Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread


Recommended Posts

None of the biometric sensors were being used at the entry gates today. Well, I'm only speaking for the gold pass lines. They didn't open the parking gates early enough, so cars were backed up down the hill before opening.

 

I did ride Batman backwards today, and much to my surprise I liked it better. Not a problem with going backwards except for a little "ear boxing." It was a busy day at the park.

 

One more thing, YOLO had a rollback today. It took nearly an hour to get the ride open. The second train was already coming into the queue before train 1 cleared the loop. That is definitely an engineering mistake. The rollback train inched back to the station, but couldn't get fully in since train 2 was partially released into the station. They had to off load both trains, manually push back train 1, so they could back in train 2. They relaunched both trains empty and reopened the ride. This was a wasted hour...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was at the park today with JeromyL! I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow. Here's some quick thoughts on today:

 

I was able to get two quick rides on Full Throttle before the rest of the park came in due to the early entry with the gold pass; awesome perk!

Batman backwards was AWESOME!

Riddler's Revenge was running great, and we got some nice airtime in the back today.

Green Lantern was underwhelming at usual.

Revolution was running fairly well.

Goliath was running great.

 

Final thought: Colossus made my day today! Three AMAZINGLY smooth rides (smoother than Apocalypse) with tons of airtime in the back row to end my night. It's okay SFMM, you can hold off on Iron Colossus a bit longer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One more thing, YOLO had a rollback today. It took nearly an hour to get the ride open. The second train was already coming into the queue before train 1 cleared the loop. That is definitely an engineering mistake. The rollback train inched back to the station, but couldn't get fully in since train 2 was partially released into the station. They had to off load both trains, manually push back train 1, so they could back in train 2. They relaunched both trains empty and reopened the ride. This was a wasted hour…

 

That doesn't sound like a mistake. I'm by no means an electrical engineer, but to me it sounds like the ride did exactly what it was supposed to do. My educated guess is that the train flagged the sensor that indicates it's far enough over the loop to advance the next train in, so they did just that…and the ride e-stopped as soon as it rolled back to avoid a collision.

 

If it was really an engineering flaw/safety concern, even for as much crap as we give SFMM, there's no way the ride is open after only an hour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone know why namtaB has seven cars per train instead of eight?

I think it has to do with the position of the train in the station as well as the queues that lead to each row, at least that's what I heard someone saying about the one at SFGAm so I'm not sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^If the sensor that indicates the train is far enough over the loop tripped yet the train still rolled back then maybe the sensor needs to be repositioned.

 

^ This is totally my point. Train #1 should release AFTER train #2 is THROUGH the loop. That would've avoided the manual push back of train #1.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^If the sensor that indicates the train is far enough over the loop tripped yet the train still rolled back then maybe the sensor needs to be repositioned.

 

^ This is totally my point. Train #1 should release AFTER train #2 is THROUGH the loop. That would've avoided the manual push back of train #1.

 

That would limit capacity even further. Every second that train isn't in the station is a lost second loading. The reality is that there is not a ride in the world without some sort of weird quirk. Just from my time at Magic Mountain way back when I know B&M's can get stuck in their pre-lift areas and S:TE requires winching more often than not to get back to the station when it is down.

 

The trains didn't collide. The ride did it's job. There is no way to account for every possible scenario, so to me I don't see why this is a big deal.

Edited by Jew
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The trains didn't collide. The ride did it's job. There is no way to account for every possible scenario, so to me I don't see why this is a big deal.

 

This. There is no way to predict what will happen. During WCB there was a mislaunch when I was on the train on the brake run. The first train didn't make it past the launch so the system was able to stop our train on the turnaround before we entered the station.

In the other situation the system didn't know there was an issue until the train started to rollback so it couldn't have stopped the train entering the station. As long as no one was harmed, it doesn't matter that it was inconvenient for everyone else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably the only thing Premier could have done to avoid situations like this while maintaining capacity would be to have the train launching just after the station rather than from it, but then that would take up more space (not that much, though, just about the length of a train)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

In the other situation the system didn't know there was an issue until the train started to rollback so it couldn't have stopped the train entering the station. As long as no one was harmed, it doesn't matter that it was inconvenient for everyone else.

 

See that's the thing, ride systems are so sophisticated now that it SHOULD have known.

 

Bottom line is there was no accident, just an inconvenience but it's too bad this system allows for such an inconvenience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this might even sound like something the GP said but am I the only one who thinks that launches that lead directly into inversions (especially the ones where the train travels at low speeds) are always a bit of a risk as they are more likely to stall upside down than any other ride? This is obviously something extremely rare but I would say most situations where it has occurred involved launches failing (sirocco and the chiller). I guess there are rides that don't have these problems as the trains travel relatively fast through the inversions, like the Mr. Freezes and Hulk but ones like yolocoaster where the train kind of crawls through the top of the loop have an increased risk (I remember seeing a video of a yolo-rollback where it wasn't that far from stalling).

We all know rides are extremely safe and the probabilities of something like this happening are tiny but I keep thinking that it is interesting that designers take the risk (even though very very small).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is the backwards thing for Batman for the whole season, or just a month or two? They haven't really said anything about that...

 

I heard they were no longer keeping it for the 8 months they originally had planned, but only until June/ July.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^SFMM's marketing implies it is a limited time event. The banners in the parking lot say "spring break exclusive."

 

 

In the other situation the system didn't know there was an issue until the train started to rollback so it couldn't have stopped the train entering the station. As long as no one was harmed, it doesn't matter that it was inconvenient for everyone else.

 

See that's the thing, ride systems are so sophisticated now that it SHOULD have known.

 

Bottom line is there was no accident, just an inconvenience but it's too bad this system allows for such an inconvenience.

 

By your standard, every single ride on the planet is dumb. Anyone who has ever worked on a ride in any capacity will tell you that they ALL have weird quirks. That's the nature of the beast. PLC's are NOT supercomputers. You can only write so many lines of code that will obviously not account for every possible situation.

 

The ride system did exactly what it was designed to do. It allowed for the train to advance into the station as soon as it knew it was safe to do so. No one is sitting in meetings going "hey, lets cut down the theoretical capacity to avoid the very slim possibility of a downtime that requires manually moving trains!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^SFMM's marketing implies it is a limited time event. The banners in the parking lot say "spring break exclusive."

 

 

In the other situation the system didn't know there was an issue until the train started to rollback so it couldn't have stopped the train entering the station. As long as no one was harmed, it doesn't matter that it was inconvenient for everyone else.

 

See that's the thing, ride systems are so sophisticated now that it SHOULD have known.

 

Bottom line is there was no accident, just an inconvenience but it's too bad this system allows for such an inconvenience.

 

By your standard, every single ride on the planet is dumb. Anyone who has ever worked on a ride in any capacity will tell you that they ALL have weird quirks. That's the nature of the beast. PLC's are NOT supercomputers. You can only write so many lines of code that will obviously not account for every possible situation.

 

The ride system did exactly what it was designed to do. It allowed for the train to advance into the station as soon as it knew it was safe to do so. No one is sitting in meetings going "hey, lets cut down the theoretical capacity to avoid the very slim possibility of a downtime that requires manually moving trains!"

 

No that's not true at all. My 'standard' does not dictate that every single ride on the planet is dumb- your words not mine.

 

But IF the sensor that tells the PLC the train has successfully completed going over the loop which would mean at that point it cannot roll back trips, then the train rolls back anyway because it really has NOT successfully completed going over it, doesn't that seem like something is not right there? Maybe the sensor is for something else, I don't know, but in THIS instance that makes no sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^I don't think the sensor we are discussing functions as you think it does. My guess is that the sensor merely tells the PLC the train is a safe enough distance away from the station that even if it were to rollback, it would not make it back to the station.

 

The ride would still be down if a failure of the magnitude you are suggesting actually occurred, which is why I think you are reading too far into it. To me it's just par for the course, an unfortunate quirk that will probably happen again but not actually be a safety concern. Every single ride has some sort of "awkward" (for lack of a better term) downtime that appears worse than it really is, because that is just how rides are designed---you can only write so many lines of "if this happens, then do that (which is the basic logic of how rides are programmed)".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^I don't think the sensor we are discussing functions as you think it does. My guess is that the sensor merely tells the PLC the train is a safe enough distance away from the station that even if it were to rollback, it would not make it back to the station.

 

The ride would still be down if a failure of the magnitude you are suggesting actually occurred, which is why I think you are reading too far into it. To me it's just par for the course, an unfortunate quirk that will probably happen again but not actually be a safety concern. Every single ride has some sort of "awkward" (for lack of a better term) downtime that appears worse than it really is, because that is just how rides are designed---you can only write so many lines of "if this happens, then do that (which is the basic logic of how rides are programmed)".

 

Ok, THAT'S what I did not understand. Since I did not design this ride I was guessing what that sensor that was mentioned was for as that seemed to make sense. I am really fascinated by the technical side of rides and the systems that control them so on this ride for example, it would seem to me that it would have a sensor for that purpose, but apparently not. Sometimes it's tough to discuss technical things about rides on this site because everybody knows what they are talking about but most have never had experience designing or building these rides, I fall into that category.

 

Jew, thank you for being willing to discuss this, it's nice to be able to chat without getting into an argument and just so you know I never meant it to go that way, I was just trying to understand this better. I still have not been to the park yet to ride this either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joey was out at the park today to do another update... here goes...

 

Batman Backwards is OPEN!!!! (at least for Season Passholders!)

 

Here's what it looks like in motion...

 

 

And now some photos...

sfmm_mar9_01.thumb.jpg.a3911e0f74d52f2e10ea7dced1fecae5.jpg

Front entrance new turnstiles now installed. Soon you'll put your finger in the thing to get into the park or something like that.

sfmm_mar9_02.thumb.jpg.36726c4b834fd8b527884b3fa0b5cdf5.jpg

Yessss! March 9th 2014 and we finally have 2014 park maps! (I'm sure they were printed a while ago, but the first batch was probably stolen by angry beavers.)

sfmm_mar9_03.thumb.jpg.e44473dfa5841587dd2d47f5e8452c06.jpg

Mooseburger lodge is still undergoing some sort of transformation. Any day now I'm expecting Megatron to pop out of the roof and start flinging hamburgers at people.

sfmm_mar9_04.thumb.jpg.f6be891f32998c75263e1f3178dc16ed.jpg

Here is an empty building. There is wood and stuff inside. Soon it will have other things. But we don't know what those other things are.

sfmm_mar9_05.thumb.jpg.14beaa1e5e31209f6c4871a517a54d02.jpg

The words "Sierra Falls" are still written on this sign because when anyone reads those words they instantly think happy thoughts.

sfmm_mar9_06.thumb.jpg.01eaaba7a9a1f44b65afd1c3ba0416c8.jpg

Here's some dirt. From this dirt you can make many things. Mud Pies, pretend chickens, jars of horse radish, other mounts of dirt.

sfmm_mar9_07.thumb.jpg.96ef5933f6f2cd088b05017ba4e9b531.jpg

Apparently no one wants to see a scissor lift doing a pantomime show. It's been cancelled until further notice.

sfmm_mar9_08.thumb.jpg.6ce1d029f506296d280100dea06b90d9.jpg

They took this ride away because they don't want children to have any fun.

sfmm_mar9_09.thumb.jpg.c62e9e6788c7f71c3a37386eb55aa09c.jpg

Plastic Bag: The Ride has gotten a new purple fence.

sfmm_mar9_10.thumb.jpg.aa8c3d7edb66a5e79ce88fd4bc8dc077.jpg

In this building you can eat children.

sfmm_mar9_11.thumb.jpg.f980e4fc2ec9bbf6c52fd1402ff35e4a.jpg

OMG!!!! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?!?! Someone turned Batman around BACKWARDS!!!

sfmm_mar9_12.thumb.jpg.a3846ee39b4b9799e510313fe13c32f1.jpg

This photo proves that Six Flags Magic Mountain is already better than Shanghai Disneyland.

sfmm_mar9_13.thumb.jpg.6aba6d19911a0084556b77980fd4585d.jpg

Not only did they turn Batman around backwards, but ravenous wolves came in and ate an entire row of this coaster.

sfmm_mar9_14.thumb.jpg.bc84cee5224bb42129a8325f9935895e.jpg

Pocket Fluff.

sfmm_mar9_15.thumb.jpg.7a59619be49df3c73a1f3c79c0412ead.jpg

Let's play a game, shall we? Which photo is actually Batman going backwards? This one?

sfmm_mar9_15a.thumb.jpg.6635c8925f51d63b94e68fc8c9ec26d6.jpg

or this one? The answer is below, but respond first and then see if you are right or wrong. (don't cheat now!!!!)

sfmm_mar9_16.thumb.jpg.52f202e9d7f244e1793b62ba71155fa5.jpg

In this restaurant they serve everything plain. Plain hamburgers, plain pasta, pizza without anything on it. Apparently, it's not very popular.

sfmm_mar9_17.thumb.jpg.ef72c6d44c76f68daf9dc263911b1bc0.jpg

Because going backwards is cool. There will be more. (Shhhhh.... don't tell anyone this ride normally goes backwards every year anyway! You'll give away the secret!)

sfmm_mar9_18.thumb.jpg.829c7af4691265559d5a22557658969e.jpg

The goofy things with arms is almost ready to start smacking people again.

sfmm_mar9_19.thumb.jpg.8226d432170e5b52ad0f5f8b844e17f4.jpg

This goofy thing with arms requires much more care and love from doctors and nurses that enjoy that sort of thing.

sfmm_mar9_20.thumb.jpg.526e12b0863800b7fd8317d7be2cbe51.jpg

Does anyone know what this archway used to say? (does anyone care???)

sfmm_mar9_21.thumb.jpg.ec0c8967279aa2847322584229bfb0b1.jpg

This sign means something.

sfmm_mar9_22.thumb.jpg.32e7b1cc04358e990c88f2937dacad9b.jpg

We will end this update with two multi-colored sticks because it reminds me of chopsticks and I kinda want to eat some Kung Pao Chicken. So there you go...

 

Thanks Joey for the photos! =)

 

 

*they are both Batman backwards, stupid! We just flipped the picture! Duh!!!

Edited by robbalvey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joey was out at the park today to do another update... here goes...

 

Batman Backwards is OPEN!!!! (at least for Season Passholders!)

 

It was going backwards in the first photo, because that photo is of the first corkscrew.

 

*Edit* I just realized the photos were mirror images if each other...

Edited by trj820
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/