Knotts and SFMM Report

Hi, as you know because of all the posts I made I went to Knotts Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain, and let me tell you........I hate to say this but Magic Mountian went from 3rd to 9th on my list becaus eof my rescent trip to there, but Knotts went up to my 5thThis trip was one of the worst trips I've ever had and this is how it went.

We started off a little later then we wanted but that was O.K. scince we're going to Knotts and I thought it wasn't going to be that bad scince we were going on Friday. So we were just driving happily and excited to get to Knotts until we here this sound coming from the car. My first thought was and was right.....a flat tire, and of cource it had to be in the middle on I-5 (those of you who've droven I-5 from Scramento to L.A. know what I'm talking about) in the middle of no where. So we some how made it to a rest area and asked a truck driver to help us put on a spair and he did, but you see the spare was a little tiny one that could only go 50 miles. So it took us 7 hours to get there and plus another 3 hours to find the right tire.

We finally got to Knotts and 5 when the park closed at 6. So we got in and ran to Gohstrider first. The first thing I noticed is that the theming for Gohstrider and some of the other rides there could pass for a Disney ride. O.K. the ride(s) need a little more story-line to it but other than that I was really impressed. Than I got on the train for Gohstrider, and after the drop I've never had so much airtime in my life. After 4 runs on this beast it easily made it to #1wooden coaster. Then we went on Matazoomers Revenge(sorry if I spelled it wrong) and there was absloutley no line for it so the first time I went on the front seat and the scond time I went in the back. I would give it a best maitenced award and a 8/10. After that I went on a night time run on Gohstrider and that was simply amazing. I would give Knotts a 9/10. +'s Great rides, nice theming.... -'s Emploey's attitude

The next day I went to SFMM. The day started out with a mosterous line at only 10:10 I said, "Oh well, as long as I get to ride X I'll be happy. Then we caught the tram and got the ticket stands and also found a mosterous line that went all the way back the street. When we got to the ticket counter I wanted to buy a Season Pass so I did. Then the ticket lady told me to go to the wrong ling which I waited 45 min. for. So then the pointed to right line which I found out was  an 1 1/2 wait. So I decided to get my money park for a General admission(which the line ahad shortened. Then when we got inside the park. We knew X's line was going to be long so we ran to the Fastlane purchase center only to find that all of the tickets sold out. Furious, I ran to X's line to find a 3 hour wait, but I said, "Hey I came here for X," and I waited. So we waited which wasn't that badjust watching Viper go through its cycle. But about after an hour it got ver boring just watching it. Then 3 hours turned into 4. Then at 5 HOURS we made it to the station, this is where it got me 1st the were only running one train but I wasn't that mad about it. So I waited in line for a seat. Then this is where my hole day was ruined. I saw mechancics ariving at the staion and I got nervous. First the attendants said it was just a random check up that the mecanics do every hour, and then they told us that they were having minor technical difficulties. Then  line was getting angry with some teens cussing at the attendents but I didn't care casue I was about to too. Then those minor difficulties turned into the ride being closed for the day. The crowd and me felt like jumping the gates and smashing the attendents because they were just smiling and lauphing giving us NO info at all...just mumbles coming from the microphone. So I told one that I only waited for 1 ride that took up the whole day and closed, and that I had to leanve in an hour. Now to me I thought that was B.S. so they told me to go to Guest Relations. I told them I was not happy or amused and they told me this isn't an Amusement Park but a theme park. So I stormed off to Guest Realtions finding that I had an hour line there to. So we left and drove home angry. I hope this taught you a lesson as much as it taught you. There's so many i don't want to name them.

So there's my trip report. Hoped you like it and thanks for reading. See ya!

sorry, but thats what you get for going on a saturday.  i would NEVER wait 5hrs for X, its not worth missing out on all the other rides you could have ridden (maybe over and over) @ the mountain...

The main reason yesterday was so crowded was because it was the first day of cheerleading competitions.
5 hours for X, yikes???? How much of the queue was full???
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Six Flags Magic Mountain Xtreme Guide

Oh yeah did I mention that the queue didn't move until like every 10 min? 

I truely doubt your post, people waiting 5 hours for a ride in L A., hour wait for Guest Relations, nah, man SFMM Guest relations is pretty good, they give you free passes whenever there is even a drop of rain.

 I am sure, especially waiting as long as you claimed you waited, they would offer you certain perks, free  passes or front lines for other rides.

I just got back from the park TODAY Sunday, 2/24

Still only 1 train running, which sucks, got to admit, but I got lucky and just got to the line when the ride opend around 12, so, made it within 30 minutes, later that day, the line was about 2 1/2/ hours ...

Got my Season Pass ticket within 20 minutes, how can you wait in a wrong line, there is only one line to get the pass processed ?!?!?!! ( Big Since>!>!)

I think that lot of the thinks you stated are not true, i cant prove it, but from my experience today i cant see that it would be that fundamental different beeing there either Sat or Sunday

Also , you might want to point out that while lines for X and Deja Vu are long ( hence, new rides) you have almost walk one's on Goliath, (twice today with a minimum wait) batman(walkon), riddler(walk on) Superman( 20 min)      

The parking lot was PACKED, the park was PACKED(weather was incredible), so , i cant see what you reported here to be truth......1 1/2/ wait for guest relations PLEASE!

alex!

Hmmmmmm... So ONE ride on ONE day has problems and the entire park goes from your personal #3 park all the way down to #9? Rides have problems, especially new prototype rides that have never been installed in a park before.

Waiting 5 hours only to be denied a ride may suck big time, but it comes with the territory. You probably could have ridden almost every other coaster in the park in that amount of time and had a wonderful day.

Side note: The new system for getting the season passes processed STINKS!! They make you fill out this rather lengthy ScanTron form with a tiny pencil that has no eraser, and the people in there get upset if you ask them for an eraser. The process was slow enough before this, now the line creeps even slower!

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!

Yeah, last time I went with my friend so he could get a pass, we had to wait in a 2 hour line. It was one of the worst theme park experiences of my life. On the X subject, I would have to say that the ride now doesn't excite me too much anymore, since when I was there about 2 months ago, from the inside of the station we had to wait 45 minutes. That was just ridiculous.

Wow....well I just got my first Six Flags season pass on the 16th of February (Sat) at Magic Mountain and the line for the season pass processing went pretty far back, I would say at least 30 people in front of me, and the line moved faster than I thought it would go.  I'd say I waited between 30-45 minutes. 

I went to renew my pass a few weeks ago and that line was massive and it was 5 minutes before the park opened and the window wasnt even open >:0

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes, then you can criticize them and you have their shoes :)

I was at SFMM on Monday (presidents Day) and went straight to X in the morning. All the up to the top of the steps at the station platform. I could see the train loading. I waited an hour and half FROM THERE because of single train operation. Judging by that estimation, the line behind me which stretch through the entire queue would be waiting 5-6hrs. The FASTLANE entrance takes you to the split in the queue. Even from there you're looking at about 3hrs. X CANNOT run with only a single train!!! SFMM is just asking for angry customers who sit through a five hour line on a day where EVERYTHING else is a walk-on.
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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D :)
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!

And the 3rd train mysteriousely dissapeared...

Ok, time to calm down and use a little common sense. Isn't it reasonable to assume that if the park is running at least 2 trains on all the other coasters, but "one" on their most popular attraction, that there is something wrong with the second train? Given that the ride was having problems all last weekend, I'm surprised they ran the coaster at all. Imagine the outrage if they'd not even attempted to open the ride. I'm sure it was a frustrating experience for those who were stuck in line for 3-4 hours. I couldn't imagine waiting that long for anything, especially with 14 other coasters basically walk-ons!!!

Check the sig...
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Have you ever considered that maybe it's not the park that's the problem, but YOU?

*** This post was edited by DWeaver on 2/26/2002. ***

LG - Did you buy the FastLane?  I was there on President's Day too, and used FastLane for X.  After the split, the wait with the passes was about 1 hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half.   I was able to get in 4 rides with Fastlane.  I heard that the regular wait time was 3 or 4 hours, which seems about right.

I was also at the park on Sunday of President's Day Weekend, and X didn't open till about 12:30.  Aparently this is when the single train operation started, as some people in line with me later in the day said there had been two train operation the day before.

 
The single train operation is very, very tedious and slow. Hopefully SFMM will be able to straighten out the problem soon for all you guys out west.
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"He's blazin' away like the stars in the universe.." "Ghostrider" A. Vega + M. Rev

*** This post was edited by chris on 2/26/2002. ***

I swaer for those who don't believe me.......the line when I got to X was already almost on the other side of the X entrance, but that is your opinion and think what you think.

Chris, we didnt bother with the Fastlane. Our first time in the regular line brought us right up to the top of the stairs, and we waited an hour and a half from there. We decided to pass on any more rides on X and moved on to the other rides. Hopefully next time I go they will have at least two trains operating. This ride has horrible capacrity with one train.
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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D :)
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!

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LoadedG said:
I was at SFMM on Monday (presidents Day) and went straight to X in the morning. All the up to the top of the steps at the station platform. I could see the train loading. I waited an hour and half FROM THERE because of single train operation. Judging by that estimation, the line behind me which stretch through the entire queue would be waiting 5-6hrs. The FASTLANE entrance takes you to the split in the queue. Even from there you're looking at about 3hrs. X CANNOT run with only a single train!!! SFMM is just asking for angry customers who sit through a five hour line on a day where EVERYTHING else is a walk-on.
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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!

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So now, all the non-believers who think I'm kidding about waitng 5 hours for a ride just read right ubove me and you'll see what I'm talking about.

first of all, SFMM is only open on SAT & SUN until the last week of March, when it begins daily operation. The last week of March and first week of April are Spring break. STAY AWAY on any of these days. Obviously a Friday after spring break is better than any Sunday. Saturday will suck, no matter. My suggestion would be to get there VERY early, head directly for X, then high-tail it back to Deja Vu, hopefully, if both rides are open at the start of the day, you can get them done before crowds get unbearable.. Work your way back around from there.

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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D :)
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!

If your going during Spring Break week, Tuesday is your best bet. The great thing is all the new employees are trained and ready by this time(Spring Break), so your likely to catch everything running at full capacity.

I agree, do the Bull run to X and ride it twice while you can. Deja Vu usually opens late because it requires more morning tests, so I'd make it ride #2.  :)

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2001:The downfall of Disney. The year they stopped asking the mouse for his opinion.

What can be said?  Cedarfair is superior to Six Flags :-D

Just how bad are these mid-March Saturdays? Summer level crowds?