My First Time At Magic Mountain!

Im going to magic mountain for the first time on april 11th, which is the wednesday during spring break for most schools, and i have a few questions for those who are experienced:
1. I am planning to get a gold flash pass. will that actually be necessary or beneficial on that day? i dont want to spend all that money for it, and then not need it. but i also dont want to not get it, then end up needing it.
2. With or without the flash pass, i would love for someone to type out a good "day plan" so i will be able to ride the rides. BUT KEEP THIS IN MIND: i do not want to do x2, tatsu, or anything really huge first. this is my first time being on coasters this huge and intimidating, so i want to kind of build my way up from ninja, which i plan to do first.
3. How early should i get there to GUARANTEE that i will be able to get a GOLD flash pass before they run out.
4. How does the system work for reserving a seat on X2. i want to do it last, but when and how do you "reserve" it. Can you choose your time? Seat?
5. How rough is Colossus and Apocalypse (A.K.A. Terminator) compared to either Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz, ROAR! at Discovery Kingdom, or Grizzly at Great America? I want to know partly because ROAR almost killed my back, and partly for my dad.
6. Finally, My dad has never Ever been on a coaster that goes upside down, or anything really huge, and i want to bring him on something big. He has back problems, so anything rough is out of the question, and he gets sick on some coasters, so i want something fun, smooth, and without too much sharp turns or loops. I was thinking Scream or Batman, are these good ideas?

My sincere thanks -Lucas

I have never been to SFMM, but if I were you, I'd do X² first, because you never know when it is going to break down.

Scream or Riddler is probably the least actually physically intense of the inverting coasters there, but they are probably psychologically harder to get on than, say, Revolution.

It's really hard to tell what lines will be, but when SFoT (my home park) was open during spring break last week, it was mobbed. Busiest I've seen it in 5 years and basically if you wanted to do anything at all, you were looking at 1+ hr. If I cared at all about getting rides, I would have gotten a regular q-bot at minimum and if I had travelled a long way and/or only had one shot at the park, I'd definitely pony up for a Gold or Platinum. (If I spent hundreds of dollars to get there, I might as well spend a hundred dollars to ride things).

In terms of getting there early, I usually find that 15 minutes is plenty of time, but I also have no problem weaseling my way past a group of people waiting for the rope to drop and running if anyone else is (and I used to run cross country and have finished the marathon twice, so that gives me a distinct advantage). I wouldn't be worried about Gold q-bots running out within an hour or two, but would take the first hour or so to ride a bunch of stuff at the back of the park (everyone will head towards stuff at the front or Lex Luthor) and then gauge whether a q-bot is neccesary.

If it were me (i.e. ride thrillingness was not a factor), I'd hit Lex Luthor first (by running fast), then Green Lantern, then Superman Krypton backwards because those are all fairly new, fairly low capacity rides compared to Goliath and even X2. Hitting the low capacity rides can save you 1 hr. each midday when Golitah, Scream, Tatsu and Riddler will be shorter (depending on the day, could be 30-45 minutes).

^^

X2's breakdowns are grossly exaggerated. They do occur more frequently than say your typical run-of-the-mill Arrow looping coaster, but that comes with such a complicated ride system.

On a typical day, X2 may encounter a minor operational issue, but nothing that closes the ride entirely for the day. The most you'll need to worry about is a potential 5-10 minute setback while waiting in line if that does end up happening.

1. I am planning to get a gold flash pass. will that actually be necessary or beneficial on that day? i dont want to spend all that money for it, and then not need it. but i also dont want to not get it, then end up needing it.

If I were you, I would assess the crowd upon arrival before deciding on renting a Flash Pass Lo-Q device. A thing to do is to ask the parking lot toll booth attendant how crowds are at the moment of your arrival, and what the expected crowd level will be today. They'll be blunt and honest with you.

But April 11 is also a Wednesday, so crowds should not be something of great concern. However, I'm not keeping tabs on when all of Southern California schools are out for Spring Break, so it may, or may not be crowded.

With or without the flash pass, i would love for someone to type out a good "day plan" so i will be able to ride the rides. BUT KEEP THIS IN MIND: i do not want to do x2, tatsu, or anything really huge first. this is my first time being on coasters this huge and intimidating, so i want to kind of build my way up from ninja, which i plan to do first.

Having grown up visiting Magic Mountain, I have a good idea of how the coasters rank in relation to each other - sorted by level of intensity and the aggression of the overall ride experience, and not just taking into account the height, speed, and length. Here's my ranking of the coasters from mildest to wildest (I threw the junior coasters in there, to be thorough) -

MILDEST

01. Magic Flyer
02. Canyon Blaster
03. Roadrunner Express
04. Gold Rusher
05. Ninja
06. Revolution
07. Apocalypse
08. Colossus
09. Superman - Escape from Krypton
10. Batman - The Ride
11. Green Lantern - First Flight
12. Scream!
13. The Riddler's Revenge
14. Viper
15. Goliath
16. Tatsu
17. X2

WILDEST

3. How early should i get there to GUARANTEE that i will be able to get a GOLD flash pass before they run out.

If you think you may need a Gold Flash Pass, hit up the Flash Pass rental center first thing you get there, although the only time the Gold Q-Bot really "sells out" is during peak summer season.

4. How does the system work for reserving a seat on X2. i want to do it last, but when and how do you "reserve" it. Can you choose your time? Seat?

As I have never used Flash Pass to reserve a ride on X2, this is one question I can't answer, I apologize.

5. How rough is Colossus and Apocalypse (A.K.A. Terminator) compared to either Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz, ROAR! at Discovery Kingdom, or Grizzly at Great America? I want to know partly because ROAR almost killed my back, and partly for my dad.

Apocalypse is quite smooth for a wooden roller coaster - the experience has hardly any rattling, vibrating, or shuffling that is usually common on older wooden coasters. It's only three years old.

Colossus is a bit rougher due to its age, higher speeds, and bigger drops, but not unrideable by any means. Though this is subjective, I personally do not find Colossus a painful experience. Aside from two large drops exceeding 100-feet, a lot of the ride features long sections of flat turns, so there's not a lot of lateral movement that throws your body around.

However, if your father has existing back issues, I would probably reconsider riding Colossus.

6. Finally, My dad has never Ever been on a coaster that goes upside down, or anything really huge, and i want to bring him on something big. He has back problems, so anything rough is out of the question, and he gets sick on some coasters, so i want something fun, smooth, and without too much sharp turns or loops. I was thinking Scream or Batman, are these good ideas?

All of the park's looping coasters are considered aggressive, with a possible exception made for the single-loop Revolution. But but due to Revolution's restraint system, it may be considered an aggressive attraction by certain individuals because of the pain it may induce on rider's shoulders and head during the ride ("head-banging" as enthusiasts call it).

I would not recommend Viper to start off with. Though it's over 20 years old now, it's still the park's tallest and fastest looping coaster and arguably the most aggressive one too. Your father may need to gradually prepare himself for this one, physically and psychologically.

Though Batman is the shortest in length of the looping bunch, the ride's pacing is very quick, featuring lots of tight banking curves, sudden directional changes, and small inversions, resulting in an incredibly intense ride.

The Riddler's Revenge is the park's longest looping coaster in duration and track length (still B&M's longest looping ride built to date!), and though the pacing is much slower in comparison to Batman, the G-forces exerted on the legs while riding in the standing position for nearly 3 minutes can be rather intense and uncomfortable to some. As a result, the intensity level from these factors makes it just as intimidating as the other "big" coasters in the park.

Scream! falls somewhere in the range between Viper and The Riddler's Revenge in terms of size, length and inversions - and is probably the best choice in this particular situation. It lacks the rapid-fire pace of Batman and higher physical fatigue levels of The Riddler's Revenge, but provides the same looping goodness of Viper.

Ride Revolution for me, please :) In the very front seat - take little pillows with you (Princess Leia buns may work, depending your height) to put on each side of your neck/head. It's in very sad shape, but is a very significant and once great ride (and will be great again some day, I believe).

Ride both sides of Colossus, no matter how sluggish and rattly it may seem; it's 2 credits and it may not be the same ride the next time you visit.

Viper rocks pretty much, just ride in the front. The Sky Tower is great, too!

X2 and Green Lantern Flashpass works like this:

1. You have to have at least a Gold Flash Pass.

2. X2 is an additional fee on top of Gold Flash Pass Fee. $15 per person, per ride on X2 and Green Lantern.

3. Keep this in mind, if you do decide to purchase the X2/ Green Lantern up charge, you do not have a choice of when in the day you can ride.