The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

It’s been a couple of months since we’ve had a “general” SFMM update (meaning other than the new for 2008 stuff) and I know Jahan has been busy. I had wanted to do a lap yesterday but I didn’t have much time after the awesome X2 backstage tour (thanks again to Tim & Neal!)

Anyway, I went back to the park today and took a lap. There is quite a bit of new stuff going on and I pretty much did a photo tour of the day.

So why am I still typing? I’m not sure. Do you want to read any more? Of course not! So let’s look at some pictures:

Before even getting in the park you can see work being done. The “lollipop sign” is getting new paint and all the broken lights have been fixed.

Ack! The park is being taken over by the French!

If you are caught being bad at the park, you go in here.

I forget…did it used to be an Exxon or Cheveron?

I miss Hurricane Harbor. Is it just me or does anyone thing this water park is very under-rated? I love the twisty black slides of death that are attached to this tower.

Universal Studios trams cira 1979. (BTW – anyone else notice that the new sound system on the tram actually WORKS? You can finally hear the recorded message as it heads up to the front gate.

Well, we know we are at “Six Flags” but will we ever be told again that we’re in California?

Leaves are dead. Gloomy Sky. This really makes me miss east coast winters!

You know, we used to rip on these trash cans so much when they first appeared….oddly enough though…the park IS cleaner now!

A lot of closed rides. Although, to be fair…. Sky Tower, yeah that one is a bummer; Free Fall…heh, yeah, it’s ‘closed today’ ; Tidal Wave was actually OPEN; Ninja…stupid weather, Metro…well…that hasn’t been opened in years, Goliath JR is closed because of Thomas Town, Déjà vu is down for it’s annual rehab, and X2 is closed because it’s undergoing an Ex change operation.

So the characters were AWESOME today. In fact, this Sylvester and Tweety were some of the best character interaction I’ve seen since the “Bugs and Sylvester stole Tex’ shoes” in Kentucky Kingdom incident!

KidTums is LOVING it!

“Thanks for babysitting guys…I’ll be back at 4:00!”

Mmm…funnel cake sounds GOOD!

Oy! Stop reading that magazine! I NEED FUNNEL CAKE BADLY!!!

So apparently between rainy weather and Super Bowl Sunday…the park is EMPTY!

These always make me laugh.

Much better!

“Today the part of Thomas Town will be played by a sexy blue wall.”

“Welcome to my new themed land….”

“Mike Thomas Town….the Mike part is being added later.”

This fountain is lacking some character.

The long awaited sequel to Animal House.

“We see you old Wizards castle from the troll days!”

No Vault ICEE! LAME!!!!

Hello Sierra Twist…

…how are things on death row?

*giggle*

NOTED!

OMG! They didn’t just take out Circus Wheel they like REALLY took out Circus Wheel!!!

Hmm…you know, if they paved over that walk way too that’s a fairly HUGE plot of land to work with… Please begin speculation now. It entertains the rest of us!

OMG! OMG! Orange Markers!!! What could it be for?!?!

“We see you last remaining troll in the park!”

Yay! Free Fall is still standing! Maybe the governor called and granted a pardon.

Oh, wait a second…what is that I see?

Nope. No pardon for Free Fall. In fact, it would appear it was execution by guillotine!

Last week Free Fall looked like this….

This week it’s more like shredded beef!

Munch Mobile says “I’ll take credit for that, thank you!”

“Don’t laugh pal! You’re next!”

The last time Riddler’s will ever need to bunny hop over Free Fall!

“To ensure your future enjoyment for years to come, this bench is closed today while we perform routine annual maintenance work. We invite you to enjoy another bench.”

Random shot of Tatsu because I love you all so dearly.

NOTED!

Kranky?

No Vault ICEE. FAIL!!!

“We see you old Dragon station!”

“Come get a massage...AND…sign up for the Marines?”

I feel lonely.

For those of you “open gate” losers – have a boner. Get a box of tissues. Go shower.

I know it’s been gone for a while now, but it’s just still SO AWESOME to see!

Ok, ok…so to make up for the boner comment, here’s another photo of Tatsu.

Vault ICEE! YAY!!!!!!

It just looks so pretty.

OMG! What the hell is going on here?!?!?

I think all Arrow coasters should be painted red.

NOTED!

Hand puppet snake guy has the day off today.

Old Skool.

New Hotness.

Hey Cedar Fair…this is an “acceptable amount of trash cans!”

“YOUR SPLEEN IS MINE!!!!”

The park WAS actually open today, right?

Yay! X2 goodness! If you haven’t seen the update we did on the new X2 trains, click here:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=41602

Anyway, as you can see there is a LOT going on at the park. Overall some great improvements and I think 2008 looks very promising. For those of you who are coming out for West Coast Bash on March 9th I think you’ll see for yourself. And if you’re not coming out for West Coast Bash, WHY AREN’T YOU!?!?

Download the West Coast Bash flyer here:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/events/westcoastbash2008flyer.pdf

Hope you guys all liked the update!

--Robb

ps. Just because making fun of Mike is awesome...anyone else think the caption should be more like....

"Sorry folks! The park is closed. The moose out front should have told you!"

Ok, Mike, you can kill me now!

Great update Robb! I wish I could go to West Coast Bash but my surgery on the 27th this month has prevented me from doing so. Oh well, I'll live.

That was a great update.

The park looks much cleaner when everyone is gone.

Thanks for the photos, Robb! Too bad MM can't be like SFoG and do thier flat ride replacement like SFoG did. But, change is good!

-Tatum

Great update Robb! Thanks for shooting it!

I love the shot of KT with the Toons.

-Jahan

Thanks for the shots Robb! Looks like it was a typical dead day, and by looking at the pictures it was a cold one at that!

I'm pretty bummed about Freefall. Man I dug that ride!

The perfect replacement for free fall or circus wheel...

Taller version of Acrophobia

What a difference a week makes. Last weekend I was down at the park and the Circus Wheel building hadn't been touched and Freefall was still standing. I figured the latter would be coming down soon as we saw a few people on the highest level of Freefall's tower throughout the day.

They make good use of the weekdays! Too bad they didnt have the coupon books ready yet. Hopefully they'll still have some in April or May when I get back down there.

So the picture of the building where the hand puppet snake used to be got me wondering... How many years has it been since Vinny (that was his name right?) made his last showing?

^ I don't even think I recall seeing it beyond the opening summer of the ride. Remember that puppet thing was put there mainly to entertain the guests who would be waiting in the long line that stretched down the midway. I'm not even sure on opening year the line was that long all the time because the ride is actually very high capacity.

I do miss him though. It was one of the more bizarre things I ever saw at a park!

--Robb

Just saw KISS meets the Phantom of the Park for the first time this past weekend. For those who dont know, it took place in like '79 or '80 at Magic Mountain. Any yes, as you might imagine, it is as corny as it sounds! But its awesome as hell! Anyway, if you get a chance to see the movie, watch it.....it shows alot of the original rides that used to be at the park, as well as a lengthy scene which takes place at the "wizards castle" that Rob showed us a picture of.

It's really sad to see all these flats leaving. Fortunately I got my Spin Out and Freefall credits for the first time last year. Anyways, I hope they have some good replacements for them. A Huss Frisbee, S&S Sky Swatter or an Intamin Gyro Drop tower would be nice to have in the park.

Viper looks absolutely amazing with it's new paint and I'm looking forward to see just how awesome X2 looks when complete!

Viper in red has officially been re-christened WestGASM™. I keep thinking of The Great American Scream Machine (so pretty yet so brutal) at SFGAdv. Perhaps SF got a better deal on red than orange?

Jay Thomas posted at Ultimaterollercoaster.com during his SFKK days. He seemed very approachable as well as enthusiastic about his job and park. SFMM is in great hands with him.

Hopefully RedZone doesn't pull the rug out from him to buy more SD-only (sans American Dreams) production houses ($40M for DCP is a total WTF move. I still can't believe they were able to fleece $135M from shareholders, with a stacked board, for acquisition costs without lawsuits). I know I'm beating a dead horse here. It just seems that $175M could have been used to hire more employees, raise salaries, or replace/repair rides and infrastructure.

P.S. Mr. Thomas, please save the troll!

Vote Napoleon!

Great update, Robb. Nice props to Wes' unicorn extraordinaire.

Just saw KISS meets the Phantom of the Park for the first time this past weekend. For those who dont know, it took place in like '79 or '80 at Magic Mountain. Any yes, as you might imagine, it is as corny as it sounds! But its awesome as hell! Anyway, if you get a chance to see the movie, watch it.....it shows alot of the original rides that used to be at the park, as well as a lengthy scene which takes place at the "wizards castle" that Rob showed us a picture of.

My older brothers won tickets to be there from KLOS back in the day. If I watch it in slo-mo, I can see them in the background in a couple parts. Isn't on one of the KISS compilation DVDs now? I haven't seen it in years. I just remember wanting Ace Frehley to be my boyfriend. Sadly, he's not aged well at all. Poor thing needs to hide behing the make-up again!

It's weird how there is soooo much history in every little part of that park to me. I never enjoyed most of the rides they're getting rid of. I remember when Free fall first opened & I had a horrible experience of it breaking down twice during one ride. First it got stuck on the way up & we were stranded for about a1/2 an hour, then it moved over to the drop and stopped again (for another 15m or so). Needless to say, I swore off that ride afterwards. The irony is I adore TOT at DCA (which is kind of the same ride- in minor way, but dressed up & themed beautifully).

I think they should run Colossus with one track going forward & one going backwards ALL the time IMO (they haven't done that in ages, right?). I will always love that ride! Hell, I even like Gold Rush! If they killed that ride, I'd be truly saddened.

Thanks for the update & pics. I can't wait to see the new stuff (especially X2)!!!

Great Update Jahan.

The park looked really dead, but it seems like its been that way for a while. Also Viper looks really awesome with its new paint job.

Im curious to see how capacity will do this spring with the removal of so many flat rides. I know if I went to that TPR event a month ago I would probably know the answer, but are they going to put in some new flat rides?

I am definitely sad to see Freefall go...it was my only option left to get pushed around from a ride (rip psyclone and flashback). . . and it was the only ride in the park that truly scared the hell out of my friends and I.

I would totally love to see 5 or 6 new flat rides go in instead of a major coaster in 09. I also think it would promote their transition to more of a "family" theme park instead of a broke teenager park.

Chris.

The red paint job on Viper looks sharp, but I think they should have repainted it in its original deep orange. There's too much red at SFMM.

Now, I do like red, but...

Eric

Thats X, Viper, & Ninga. Yikes X & Viper are going to clash!

I'm blanking out, is Spin Out actually on the way out?

^ At the moment it still stands, but it's on the chopping block right now.

Honestly, I don't think that X and Viper contrast with each other. By nature of being an Arrow, both rides have such MASSIVE support structures in relation to the track, that X really seems more of a "dark" ride and Viper seems like a "light" ride. They almost seem to work off of each other in that manner.

Just an aesthitics-opinion thing, I suppose.

-Jahan

Why do I think that the spot where Circus Wheel was will eventully become a Tony Hawk's Big Spin?

Hmmm....anyways. I would love to see some new flats in their.

^I wouldn't be surprised if the next coaster is something along those lines. I expect it actually.

Is there enough room for Tony Hawk's Big Spin. Wasn't the original rumor the replacement of Colossus with Big Spin?

^That would be a bummer.

Great Update Jahan.

Um, did you even look at the post!?!? Robb did the update. Jahan has been too busy between his seven weeks off from school and multiple 'man-dates' to shoot any kind of update!