Going to SFMM in February - What can I expect? Need some suggestions!

Me and my girlfriend are travelling to the LA area in February for 7 days. We are planning to go all the major theme parks, Disneyland, California Adventure, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

We are the most excited for Magic Mountain as we are BIG thrill seekers and this is our first trip to MM ever.

However, going in February kinds of worries me. My worst nightmare would be showing up and finding like only 3 to 5 coasters open. Does anyone know what to exepect from this park in the slower months? I know the park is open only on Fri to Mon. We are planning to go on the Sunday and Monday.

What are the queve times like in the slower season? Also what kind of flat rides do they have at MM? We plan to make a whole day on both Sun and Mon for MM.

Also will X still be closed in February? I know it is closed right now, will it be open by then? Also what about Viper, it is closed too right now.

Also, any infor on the other parks during that time to would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

BTW this site kicks some serious ass. So much info!!

If the park is open Fri-Mon in February it has to be a holiday weekend, my guess is President's Day. Not the best time to go. In addition to all So Cal parks having rides closed or operating at lower capacity for off-season maintenance you'll also encounter holiday crowds.

This isn't the answer you want to hear but IMHO you're better off rescheduling your trip for later in the year, especially with X not opening for a few months.

The park is open year round, every week. We checked their website.

It is not just open for the President's Day weekend, it is open every week.

So you are saying that we will find alot of rides at lower capacity or closed if we go in February?

The park is open year round, every week. We checked their website. It is not just open for the President's Day weekend, it is open every week.

SFMM is open weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) in January and February except for MLK weekend in January and President's Day weekend in February. On those two holiday weekends they're open Saturday-Monday. Hence, you're scheduling your visit on a holiday weekend. And holiday weekends tend to be more crowded than non-holiday weekends.

So you are saying that we will find alot of rides at lower capacity or closed if we go in February?

Yep...that's exactly what I'm saying, and I'm not just talking about SFMM now. Regardless that ALL parks are open year-round out here in So Cal they have to do annual maintenance on their rides. When do you expect them to do that...summer?

But what do I know...I've only lived in So Cal for 42 years. ;)

*** Edited 1/4/2008 2:10:00 AM UTC by Mamoosh***

Just went there today. Only X (refurbishment) and Viper (new paint job) were closed. X will still be closed in february, it opens sometime in the spring. Lines were short (longest was tatsu-25 minutes, shortest was deja vu-walk on) The only problem was they were only running one train on riddlers, goliath, scream, batman and colossus.

Two words of advice for SFMM, hide your wallet and be prepared to get ditched in line.

The only problem was they were only running one train on riddlers, goliath, scream, batman and colossus.

Yes. That's what I was referring to when I said "running rides at lower capacity."

FYI, Ghostrider traditionally closes for 2 weeks of maintenance just prior to the park's enthusiast event in early March (ans again in September just prior to Haunt). It is entirely possible it'll be closed President's weekend.

Suggestion to Mitch: move your visit to early March when both Knotts and SFMM have coaster events. Knott's has announced theirs: March 8.

http://www.knotts.com/special_events/08wcs.htm

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manofthechurch said:
Two words of advice for SFMM, hide your wallet and be prepared to get ditched in line.

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But how do you get ditched in line when you're using Flash Pass??

Also, how do you get your wallet lifted when your cash is in your girlfriend's bra and your credit card is a miniaturized key chain?! (i.e. I have no wallet!?)

But either way, Jan and Feb are not great times for out of town'ers...April is much better IMHO...are you flying Southwest? If so you could re-schedule your flight with ease!

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tigellinus said:

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manofthechurch said:
Two words of advice for SFMM, hide your wallet and be prepared to get ditched in line.

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But how do you get ditched in line when you're using Flash Pass??

Also, how do you get your wallet lifted when your cash is in your girlfriend's bra and your credit card is a miniaturized key chain?! (i.e. I have no wallet!?)

But either way, Jan and Feb are not great times for out of town'ers...April is much better IMHO...are you flying Southwest? If so you could re-schedule your flight with ease!

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Very well put!
Follow this guys advice, he has got it down to a science.
Now just put your daughter on a leash and where a helmet and you should be ok.

When visiting SFMM during colder weather, ya kinda need to be prepared for Ninja to be closed. Bummer too, fabulous ride...and I'm not even the biggest suspended fan I know... ;)

What flats do they have?

They used to have an Antique ride, an Intamin Generation Drop Tower 1, Tilt-A-Whirl, Baveryn Kurve (It goes around in a circle, and it's reminds me of a roller coaster, but it's a flat.), and a Rotor but all those rides are being taken out this year.

The other flats are a Round-Up, a Himilaya (It doesn't go backwards.), white water rafting ride (round tubes), Shoot the Chutes type of ride, Scrambler, Bumper cars, Yo-Yo that probably doesn't tilt (swings), Pirate ship, Observation Tower (You go up in an elevator, and look at things, and come back down in an elevator.), a Log Flume, a Boat water Flume, and a ride made by White Water where you go in a dark tube in a 2 person raft.

I assume X will be closed, and Deja Vu might close also. The reason why Deja Vu might close is because they only have one train. The area near Goliath (I think) is the new Thomas the Train ride. They could close Goliath because it's so close to it. Maybe, when they open X^2 up, they will close Goliath. I don't know. Remember that Flashback, and Psyclone are gone, or getting there.

I went in March 2 years ago, and it really wasn't that bad. Deja Vu, Tatsu, Psyclone, Flashback, and Revolution were closed. You might think that, that's a lot, but it's not really. Psyclone was being worked on. Wood coasters need a lot more mainteance than steel coasters, and they were replacing wood on it. Flashback had the safety problem for awhile. They can't open that ride because they don't want to buy new trains. So, they didn't. It doesn't help that it has to close during the summer because of lifeguards either. So, what's the point of opening it every again?

Tatsu was the new ride, and that's expected, and Revolution was near Tatsu. It's really hard to open up Revolution when Tatsu is being constructed. Deja Vu only has one train, and it's needs refurbishment. Most of the other rides had one train, but I think Riddler had two. The lines were pretty empty.

I have to really side with the park for the reasons they do have those operations. Obviously, if they bought 2 trains for Deja Vu, they wouldn't have to close it for such a long time, but that's not the case. SFMM didn't think that since they are a year-round park that they should buy more trains for coasters. I was at Busch Gardens Tampa, and on Kumba, they have 4 trains. You wonder why they have so many. I really doubt it's because of capacity.

I think they never have all 4 trains running, and they always work on one, or two for refubishment. SFMM's problem is that they don't have enough trains for there roller coasters, and they don't advertise during the "off-season". That's it. There is no other problem I see.

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Mitchapalooza said:

BTW this site kicks some serious ass. So much info!!

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Jeff, you should use this testimonial when soliciting advertisers. ;)

I was just at SFMM for the holidays, so here's my observation. X2 and Thomas Town construction will be going, Freefall removal might be taking place by Feb, Flashback should be almost be all gone. Of the water rides, only Tidal Wave was closed (neighbor to FF). Coaster wise, everything was up and running except for Viper, I didn't see a re-opening date anywhere. The one train issue is rarely a problem in the off season - our group of 4 pretty much walked onto all coasters, except Tatsu (running two trains w/20-30 min wait), and Deja Vu.

SFMM - flats - well, only a few. Scrambler, bumber cars, swing boat (buccaneer), swings (swashbuckler), a round-up, and atom blaster, titl-whirl (circus wheel), carousel and of course water rides, upcharge go karts. Live entertainment will most likely be dark in Feb.

Knotts - better check that refurb schedule, missing Ghostrider is a huge blow for that park. Pony Express construction might impact nearby rides or attractions, but certainly won't affect the other coasters.

Disney & DCA - some things will be down, so depending on what attraction is your favorite, might want to plan around that. The park is pretty busy compared to the others - arrive early and work that fast pass.

Universal - Simpson's Construction will be in full swing. I would recommend doing the park on a weekday because that is when the productions are shooting the most often so the tram tour might stumble across some real productions. The Citywalk has a sky diving attraction which looks pretty cool. *** Edited 1/4/2008 8:51:38 PM UTC by DBJ*** *** Edited 1/4/2008 8:55:27 PM UTC by DBJ***