Photo TR - SFMM

[odie]

My dad called me up about a month ago saying my uncle was having a wedding in Southern California on the weekend of the 14th of June and we were attending. He then asked what the best amusement park is down there. After my heart skipped a beat, I managed to blurt out "Six Flags Magic Mountain" before he even finished the sentence. And a couple weeks later we were on our way!

 

The flight there was great. We flew Virgin America and the planes were just awesome. Each seat had a touch screen monitor in front of it where you could pick a movie, watch TV, listen to music, play games, or even text seat-to-seat. When we landed we hit In-N-Out and drove in the crazy LA traffic to my Aunt's house where we were staying for the weekend. We went on a hike up in the hills of the valley near the house. Then, I came home and went to sleep early, hoping for morning to come faster.

 

I slept like a little kid on Christmas Eve but I finally made it and we arrived at the park about 20 minutes late for opening. The weather was actually colder and gloomier than in Washington, which was slightly disappointing, but I was hoping it would scare some of the crowds away... it didn't.

 

My Dad and I hopped in line for X2 and it was already an hour-long wait. I've heard it can be a lot worse though so it wasn't much to complain about. Anyways, it was so worth it! The first drop was, and still is, the most insane drop I've ever been on. And the 2nd element (that felt like a pretzel loop without all the intense G's) was just as exciting. The music and fire really made the ride complete too. Yeah, I did feel the jerkiness and it kinked up my dad's neck a bit but we both would pay the money to ride it again any day. We left and headed straight to Tatsu. The line was another hour-long wait. It was also a great ride and yes, the pretzel loop was intense haha. We rode in the back and the ride was just so full of G's! The only thing to complain about was how uncomfortable I became. I think it was just the way I was positioned the first time though because it felt a little better the second day we were there.

 

Next, I rode Ninja with my little brother because he was sadly 47" and it was the only large roller coaster he was tall enough for. It was a very relaxing ride I thought and was pretty family friendly too. My brother ended up riding it 8 times in 2 days because he loved it so much! When that was done, we hit up Terminator!

 

We didn't really know/care what we were getting into with the line situation because there were no signs up yet saying: "Your wait from this point is approximately..." but it ended up being an hour and a half. We went through the pre shows and I thought they built up to the ride well. We luckily got the front and when we were next on, the ride broke down! I was so scared I just waited an hour and a half for nothing and would never get on the ride. But it ended up fixed in less than 15 minutes... it was finally our turn. This ride ended up blowing me away. I loved Roar at SFDK last summer and I knew I was a big fan of GCI's. So I expected it to be fun... it was so much more. The music, flames, tunnels, and everything just perfected the coaster even though it didn't need more perfecting. I couldn't decide if it or X2 was my new #1 coaster though until we got on it again that night. After that second ride, I knew Terminator had swiped the spot. The flames worked great and being in the front (yes, somehow we lucked out and got the front again!) during that first tunnel was the biggest surprise. With the fog and the darkness, you couldn't see anything. I have to say that it was one of the most exciting parts of the ride for me.

 

After the Terminator experience we rode the coasters clockwise around the rest of the park. Riddler's was a really fun ride and I liked the airtime hills (off the break run and a little after the break run). So much better than Vortex Batman reminded me a lot of Flight Deck except a little better. Very compact and fast paced. The zero G roll was crazy fast too, which surprised me a lot. Scream! was kinda a let down, Colossus was the opposite. I couldn't believe how fast Colossus got going and how much airtime there was! If it were just a little smoother, it would be a great coaster. I guess the same could be said about the smoothness of Scream! also.

 

After a spree of B&M coasters, I rode some more little rides with my brother. We rode the Log Jammer when we made our way to the front of the park and this is when I came the closest I've ever been to witnessing a ride related accident at a amusement park. We were going up the last lift toward the first of the two drops and I was watching a log full of large college guys going down the drop. They gained a lot of speed and hit the splashdown but it seemed like it barely slowed down and slammed into the next corner tipping the boat at least 45% to the right... enough to make them scream. I have to admit it was really scary, especially to know that we were soon to go down the same hill. I don't know if this was a normal occurrence or something the ride can handle but I had never seen anything like this so obviously, it freaked me out a bit.

 

As soon as I got off though, I was over it and was headed for the next credit I hit Superman before dinner two times in a row 'cause there wasn't a line. I loved this ride... I love any coaster with a launch though. The line was really neat too and it was cool to hear the coaster launch when you're behind the doors, waiting your turn. We had dinner at Panda Express and then walked back to end the night with Goliath because we didn't want to wait in an hour and a half line earlier in the day. It was a good decision because now we pretty much had ERT! It easily made my top 3 coasters... beating out Tatsu in my opinion. The first drop just never ends! I was expecting a lot worse out of the helix, because everyone says it's so forceful, but it wasn't bad at all.

 

By our second ride of Goliath, the park was closing so we headed home for the night. It was an amazing day but we were all tired and we had another great day to come. I slept well that night and was back at the park at about 11. Obviously, it was busy. It was Saturday AND the first day of summer break for most kids in Southern California. Plus, we only had a half-day in the park because the wedding was that night all the way on the other side of LA. We headed straight to the Flash Pass place where my Dad's fiancée surprised us by getting the Gold Flash Pass. It worked wonders. We didn't wait but for one coaster (Tatsu). So basically, our only wait was how long it took for us to walk there! You can read the rest of my Flash Pass review here: www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50022&start=20

 

We queued up Deja Vu and hopped right on as soon as we got there. This ride was very surprising. The first drop free fall was a great start to the ride and the intensity of the inversions just kept up the greatness. I can't wait to ride the one at Silverwood sometime if people are saying that one's better. Next, we queued up for Viper, which is my new favorite arrow (not counting X2). I have to admit I was a little freaked out to be 171' up in the hands of a arrow looper but it ended up being pretty fun. Now I had 2 credits left in the park: Revolution and Gold Rusher. Revolution was a lot smoother than expected and Gold Rusher was a lot crazier than expected haha. We rode in the back so we soon learned the point of the 48" height restriction We also got another ride on Tatsu before we left.

 

Overall this trip was an awesome experience. The park was nice, a lot of security, not much line cutting, amazing rides, and there were some really good ride ops too. Angela was a ride op for the Buccaneer on Friday and she's probably the nicest ride op I've ever met. I had never seen another TPR member in real life till this park visit either. I saw Johan working very hard on Tatsu when I was riding on Saturday and another person getting off X2 with a TPR zip-up hoodie on Friday. Anyways, I got in 15 new credits in two days leaving my totally at 49. This park completely took over my top 10 too... 6 spots now are from SFMM including 4 of the top 5! I just can't wait to go back now

 

Finally: the pictures. Sorry in advanced for not getting pictures of all the coasters... I completely forgot to get some of them! But some are better than none so here they are:

Ugh. Hello Washington.

And goodbye SFMM.

Goodbye California.

I hate this part : (

Yeah, to the right is the line for X2. No joke.

Last coaster of the trip.

Loop and airtime hill!

We made a trip up to the Sky Tower.

First up for the day.

Who says you can't buy a best friend?!

Day 2!

My only posted night picture... the rest turned out worse than this one. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could take better night pictures without all these dot things?

I love how long this airtime hill lasts!

The pictures make the letters look a lot smaller. They were so huge in real life.

I never even knew this ride existed! My brother and I had a great time on it together though.

Why is Superman SO LOUD?!

Some theming.

I took this picture myself... you just can't tell because it's like the 400th picture from the exact same viewpoint

OK, I was just kidding... it's really not that bad.

"Everyone still alive?"

"Here it comes!"

In line...

Walking toward Tatsu.

Viper from X2's line. I thought it was funny how many people thought they were waiting for Viper. Haha.

First ride of the day!

Did Colossus used to not have a break run? You can't really see it in this picture but when you're closer you can see old track dipping down where the break run is. I couldn't even imagine it without that break run!

This is more like it!

OK. That's enough of the hike...

There was lots of different plants, flowers, and trees I wasn't used to.

A few pics from our hike...

LOL.

Mandatory.

[spaceace12]

My only posted night picture... the rest turned out worse than this one. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could take better night pictures without all these dot things?

 

Need more information....camera, ISO settings...etc.

[odie]

My only posted night picture... the rest turned out worse than this one. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could take better night pictures without all these dot things?

 

Need more information....camera, ISO settings...etc.

 

I have a Olymps Stylus 1010. I don't know much about 'ISO' but it can be set on Auto, High Auto, or between 80 to 1600.

[coolcalicoaster]

Thanks for the report. I have to admit that Riddlers Revenge was my favorite coaster at MM. It really is a great ride. I also think Viper is underrated.

[nursemelis374]

Awesome trip report! It was very well organized and informative! Are you sure you are only 15?

 

Glad you had a good time in SoCal!

[atem122]

Aww the LOL sign brings back memories of running the LA Marathon a couple weeks ago (we had to run by it)

-Yes Colossus did used to have the little dip instead of an mcbr, I can only imagine how much of a nut cruncher that would be

-That's awesome that you spotted sfmm from your plane, I didnt know you could

-Awesome PTR, it sounds like you had an awesome time, and fyi, I have never seen X2's line as ridiculous (in person) as the picture you took of it below the bridge

[spaceace12]

My only posted night picture... the rest turned out worse than this one. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could take better night pictures without all these dot things?

 

Need more information....camera, ISO settings...etc.

 

I have a Olymps Stylus 1010. I don't know much about 'ISO' but it can be set on Auto, High Auto, or between 80 to 1600.

 

Chances are that those specs are from a high ISO setting. Most point and shoot cameras don't do well in low light. And the only way to not have them is to have a tripod and set the ISO on 80, chances are, those pictures won't turn out well either.

[tanthonyam]

I swear there could be a forest fire, and an earthquake going on at the same time, and still the X2 line would not go down! Amazing.

[Koolkid]

Brilliant trip report, really enjoyed reading it

 

I've seen in so many trip reports X2 has had a HUGE que even when others haven't been to bad , is it just insanely popular or does it have a terrible throughput?

[The Disneylander]

^ It's pretty much both...although I can say that operations have definitely improved since its rebranding. However, this is negated by the fact that it is now even more popular.

[ajinaz]

How cool that you got a shot of the park on your way home. The parking lot looks full from the air too.

[ebl]

Nice TR! And how fortunate to fly over the park on your way home!

 

Eric

[hauntme23]

Awesome I love the shot of SFMM from the plane

[metrock]

Yeah, cool report. I didn't even know planes flew over SFMM ... that close anyways.

[usctrojansrock11]

I went on Terminator today, thinking it was going to be ok. A little rough, not too much airtime, but an ok ride. Plus I had never been on a GCI before. So anyway I waited an hour an a half land I got on the ride. When I was done, I was like OMG THAT WAS FREAKING AMAZING. It was a million times better than Ghost Rider will ever be. The first drop was absolutely incredible. The theming was fantastic. It was all around an awesome ride. Great TR

[OldJJman]

It was a million times better than Ghost Rider will ever be.

 

But Terminator will never be as good as GhostRider once was!!

 

 

JJ

[alexinla]

Really great tripreport! Amazing that you were able to see(and take a pic) of Magic Mountain from the plane. Very cool indeed!

[tatsuflyspeedfear]

It was a million times better than Ghost Rider will ever be.

 

But Terminator will never be as good as GhostRider once was!!

 

 

JJ

 

I love Terminator, but GhostRider is still my favorite ride,

Who says you can't like it rough. (;

(now is where i'd say something like, "unless it's Psyclone," but I'm going to respect the dead)

 

Great TR, looks like you had an awesome time! Did you fly out here just for theme parks? I wish I could do that at my age like you do! Awesome picture from your plane!

[metrock]

It was a million times better than Ghost Rider will ever be.

 

But Terminator will never be as good as GhostRider once was!!

 

I agree. And if you are lucky enough to get a smooth ride on Ghostrider in its current state, it sure beats the pants off almost any other woodie out there. But when it is rough, I can only stand the pain for one ride.

[the ghost]

That was a great tr, but am I the only person who totally hates Deja Vu? The verticle drops were awesome, but for the rest of the ride I hit my head so many times, and I did not like it at all. I rode it in april on the inside, but just rode it for the credit.

[atem122]

^I never experience any head banging, there's minor jolting, but for a Vekoma it's smooth

[odie]

Great TR, looks like you had an awesome time! Did you fly out here just for theme parks? I wish I could do that at my age like you do! Awesome picture from your plane!

I flew out originally for a wedding but I took off two more days of school for Six Flags too.

 

And about the plane picture: I completely lucked out with that Haha. Like three years ago I remember seeing the park from the sky on the way down to LAX (going to Disneyland), so I knew I had a chance at seeing it again. So when we took off I just held my camera and looked out the plane window. Slowly I started to think we passed it and then I got distracted for a little and when I looked back it was there! So I took two really fast pictures haha. I'll post the other one when I'm back on the other computer (probably Sunday). It's kind of off center so that's why it wasn't in the TR in the first place.

[coolcalicoaster]

"That was a great tr, but am I the only person who totally hates Deja Vu? The verticle drops were awesome, but for the rest of the ride I hit my head so many times, and I did not like it at all. I rode it in april on the inside, but just rode it for the credit."

 

 

 

no your not. I completely agree with you. This ride was always a little over-hyped along with Goliath.

[odie]

OK, here's the other picture...

It looks almost the same just a *little* more zoomed in and off centered

[coolcalicoaster]

^Yeah I love that picture.