Six Flags Magic Mountain 8-18-09

I am sure I (like most) was prepared for a horrid experience being Magic Mountain is a SF park. I will admit that I never had a bad time when SF owned WOA (**sigh**) but a couple less than great trips to Great Adventure kind of prepared me for the worst.
Boy was I proved wrong!
The 1st thing you notice about MM is how it fits in beautifully with the mountains, the view from anywhere in the park is unlike anywhere I had ever seen. The park was way crowded, I couldn’t help but compare the crowd size to CP and can not recall CPs parking lots ever being that full during the week. I wont go into play by play with each and every ride except to point out my personal favorites.

X2 - holy c I LOVED this ride!!! For anyone who has ridden it I am sure they will understand it when I say I got totally sick of hearing the automated “are you in yet?” But wow, what a freaking awesome ride, the music just made it that much better! :)
Goliath - another coaster that I have to put in my top 5 steel-this thing kicked royal butt! I actually grayed out on it and I have NEVER EVER grayed out on a coaster before! :) :)
Batman the Ride: Was expecting the same ride I had from BTR at GrtAdv but was quite surprised by the intensity of this BTR. It was almost like Raptor without the mid course “rest” we all agreed it was a great (although short) ride :)
Ninja - Yeah I know, just another Arrow suspended but no line so why not? The funniest thing about this ride was the op who would say “enjoy your ride on Ninja-hi yah” Hilarious!!! :)
Superman - After TTD hard to be impressed but definitely liked the roll back :)
Riddler’s Revenge - Puts Mantis to shame---way fun! NO head banging for me! :) Also noticed the crew didn’t waste a lot of time getting people put in. We were told to do our seat belts and stand, then were told when seats would lock and that was that. If any idiot had sat or moved they were SOL-there was no unlocking seats to fix the idiots. Maybe something CP should do, possibly could eliminate their never ending stacking issue.
Terminator Salvation - TS definitely knocked Raven off my fav woodie list this ride was non stop and wow!! LOVED it! CP SOOO needs something like this--doesn’t take a lot of land and doesn’t need it to knock your socks off. The coolest thing about this ride is when you’re in the station the trains go thru the station while you’re waiting!! :)
Tatsu - Would expect nothing less from B&M except for a perfect lay down and they succeeded. X-FireHawkFlight doesn’t even come close-this ride was an absolute blast less the feeling like your legs were going to fall out! :)
Pretty much rode everything else (except for Viper-looping Arrow-no thank you) Log Jammer, and Colossus.
Here are some things I adored about the park. Scenery, beyond the beautiful LA mountains, the landscaping was breathtaking, the park was spotless and I especially liked the annoucements made through out the day reminding people about the designated smoking areas. Unlike CP I saw maybe 2 idiots smoking outside the designated areas. NONE in any of the lines I was in. Also MM had signs posted around the park with a list of “Guest codes of conduct” It stated, “No Smoking (except in designated areas)” “No line cutting” “No bathing suits (except in water park)” “No profanity (or offensive behavior)” and the bottom said guests violating any of these policies will be escorted from the park without refund. NO messing around there--right to the point.
All the lines were covered in trees and or misting fans-yeah I know its Ca but come on, it gets hot in Sandusky too!
The employees were all smiles (maybe that’s from the great California weather) and very friendly. I saw several security people. We were spared gangsta like guests which was quite refreshing!!
I happen to be a theming whore, I love themed rides, gives you something to look at on line or something to do on line for the ones that have movies and such before you ride. I actually took a picture with Mr Six!!!

Low points? I had one guess how much you weigh guy give me a hard time about my CP shirt. He said MM is 10x better than CP. I decided not to argue with the guy because at that point I was having so much fun it would have been hard for me to say anything derog about MM!
There were also parts of the park that were up and down hills. Holy crap I thought Dorney was tough-HA!
Was excited when I saw on the park map they had a Johnny Rockets! But...much to my disappointment they weren’t Rockets like CPs, but just a stand with overpriced burgers and fries. I was especially disappointed since I adore their egg salad sandwiches and naturally they didn’t have those. The food prices?? Well, the song the guests could dance to is "I aint go no money" ;)
The final low point was the park closing at 8pm-no night rides for us! :(

All in all I LOVED SFMM--I was totally impressed!! I can always tell how much fun I had at a park by the amount of $ I spend on souvenirs. $120.00.…yea I was impressed! If we weren't heading to Universal the next day we definitely would have gone back to MM again!

I take back anything and everything derog I have ever said about SF. MM proved me totally wrong!! :)
Btw-if anyone knows of anyone looking for a barn or training assistant in the San Diego area lmk---forget Florida-want to move to California!!! :)

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2069 :)

LuvRaptor,

I'm glad you had a good time. As a long time Midwest resident now living in Los Angeles, I pretty much agreed with all your observations. After making trip after trip to Cedar Point year after year growing up, I often thought Cedar Point had all there was to offer. I was indeed mistaken! There's simply no describing the overpowering sense of disorientation and vulnerability of your first ride on X2. And the view from any seat, but particularly the front, on Tatsu is simply amazing. Even Batman is a great ride. It's short but it really packs a non-stop thrill. Very cool TR.

Glad you had a great time at my favorite park. I basically agree with everything you said. Not riding Colossus is not that big of a loss, but just sorry you didn't try the Viper. I know some people say it is rough, but I have not noticed that.

You've mentioned how Terminator Salvation is your favorite wooden coaster, and you've also mentioned that you've been to SFGADV. So my question is; have you been on El Toro? Or was it closed that day or not around yet? Regardless, I had no idea that TS was that good. I always thought it was on the same level as Gemini.

You always mentioned how the employee mocking CP and your shirt was a downer. I WOULD HAVE LOVED THAT! Whenever I go to parks, I make sure that I wear shirts from opposing parks all the time, and see if i can get anyone to say anything. I have never been to SFMM but have been to CP. The biggest difference that I see between the parks is that once you take out all the roller coasters CP still has PT, Maxair, and skyhawk; while MM has nothing left.

GIGAFORCE01 said:
You've mentioned how Terminator Salvation is your favorite wooden coaster, and you've also mentioned that you've been to SFGADV. So my question is; have you been on El Toro? Regardless, I had no idea that TS was that good. I always thought it was on the same level as Gemini.

You always mentioned how the employee mocking CP and your shirt was a downer. I WOULD HAVE LOVED THAT! The biggest difference that I see between the parks is that once you take out all the roller coasters CP still has PT, Maxair, and skyhawk; while MM has nothing left.

El Toro hadn't been built yet the last time I was at GrtAdv. TS is no where near like Gemini it is like a mini Voyage (sort of) I adored it! We so would have gotten back on line and rode it again if we had the time!

As for my shirt I wish I had worn one of my other (10,000) CP shirts that had the CP skyline on it instead of just the words, so others would know its an amusement park. It didnt bother me when the guy was mocking me it was fun! If you saw all my tattoos you'd know I was a CP and Raptor freak anyway, if he (the mocker) had seen those too I dont think he would have been razzing me as much as he did!
The picture of me with my CP shirt and Mr Six is classic!!!
MM "just" having coasters to ride was fine by me it totally wouldnt change my opinion of the park for me!! I LOVED it! :)

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2069 :)

LuvRaptor said:
Riddler’s Revenge - Puts Mantis to shame---way fun! NO head banging for me! :) Also noticed the crew didn’t waste a lot of time getting people put in. We were told to do our seat belts and stand, then were told when seats would lock and that was that. If any idiot had sat or moved they were SOL-there was no unlocking seats to fix the idiots. Maybe something CP should do, possibly could eliminate their never ending stacking issue.

I've been saying the same thing ever since I visited MM a few years ago. This is how it should be on stand up coasters. You get warned, and if you haven't figured out how to stand before the seats lock, too bad for you. I don't think I was quite as impressed with the park as you were, but it far exceeded my expectations.