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This past weekend we headed out to Six Flags Magic Mountain for the opening night of their all new Scream Break event. I'll be honest, we hadn't planned on going on opening weekend but they opened it up to a limited amount of passholders each night so we figured we'd go check it out. And we are glad we did! I headed up with Gabe from Theme Park Duo to check out the event, but not before doing some update stuff first. I also have some thoughts on how they can incorporate some of the amazing operational things they did for Scream Break into this years Fright Fest event. I outlined them in the video below, but if you "don't have time to watch a video" (actual comment from somebody who had been spending hours looking for info on the event) I'll share my thoughts here as well. You can see that at the bottom of this update. Enjoy!  Looks like they're doing something out on the back parking lot. If I had to guess it's for some kind of commercial shoot in the parking lot. Something that has happened many, many times before.   Looks like they're also doing some work on some of the Hurricane Harbor slides.  It was AVID day, not the video editing thing, apparently for smart kids or something. Obviously not me. =)  Our first stop was to get our Event Wristband. Kind of a slow process, but it was the first night so hopefully they improve this a bit.   The glass shop has been moved up to Rapids Camp replacing some of the games. Still looks like it's getting set up, but this is not a terrible location for this.  Lots of little improvements like this going on throughout the park which is always nice to see.  We wanted tacos. They had no tacos.  Hmm, where have I seen this before?  Oh, that's where!! In New Jersey! We really do love you Six Flags. Don't ever change. =)  Alright, let's get into Scream Break. Which is like Spring Break but with Monsters!   The event officially opens at 9:00pm, but they open up the area with the two mazes and one of the scare zones at 8:00.  The idea is pretty much to keep you in this area from 8:00 to 9:00 so they can clear the park. A great idea, even if it wasn't totally clear to everybody. But it was the first night.  Be. Aggressive. B.E. Aggressive.   This area consists of 2 mazes, Vault 666 Initiation and Condemned House Party. One (Vault) was pretty much the same as Fright Fest, the other was SO much better.  We said this on social media, I mentioned it in the above video, but I'll say it again. They NEED to keep this party theme for Fright Fest!  It's basically a college house party in a haunted maze. And it's super fun!  Lots of talent and lots of photo ops in this area!  Even the demons are all decked out for Spring Break!  Make sure to take a drink from the huge Solo Cup!
   The event also stretches back to DC Universe! Some Vampire Prom thing we think!    Superman has got some balls! Disco Balls that is!  Awesome DJ in front of DC Universe!  They also brought over some props and neon from the Scare Zone that's usually in The Underground.  Did we mention there were rides too? This was the wait for Twisted Colossus!  Goliath was scheduled to be open, but was not. We do think it opened last night though.  MORE OF THIS PLEASE! Not just for Halloween stuff, but all the time! It adds so much to the park at night.  Even the Golden Bear Theater got some lights and fog!  We had an absolutely fantastic time and we hope the word of mouth spreads for this fantastic event! So, how would I incorporate operational changes from scream break to fright fest?Anybody who's visited Fright Fest knows that at least on a Saturday night the event can get overwhelmingly busy with families and teenagers with no supervision. I'll be honest, I've never encountered any major problems at the event other than annoying people who seem hell-bent on ruining everybody else's time with the shenanigans. But I know the talent, blackouts and security have a tough go of it some nights. With Scream Break, they kind of did what I think is a test for the future of Fright Fest. And it worked!! There were essentially three categories of guests at the event.
Basically, if you want to go with your Pass/Membership you need to get there early, but we don't think were all gone the night we went. And this is what they need to do with Fright Fest. You need to have those three groups, and limit the event to a smaller number while doing a "soft closure" of the park. So how do they do this?
Doing this gives you a smaller crowd, likely gives you more people buying a Fright Fest Ticket/Fright Fest pass than you have now, and makes the event that much more enjoyable. In addition, as we've been saying for years, Fright Fest should have a similar footprint to what they had for Scream Break. Six Flags Magic Mountain is simply too big a park to have scare zones and monsters in every corner. It's just not possible to fill out your mazes and scare zones. Fright Fest should be:
And THAT IS IT! 4 mazes is enough for the event. So what do you think? Related Videos
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Over the weekend we headed up to Six Flags Magic Mountain for our first update from the park in quite awhile. Since Fright Fest actually. Our visit was actually quite pleasant, it was a beautiful day, crowds were very low and everything we wanted to ride was open. That's not to say that there aren't a lot of offseason refurbishments going on, because there are. In addition, it does seem they're still having a few issues with Wonder Woman. It's been opening later in the day and has had a lot of downtime. We have every confidence they'll figure out these issues and the ride will be ready to go full time for Spring Break. Let's head into the park and see what's new!  Still one of the most amazing park entrances.  I'm going to reach out to the park to see what all is a part of Tailgate Weekends. Stay tuned!  Still some Holiday in the Park lights and decor sprinkled throughout the park.  Goliath is closed for a refurbishment and rumored repaint. Nothing evident yet.  DC Universe continues to add little touches which is nice.  Some new hoodies in the store!
 Lots of tables and shade have been added. The land really does need a food location, restroom and another flat ride. Hopefully that is coming.  The new facades have been completed and look great!    Definitely more "Metropolis" than Gotham or even basic DC Universe. Will be interesting to see if there is further integration with the other Metropolis area.  Teen Titans Turbo Spin is looking great! Maybe the 6th name for this attraction will stick. =)  Jet stream is also closed for refurbishment. No visible work going on but we'd LOVE to see some work on the flume and either new boats or a complete refurb of the fleet.  Something is going on behind the go-karts. I don't know if this is for the park or for the houses/shops behind the park.  Could possibly be a sound wall of some kind.  After suggesting this for years, they've finally moved the Six Flags bus to the "Bus Stop" in The Underground. It is perfect here!  Another look at Jet Stream, no visible work going on here.  Those who have followed our site know that I had a lot of issues with this advertisement in particular.  I'm proud to say it's finally gone!! I don't mind ads for the most part, but that one just rubbed me the wrong way. Glad to see this back to normal. And yes, the cracks and stuff are part of what we call "themeing". =)  X2 is also closed for a refurb. When I rode Viper I did see a train outside of the station, not sure if the other one was in the station, but there was some activity going on.  Chop Six (which I actually liked) has been converted to Primo's Pizzeria.  Some new Goliath and West Coast Racers shirts. I love both of these designs and the WCR in particular is much better than the "West Coast Customs" font shirts.  A couple of additional Goliath shirts to wrap up this update. Related Videos
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The day was finally here, we were finally going to get our first rides on the record breaking 20th coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Armed with all of our cameras we headed to the park yesterday morning to be among the first to ride this epic coaster. While the opening ceremony and our ride time weren't until much later in the day, we knew we had to get there early to get some rides on Wonder Woman! And the ride does not disappoint. In this update we'll share with you all of our pics and video of Wonder Woman and the (still in progress DC Universe) as well as some thoughts on the ride. Enjoy! Written by Gregg Condon  Wonder Woman is finally here!  A ride that is fitting to her name!   Standing guard over her domain!  How about some action shots!    The ride is very photogenic, as we knew it would be     Lots of spots to get great pictures and video     The rest of DC Universe is still a work in progress   We've been told more shade and seating is coming. And maybe a few other things. Stay tuned!  The sign for Teen Titans Turbo Spin has not been installed yet, or maybe it is now.  Batman The Ride has a new sign and entry    Some new lighting and I think a few new props in the station Wonder Woman Flight of Courage Ride Review: Like West Coast Racers before it, Wonder Woman Flight of Courage is simply a fun ride. It's not going to top anybody's coaster lists like Twisted Colossus or X2, but that's ok. I actually like that Magic Mountain has seemingly moved away from prototype rides and has instead moved towards having a collection of really fun attractions. The odd thing for me is after about 6 or 7 rides on Wonder Woman, I was done for the day. Whereas with Railblazer, I rode about 30 times on that rides media day. This goes down to the ride riding VERY different than the first generation of RMC Single Rail coasters. This one definitely hits you in the stomach more, or at least it hit me in the stomach more. The front end of the train is very "floaty" airtime, the back of the train will give you that sustained ejector airtime. It really is like two different ride experiences. And I do encourage you to ride in multiple locations on the train. There isn't a bad seat. The loading of the ride is fantastic with the trains moving through the station in a continuous motion. When one train hits the mid-course brake, the next is being dispatched. If they can sustain this, throughput should be great for this attraction! Be warned, you cannot put your loose articles in the station due to this process. Lockers are a must. Something I personally wish they'd make mandatory on all of the parks attractions (and something I know makes people mad at me). =) Overall, Wonder Woman Flight of Courage is a worthy addition to the coaster lineup at Six Flags Magic Mountain. There is a lot of expansion still be done in this area of the park, and we're personally hoping for a water attraction of some kind. I think the park has enough top gun stalls and zero-g rolls at this point.  Thanks again to Magic Mountain for having us out for media day. It's always a treat! Opening DayWe also headed back to the park on Opening Day, here are a few opening day thoughts and pics that we didn't get on Thursday.  Arrived about 9:00am to park and parking opened about 9:40am. I do wish they'd let people in earlier to help with traffic.  Made it in for passholder early entry, and had to do the run (well, fast walk) to Wonder Woman  Once we got to Wonder Woman we had to wait about 20 minutes for the ride to open (about 10:50).  Ride not even open yet and people are trampling the planters and grass. This is why we can't have nice things.  Ride sign, complete with sensory guidelines. Love it!  The inside portion of the queue. This was a video for Green Lantern, now it's just a wall. I hope they'll do something here.
 The AC was on, but VERY low. They need to kick it up a notch in here. Thankfully with 4-train ops you're only in here for maybe 10 minutes tops.
 Some cool wall art on this side.
 Wonder Weapons  They've added free bins to the paid lockers and this process seems to have gone quicker than preview day.  From under this sign it's about a 30 minute wait with 4-train ops.  The line only went to about here, which we estimated to be about an hour. Wait times went down significantly as the day progressed.  An overview of the newly redesigned DC Universe, that isn't done yet.  The lack of shade in this area is a rather large issue with the heat, so stay hydrated.  The park was absolutely empty. Reminded me of an off-season weekday.  No Wonder Woman Flight of Courage merchandise was to be found, but some new Tatsu and Viper shirts!   Like an excessive amount of new Viper merch.   Which makes you wonder ...   That's a wrap for our Wonder Woman coverage. We most likely won't be back at the park until Fright Fest. We've got a busy 2 months coming up. Disneyland and Midsummer Scream the last weekend in July. A visit to Knott's sometime in early August and then our epic road trip in late August/early September. We'll be hitting up Silver Dollar City, Cedar Point and Kings Island for our first ever visits to those parks. And then a day at Canada's Wonderland just before all the Halloween fun starts. Related Videos
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