Six Flags Magic Mountain/Knotts 5/28

[tjpavlik]

Thursday May 28th found me in southern California with nothing scheduled all day and a free admission coupon from ACE for any Six Flag park.   SFMM is only 58 miles away!  Because its Southern California it took 2+ hours to drive!  

 

$20 parking seemed a bit steep, but i'm getting in free, so its kinda the admission.

 

From the parking area I could see Goliath and the "new" Twisted Colossus.  Unfortunately that was as close as I was going to get to either of them as neither ride opened all day.  GRRRRRR!

 

The will call window had never seen my ACE coupon before but after showing them my ACE card and giving them my name, address, email and phone number they gave me my ticket.

 

Walking into the park I spotted Full Throttle.  Just looking at the train I knew it would be low capacity so I hit it first.  I neat little coaster!  Hanging from the restraints in the loop took me by surprise as did the drop on the outside of the loop. (Think Maverick type drop)  When I exited I noticed there were at least 100 people waiting to get in line ( More about that later) Best ride of the day.

 

I then wandered back to find Goliath and Twisted Colossus both inoperative.  TC had a line outside the queue with a worker giving the standard inop ride spiel. 

 

I did find Scream! (Floorless B & M) working so I got in line.  It was a one train wait (only one train operation) and off I went.  It seemed about same as Rougarou (without the new restraint smell).  Nothing special, however.  It was nice to hear the B & M roar.

 

Working counterclockwise I encountered Batman (B & M invert)  next.  Walk on. A rather rough ride that makes me appreciate the Banshee even more.  The ride was heavily themed (as were all the Marvel themed rides) so if Six Flags ever loses their Marvel rights to Disney they will be in a world of hurt.

 

Green Lantern was next.  The themeing was excellent. It was about a 15 minute wait.  And the ride packed a punch!  Riding the vertical lift hill staring straight down was unnerving to say the least.  The drops either pinned you to the back of the seat or gave you a little negative g into the restraints while you were staring at the ground (Drop + rotation ).  Less than a minute ride including lift hill.

 

The Riddler's Revenge (B & M Stand Up)  was next, again a one train wait.  Best Stand Up I have ever ridden! Beat you up much less than Shockwave(CW) , Vortex(Carowinds)  or the old Mantis (CP).  I still don't like stand ups, however and this ride wasn't good enough to change my opinion.   

 

Gold Rusher.  Walk on  (Arrow Mine Train)  Just ok, but a good helix at the end.  Interestingly a ride op was being trained and insisted he was checking the restraints properly but the supervisor thought he wasn't.  A little "discussion" occurred between those two that probably shouldn't have been in front of guests. 

 

Apocalypse.  (GCI Woodie). A really cool little wooden coaster.  Heavily themed (Mad Max style).  Almost as good as Goldstriker (California Great American).  The only straight track is the boarding area and a small section when it comes (mid ride) back through the station.  Probably my second favorite of the day. 

 

The Ninja was next.  A 30 minute wait, one train operation.  (Arrow Suspended) It seemed more forceful (in the beginning) than our Bat but then it just kinda petered out at the end into the second lift hill.  I would guess being on the side of the hill makes it that way. 

 

Tatsu (B & M Flyer).  50 minute wait.  I'm not a big fan of flyers, and while it had some cool elements (immelman type turn)  overall it was disappointing.  Maybe its just the hanging in the restraints or the unfamiliar G loads but I didn't like it. 

 

Viper (Arrow Corkscrew)  Walk on.  Picture your first attempt at recreating The Vortex (KI) in RCT.  Thats it.  They added an additional loop because they could.  Uncomfortable.  Abrupt. Harsh.

 

X2 (Arrow 5th Dimension) (20  minute wait)  I was looking forward to this because I have never ridden anything like it before.  Its weird.  From the Jim Morrison voice over "...Is everyone in..? Is everyone in?...the ceremony is about to begin...." to the vertical drop (facing straight down ) (somebody at SFMM really thinks thats cool. Several coasters had that element) to the non smoothness of an Arrow corkscrew coaster combined with seats that rotate.  I can't say i'm a fan.  I can handle being tossed and turned in two dimensions, but three or more leaves me uncomfortable.  Also the first coaster to make me think my keys and cellphone are coming out of my pocket.  I held on.

 

Checked on Revolution.  Inop and almost looked SBNO.  Needs some TLC and a weedwacker.

 

Checked on Superman.  Inop, but people waiting for reopening. 

 

I didn't have anything I wanted to ride again, except Full Throttle but it was a 90 minute wait. 

 

A few things I noticed.  The place is dirty.  There is trash everwhere and no one seems to be picking it up.     Line Jumping is rampant.  "I just had to get food, catching up with a buddy, etc." And the ride ops/hosts LET THEM DO IT.  Lockers are provided ($1 per ride!) but no one uses them, even when the ride placards say you can't bring anything with you.  Guests just pile things up on the far side, slowing loading to a CRAWL.  The ride hosts don't let the queues fill up.  They break the line at the Flash Pass break to ease the crowding in the station (?)  They let 40 or so folks go at a time. TATSU, Full Throttle, Apocolypse and X2 were particularly bad.   Lastly, I wanted to get food but at Katy's Kettle there was a QUEUE inside (20 or so deep) to order.  No thanks, I'll get something down the road. 

 

So... 60 miles down the road (only 1:45 this time) to Knotts. 

 

My intention was to simply ride the Voyage to the Iron Reef.  I waited 25 minutes and I was on.  A fun, interactive game/ride!  I thought I did pretty well at 128,800 points but my seatmate had 175,000.  High scores were in the 250,000 range.  I must have gotten a defective freeze ray, normally i'm a Master Blaster!

 

What was really cool was the integration of the video with actual set pieces.  TVs in the queue gave a good backstory.  Unlike the Guardian (CW) it was a true flat ride; no roller coaster track.  The exit for some reason puts you in the arcade, not a gift shop. (the shop is right there, however)  I had to work to find a shirt to buy.

 

I can see where Boo Blasters is going to end up when its our turn.  And it will be cool.  Hopefully they will use the same type of themeing with a lot of mentioning of defunct rides and "Easter Eggs".

 

So I was all set to go...hey, no wait on the gliders.  Ok, i'll do them.  The trick to snapping them (at least at Knotts) is to figure out where the wind is blowing from.  More wind, more force exerted (as I seem to remember from somewhere...)  

 

Is that Xcelerator running?   Two train wait for the front seat, Thank you very much.  

 

Hmm, no wait on Silver Bullet? Well, ok.  A better ride than Batman for sure.  Nowhere near as good as Banshee, though.

 

Oh, yeah, never got any lunch at SFMM.  Meal plan buffalo chicken sandwich please.  I just paid for a drink. I don't need another drink cup, thanks.

 

Off to brave the traffic once more.... i'm tired.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jcgoble3]

Great report! Sounds like a kind of random day. I love that kind of day.
 
One note, though:
 

Working counterclockwise I encountered Batman (B & M invert)  next.  Walk on. A rather rough ride that makes me appreciate the Banshee even more.  The ride was heavily themed (as were all the Marvel themed rides) so if Six Flags ever loses their Marvel rights to Disney they will be in a world of hurt.

Six Flags does not have the Marvel license. It has the DC license (Batman is a DC character, not Marvel). The Marvel license for theme parks currently belongs to Universal, possibly only east of the Mississippi or within some other specific region or whatnot (I'm not sure anyone knows exactly what the contract says other than the big shots at Universal and Disney).

[tjpavlik]

Thanks for correcting me on the licensing issue.  Theming a coaster with specfic logos and props looks really cool until the license ends.   That being said apparently Apcolypse was a "Terminator" themed ride.  I don't what they removed but it was still heavily themed without reference to any specific movie. (It looked Mad Max to me).

 

I imagine they have a plan for that.  Thats why they run the park and I just enjoy the park. 

[marth555]

I have heard nothing but bad things about ride operations at SFMM