Six Flags Magic Mountain announces Terminator: The Coaster

John Knotts said:

Coasterhound36 said:

In any case as I said my only bone of contention is that this ride could An Intamin designed ride could be one of the crown jewels of coaster world on the west coast. I mean it would definitely make some ppl say "Ghost-what?" ;) Thats just MHO.

The fact that people are complaining already about an unfinished project just says to me that Jay Thomas was completely successful in his goals.

1) Get people talking about what would normally be a pretty standard addition.

2) Underwhelm enthusiasts and obnoxious teens that don't spend money anyway.

Mission accomplished.

Oh, and this coaster looks terriffic!

Well put. :)

Regarding the plussing, the important point isn't whether a guest gets off and thinks it's better or worse, but if the cost of improvements increases profits enough to pay for them...and then some. And I really don't think people are expecting plussed rides...just good rides for whatever reason.

Here's another angle:

Disney.

Disney parks are just a collection of plussed rides. (and yes, I understand we're not talking Disney level plussing here, but the point remains...)

When is the last time you heard someone complain that Disney is making their rides too interactive or wishing that they'd just put in a simple coaster? If anything the opposite applies - people complain that Disney cut corners or didn't do enough.

janfrederick said:
And I really don't think people are expecting plussed rides...just good rides for whatever reason.

Agreed. So why can't the reason be that it's plussed? Disney's made a killing off of that mentality.

I just find it really funny that people are complaining about someone taking a plain vanilla ride and trying to up the experience. (and I suspect the real issue isn't about what's being done, but rather who's doing it :) )

Ya know -- and not to get off-topic here -- but I absolutely despite that term, "plussing". I think its coinage is not exactly "plussing" the English language. It sounds like one of the mush-words spoken by the characters in 1984.

Well, my concern has been and still is sustainability. I really don't think anyone is arguing that adding effects is a problem of sorts. It's just been better articulated in the other thread that there are more example of coasters having been built with effects that aren't maintained over time than those that are (excluding Disney, of course.) That will inevitably adversely affect the experience.

When you ride a coaster that was supposed to have effects that aren't working you notice it. So no, there's nothing wrong with up'ing the experience so long as they maintain it.

Carrie M. said:
I really don't think anyone is arguing that adding effects is a problem of sorts.

No, there's a few that said that.

Well, my concern has been and still is sustainability.

Only one way to find out. :)

Lord Gonchar said:

Ok, well, I'm not saying that. ;)

Lord Gonchar said:

And that's fine. But experience should tell us something about this, don't you think?

Edit: I give up on the quoting. I must just be quotationally challenged.

^Agreed 1000%. And other than Disney, I can't say that I've noticed the kind of effort required to really maintain the extra "plusses". I'm looking your way, Universal. They do a decent job, but not what I think of as going the extra mile. CaroSeussEl constantly has non-working gags, and several other attractions (RotM, Spidey) haven't received the level of attention needed to maintain "uber-theming". And even Universal has done a WAYYY better job on those kinds of things that CF, PP, or SF ever did. So if you want to "Disni-fy" your park, please be prepared to pay the upkeep cost. Otherwise, you might end up spending the $10M on X, say, only to have X2 fully functional for one season - and that stinks. IMO. As always. ;)

Really? I haven't seen a down effect on Mummy or Spidey on my last couple of visits. It used to be a problem, but I haven't seen it in the last year.

The poster child for special effects failure is and always will be Disaster Transport. What an embarrassment to the entire industry.

I never said this was going to be a bad coaster. I'm just saying the $3-4 million the park is spending on "effects" for this coaster could have been spent on other things.

• How about a few new flat rides? Isn't that one of the knocks people have on many Six Flags parks? For around the same amount of money, Holiday World got a new coaster and basically added an entire new themed area to their park.
• How about more employees to staff the rides they do have? What's the point of bragging about having 16 coasters if only 9-10 of them are open on any given day? Guests will be entranced by the nifty effects for 15 minutes. They'll be pissed off over closed rides for the entire day-- and beyond.

It might not be the best example, but I saw that the newfangled interactive dark ride at Hersheypark was basically a walk-on this entire season, while an old-fashioned strobe and laser-less coaster like SooperDooperLooper had a decent line.

Other than the fact that they stopped giving out candy at the end of the ride, I think a lot of people have the "been there, done that" attitude with the dark ride. For whatever reason, enthusiasts and GP alike are always willing to ride a coaster again. Have yet to see that happen with the effects filled rides. If I'd want to ride this one over and over, it would be because the ride is a great one, not because I loved the vision of the post-apocalyptic world it offers. (Heck if I wanted that, all I have to do is look at my 401-K statement.)

^^Jeff, I can only say based on my visits, and honestly I don't ride Spidey as often as I once did. But the fireball throw and one of the "water effects" seemed to be pretty hit-and-miss over the last couple years. On RotM, the areas I've noticed the most are the missing scarabs in the trains (that was SO cool the first time, it was completely awesome - everyone screamed, but it seemed to be nonfunctional almost immediately), and the intro scene where the Mummy steals the voice from our guide lacks the blue fog more often than not. The main fire effects in Mummy *almost always* work, sometimes the misting effect isn't working. Honestly, overall they do a very good job. But when the level of theming is that exceptional, there are LOADS of gags, gadgets,and stunts that all must work and be timed perfectly. I'm just afraid that SF might be buying into the idea of "Disni-fication" or whatever without recognizing ALL that goes into it. If you think I'm nit-picky (and I am), I'm not even CLOSE to how the Disney-philes are. And SF might find out that playing the theming card does indeed cut both ways. How are those tires on the Dragster trains doin'? :)

RatherGoodBear said:
It might not be the best example, but I saw that the newfangled interactive dark ride at Hersheypark was basically a walk-on this entire season, while an old-fashioned strobe and laser-less coaster like SooperDooperLooper had a decent line.

Other than the fact that they stopped giving out candy at the end of the ride, I think a lot of people have the "been there, done that" attitude with the dark ride.

No, (and I say this in all seriousness - check the second thought of my Hershey TR from this past June), Hershey has what is far and away the worst interactive dark ride I've ever seen. Crap is crap and nothing can change that.

Get out of central PA and watch people line up time and time again for those rides. They're insanely popular with all ages.

Magic Mountain has all coasters open all season long. Sure there is a day here and there with a coaster that requires them to shut down for a period of time, but in no way would you have a day at the mountain with only 9 or 10 coasters open.

A lot of things have changed at the park since Jay Thomas took over as the new park manager

AlexInLA said:
Magic Mountain has all coasters open all season long. Sure there is a day here and there with a coaster that requires them to shut down for a period of time, but in no way would you have a day at the mountain with only 9 or 10 coasters open.

A lot of things have changed at the park since Jay Thomas took over as the new park manager

A lot of things have changed with SF as a chain - for the better. Comments like that always seem to come from people who haven't been to a SF park in half a decade.

rollergator said:
And SF might find out that playing the theming card does indeed cut both ways. How are those tires on the Dragster trains doin'? :)

What does CF's upkeep have to do with SF? ;)

I'm not so sure we should be so quick to write-off SF's ability to keep up with this kind of theming.

^LOL...if you ain't Disney (or Universal to some degree) - expect that your "commitment level" to theming might be called into question. It will be. But the proof, as they say, is in Bill Cosby's (Jell-O brand) pudding.

Terminator is a great name for a coaster, imo. But the tie in with the movie is going to be lame. I could picture a massive silver steel coaster being called Terminator, if connected with the movie, but not a short wooden coaster. The video was ok and it did look like it would be fun. But if your going to tie the Terminator name and theme with a coaster you don't do it with this coaster.

Says you. But, they're doin' it.

I'm with those who say this style of coaster seems to clash with the theme. The "Terminator" theme seems to lend itself to more to a stand-up configuration.

I wonder if the clacking sounds on the lift go "...ta-dum-dum! ta-dum! ...ta dum-dum! ta dum!" instead of just "click click click click click...."

^Hey Ben - we were just talking about you a couple weeks back at PPP. Send a hello or something. Oh, Terminator? That was really the better theme for X2 instead of the woodie, but replacing Psyclone with anything rideable is an improvement. ;)

I can hear the preshow now...

"Before the advent of steel Terminators, the first generation humanoid robots were built of timber and chain, however the Resistence quickly eliminated their ranks using a primitive weapon called FIRE..."