn't. Its just...awkward, the best possible descriptive adjective in this case.

 

Now despite my continued revisions, I give it approximately five minutes while I go floss my teeth for someone to pick apart my statement entirely.

 

AoS (Long live the pointless enthusiast debates!)

 

I said it on Atari to you and the other damn people who keep complaining, and I'll say it again.

 

Stop shooting your freakin' mouth off, and be happy MM is getting a GCI with Millenium Flyer trains. You have no right to complain when your home park is getting a world class coaster. I would be so excited if a park near me was getting an awesome woodie. "It's too short," "The name sucks," "It doesn't make sense," Who freakin' cares. Just be happy you have a home park that actually adds new coasters. You don't see me complaining that my home park's newest coaster is 22 years old, yet you complain that Magic Mountain is adding, from the looks of it, a very good coaster.

 

On top of that, you can't exactly judge from pictures and computer renders, as many people here have said. Honestly, it looks like a fun ride, and that's all that matters.

[almightyfire]

Now this is just my opinion. If I stand in line for 2 hrs i think the ride should last longer than 60 secs. SFMM IS an extreme park like Cedar Point and CP is doing much better now than SFMM. The beauty of SFMM is the terrain and I think Ninja, Goldrusher and Log Jammer does a good job at using it. SFMM was once a destination spot that is why it was doing well at one time, but TERMINATOR doesn't give me a reason to buy a ticket and fly there. It doesn't have to be as tall as an eltoro or SON OF THE BEAST but it should give me at least more ride time for the time factor it takes to get on it. Thats all I am saying. I think that this coaster would have been fine for a smaller park in a smaller city that doesn't have the tourism that Southern Cali has. I think a new ride could have been delayed one more year and added another 5 million to the budget of the coaster and get more bang for the buck. SFMM has a lot of good rides now and adding this mediocre coaster isn't gonna generate that much more income. Now anyone can disagree and thats fine because everyone is seeking something different from a THRILL park which SFMM is. It is and never will be a Disney no matter how many rides infants can get on.

[AllenA07]

SFMM has a lot of good rides now and adding this mediocre coaster isn't gonna generate that much more income.

 

My biggest question here is how we're all so sure the ride is "mediocre" from nothing more then a picture and a short animated video clip? It was brought up before here but look at The Raven, people love that coaster and in all regards it is a smaller coaster then what is coming to SFMM next year.

 

Now because I don't feel like complaining and feel that it is time to move this conversation on a little bit, I'm wondering if anybody can tell me what is going down in the area by this ride. Are they keeping the Cyclone Bay area open during construction, are the closing off the area around Deja Vu? Basically as of right now what does the construction site consist of? As others have said I would really like to see the entire back of the park receive some kind of a facelift. That area of the park is always dead, and really seems to be very outdated so I'm glad something is going in there.

[Electerik]

On top of that, you can't exactly judge from pictures and computer renders, as many people here have said. Honestly, it looks like a fun ride, and that's all that matters.

 

So, one can't judge a ride negatively based on pictures and renderings, but one can judge that it looks fun?

 

I'm just trying to make sure I understand the rules.

 

I honestly can't believe how many of you are ragging on the theme of this coaster. Like Ive said before in the past Magic Mountain Posts, NO MATTER WHAT Magic Mountain does, someone, somewhere, will find something to complain about.

 

So you're defense of the theme is not that it's a good theme, or actually makes any sense...but that any theme Magic Mountain came up with would be labeled as bad, and therefore this theme is...okay, I guess?

 

Even if Magic Mountain offered free sex after every coaster ride, people would still find room to complain. Seriously...

Get over it! Get a Life! Or rather, just go away. Please.

 

Or, you could go away from this unpleasant thread. Just saying. Anytime one posts "get a life" on the internet, one may want to examine the structure of one's house.

 

You know, if there were only positive comments about this ride, most of the people who are saying, "stop complaining," would instead be accusing everyone of being SFMM fan-boys.

 

You're all gonna go nuts when you see Lance's complaint over at Screamscape: "There's no music with the video."

 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to kick over a little girl's lemonade stand.

[robbalvey]

Even if Magic Mountain offered free sex after every coaster ride, people would still find room to complain. Seriously...

Get over it! Get a Life! Or rather, just go away. Please.

 

Or, you could go away from this unpleasant thread. Just saying. Anytime one posts "get a life" on the internet, one may want to examine the structure of one's house.

Erik, you need to cut Ryan some slack...seriously...he lives in Fresno. He doesn't know any better.

 

 

Now this is just my opinion. If I stand in line for 2 hrs i think the ride should last longer than 60 secs.

I guess it's all about what you are looking for in a ride.

 

For one, any coaster enthusaist should never spend 2 hours in line. By now we should all be well educated enough to know how to avoid long lines by either getting to a park early, on a slow day, or using an express queue system.

 

Secondly, some of the coasters I have seen with the longest lines have been the shortest in the park. Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka come to mind.

 

Even a ride like Batman, which is now 14 years old still gets one of the longest lines in the park, easily two hours on a busy summer day, and it's only 2700 feet long.

 

IMO, if the ride experience is worth the wait in line, then you have a success on your hand.

 

If you wait two hours and Psyclone or Flashback are at the end of the queue, then you have a ride that will be demolished in due time.

 

I doubt this coaster will suffer that fate.

 

--Robb

[DonkeyBreath]

Wow is all I can say and that's not in a good wow way either This looks like something that should be getting built at Castle park or Scandia ontario, not a major park like SFMM. They could have atleast pushed theI limits and went for 3500 feet atleast, I'm not asking for 300 feet at 90* degrees I just want some ride time, and not one of those ...is that it! type of rides. I was hoping that GCI would kind of break the mold since they were working with such a major world wide known park, yet this coaster looks lamer then any of their coasters to date IMO. This looks like something they designed 10 years ago, and imo looks like a total snooze fest. I was atleast expecting something like Troy yet we get something that should be installed at the county fair wow 10 million for this yet El Toro cost 12 SFMM might as well bought a wacky worm coaster and named that terminator. Dude your right this is as stupid as the time Peter forgot how to sit down

 

I'm not even going to go on to much about the name and theme beside saying who ever was involved should be beaten to death and drugg behind a speeding car through the streets of Los Angeles .

 

I guess I'll make this the 5th year that I haven't bought a season pass nor made a trip to that pathetic attemp at an amusement park named SFMM ...one of the one here that would rather see million dollar homes on that hillside instead of half assed mediocore rides in a garbage dump of a park oh well this is IMHO

[robbalvey]

^ Back of the line for you!

[mcjaco]

Rumbler and Renegade and awesome little additions to their respective parks. Why is everyone up in arms that this coaster is going to suck?

 

Personally, I think you'll all be eating your words next year. Minus all the silly theming and on board sound.