Whats going on at SFMM?!?

Ive read all summer about how like every coaster runs one train and there are always 3 hour waits and everything....but does anyone know the real reason why? I read it used to be like that during the winter, but in August on a Saturday?? I just wanna know if anyone knows the real deal here, cuz i was considering taking a trip there (I live in Philly) but no way if the park is a disaster like it currently is. Id appreciate anyone with info on this. Peace.

Not every coaster runs one train... Some don't run at all. ;)

I'm guessing you'll find two trains on Scream, Riddler, Goliath, and Viper. Not so sure about the rest. I'm sure they'll attempt to have two trains on X, but for some reason maintenance doesn't cooperate with this park... Or at least that's how they make it seem. I understand that they're open year-round, but they need to set up a schedule like Disney does for maintenance so everyone has an idea what's running when they come to the park. It's likely Flashback won't be running as it hasn't been since spring 2003 or so I've heard.

+Danny

Ever since I seen the movie Rollercoaster it is a park that I've wanted to visit. With all the reports out about operations and even in some cases rude employees, Im not so sure anymore about spending the time and $$ to get to the left coast.

I do ocationally see the surprise post of how people had fun there. Usually it was either because the park was dead for some reason or the friends they were with.

Chuck, who wonders why everyone decides to leave and goto KNOTTS? I thought it's because they had good WOOD.

Never plan a trip to Los Angeles just to visit SFMM. If you're coming to LA make a day [or two] at SFMM part of your itinerary and it first. That way you get the worst park out of the way and it's all up hill from there ;)

*** Edited 9/9/2004 3:59:57 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

From my limited experience (and what I've read/heard), Scream generally runs two, but only needs one due to SHORT lines. Riddler's has typically been running one train with *exceptionally* long waits. Goliath I think has oftentimes been running one train.

Flashback, if I understand correctly, has finally encountered some problems that MIGHT make it unusable in a more permanent way.

There's a good reason it's called "Tragic Mountain", it's a tragedy the way that place is (mis)managed...:(

Moosh, Of course I would plan to hit the scandias, SCBB, Knotts and other gems of the area. Id even like to hit DCA and Universal.

It just always seemed to me that SFMM was a Destination park every much as Disney but considering the reports. I shouldn't even look foreward to it and I may be surprised by a pleasant visit :)

Chuck

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Mamoosh said:
Never plan a trip to Los Angeles just to visit SFMM. If you're coming to LA make a day [or two] at SFMM part of your itinerary and it first. That way you get the worst park out of the way and it's all up hill from there

*** Edited 9/9/2004 3:59:57 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

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Wow! You got that right! =) LOL

I did exactly that when I went to LA. I flew in, checked in and hit SFMM first. Not only to get it "over with" early. But, I also went to ride everything that was working then go back later in the week to, hopefully, ride the rest. (That park would probably take at least 3 trips to hit them all.) I rode all but DejaVu. X was a lucky break. It broke down as the train that I was on pulled into the station. It was the third train of the day and didn't open up again the rest of the day.

I ended up hitting a few parks in between SFMM visits during my 4 day stay. It was a great time! =)

I'm going out to L.A. next month and do not plan on returning to Tragic Mountain. In fact, the few days we are planning on being out there will be spent at Knotts and only Knotts. It really is that good of a park.

I had high expectations when I visited Magic Mountain last year. I was looking forward to, what in my eyes, was the great competition to Cedar Point. Instead, I received one of the worst amusement park experiences ever. I will be fair and say that the weather did have something to do with that as it was 108 degrees that day, but the rude employees, long lines, single training, and the rundown condition of the park didnt help, either.

The great competition to Cedar Point is the *real* flagship Six Flags park (in my eyes) just to the west and the flagship Paramount Park just to the south.

+Danny

When I was out at the mountain on a Sunday in July, Goliath had 3 trains. Scream & X had 2, and Batman & Riddler were running 1. Didn't really check into the other coasters that day.

Does the lack of trains have to deal with lack of ride ops?

SFMM in recent years has been known for using bare minimum staffing on attractions...that's why they have the auxilary control panels so they can get away with one person at unload/controls and one person for load. Forget about an entrance or platform person...is this the reason for one and two train ops?

A good amount of their major coasters only run one train because CALOSHA did not sign on off on certain rolling stock during their last inspection (which was quite awhile ago). Apparently, they felt that maintenance logs were not properly kept and some other mumbojumbo.

They should let their guests know about that. I'm sure they'd be *really* understanding. ;)

+Danny

An inside source of mine claims the lack of trains in operation and the number of closed rides is due to a number of factors, including but not limited to a shrinking maintenance budget and CalOSHA citations.

I am not sure how valid his claims are, but there are certains rides at the park he will not ride do to what he perceives as safety issues.

I would have been thrilled that all of them that I would *hope* to be open were operating. They should have two trains on X, Riddler, and Goliath at all times, but they may have been included in these CalOSHA citations. I should probably have higher expectations though with visiting 3 SF parks this year that were operating at least two trains on everything they could (SFOG, SFGAm) *or* pumping guests through with short lines (SFKK). I was impressed and had the best time I've ever had at those three parks.

+Danny

Couldn't agree more, Danny....

Something must be going wrong in Chicago, Atlanta, and and Dallas...(well, Gurnee, Austell, and Arlington, but who's anal enough to split hairs like that?)....;)

There ARE parks in the chain, BIG parks, that do it the way it's supposed to be done....in SoCal, even the SFMM managers go to Knott's when they want to have a good time...:)

When I went to SFMM for the first time two months ago, I had a great time. I thought they had great service, most of the coasters were running, and the lines weren't too long. I got to about half the coasters which were X, Goliath, Scream, BTR, Revolution, Colossus, and Psyclone. My only concern was that the ops were kind of lazy and they loaded and unloaded slowly. Plus thier were too many of them at each coaster especially on Psyclone. As a conclusion, I had a very memorable time their, and I would definately choose SFMM over KBF.

Too many ops at a coaster....at SFMM? Really?

I've been out of the loop for a while on Magic Mountain and it's lackluster operations. I know that maintenance has a definite factor in the reduced capacity of the rides, but is the park's overall attendance suffering from the competing parks?

Has there been a decreased interest in the park from the general public? It seems from how people talk about the ride that Scream has done little to maintain interest in the park.

Do you think it's evident that the people out there are also coming to the realization that the people of Cleveland did a few years ago that it's not all about the newest coasters, it's more about the service, reliability, and atmosphere?

With that said, how would some of you compare SFMM and it's former sister park SFWoA in the areas of customer service, atmosphere, and overall experience if they were matched up? Is it really this bad out there or am I reading too much into some of your comments?

I'm honestly pretty uninformed about the operations of the west coast parks, so any info would be helpful.

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Mamoosh said:
Never plan a trip to Los Angeles just to visit SFMM. If you're coming to LA make a day [or two] at SFMM part of your itinerary and it first. That way you get the worst park out of the way and it's all up hill from there

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Good advice... advice I wish I'd had before we went to LA. We made the mistake of hitting the Disney parks first and they tainted everything else we did.

SFMM is a dreadful park. I try to go to each and every park with an open mind, shrugging off all of the negative stuff that I have read throughout the years. I have been to many parks that people told me would be awful experiences but turned out being really good ones.

DO NOT expect that of SFMM. It really is as bad as you've heard.

One train operation on Batman and Riddler- two of the park's most popular rides. On a busy summer day! Scream runs two but for some reason never gets a crowd. Goliath was a disappointment, so were Revolution and Ninja- all rides that I had high hopes for. X and Viper are two of the worst coasters I have ever ridden and the wood coasters are in horrendous condition. The LA/San Diego area has some nice parks but SFMM isn't one of them.

Make plans to go to LA and visit the Disney parks- they are really something! Knotts was also a great park, contrary to all the bad things I heard about it and Ghostrider. And don't miss the little parks like Scandia, Pacific Park and Belmont Park in San Diego. I can think of much better coaster destinations than LA but there is a lot to enjoy provided you're willing to endure some pretty awful traffic.