Six Flags Magic Mountain to reclaim coaster crown in 2010

Using Magic Mountain as an example (thread appropriate), under Burke/Story's team, the park would have MULTIPLE ride closures during any single operating day (due to understaffing, lack of funding, etc.) and this was before any sort of line-bypassing system was introduced.

It was only after Shapiro stepped in, infused capital into the park's maintenance program, refurbished and reopened shuttered rides that Flash-Pass was introduced.

This reality seems to work in reverse of what LK and GoodBear are suggesting.

I suppose it may not apply now that Shapiro is king of the chain.

...But, it at least looked that way back in the day.

And I'll still say that long lines create a desire for Q-Bot. Fast moving lines could be a conflict of interest between Six Flags and Lo-Q.

RINGgg ... RINGgg...

Park Manager - "Hello?"
Lo-Q Manager - "Hey, this is the Lo-Q manager. Could you please see to it that the lines are longer? We haven't reached our goal yet today."
Park Manager - "Sorry about that. I guess the coaster crew kids have been drinking too much Full Throttle Energy Drink. I'll make a few phone calls right away. Thanks for letting me know. We still get half the money, right?"
Lo-Q Manager - "Of course you do. Talk to you later."

;)

LostKause said:
And I'll still say that long lines create a desire for Q-Bot.

And closed rides or rides running at poor capacity create a lack of desire to be at the park. That's the part you seem to keep overlooking.

Fast moving lines could be a conflict of interest between Six Flags and Lo-Q.

And the alternative to being inside the park with fast moving lines is not being in the park at all - which is beneficial to Lo-Q how?

It just doesn't add up, man. On any level.

I'm surprised anyone would even complain about closing a ride to paint it. Rides were never (and I mean never) painted and maintained under the old regime. Under Shapiro, SFMM has painted at least one coaster every off season.

LostKause said:
And I'll still say that long lines create a desire for Q-Bot.

I believe that is the purpose of Q-Bot. When the lines are long you throw in some extra money if you can and get on some extra rides. I am thankful that SF has given us the option to do this. The lines have also moved at the same speed as they did before Q-Bot existed.

^ I am surprised by that too. At a year round park rides have to be closed for maintenance while the park is open. That's just the way it is. Better now than in the summer.

Lord Gonchar said:

And closed rides or rides running at poor capacity create a lack of desire to be at the park. That's the part you seem to keep overlooking.

I'm not overlooking that at all. It's so obvious that I expected that it was implied. If this is happening, than I think that Six Flags is the one overlooking that.

And the alternative to being inside the park with fast moving lines is not being in the park at all - which is beneficial to Lo-Q how?

It just doesn't add up, man. On any level.

I agree. It doesn't add up. The parks will make the quick buck, but what about repeat visits? That's why I am against it.

WARNING: POSITIVE COMMENT AHEAD!

Wait. All of that is assuming that the parks still practice closing multiple rides, or have lower-than-necessary capacity. I'm not saying that the parks do that, but I am saying that there is a quick-cash incentive to do it. It's been said that SF is no longer that kind of chain.

Anyway...back onto the topic of the park...

Goliath's repaint is coming along slowly but surely (ride slated to reopen on the 19th according to the park's website).

Wow...it's not until the repainting process is partially done that you really get a feel for how faded a ride's paint job really was. I never really thought Goliath REALLY needed a repaint as it didn't look too rusted or discolored, but now seeing the new paint on it, I'm glad they're doing it!

http://www.americacoasters.com/forums/download/file.php?id=69&sid=d...&mode=view

As for the new 2010 coaster...land has been cleared for it! An old building that used to house a restaurant (then became an employee break-room) has been razed along with Deja Vu's old extended queue.

http://www.americacoasters.com/forums/download/file.php?id=93&sid=d...&mode=view

Yeah, that is how I felt about Raging Bull. It slowly faded but you don't realize it unless it's chipping, etc.

As soon as I saw pics of the new paintjob on it, I was WOW!!!!

Yeah, I thought Goliath looked ok before too. The color was consistent all over and there were no obvious spots that you could tell looked faded compared to other areas. Now that I've seen the newly painted areas, in person, next to the areas which are not repainted yet, the new paint looks 10 times darker. The new paint job looks great.

In a curious bit of news, Magic Mountain has evicted all members of its Animal Farm petting zoo attraction which was home to many animals including 9 goats and two sheep as well as rabbits and iguanas. The attraction closed this past Sunday to make room for a park expansion.

For those unfamiliar with the park, the Animal Farm was located adjacent to Thomas Town and Bugs Bunny World.

Based on the size of the Animal Farm area, it doesn't look quite big enough for a Wiggles World addition, but just enough to make the rather miniscule Thomas Town addition a little larger with a little bit more to do than just a kids coaster and train ride.

The 2010 Family coaster is going into a plot of land on the other side of the park.

Source: http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/21825/

It's probably just as well. All the pigs have learned to walk upright by now.....

^ Either that or moved to DC.

I think it would make more sense to put the "new" coaster in the spot where the Animal Farm used to be. It could be tied in with Bugs Bunny World and Thomas Town and would give families with young children another small coaster to ride in that area, rather than being next to one of the most extreme rides in the park, Deja Vu. Unless of course, the park has a better idea for the Animal Farms old spot.

*We interrupt this thread to indicate that Hopman (aka Hopeman) is catching on.... :)

Now back to whatever you were talking about... ;)

Gator, unlike me, you're HOPELESS! :)

SFMMAddict,

I don't think the Animal Farm plot is big enough to house a Roller Skater.

Although I agree that the Roller Skater would be oddly misplaced in between Deja Vu and Terminator, I think it could potentially be a smart move.

If you think about it, Magic Mountain's only family/kid friendly areas are concentrated in Bugs Bunny World and Thomas Town near the front of the park. By dispersing attractions that are family and kid friendly to other areas of the park could be convenient for the younger set to hop on rides instead of waiting for their older siblings to get off the thrill rides as they move around the park.

I get your point about the location, and your logic about dispersing family attractions to other areas does make sense, although I feel that demand for this ride will be very low anyway. I do think the coaster could fit on the Animal Farms plot. The coaster is tiny and should not require much of a queue. Even when I was at MM this July and Aug, when the park was near capacity, BBW and TT were not crowded at all. To quote National Lampoons, I think that most people go there to ride the "big ones". We could say that is just the idea that the park is trying to change, but I just don't see that changing. I feel it would be better to put the Roller Skater in an area where more people which might want to ride it would be spending time anyway. Just my opinion.

Thomas Town and Bugs Bunny Land has mostly rides that kids enjoy sans adults. This new coaster is a family coaster geared toward those youngins who may feel they've outgrown those two areas but are not quite ready for the next step up (Gold Rusher, for example).

NOW does the placement make sense?

The new coaster is technically listed as a family coaster, but is much more similar to a kiddie coaster, when you ride it, judging by its clone which I have rode at Castle Park. The placement makes no more sense to me than if they removed Canyon Blaster from BBW and put it in the new spot where the new coaster will be. Either way I don't think it makes sense. Going from the Canyon Blaster to the Roller Skater, which are both family coasters, is more of a lateral step than a step up. Both of them are far removed from the Gold Rusher.

Actually I think it makes sense to put this coaster over by DV and Terminator only if they plan on putting Wiggles World on that side of the park also in 2011. You got to spread out the kids attractions which SFMM currently isn't doing.