Design flaw forces indefinite closure of the X at Magic Mountain

And I'm not even wearing my Walley World shirt yet.....it cursed our SFGAm trip, and now my visit to SFMM next week shall be without a ride on this amazing contraption. Seems impossible that I have been on a Deja Vu before X. I am going to have them cover it with a tarp so I don't have to look at it when I'm there. How tragic.

Peabody, I'd say 14! LOL.
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Brad Sherman
BuzzCon Frequent Flyer, responsible for guests fleeing the queue in horror!
Model coasters and rides

Wait didn't Jeff say it was nothing serious and it'd be up soon? ;) Hmm I guess I was right.

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It's his turn to feast, when you ride the Son of Beast.

13; I hear Flashback isn't running either...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

That's certainly not good news. But I'll tell you something before you all get started bashing Arrow, SFMM, etc. I am 6'2" tall and weigh 230 pounds. My riding partner is 6' tall and about 300 pounds (is there a weight limit?). I certainly want them to take all the time in the world to make sure this thing is safe before you turn us upside down and drop us 200 ft. Prototypes work out all the kinks before they mass produce something. I live here so I'll be patient.

Let's see:

1982-PKI (KI back then) - The Bat: (Prototype built by Arrow, but a few years later suspended coasters were reborn.)

2002-SFMM - X: (Prototype built by Arrow. Maybe we will see more X's in a few years.)

All I can say is that I am glad I had a chance to ride both of them. I really do hope we get more 4D coasters in the future. Plus, at least no one was killed on either one of them.

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http://www.stridewithpride.com

The article notes that there is a sign out front of the park saying that X is closed. Not only has the park done that, but you cannot find X on the SFMM webpage anymore. Its not even listed!

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/magicmountain/Rides/list.html

This does not look good for X. I mean, I know it's easy to change web pages, but would it not have made more sense to modify the page to say something like "Sorry, but the ride is temporary closed...." instead of removing it from their site? Looking at the webpage, you would get the impression that the ride is no longer at SFMM (which, we know is not true).

But, makes you wonder why they took it off the site instead of updating it with a message. Even with Deja Vu when it had yet to open (and I believe X as well), that it was on the site, but with a message saying that it would open later this summer (or something along those lines).

Just my 0.02 cents.

---Brian

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Brian A. Plencner
E-Mail: "][url="mailto:saurses@attbi.com" target="_blank">saurses@attbi.com

*** This post was edited by Brian A. Plencner on 7/2/2002. *** *** This post was edited by Brian A. Plencner on 7/2/2002. ***

I am planning on making a shirt about Coaster Con XXV. It is going to say on the front un-Xhilarating, not Xciting, Xtremely disappointing. On the back it will proclaim, "I didn't ride X or Xcelerator at Coaster Con XXV!" Just give me an e-mail if anyone else would like the shirt But beyond the fact that the two main attractions were down, it didn't ruin my Coaster Con experience at all!

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Take a good look at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure because in a few years the Sea World side will look exactly like it does, a zoo.

Does this mean X is closed for good, and i'll never get to ride it ?!?!?!

Or will it just be another year before it opens ?

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We are the Few,The Proud, The Coaster Enthusiest !!! *** This post was edited by TITAN_FAN_13 on 7/2/2002. ***

This just in: The People Who Know(TM) have been dealt a nasty blow by The Powers of Deduction(TM)! Apocalypse expected to follow -- news at 11.

Just funnin' ya Jeff! ;)

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Rich Genthner / PTC99

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Wait didn't Jeff say it was nothing serious and it'd be up soon? Hmm I guess I was right.

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Umm... it DID open shortly after I posted that. Obviously other things have transpired since then, but it did open. I don't make stuff up to get into a pissing contest with the likes of you.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"We used to hate people, now we just make fun of them. It's more effective that way." - KMFDM, "Dogma"

What a horribly written article. This writer wasn't interested in talking about the future of this coaster, but instead rehashed the "coaster causing brain injury" and even managed to tie it into the Goliath incident. This article wasn't about X at all. Typical L.A. crap. Didn't learn a thing.

I also find it funny that people still care about coaster counts. That is SOOOOO 2000...

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"Escuse me, can you tell me where the heck the Mystery Lodge is"?

Ok, running Xcelerator directly in front of us after taking away the scheduled ERT was pretty mean. I understand they couldn't let us ride before all those people who had bought seats in an auction, but they should have shooed us away to the other side of the park that night instead of encouraging us to stand there and not ride by scheduling our ERT on the adjacent attraction.

I was pretty happy with the comp ticket though, because I was prepared to spend $20 or so on a park ticket to come back that weekend and ride the thing. I came all the way from Texas primarily to ride X and Xcelerator, I was going to do my best to get on at least one of them. So we used our comp ticket Sunday. I felt this was a better concession offered to us than SFMM did over X, which was to schedule additional ERT on stuff like swinging ships - big deal.

Now for all the Con attendees who had scheduled flights home on Saturday morning or even Friday (a lot of people left Friday while Con was still going), that's really their own fault and lack of foresight not giving themselves any flexible room. I gave myself two days after Con just in case, but one would have been enough to get one Xcelerator ride in on Saturday.

I know many folks had purchased Legoland tickets for Saturday, but if they were serious about getting on Xcelerator they could have gone to Legoland in the morning (the park doesn't take long to experience) and headed back to Knotts with their free ticket to try and get on the ride after all the media brouhaha. As is, WE did the evening Legoland event (which was great, everyone SHOULD have attended this because it was a lot better than we expected) then we checked Knotts again first thing Sunday morning.

Sure, I would have been happier if we'd gotten the ride on one of Knott's scheduled days because I wouldn't have had to juggle around our schedule a little, but it worked out for me. I wasn't even ultimately too impressed with Xcelerator, I thought it was good but no better than Mr Freeze.

Rollergator, Maybe the reason they didn't allow you to ride Xcelerator was because they were still testing it and maybe it wasn't certified yet. I understand they were testing it with employees but they are not considered park guests like ACErs. Also employees deserve the first ride on Xcelerator because they are the ones working their butts off to allow you to ride the rides. Atleast they gave you free tickets for the next day even though most couldn't make it. Its the thought that counts.

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Mike
Favorite Wood: Viper at SFGAM,Shivering Timbers
Favorie Steel: Magnum and Raging Bull

You think it is awfull for you guys. think about us people that live on the other side of the usa and can not and most likely will never be able to even see SFMM. It would be a dream come true for me just to be able to go to that park and ride all there other awsome coasters.

In the worse case, they could just get new trains that only have one seat on each side. Sure there goes your capcity. But whats better? Half the amount of riders or no riders?

I wouldnt be suprised if this ride is closed for a very long time, I think we should accept that the ride will probably be down all summer, obviously that might be hard to accept, but lets face it, the ride is knackered, and obviously wont be operating for quite some time.
Personally, I'm so glad I got to ride this on the ECC trip to California, I may have only got 1 ride on X, but at least I can say I've done it, It was an absolutly awesome ride, and really suprised me, the drop was just outstanding, and the seat rotations were much better than I imagined them to be, definatly an out of this world experience.

On another note, I couldnt help but notice on my ride, that the seats were not rotating smoothy, and nor was the back car we were in, it definatly jerked around a bit, and did not feel smooth at all, it was'nt anything serious to not make me enjoy the ride, because I did still enjoy it, but it was noticed by me, and a few other members in other seats too. I wonder if these are the problems that the reports mentioned when it said one of the Coach seats not riding smoothly???? Also has this happened to anyone else, I was in the back row on the right hand side in the outside seat???

Jeff,

I am over my days of posting "I'm right and you're wrong" crap (B&M hyper restraints anyone? ;)) but from what I recall, Those Who Know (TM) didn't know this time. X has never operated with the general public in them purdy trains since you posted that message a while back.

They have tested it, yes, but I have heard of no one riding it. Last I heard people on it was like May 25 or so.

Again, not trying to prove ya wrong or anything, just pointing out that the ride still in fact hasn't opened. Which really, *really* sucks, as it's one of the most mind blowing experiences anywhere! Glad I got three POV's of it while I could. ;)

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It tastes like burning.

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The Con ended, sadly, with almost 700 ACErs from 43 states watching (some near tears, myself included) while KBF employees rode Xcelerator again and again.

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Oh, the tradgedy of it all. Posts on other forums from "enthusi-asses" are doing nothing but bad mouthing the park over this, in spite of them showing ACE a good time. The nerve of Knott's, running a ride, while making the collective royalty of ACE watch! Did it ever occur to ACE'rs that the crew was being trained, and employees were the guinea pigs? They won't run the ride for the general public (that includes ACE), until the operations crew is fully trained and experienced on the ride.

...granted that employees are covered differently by insurance and all, but I really thought KBF could have given us ERT on night 2 over at GR....that at least would've kept us from staring, teary-eyed, watching a ride we couldn't ride.....

running ONE tower of Supreme Scream - BECAUSE the employees were riding Xcelerator....THAT was the real kicker IMO. I know there's LOTS of mitigating circumstances, and in Knott's defense, we were well fed there, etc., but they have a lot of ways to compensate, a lot of other rides they could have opened, and I just felt (along with many others), that IF Knott's needed employees to TEST the ride, it could have been done, say, the following morning or SOME other way thaan to merely rub salt in the open wound.....(I am gonna go out on a limb and ASSUME Knott's knew about X). And flying out Saturday, with LA traffic, etc., really didn't leave time for many attendees to go back to KBF. An exit boarding pass would've given me the option to head back for one ride....and I just don't think THAT many ACErs were helped by "free tickets".

Did anyone else find it odd that the "reception" had NO Knott's *shirts*, or just me?

And I'm sorry to all those who think I'm a complainer/bastard/"enthusiass"....I go to many parks, always to have a GOOD time. 99% of the time I go, I am a passholding nobody. But, when the park INVITES the group to come to a Convention (Silver Anniversary, 25 years), I thought a *tad* more could have been expected of Knott's than to tell us "sorry, ride's down" only to run train after train....perhaps if you'd spent a thousand dollars or so to go there (minus the $130 registration to go to parks where the "regular" admission is already PAID for), you'd understand where I'm coming from. I don't think that CF will miss me or my money, but I really DO believe they lost a genuine opportunity (yes, even without Xcelerator) to generate GOOD goodwill instead of what they now have....

Again,sorry if I've offended anyone, that's NOT my point at all.....but I guess some folks are intent on taking offense....
*** This post was edited by rollergator on 7/2/2002. ***

What amazes me is how the rumor that X had been shut down indefinately has been on the Internet and in these forums for well over a month, but SF decides to officially drop this bomb two days before their busiest day of the year. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other since I'm on the east coast, but I really feel for the people that planned holiday vacations around going to SFMM. I wonder how much pressure SF got from the local travel industry to sit on the announcement until now.