How is X doing?

I was planning on taking a trip back to California to hopefully ride some of the newer rides and I was wondering how X was running. How many trains does it usally run and how long are the waits about. I plan on going in December, I think. I want to ride my old ride "Z-force" aka now FlashBack. : ) I went last summer and I was told that it only ran in the winter. Anyways. So, Yeah. : )

Some cow-orkers of mine went to SFMM on Friday, Oct 3rd, and said that X had about a 20 minute wait. Single train op, but the park was apparently all but empty. I would imagine December, except just after Christmas, would be the same.

Expect single train op no matter what, I don't expect to see two train ops until the end of the off season, or if they miraculously figure out how to cure the ride's ills.

And Flashback will probably be open, but definitely go to the ride itself. So few people ride it, it tends not to have a train go through more than once every 15-20 minutes, so it often looks like it's down while walking past :)

X ran two trains on the evening of the Odessey Adventures private party Friday September 26. By the end of the night it was down to one train op. As always, the ride was phenominal. It is without a doubt the most intense, aggresive coaster I have been on.

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paul ruben
ran lube up

Knowing that SFMM is known for having minimal coaster crews (only 2 in a station sometime), how has X's crew been holding up? Last time I was at that ride was about a year ago for Fright Fest. They had a crew of 9 (rather big by SFMM standards). There were two on each side of load, two at the controls, one on each side of unload, and person at the split in the queue. This was for a two train operation...

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=brandon=

When I went in July, they had 2 on each load side (might have been 3), 1 on the bridge, 1 below the station at the split. The people on the load would walk over to the unload.

We were at SFMM on Sunday, October 12th, mainly for Fright Fest, but we always go at opening for a few coaster rides beforehand. X did not open when the park did - they didn't let us across the bridge until 11:00 a.m. and by the time they dispatched a loaded train it was closer to 11:30 a.m. It was a one-train operation at that time and we did not get off the ride until just before 1:00 p.m., so from our place in line when the ride opened, it was about a 90 minute wait. When we left the ride, the line stretched to the end of the misters, just before the end of the bridge. My guess that the wait at that time was at least 3 hours if not longer unless they put on another train. We never went back in that area so I couldn't tell you if the wait time increased or decreased. They did, however, have a sign at the entrance indicating that they would close the queue at 9:00 p.m. that night (the park closes at 10:00 p.m. during Fright Fest). They had a 7 person crew working - two on each side doing double duty as loaders and unloaders, two at the controls and one at the line split.

As for the other major coasters, Goliath had a line filling about half the queue downstairs, so with the two-train operation, I'm guessing a 60-70 minute wait, longer if you wanted the front. We used our Fast Lane and were on in less than 10 minutes.

The line for Riddler's Revenge came close to the entrance, so with its two-train operation, close to 2 hours wait time. Again we used Fast Lane and we were on in about 30 minutes in the front row. Amazingly, the operators were dispatching trains much quicker than what we normally see.

Batman, however, was another story. One-train operation, with the line fairly close to the entrance and all of the switchbacks open. Wait time was over 90 minutes.

Scream's line was just past the bottom of the stairs, so our total wait for the front row was less than 30 minutes for the front row, with a two-train operation.

Colossus backwards (only side running) was about a 20 minute wait for the back car, with a two-train operation.

For a Saturday, you can probably add 30-60 minutes or more to the above wait times.

if you are aiming to get on X, get there at opening for 2 reasons. it is always the most crowded ride in the park, and only increases in wait time until about 20 min till closing. and if it is open, there is no garuntee it will not break down as time goes on.

I live about 20 min from it and i go a lot. Flashback hasn't been open lately. X has been 2 hours the last time i went (1 week ago)

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Who ever said coasters were dangerous?

-one of the first to ride X (season pass rules)