The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

^Ha, speaking of season passes...

We had to get ours processed today...

Well, my mother always told me if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!

I think KT's face in her picture pretty much sums up our experience though!!!

 

Upon leaving around 1pm Tatsu was running one train with a reported 2+ hour wait. That is just unacceptable.

2 hour que on a off season Sunday afternoon is truly sad. I feel for you. I was gona head over to MM today but something came up at the last minute. I guess it saved me some gas

To MM's credit though I've been 5 times since picking up my pass in Nov and haven't had any problems at all. I even made the mistake of going on Toy's for Tot's day (I cursed the coaster gods when I got out of my car and saw everyone carrying toys) and although the lines where a bit long, everything was running and they had their "A team" operating the trains (These are the ppl who know how to put their thumb up and push button at the same time, which seems is not a requirement of all MM employees) .

Hahahahaha...the funniest part is the contrast between her picture, and the "staged" one to the left. Come on SFMM, you've come so far. Please someone stop the leak before it blows into a river.

^ Yikes, incredible "deja vu". It's like 2003 all over again. So sorry to hear this Elissa, but I feared this would happen as soon as they pulled Jay Thomas and started with the budget cuts without any regard for how the park's would operate. If this is what we're going to get this year, I'll make one visit (WCB), and then no more, nor will I invest in a season pass.

 

Just two weeks ago I was hopefull that the so-cal parks would have a great year. Now I have very little desire to visit any of them.

Well, there's still Knott's, Universal, and Disneyland. At least those parks still look to have a great year (at least Knott's). Just saying, Magic Mountain isn't the only park in Southern California, and its not like it determines the fate of everything else.

Update coming soon...

Real soon...

Here's a report from today...

It's my birthday so we figured we go to Six Flags and get our passes processed...

The day started out not-so-great. They charged me for parking even though I already paid for it. Now I have to go wait in another line so I can get my money back. Thankfully the people at Guest Relations took care of it pretty quickly.

Security line.... Yikes!

The line to get in was pretty long...

...good thing we have a Discover Card!

We were just told that Jet Stream and Ninja were closed today...that leaves on Flash Pass...not much!

Well, they did their part and at least tried to make it to the trash can before puking.

It's 10:40am and not much is open...you can ride Revolution and Colossus!

10:47 X2 also closed. C'mon SFMM! You guys were doing sooo good! Hopefully this is just a fluke day...

11:00am ... No Tatsu either...not cool. We have first timers with us today! Not the best first impression.

Hooray! We found an open ride!

Here are the new Apocalypse signs.

And another.

Oh good! You can take you bags, cameras and cell phones on Apocalypse... They only aren't allowed on Terminator!

Here is the new pre-show video! Please watch this!

What do you all think? Better? Worse? Or the same cheese level? POST BELOW!

"Remember your family? SHOOT TO KILL!!!". Wait, you want me to kill my family??? That is easily my favorite part of the video! It sounds like he wants us to kill our family!!! Wow...

According to the pre-show, we are still riding Psyclone! LOL!

Something seems missing here...

No audio... But we knew that already...

But the "box" is still attached!

To be honest, the new pre-show isn't any better or worse than the old one. The biggest disappointment of the new pre-show is that they still send around half-empty trains while you're forced to watch it. I'm not sure there is a single guest out there who would rather be watching the cheesy video versus being on the coaster 6 minutes quicker. It's fine when you have a full queue and it gives your guests something to watch. I totally support that. But when you have no line...and really...a GCI woodie doesn't *need* a backstory...let your guests ride... PLEASE!!! I don't think that's asking too much.

At least you can still Take The Tunnel!!!

The rest of the theming and the queue areas were exactly the same. The only things that have changed so far are some of the signs and the pre-show movie.

You can still get all the Terminator Salvation merchandise.

Lots of T-Shirts left ... And all still at full price! They should make a killing from coaster dorks! (I bought some stuff!)

Plenty of classy shirt designs left to choose from.

Lots of fridge magnets left...

...and possibly the most awesome tacky snow glove ever! I'm now a proud owner of one of these!!!

We see you hiding Psyclone!

That sign reminds me that we should go check out Thomas Town!

Oh, Thomas Town...

Not looking very kid-friendly today.

Cranky is not even around to be pissed off!

You can see the train faces all covered up.

There does appear to be a de-Thomasized train on the track.

The new park map is very interesting...

Oooh! That sounds like fun! Let's go ride that...

Oh...

Coming soon! A new kiddie coaster that we still aren't sure if kiddies will be able to ride! (The website still says 42" height restriction)

There appears to be some construction or maybe destruction going on here.

Let's go see how things are going at Superman...

This should be very cool when it opens back up.

Doesn't it look pretty?

Here's one angle of it...

And here's another ...

And third times the charm!

Riddlers was running one train... So was Revolution... So was Tatsu ... With a 2 hour wait!

Cute! Since we are in Gotham...let's check out Green Lantern construction...

This are should be looking VERY different soon!

This was part of the old night club from the 80s and the later used as Batman queue overflow.

You can see lots of markers and trees marked for removal.

Did anyone come to the dance club in the late 80s?

More tree marks and construction markers.

The old overflow queue...looks like most of this will be cleared out.

Looks like some clearing has begun.

The markers go pretty far back...

I would guess that lamp that is in the current Batman queue will be getting the axe.

There are other ground markings in the current Batman queue.

More markers.

Taken from inside the Batman queue.

Some other things to note... Longhorns is gone...

Johnny Rockets still here...

This the old Sierra Twist area....

Not exactly sure what this is. There was a gate blocking you from entering... But it looks nice!

Sierra Falls gone...

Psyclone lives on!

No, you have FOUR!!! Apocalypse counts!!!

We'll have more construction updates once things start moving a bit more...

Now... POST YOUR COMMENTS!!!

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S:EFK really seems to be coming along very nicely, I love the new colors. Thanks for the update Robb.

Robb, please explain the 80's disco....what did those old bldg fronts have to do with it? And yes, the new Apocalypse pre-show is just as cheesy as the Terminator show....I was hoping they would have gotten rid of most of the theming(just left a few accents) and let the focus be primarily on the coaster itself.

Happy birthday! And didn't BeemerBoy say he was in the new preshow? Or PeoplemoverMatt.. I forgot who

I feel that the Terminator pre show now ends right as soon as it gets good. Good acting, but lame ending.

Robb-

With Six Flags Magic Mountain being how it was today, do you think that the "new" SFMM is worse than the "new" SFMM that was the Thomas/Shapiro era. I know it's too early to tell, but if you could predict based on your visit today, does SFMM seem like it will get any better or worse this year? Just thought I'd ask.

The park seriously looks like it's falling apart and getting worse.

Thomas Town closed, lame cardboard Apocalypse signs just put over the original signs, ride closures, ride removals, trashcans with barf all over them, late ride openings, poor ride operations and the soon destruction of a once peaceful Gotham park.

Ugh, how embarrassing. Hopefully it's all uphill from here, but for some reason I don't think it's going to be...

I can see what the park is aiming for, but I personally think they'd be better off just they way the were. SUPERMAN: THE ESCAPE FROM KRYPTON, GREEN LANTERN, and the KID'S COASTER are the only positives. APOCALYPSE isn't that good, especially with the pre-show, it should have stayed TERMINATOR SALVATION, and instead of re-theming THOMAS TOWN, the management could have introduced a new land like SIX FLAGS FRIENDS' FORT FUN, where it includes the LOONEY TOONS, WIGGLES, THOMAS, and MR.SIX! However, that's just my opinion...

With Six Flags Magic Mountain being how it was today, do you think that the "new" SFMM is worse than the "new" SFMM that was the Thomas/Shapiro era.

I'm probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but I believe in speaking my mind and being honest... I feel that almost everything that was done during the Shapiro days to improve the park has been almost undone. The park looked and "felt" today the worst I've seen it in years.

It was honestly a little sad and very disappointing. Like I said in the report, I'm hoping this was just a "fluke" day. But back to rides not opening on time, employees not even knowing what's going on, trashcans looking disgusting, coasters operating one train, and just the overall feel of things being dumbed down...I don't know what's going on with the park, if it's something company-wide, but the place felt really, REALLY 'off' today.

The best example is when we arrived at the park. We ended up taking two cars. We both had our season pass vouchers with the parking option (as in the picture posted.) We went through two different parking booths. Elissa handed the employee the voucher, went through no problem, she wasn't charged for parking. My employee, looked at me like I just handed her something written in Japanese. She had absoultely no clue what she was looking at, or what to do with it. She charged for me for parking and told me to go to Guest Relations. WTF! C'mon! Get your act together!!!! How is it that Elissa and I can both pull up to the parking booths at the same time and have two totally different experiences. Unacceptable!

I'm gonna chalk it up to just being a 'bad day', but I sure hope it's not a sign of things to come...

I still can't help but to wonder how much longer Tidal Wave is going to be there.

Also, given the fact that Longhorn's never had a permanent sign, was it, too, meant to be temporary?

As for Apocalypse, they ought to just remove that very last car with the box for holding the audio equipment. But I doubt they will. Regarding the new pre-show, how funny that Psyclone appears in it. And I've always gotten a kick out of how "well" they erased the Psyclone name off of that one wall.

Eric

As for Apocalypse, they ought to just remove that very last car with the box for holding the audio equipment. But I doubt they will.

I'm assuming it's still there because of the extra weight it adds to the train.

I doubt any trouble will come of it, afterall, you are a guest expressing what happened during your stay. If everything said must be rosey, then no one will know where the shortfalls are. Personally, I didn't by into the stock at 30/share and surprised where it is now as I wanted to wait to see how things panned out. Should have I bought in and doubled my dough, maybe, but SF's looked risky and still does given recent changes. We'll see how 2011 pans out, but I have a feeling it might not have the stellar shareholders numbers they are looking for if staff, services, and perks continue to get cut.

lol Today's my brother's birthday. If only he chose to go to a park.

Great trip report!

I hope it's just mid winter blues. We are still at the park and it's pretty dead. Ninja is open about to ride it's and doubled up on all rides we wanted. X2 is walkon and that is nice.

I'm going to agree with Elissa (and others) who have said to raise the season pass price. This "baby sitting" fee is going to create a real hell at the park when it goes to daily operation.

When the park doesn't offer much in the way of quality food or souvenirs, (at a reasonable price) the only place to make money is at the turnstile. As it is, most people that go to SFMM know where all the fast food restaurants are in proximity to the park. They just WILL NOT pay for the crap that they are getting.

Lower the admission to $49, RAISE the SP price to $189 (or more). It will generate more money over the length over a whole season.

Another idea would be to DROP the vending machine drinks to $2.50 from $4. Sure, the profit margin is lower, but they'll make a larger profit in the long run by selling many, many more units. When questioned about this before, SF brass has always said that it needs that high of a price to make a profit. (Of course, that would mean hiring more people at $7-8/hr to empty the trash cans, so maybe that's a BAD idea. )

Makes me wonder how a global corporation like 7-11 can survive by selling drinks for only $1.59. Just baffling.

AND... The staffing issue is just deplorable. I would hope that Jay still reads this, and puts in a call to the current leadership and asks "WTF are you doing??"

I'm back to despising that place.

"I'm assuming it's still there because of the extra weight it adds to the train." (Robb)

I've had that same thought, too. Honestly, it doesn't hurt having it there, and removing it will cost unnecessary money and not do a thing for capacity---and neither would exchanging it for a twelfth car. Not to mention the money they'd have to spend to add another airgate.

"Lower the admission to $49, RAISE the SP price to $189 (or more). It will generate more money over the length over a whole season.

"Another idea would be to DROP the vending machine drinks to $2.50 from $4. Sure, the profit margin is lower, but they'll make a larger profit in the long run by selling many, many more units. When questioned about this before, SF brass has always said that it needs that high of a price to make a profit." (OldJJman)

^ Every single word of that.

Eric

I hope it's just mid winter blues. We are still at the park and it's pretty dead.

That was really the only saving grace today. When we got to X2 and we saw pretty much EVERYONE in the park waiting in that line for it to open, we decided to skip it and got every other credit in the park that was open (Viper, X2, and Tatsu all opened late), but got in everything else.

Then went back to Tatsu to find a full queue and only one train operation, that was a real bummer, and at least X2 was a short line. We figured everyone in the park was there when it opened, got in their ride, and were done with X2 for the day. But we missed Tatsu today because we just couldn't queue that long. It's unacceptable to me that one of the signature rides is operating with one train and a full queue.

Yes, we know it was our choice, but we skipped it.

Seriously? Bags over the trains faces?! That's just sad and tacky SFMM

^Seriously? I would give them more credit than that....I doubt those bags are their to stay....if they canceled their license with Thomas Town, they would have to cover up anything that shows Thomas Town....I am sure the "bags" are temporary till they get a replacement for the front of the trains...

I felt miserable just reading that trip report, and that's really saying something...

SFMM really needs to get their act together, but I too feel like it's not going to be getting any better....