Photo TR: A Bad Night At SFMM.

So to make a long story short.....

We went to dinner with Dan and his woman (No, NOT Jim, an actual REAL human...WOMAN!)

And we got the idea "Hey, let's go down to SFMM for the last couple of hours of the night!"

Well, that quickly turned into not such a good idea! First off, we get there and the hill behind Roaring Rapids is on FIRE!!! Yes!!! ON FIRE!!!! Looks like they probably set fire to the hill again while setting off the fireworks. Anyway, there's fire everywhere, smoke, fire trucks screaming into the park, chaos everywhere!

So we got into the park and attempted to get FastLane's, which we got, but took FOREVER! OMG! There was only one person in front of us in line and it took like 15 minutes to get our stupid passes.

So finally, we're off to try to find an open ride! Tatsu was down when we first got there, so we decided to go do something else...on the hill..."Hey! Let's go see about Sky Tower!" Oh, wait, no...that's closed. So we take a quick ride on Ninja. Yay.

Down the hill we go to Gold Rusher, where we find the most obnoxious drunk people riding...and are the ride ops doing anything about it? No, of course not. They are too busy playing in the station and talking on their cell phones. *sigh* I thought this park was supposed to be getting cleaned up and more family friendly? Or was that just a nice front at Tatsu's media day?

So anyway, we take a ride on Gold Rusher and have seen that Tatsu has been going again so we head back there. "Well, we've got our FastLane passes!" Only we now find that the FastLane pass is all the way down the stairs, and heading towards the onride photos. WTF? They are loading like 4 people at a time! At this point the FastLane line was probably longer than the actual line! Oh, and today these people all paid an extra $5 because Fast Lane passes are $20 on Saturdays now instead of $15.

Overall, this was probably one of the most pathetic visits to the mountain in a long, long time.

What happened since Tatsu's media day and the weeks following where everything seemed to be running so smoothly?

I'm hoping for better visits later in the summer, but wow, this was really, really bad.......

Here's some pics!

So finally we left. After having one of the worst nights at a park in a long time. Even Willey E. Coyote is fed up with the place.

Here's hoping to a better visit next time.....

Ahh, here is a SFMM employee who really cares! Just sitting BEHIND the register out of sight from any customers. Don't bother her. She's way too busy picking at her fingers.

We tried to ride Tatsu, but the Fast Lane line was longer than the actual line! Good thing these people spent an extra $20 on those passes!

Dan and his WOMAN!!!! Yes!!! WOMAN!!!! She really exists and isn't a blow up doll OR Jim!!! Say hello to Kristen! Sorry Jim....you've been replaced!

"Who cares about the customers....I gotta know where the party is tonight!"

Of course not! They are too busy playing and talking on the cell phone!

Here's the really loud, annoying drunk guy riding Gold Rusher. Do the ride ops in the back ground look like they care?

Much to our surprise, Laughing Dragon Pizza was actually OPEN!

Hey! At least we got a ride on Ninja.

Typical.

Tatsu is broken, so lets try for Sky Tower.

Hey look! Today is a $20 Fast Lane day! Sorry, Flash Pass.

Here come the fire trucks cruising SFMM!

They sure have done a good job lighting that hill on fire!

You can see the glow of the flames from the front of the park.

We arrive at the park and see fire. See that glow in the background? Yeah, that's the hill behind Roaring Rapids!

It's dinner time for Elissa. A whole plate of broccoli and....not much else.

Yea...today was crap for me too, and I was on the other side of the deal. At least I was paid to go to SFMM, which makes it a bit more fair for me.

I still had to go home early...I passed my threshold...couldn't take it anymore. Some Cold Stone made everything better.

And to whatever shell started that fire.....you missed.

-Jahan

OMG THAT SUCKED but it was funnyat the same time

At least I was paid to go to SFMM, which makes it a bit more fair for me.

That actually makes it less fair. You HAVE to be there. Guests can leave whenever they want.

-Joey (Bummed out I missed out on the fun tonight)

I just knew he would post something.... *sigh*

Laura: "How do you know him?!?! Please tell me your not related to him, please!"

-Jahan

Hmm--that's the Magic Mountain I remember the last time I visited the place (in the 1970s), only without fire and cell phones. Good to see that they've returned to thier classic mode of operation.

For some reason, that picture of Wile E. Coyote is just hysterical for me. I think that perfectly sums up the entire experience, from everything I’ve read.

^Also, when we got out of Kisho's and saw the flames from there we figured it would be amusing!

Seriously though. I was really bummed by our visit. Dan's woman hadn't been to the park in about 7 years, we had fastlanes and it wasn't too crowded at 10pm. But just one after another bad experience kind of ruined the evening.

The park had been really improving under Shapiro, and you'd think with the latest announcement that the park would really be on edge trying to show off their best. Then to see employee after employee just slacking off and not caring, rides broken down, horrible dispatch times, heck even the entertainment characters laying down!!! Ugh.

And to add to the Tatsu speculation, we saw it run about 5 times total in 70 minutes. Bad dispatching and breakdowns, come on, it's a B&M!!! I've seen it broken down or working poorly more than I've seen it working well!

wow...thats pathetic, empoyees on cell phones...wow...,that happened to me at work once and the got fired

SAVE THE MOUTAIN!!

The pic of Wile E. is priceless.

I hope your next visit is much better!!

Im sure glad SFGAM is run much better than this!!

Some of those pics should have copyrights on them and then Robb can sell them to 6F marketing department for their next set of brochures.

"Coming in 2007......Wile E. and his Gang(sta)". Pic of the employees on cell phones, Wile E-sleeping on that bench, and the trash from Elissa's pics inside the Tatsu que-line. "We bring happiness to our family-parks"

New Slogan for Robb & Elissa's Magic (Tragic) Mtn trip:

1. A set of Fastlane passes.... $20 (each)

2. Parking fees, food, and a trip to first-aid....$75

2. 1 drunk, 1 fire, and a slew of inefficient rides and a Wile E. sleeping on his bed? Priceless. Tragic Mtn-Explore the Possibilities!

The way those employees are working almost makes me want to throw up. And here to think that A-B may be interested in the park? OMG, I can hear A-B corporate board meetings now (plug your ears).

"Uhm, yes-Augie I would love to help with your management team in "fixing up" MM toward a A-B product....just add 30% to my salary and throw in a lifetime supply of alka-seltzer."

MM just put the last nail in the coffin and Shapiro's regime has a good reason to unload the park.

I'm curious what the ( **#)@)@)@ <<----insert word here) Del Holland is doing?????!!!! Does he even have control over his employees or is he already packed up and ready to leave his office?..lol

Maybe Wile E. Coyote was just acting lazy to sucker an unsuspecting Road Runner to walk up and then he'd spring into action doing a number of many Mortal Kombat fatalities to it. That would rule! I'm so going to this park now.

California, here I come!

I dont' really know why everyone keeps blaming Del. I don't think he's the root of all evil that people think he is. Think about it, most employees never even meet the guy, let alone have any face time with him. The middle management is the problem.

Think about how awesome Hurricane Harbor is. They have a great manager who isn't afraid to go out and take tickets, pick up trash, and knows ALL of the employees by name!

Anyways, I don't know when I'll go again, or if I can handle another visit but we'll see if they can improve!

Haha, that bites SFMM wasn't good that day, but at leased you get a good laugh at some of the stuff!

What do the people say after you take a picture of them, when they can see that your taking a picture of them? Like this picture...

Did she look up or anything and wonder why you took a picture of her?

Wow.. Not lookin too good.. Hopefully this gets better, Neesh and I were thinking about possibly visiting SFMM during our honeymoon.. Looks like we might have to change our plans!

NO!

That's the funny thing! None of them even seemed to care that we took their picture!

i'm confused.....i thought Rob was on the UK trip....

^ The UK trip has been over for more then 2 weeks.

I like how all those people get paid to sit around and not do their job. Reminds me of most of the people at my old job

I dont' really know why everyone keeps blaming Del. I don't think he's the root of all evil that people think he is. Think about it, most employees never even meet the guy, let alone have any face time with him. The middle management is the problem.

 

Think about how awesome Hurricane Harbor is. They have a great manager who isn't afraid to go out and take tickets, pick up trash, and knows ALL of the employees by name!

......

Mr. Holland, is the general manager of MM, he needs to take responsibility for the parks preformance. Wether or not all the parks problems are his fault or not he does direct the parks staff and needs to do a better job at it or have someone else come in who can. As you stated regarding Huricane Harbors manager taking initiative and getting out in the front lines, this is exactly what MM needs from a general manager right now.

^One man does not a management team make. Del Holland is not the problem. The awful middle managers at SFMM are what is really hurting the park. Just one small example: There was a supervisor in the station at Tatsu, and they were still dispatching every 6 minutes! How are line employees expected to do good when the people above them suck ass?

But Del Holland's hands are tied. Those are positions essential to keeping the park open, so you can't just fire them all at once and call it a success. And even if you do start holding people accountable for their poor performance (something that never happens at SFMM, because most of middle management protects eachother instead of fostering a good operating environment/developing people to replace them), the people above Del Holland only allow him to offer crappy salary/benefit packages. That of course makes it incredibly difficult to attract top "talent" to the park. Not to mention the fact that the low pay/lack of benefits/bad management that drives good workers away/etc. for the line employees make it incredibly difficult to develop talent from within...

I'll end my rant now, but you get the idea.

And in Del's defense, when I worked there, I saw him in the park more than I saw some of the operations department heads in the park...

Sounds like an interesting night at the Mountain. Stupid drunks always have to mess things up.

It could have been worse...you could have visited the Adventuredome at Circus Circus. HAHA!