Tips On Magic Mountain?

I have been there at least once a year for the past 3 years (coming from Chicago). I haven't been there on a weekend, but noticed that later in the days on hot days, the water rides have 3 hours waits while the coaster waits drastically went down. Granted, the last time I was there was before they started giving away season passes.

It would probably be helpful to know what parks you have been to recently in order fo you to figure out if the coaster is a need or a want to ride. For instance, X is a must regardless if you have never ridden it. For me, I have yet to go on the Deja Vu there, but I have one basically in my back yard. I think I have ridden Batman at SFMM once as well. If there are coasters that are clones or compareable, I would save those until later so you are sure to get on the main ones.

Also, when I was there last July, people that were meeting us there had an hour wait just for the ticket booth at the front gates.

You know it really sucks to hear how bad this park has gotten. I remember being a kid and always looking forward to Magic Mountain because they had the best rides in the area (especially for us coming from Las Vegas). Too bad things have gotten so bad.

My last trip was back in October 2002 for Fright Fest, although it wasnt nearly as bad as some of you describe, the park was lacking.

In 2006 they're fixing all that is wrong with the park. How? By adding another desperately needed new coaster!

What? Oh, right...nevermind ;)

Quote:

"Fights aren't a regular occurrence and are obviously being blown out of proportion by the SFMM bashing folks."

RideSafety:

You’ve dissed my street cred. You better be by Goliath at 7:00 pm this Friday night so we can settle this “Magic Mountain” style…It’s on… :-(

P.S. Original post guy:

I still say go to X first. This is the MUST do of the park. You run the risk of later breakdowns (for X) by heading the Goliath route. It is my opinion that it is not worth tolerating an entire day at SFMM and not do X. If you had been on X before I would have to agree with the “right turn” crowd as the best way to tolerate your day. Since it is your first time, you need to go to X first and suffer any late openings.

Resist the urge to go to guest services to complain about any operational problem, as you will leave guest services much angrier than when you arrived. If an employee walks up to you and kicks you in the shin while simultaneously urinating in your $5.50 watered-down Coke, you just shake it off as if nothing happened. If you are able to keep your expectations somewhere around the “urine in Coke” threshold, then I would have to say you could be pleasantly surprised. :-)

If you are the type of person who thinks it is no big deal to miss an all-original prototype that every coaster fan should experience once (even if it is a little over-hyped in my opinion) then by all means ignore my advice and follow the “right turn” crowd. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
*** Edited 6/15/2005 9:47:55 PM UTC by Jeffrey R Smith***

I gotta agree with the "Do X first" crowd. If you wait there is a good chance you'll either miss it altogether or wait in a 3-4 hour line, where as if you ride it at opening you'll only wait about 60 mins. Rides like Goliath, Batman, and Riddler have good capacity...when running more than one train, that is.

If you only get one ride on X I'd choose the front seat. Be careful not to be fooled by how the train looks while parked in the station. The seat that appears to be the last seat is indeed the front seat. Just take notice of which direction the train travels...the front seat leaves the station first.

I would agree about going to X your first time. However, every subsequent time, I take the Goliath route. I think 6-7 no-wait rides is better than an hour wait for X (which is about what you'll be looking at first thing on a Saturday).

Thanks for all of the help!!!

You're welcome! Please do us a favor and post a trip report so we can see how your day went.

This whole thread is just killing me! I have never been to SFMM but plan on going sometime this summer (weekdays of course), and am actually happy to read everyone's insight.

I went to SFA last summer and could not believe how ill behaved the peeps were (line jumping, swinging on the rails, cursing, spitting, etc), and how much the ride ops could care less about anything (even the rides) or anyone except themselves. Luckily when we were there, it was a weekday and empty. So we were able to do the whole park (not water park) in less than 3 hours, and left there right away to head to PKD.

We have decided to head out to the LA area (from Chicago) to go to KBF and SFMM since the SFGrAdv KaKa is not actually dependable for a summer trip. We will go on weekdays to the parks, but I am hoping that 2 for MM and 1 for KBF should be OK.

I actually now look at going to MM as a challenge. I am no way afraid of going there, or even dreading the lines. We tend to do parks smart, and it sounds like a great time with many elements of surprise (and not the thrills on the rides, but rather -- is the ride running? how did 100 people end up in front of me when I was 2nd in line? why didn't we get the FastPass?. Go ahead MM and test me. See if you can break me!!! BRING IT ON!

And this weekend, the polar opposite -- Kennywood. Niceness all around (peeps and rides). Stress level -- zero.

For me, when I went on Memorial Day, the behavior of the people there wasn't too bad. Sure, there was line jumping a couple times, but it certainly wasn't rampant or anything, and they did have security guards patrolling the longer lines. Truthfully, as far as atmosphere and the other visitors' attitudes goes, SFGAdv has been far worse both times I went than SFMM was this time. But maybe I just went on a good day, who knows.

tllbat - just set your expectations low.

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Jeffrey R Smith said:
6. On a Sat. night there is a good chance a fight will break out IF that is your thing. The fights seem to happen in the general area of Goliath. Go over there around 7:00 pm and stake a spot. Just wait and watch. You most likly won't have to do anything to get a good show. If it is getting late and you've caught no action---you may want to tell a random teenager that the kid by the corndog stand was looking at him funny. That should do the trick... :-)

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HAHAHA oh man that made my day. Good stuff.

Fight Night live from Magic Mountain!

*** Edited 6/16/2005 10:32:51 PM UTC by Raging_Bull***