X2 testing video on official website

Magic Mountain has put up an new video of the new trains on X2 testing.

I really have to commend them for having the content on their website constantly updated. Not longer than a week ago, there was a different video of the trains testing, but shot amateur-style...which was totally fine by me, it just shows the new management is more engaging with its consumers now and realize how vital it is to maintain a website with fresh and updated content.

Compared to previous Six Flags management...where their individual home park websites would never feature any multimedia content that kept up with progress or construction.

http://www.sixflags.com/magicMountain/rides/X2.aspx

Wow, those new trains really have an industrial look to them compared to the old ones. I like it.

Hopefully the ride tracks better and has better capacity. It is a kick ass ride.

hm... I kind of dig the new look as well!
More solemn, more dark and aggressive - more heavy metal!
What worries me though is that I was able to spot the hated swivelling motions of the seats at the beginning and end of 4D-track changes that were beating up people's calves and heads also on the new trains in at least three scenes of the "virtual ride" video.
So.. maybe after all it is the track and not the seats?
They still have a month to tweak the ride.
I'm not giving up hope... thumbs stay pressed...

P.S.
I kind of like how they mellowed out their tone in some of the ride descriptions on this site...
"One of the tallest and fastest around" etc...
Even though the organisation of the rides in a table you can sort by "thrill level" seems a little nerdy to me :)
But who am I be to complain!

There is one thing about this retrofit that bothers me: their commercials touts the ride as the all new X2 and all of my friends, family, and coworkers who know I'm into coasters has asked me if I'm excited about and know when SFMM's new coaster is opening. When I tell them it is not a new coaster but a makeover of an existing ride their first reply is, "Really? The commercials say its new."

Changing the paint, trains, and adding some effects (BTW, no more tunnels...they were cut from the project) does not make the ride "all new" and I think this ad campaign is very misleading.

http://www.sixflags.com/magicMountain/rides/AllRides.aspx

If anyone noticed, if you click on Thomas Town Construction, it says No Value in DCR, anyone knows what this means?

Yeah, seems like a real stretch calling it "all new." I doubt there will be a large public backlash against it, however. I figure most people may think they scrapped the original and built a new one... maybe. I'd like to listen in on what non-enthusiasts are saying about it while in line, you going this season, Moosh?

I suppose if there ends up being faster loading/unloading and less downtime, it's worth it.

Advertising misleading? Surely you jest!

I'd like to listen in on what non-enthusiasts are saying about it while in line, you going this season, Moosh?

Nope. I'm not visiting any Six Flags parks this year.

Advertising misleading? Surely you jest!

I work in the advertising industry. I know most ads contain hyperbole and spin. But "all new" implies there is "zero old" remaining...and that's just not the case with X2.

In the end will it matter. Perhaps not. IMHO its just not a good idea to risk pissing off a customer. *** Edited 4/20/2008 4:58:18 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

^^it means the database is incomplete.
It seems like there is a discrepancy in the marketing of the ride - the database on the website is much less sensationalist in tone than the ads you are talking about Mamoosh -
they were probably done by different people (my guess would be the website content is a fan or employee pet project adopted by SF, while the ad campaign was done by a PR agency trying to maximise the sensation).

*** Edited 4/20/2008 4:56:37 PM UTC by superman***

I think they took a page out of Disney's book on this one when calling X2 "new". Disney promoted both Space Mountain/RockIt and Pirates heavily after their upgrades. I suspect fans of X care more about the ride being a better experience with faster dispatch times rather than whether or not the advertising campaign is slightly deceptive in it's choice of language.

Yeah, I kinda agree with Moosh's sentiment here. Obviously the biggest chunk of this was the new trains, which aren't inherently marketable or sexy, so slapping on some snazzier more visible stuff made sense to me - the tunnels, effects, etc. I mean the whole thing was a ploy to begin with (a smart one, sure) but without the added stuff it will seem more so.

I think it's always sketchy territory for a park to tout improvements to previously flawed rides. I remember KK's Thunderun got a rehab at one point and big yellow banner that said something along the lines of "FASTER! SMOOTHER!" and some other stuff.

Needless to say it was indeed smoother but a "smoother" ride on Thunder Run can still seem pretty rough by GP standards. Lots of people didn't seem to pleased, at least from what I saw. I think it's sometimes better to take the loss, fix the ride, and let the results speak for themselves.

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It seems like there is a discrepancy in the marketing of the ride

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Sort of like pasting a "one of the top ten wooden coasters" banner on the side of Mean Streak?