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The Six Flags Magic Mountain Museum


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For those of you who may not be aware, The Sky Tower at Six Flags Magic Mountain is currently undergoing a make-over. Not quite to the level where Ty Pennington will come by and tear down the Sky Tower and rebuild it in 24 hours, but enough that it's getting the attention of the press all over the Santa Clarita Valley and Los Angeles County. Heck, even Six Flags CEO Mark Shaprio was promoting it the other day along side new for 2008 attractions like X2 and Thomas Town.

 

Here's a really nice article from The Daily News about Brandon's Sky Tower Museum (Brandon is the guy who pitched the idea to management and is currently spearheading the re-do.)

 

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_8412730

 

VALENCIA - The purple fur of the troll costume was matted and the plastic eyes were scratched, but 19-year-old Brandon Bruce eyed it as a piece of local history and the building block he needed.

The refurbished King Troll, with his gold cape and bead-studded crown, is the centerpiece of Six Flags California's Magic Mountain's new museum, under construction within the theme park's landmark tower and set to open this month.

 

"He also has a friend who's orange. We're researching who he is," Bruce said during a recent trek to the top of the 386-foot tower, the newly painted red steel fixture that put the Santa Clarita Valley on the map.

 

Bruce, a college student and senior ride supervisor, is in charge of the Magic on the Mountain museum, one of many projects corporate executives are looking at to help recast the 37-year-old Valencia theme park from teen haven to family-friendly destination.

 

Daily News also posted a great interview with Brandon:

 

Check out Brandon's Interview Video!

 

Last week we were able to go up into the Sky Tower during the make over to check out some of the pieces of Magic Mountain history going into the museum -

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And my personal favorite piece of art in the collection - Yes, that IS a taco with a sombrero!

 

Look for the Sky Tower Museum to open later this year and you can re-live some old Magic Mountain Memories!

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Ahhh! One of the old trolls! I know there was "Bloop" and "Bleep" but I'm not sure which one this guy is!

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Ride designs before it was all done on computer!

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Tons of old costumes dating back to the 1970s.

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More signage.

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Lots of signage from past and present attractions.

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Hey look! They thought about it before Disney! At least Six Flags ditched the idea so they wouldn't be stuck with a $1 billion mistake! ;)

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You would be amazed at how many different ideas are presented for each attraction before one is decided upon.

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The museum will include lots of concept art from attractions that didn't make the cut or alternate ideas for rides you currently see in the park.

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At the moment, the Sky Tower IS a mess! =) But it will all get cleaned up into something VERY cool!

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It will be interesting to see how they organize all of that stuff to be on display most efficiently. Looks like they got a TON of old stuff up there!

 

I can't believe they don't know the trolls were Bloop and Bleep, what kind of "research" is necessary? It only takes a 5 second search on Google to figure it out...

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Surprisingly enough, seeing Magic Mountain build this makes me want to get out to California even more than the other improvements. Not many parks celebrate their history like this, so to see SO much going into this, I honestly can't wait to see the end result for myself.

 

Job well done Magic Mountain, job well done.

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"the trolls were Bloop and Bleep" (PURE)

 

Don't forget "Blop." There were three trolls and The Wizard.

 

Amazing...even I never knew that (I'm guessing) when Six Flags bought the park they considered renaming it "California Adventure." Honestly, while I do like the name "Magic Mountain," calling it "California Adventure" would have worked as well.

 

Ah...blueprints. That reminds me of when I first started working in engineering as a drafter in the late '70s. No such thing as AutoCAD back then!

 

I am really looking forward to visiting Southern California's newest museum.

 

Eric

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Is that a model of Great American Scream Machine? Or is it a model of an early design of Viper?

Wow. Good catch. It is actually GASM. Not sure why SFMM ended up with it, but I think they will say something on the display about it either being the inspiration or an early model of Viper, because technically, it kind of is. Same ride basically just slightly different layout to fit SFMM's landscape.

 

--Robb

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"Is that a model of Great American Scream Machine? Or is it a model of an early design of Viper?" (haux)

 

Somewhere, the park must have the model of Viper that was on display at Viper's announcement day (November 1989). I attended that event and have pictures of myself standing next to track pieces that were on display right where X2 is now standing. One interesting note was that there is an early concept drawing of Viper showing a level left-hand turnaround after the lift, then a straight drop down and climb into the first loop. That was in place of the curving first drop that Viper actually ended up having.

 

Eric

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I think I were to see one of those troll mascots running around when I was little I think I would be a bit scared of it.

This museum was a great idea and it was a good idea of putting it in for Magic Mountain. I've been really impressed about how much they have been trying to improve the park and the overall experience.

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Is that a model of Great American Scream Machine? Or is it a model of an early design of Viper?

 

I remember seeing that model at Arrow's booth at the IAAPA convention. It was on display right along side the Ninja model which opened in 1988. Shock Wave at Six Flags Great America also opened in 1988 so I would assume that it is a model of Shock Wave and it was repainted and used as a promotional piece for Viper.

 

But I guess you could argue since Shock Wave was originally supposed to go to SFGAd and ended up at SFGAm. It would be safe to say that it is a model of the "first" Arrow mega-looper.

 

I can't wait to see the stuff on display I think this museum idea is GREAT! I hope other parks catch on and do the same thing. I would love to see museums at the top of both Eiffel Towers. I certainly have plenty of stuff in my attic I could donate if they need.

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SFMM* is like totally my home park (as it probably is other people's home park too) so this is really cool to see. Go Six Flags and the (sorta) new management!

And booyah to all doubters!! (none on this site, though )

 

*I so wanna get a summer job here.

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Is that a model of Great American Scream Machine? Or is it a model of an early design of Viper?

 

I remember seeing that model at Arrow's booth at the IAAPA convention. It was on display right along side the Ninja model which opened in 1988. Shock Wave at Six Flags Great America also opened in 1988 so I would assume that it is a model of Shock Wave and it was repainted and used as a promotional piece for Viper.

 

 

Funny you mention that, I just walked passed the Ninja model you spoke of today. It looks pretty sweet. Just got repainted, like its real-life counterpart.

 

 

Anyway, yeah, you guys are all right. Shockwave, GASM, and Viper are all sister-coasters. Viper, the tallest and fastest of the three, takes its layout-inspiration from the other two. This will be explained in the museum.

 

-Jahan

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robbalvey wrote:

Hey look! They thought about it before Disney! At least Six Flags ditched the idea so they wouldn't be stuck with a $1 billion mistake!

 

Hmm--I seem to recall a quote from some Disney memo that was circulated on the Internet while DCA was being built: "If it's good enough for Six Flags, it's good enough for us." Apparently, even if it wasn't good enough for Six Flags, it was still good enough for Disney.

 

DCA should've used the "sombrero taco" sign, too.

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