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4/30/2015

Twisted Colossus Backstage Tour #4

Yesterday we were invited back out to Six Flags Magic Mountain to get a final up close and personal look at Twisted Colossus. To say this thing is impressive to see in person would be a gross understatement. Unfortunately the ride was not testing during our tour.
Later in the day however, CoasterMatt was at the park and was able to get some great pictures and video of the ride testing. So we'll share those as well. Get ready to see some great pics!!

Before we get started with any of the pictures ...
TWISTED COLOSSUS WILL OPEN ON SATURDAY MAY 23!!!!!

So make your plans accordingly. We still don't know when media day is or if there will be any kind of "preview", but as soon as we know, we'll certainly let you know. But maybe try and get a couple days off towards the end of that week just in case. =)

We're also trying something a little bit different today for those of you who like to see video, a full video walk-through of the tour. If you like this let us know and we'll do more of them in the future.

Alright, lets get to some pictures of the tour.

From outside the park, it was a beautiful morning.

Who thinks the best kind of G's are Zero G's?

According to the park, about 45% of the total wood on Colossus will be replaced by the time opening arrives on May 23.

This just seems unfair to all other coasters.

Who thinks the best kind of G's are insanely crazy ejector positive G's?

The final Double-Up which I'll be honest, seemed like a "eh" thing until I saw the video below.

Later in the day, CoasterMatt was able to get some great pictures and video of the ride testing.

Cresting the lift hill ... click to see a larger version.

Heading into the High Five element

Right about here you're are probably going to be quite happy the ride has seat belts.

In addition to a tour of the structure, we also got to look at the station and the rest of the Steampunk District stuff.

Purple and Blue, ready to do their business. Green will be coming later as it won't be needed until one of the existing trains goes down for refurb. There will also be a building going over the storage track at some point.

Fully functional ride op panel

A look at the station. Standing on where in August would have been the track of Colossus was very weird.

Queue entry, the left will be the normal line, right will be ADA and Flashpass.

OG Colossus signs.

Stairs (check), twisty bushes (check), drought resistant plants (check)

They are also doing some really cool Steampunk'y art type things in the planters.

Love this one.

Looks like they are getting ready for the new entry display to the Steampunk District.

Finally, the new Gearworks theater is looking great. I like the way they went with this.

They were working on the Marquee

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for our last look at Twisted Colossus prior to media day.

A special thanks again to CoasterMatt for getting the great testing video and pictures later in the afternoon. Much appreciated.

I'll also be heading back up to the area later today for an NFL draft party, if I get any indication that the ride is testing I'll stop by and get some more pics and video.

Thanks again for all the support, we'll see you on May 23!!!

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4/12/2015

Twisted Colossus Update #20

It's time for another Twisted Colossus update. Today we had kind of a last minute trip to the park but we figured we'd better do an update this week since it might be awhile until our next one (more on that below).
We'll also take a look around the park and at a great new program that aims to recognize great employees at the park.

* Pictures and Words by Gregg Condon

The Top Gun Stall on the green track has been completed as well as the airtime hill on the blue, which almost could be another kind of high-five moment, just from a totally different perspective. =)

They've wasted absolutely no time on moving into the next set of elements on the ride.

This is where the blue track will come out of it's zero-g roll.

The start of the zero-g roll.

Just like with the top-gun stall, the side of track on the bottom (in this case green) is being installed first.

Where the green track currently ends.

Under the zero-g

The lowest part of the ride

A rare piece of straight track. =)

They were working on the final turnaround today. I think it's safe to say the ride is about 80%-85% completed. But this is only the track work, there's still a lot of support work going on.

Looks like they'll be completing the circuit somewhere around the end of the zero-g roll as they are working from both sides now.

An overview of the work that's been done in the last month or so.

Our first look at the twisty final turnaround.

Inside the park, REALLY liking the look of the theater.

Elsewhere, the park has introduced a nice new program for employee recognition. From what we were told, random guests will be given these when they enter the park and they can give them directly to an employee who has gone above and beyond to offer great service.
The employee will then give them to their manager so they can keep track of their performance.

It's a nice "instant recognition" thing that employees and HR love. =)

Goliath is closed while they replace the lift chain. Unsure of how long it will be down.

Noticed that the gates have some kind of extender on Full Throttle now, anybody know how long these have been there? Were they having issues with people sticking their hands through the gap?

I know this has been here for awhile, but this was the first time I'd seen it. Maybe I need to do a loop around the opposite direction next time I'm at the park. Who knows what else I've been missing. =)

As more schools are opting to have their Grad Nights at Magic Mountain instead of Disneyland due to increasing costs/decreasing value, the park looks like they are stepping it up a bit. Nice to see.

Work is still being done on Lost Temple Rapids in advance of Hurricane Harbor opening next month

Speaking of Hurricane harbor, they did a nice power wash on Tornado. Looks like it was just freshly painted. Glad to see SFHH getting some more offseason love.

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update.

We will NOT have a park update next week as we'll be at Star Wars Celebration all weekend (Thursday through Sunday) but be sure to follow along all weekend for that fun. We'll have more details on where you can find that coverage on Wednesday.

Have a great week everybody!!

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter and Instagram. Also, be sure to join our new Mailing List to receive our newsletter (will be sent out about every two weeks)

If you have any comments, please share them below.

4/8/2015

Throwback Thursday - Six Flags Great Adventure 2005

Imagine a time, way back in 2005. Six Flags Great Adventure actually had 3 Batman themed coasters, there was no El Toro and instead of a B&M Stand-Up, you had a rough Arrow Multi-Looper.
Kingda Ka had just opened, Medusa wasn't very Bizarre and you could still drive your car through the safari.
Today's Throwback Thursday takes us to September of 2005 and our first visit to this great park.

* Pictures and Words by Gregg Condon

In 2005 my wife and I were actually thinking of moving to Virginia ... from Southern California. Obviously, that never happened. But seeing as we'd already had a trip booked to the East Coast we figured we'd visit some parks we'd always wanted to visit.

Our first shot of Kinga Ka ... woah.

The parks entrance was totally decked out for Fright Fest

Look Ma, No Lines!!!

Yes, I'm wearing a Knott's Shirt, Disneyland 50th hat AND a fanny pack. I wasn't always this awesome cool guy you all know and love. =)

Feel free to let me have it, I TOTALLY deserve it.

Oh, and here's a fountain.

I like Turtles ...

♪ We like to party ... we like to party ♪

Superman: Ultimate Flight ... now in less resolution than you could get on your cell phone. =)

Great American Scream Machine

How about some POV of this classic Arrow coaster.

Games and stuff

I really do think Kinga Ka was the first coaster that also had a total area re-theme go along with it. A strategy that has pretty much continued to this day at many of Six Flags parks.

Frontier Adventures

Something is missing from this picture. I can't really put my finger on what it is. What a bunch of Bull. =)

Aww, Rolling Thunder. =(

Medusa ... Pre-Bizarro

Oh yeah, Kingda Ka was all new and shiny.

Nitro was my first B&M Hyper ... and is probably still my favorite one.

One of the best Premiere coasters ever, Batman and Robin: The Chiller.

It was truly an amazing ride, it's sad that it couldn't stay or be relocated. It's currently in storage in Brazil, hopefully one day it will once again thrill us all.

Alright, that's it for today's Throwback Thursday. Hope you enjoyed the article.

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