Six Flags

5/4/2019

Six Flags Magic Mountain Update - May 4th, 2019

Today we headed up to Six Flags Magic Mountain to check out the progress on West Coast Racers. But more than that, we were actually looking forward to getting to the park early, using our Diamond Membership early entry to our advantage and being able to ride some of our favorite rides quickly.

Unfortunately, best laid plans don't always work out.

Written by Gregg Condon

Now before I get into the parts of our day that were extremely frustrating I just want to preface this. I don't hate Magic Mountain, or Six Flags. In fact, it's been my "home" park for my entire life. I've never lived more than 50 miles from the park (which is how far I currently live). I remember as a kid being totally intimidated by Colossus, and getting off of it and wanting to ride again. I remember getting Twickets. Revolution was my first looping coaster. I've been a Season Pass Holder at the park for probably 30 of my 43 years on this planet.

That being said, Six Flags Magic Mountain, we need to have a talk.

Let's start off with the good:

I was super excited when I realized upon getting in for early entry that the front of the park was open. And that people could take care of membership stuff, do some shopping and even ...

Get the "front of the line" pass for their membership. This was the first time I've actually used this benefit as the line was always too long. And I never wanted to waste the precious time you have before the park opens to get it. Always figured I was better served riding stuff.

So yay, kudos for that!! (I would suggest having a food/drink location open though for those hot summer days)

So after getting my front of the line pass for Twisted Colossus I waited patiently for 10:20 and made my way over to Full Throttle.

Closed

Ok, it happens, no biggie. Plus, it's sponsored by Chick Fil' A and well, that's another article.

So I made my way over to Revolution.

Nice to see them keeping up the planters, although they may want to trim some of this so you can see the sign.

Hi Ace!!

After a very fun ride on Revolution I figured I'd head up the hill, take a spin on Ninja and then take West Coast Racers pics.

On the way I noticed that X2 was not open yet. Hmm.

Roaring Rapids however is back open!!

Since I'll be riding Infinity Falls next Thursday, I skipped this. I've heard I'll get plenty wet on that one.

And of course, the path back to Apocalypse is still closed.

Headed up the hill, Ninja closed. In fact, they were still walking the lift hill.

So I decided to just get West Coast Racers pics instead.

As you can see, there is still a LOT of work to be done here.

You can however see some of the retracking work done on Apocalypse. Let's hope they aren't done, they certainly have the time.

Since Jet Stream wasn't open yet either ... had a clear view. Pretty sure the new "building" they are putting in will be electronics for the launch.

Victory is in your future ... how far into the future? Honestly? I'd be surprised if it's ready by Fright Fest at this point. Just trying to be honest here.

Looks like more footers still need to be poured.

Some are already done as you can see here.

Cage'y things that go in the hole'y things that the dig'y things make.

Crane on site, not a big one though. So don't expect to see any track going vertical anytime soon. This is likely for the footer rebar.

Over by Cylone 500, some digging is going on.

Which brings me to my next frustration with Magic Mountain. They were SO excited about this ride, they had that huge party in August to announce it. And here we sit, in early May. The ride has at least 3-4 months of construction left to go.

Yet Canada's Wonderland opened their new ride ... yesterday. We're talking Southern California vs Toronto. Yes, we got a lot of rain. Not more than them.

This area of the park closed after Fright Fest. That was in November. That was SIX months ago. And this is the result.

So if you're planning on making a trip to SFMM to ride WCR, maybe make them holiday plans?

As I continued my walk around the park, CraZanity was also closed. It was now around 11:00 and nobody was even here to test the ride.

Batman was open, however I had to do the "walk of shame".

I rode Batman opening day. And have ridden it HUNDREDS of times. Today was the only time I've ever come close to not fitting on this. And I've been heavier than I am now.

Have heard from a few people that they did shorten the belts on this and Riddlers in February.

This frustration is on me though, not the park. Time to drop a few inches before our cruise in August. =)

So I figured I'd use my front of the line on Twisted Colossus and then head ... oh, look, closed.

The other frustration was, I had now walked all the way around the accessible area's of the park. And had yet to see any food/drink locations open. As you can see, Wascal's doesn't open until 11:30. An hour after the park.

I did eventually get something to drink across from Full Throttle, so there was that.

Before leaving I did do another lap around the park. Another Kudos, the restrooms on Samurai Summit appeared to have gotten some work. Very thankful for clean and refurbished restrooms.

Glad to say that Ninja was open. CraZanity was open and by the time I got back over there, Twisted Colossus was open and I was able to use my front of the line. No walk of shame there!!

The ride is still amazing. I'll give the crew credit, I raced on both laps.

In conclusion, a lot of frustrating things today. I really hope the park takes a look at all of this negative feedback, not just from me, but all of it that is out there.

Magic Mountain has a fantastic leadership team. They really do care about the park. I'm not sure if it's coming down from the corporate level or what. It just seems that since they went to 365 days this is more common.

Overall, we did get to ride a few of our favorite rides. But if you're like me and like to get to a park at opening to enjoy some "empty time" before the crowds show up, it was a bit of a bummer.

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Eric link

5/4/2019 04:17:08 pm

I'm sorry to read about some things that are, frankly, inexcusable. If they're letting guests in early, then all attractions and a couple of food/drink locations should be open unless otherwise specified.

Not even I can explain the shortening of restraint belts on Batman. I rode it in January and squeezed in. Sounds like I'd be taking a Walk of Shame if I tried riding today.

As for West Coast Racers, I figured that since we had so much rain this past winter, construction would be slow. New coasters in weather-prone areas of the U.S. (and Canada) seemed to go without a hitch. Why WCR lagged behind is indeed a mystery. Our excessive rain is likely a factor, but not the entire reason. But we don't know if there were any issues regarding the ride site itself, any internal design or manufacturing problems, or what. As with many others, I'm also wondering. But regardless, I look forward to riding when it does open.

Gregg

5/4/2019 07:49:40 pm

Have heard from a few people that they had to redo some of the track that goes around the Go Karts because it would have been in the middle of the track.

Nevermind that rerouting the go karts seems like a better choice vs manufacturing new track.

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Six Flags Magic Mountain Update - May 4th, 2019

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