Note: its been a couple days since the visit so my memory isn’t as sharp as it could be, sorry if I screw something up.
So the day after Knott’s Winter Coaster Solace, TPR alongside Rideworld holds an event of their own at SFMM. This year I was finally able to go, and I’m glad I did.
Billy and I got to the park at 7:30, I went straight to check in and got my stuff without a problem. Billy and his family then tried to sign in and were told that they weren’t invited to the party, but were welcome to come back during normal hours. So they left and came back later, though I didn’t meet up with them afterwards.
Goliath and Colossus from the parking lot.
The check in booth.
After Billy left I just hung out with Alex, Dan, Cody and Kevin, and after a bit the gates opened up for morning ERT.
Morning ERT: Tatsu, Viper, Revolution, Superman.
Cody, Kevin, and I went up for Tatsu first, had some FREE donuts, then some SMOOTH Revolution a couple times (front row ftw). Then Viper and finally a little Superman till the gates opened.
Tatsu above.
Cody doing what he does.
The flying monster just barely above the tree line.
Once the GP hours arrived, Cody and Kevin went down to Riddler’s to get in some video, I decided to do Goliath instead.
Somethings missing…
Spin out!!!
That is evil..
Spin out was awesome! I hate seeing this…
I see old the Lower Dragon line!
I think they purposely set the crane like so for photo ops like this…
So I went off on my own and rode Goliath. Then after I pretty much just walked around.
Its really easy to time shots right when the coaster is only going around 15MPH.
MORE EVIL!
SFMM, I know you have a 5 year plan to fill out the park, but still..
The former entrance.
Remember the random construction by Deja in my last Photo TR? Well it was for a game.
It wasn’t open quite yet, though it appears nearly ready.
So yeah, it was a game of skill.
Jetstream, still closed.
They told us that they’re doing some stuff with the station, and that they’re also replacing the control panel with FreeFall’s old one.
The lift still bare.
I see maintenance!
It was now lunch time, so I was off to the Picnic Pavilion.
When I got there I met back up with Dan and Alex and had some of the free food. The bbq brisket was AMAZING. After eating we split into random groups for the tours. Pretty much everyone from websitefullofdouchebags got red except for me, I was in yellow, but that was fine with me because our leader was Jahan!
Yellow team FTW!
Note the fancy nametags made for the event.
The group heading off to the first of 4 tours, Psyclone’s grave!
Jay was waiting for us, he stayed with our group for the rest of the tours.
Inside the area, they had set up various old ride cars and stuff, and not just from SFMM.
Better angle of some of the things.
From SFMM you’ve got FreeFall.
Colossus.
FlashBack.
Jahan was all like “I have the credit”
Granny Gran Prix
GGG’s original cars back before it was moved to where it last stood.
THE TILT-A-WHIRL!
There was once a kiddie flat over by Viper, it was themed to cheese.
Stuff from other parks included:
An XLR-8/8-RLX car.
Aswell as SFGAm’s old Shockwave!
If you’ve ever wondered how an Arrow OTSR works, here’s a rough explanation.
No comment.
Jay said that Deja should be back up by Saturday.
Up next was originally going to be the newly redone Sky Tower.
Or maybe not.
“Due to winds we aren’t going to take you to the top of the sky tower, but I have set up some of the stuff in the elevator.”
And that he did.
I don’t know which is funnier about that blanket thing, Orient as Funicular or Eagles Flight actually standing.
Revolution’s loop during construction.
Side note: there’s a new prerecorded spiel that plays in the elevator. It was a nice touch.
Since we didn’t go up in the tower we were ahead of schedule, so most of us went on Ninja.
The Arrow’s first lift hill.
Next up was X2!
Jahan leads the way!
What’s this?
Down the drop.
Ooo, another cycle!
The new paint looks great.
I must admit, the new trains look awesome.
Before and After.
Tim Burkhart explaining X2 and where they are. He also answered questions we had.
I know some of you were wondering about the colour scheme. For the trains: the blue is the colour of the fiberglass, you can scratch it all you want and the blue wont chip. But don’t scratch it… The restraints are orange because its SF policy to have bright coloured restraints, it makes it easier for the op to see. The black of the seats doesn’t dirty as quickly as most other colours, plus it makes the restraints even more visible.
The track: SF copied Eejanaika you say? Its actually a coincidence. They had a guy photoshop colour schemes for X then they went up to random people and did a survey. The Black and Red was unanimous. When this was done, Tim Burkhart was the only person that even knew about Eejanaika, but he didn’t remember it was the same red and black scheme at the time.
After the Q&A we walked under X (not down at the bottom, just under the brake run) and got to see it cycle again.
The new train doing its thing.
Turnaround.
It looks awesome going through the course.
Told you we were under the brake run.
The old train just sitting there.
It was also a great area for Viper shots.
Viper also looks good with it’s new paint.
Yellow group infront of X. Pic courtesy of Robb Alvey and Antonio.
The next and last backstage area was Thomas Town.
Small update on the Cyber Café.
Looks like a couple workers got bored.
Jahan still leading the way.
The group.
Sidenote, they turned Goliath Jr around.
Just though you’d like to know.
Now, does it look to you like anythings been done?
Believe it or not, they’re right on schedule. They’ve taken care of all the underground work. Wiring, piping, that sort of stuff.
The area is also great for Goliath shots.
Air!
I timed a shot right on my camera? That’s odd…
West Coast Bash? What the hell is that?
Robb introducing the speakers. Cameras weren’t allowed during the presentation, so I don’t have any pics of Kevin Rohwer (head of sales for S&S).
The schedule for the presentations:
Robb Alvey Email wrote: Guest Speaker from S&S Worldwide, Inc
Presentations from Six Flags Magic Mountain
Q&A Session with Magic Mountain Management
Six Flags Historical Video Presentation
Peview of TPR's Coaster Expedition Volume 10 DVD
After the Q&A session with Niel, Tim, and Jay it was announced that the winds had died and that the Sky Tower had opened! I waited until after the retro vids were over before I went though.
Night Tatsu as we ascend the tower.
Inside the tower, as reported, there’s a bunch of stuff from SFMM’s past. It was really cool, I’m going to donate my old 1978 park map.
Trollywood, waaaaaaay before my time.
As was Spillikin Corners.
Hey a Viper model!
Never mind, wrong park.
Here’s a red arrow that is at SFMM though.
Flashback!
What have they done to you?
I remember that was in Guests Relations, and I said in my Photo TR from back then that they shouldn’t take it down. Well I haven’t been to GR since but it seems they took it down.
Mr Six! You are missed!
Dang, Batman’s station could’ve been A LOT cooler.
So the museum was awesome, can’t wait to see how the GP reacts to it.
It was now 8PM, park closing, so we stayed in the park and had ERT on ALL the coasters (spare X2, Deja, and GJr). It was awesome. The park was empty, every line was empty. I ended the night with a marathon on Goliath in the last row.
A HUGE thank you to Robb and the crew over at TPR. And thank you to Jay Thomas, Neil Thurman, Tim Burkhart, and everyone else at SFMM that helped put this together. The day was great! I cannot wait till next year!
And I conclude this Photo TR with a night shot of Goliath.
Thank you for reading.
