Six Flags Magic Mountain - Photo Trip Report (1/7-1/8)

I know this is a pretty delayed posting, but I wanted to get this PTR done and I figured it's better late than never. I have a lot to express about SFMM after a trip I took this past January, and I have a few decent pictures. This park has everything in excess, even with some major rides closed; Green Lantern, Revolution and Superman. We didn't miss a moment though, because there was still so much to do. The final ride count from the two days is as follows:

X2- 16
Lex Luthor- 7
Twisted Colossus- 4
Tatsu- 3
Full Throttle- 4
Goliath- 3
Riddler's Revenge- 2
Ninja- 2
Viper- 1
Gold Rusher- 1
Batman- 1
Apocalypse- 1
Scream- 1

[Superman was undergoing annual maintenance; Green Lantern was broken down both days like a bitch; Revolution was closed for the upgrade]





Apocalypse



Apocalypse's entrance plaza



Empty station, just like most of the park

Apocalypse: Another possibly good GCI lost to lack of maintenance. It wasn't re-rideable but I imagine at one point it was. The same thing happened to Gwazi. I know GCI's aren't the most forceful woodies but why do they always seem rough? Gwazi, Apocalypse, and Renegade all seem excessively rough. It's weird because Voyage is pretty smooth and so much more intense and a lot bigger. Anyway, Apocalypse has a pretty impressive queue line too. The queue almost seemed Universal Studios level quality. It's a shame the ride isn't better; it's the only woodie in the park right now (and for the foreseeable future) and the layout has promise. It needs to be smoother though. Because of this, there isn't much re-ride value.





Full Throttle





Full Throttle: Before riding Full Throttle, I remember a lot of people were claiming the hard braking down the final pull-up of the tophat made the airtime feel even more intense and fun, and I thought they were crazy. I would never buy that braking could add to the quality of a roller coaster if I hadn't ridden it myself. It just proves that you really cannot judge anything about a roller coaster until you have been on it. Full Throttle is a unique species. The back row of Full Throttle, which we had he privilege of riding twice in a row without getting off for our first times, is stupid awesome. The loop provides a really unique lasting upside down panoramic view of the north end of the park. The low-ground maneuvers and the dive roll are also fantastic. But the "top-hat" is all of the fun. Front row is trippy and provides another great view over the top. And the back row during the top-hat is not really describable unless you've been on it. The culmination of ejector airtime with negative deceleration at such impeccable timing right at the final brakes is an aggressive and hilarious experience. The re-ride value is maximum for this ride.





Gold Rusher

Gold Rusher: I'm always the first to advocate a classic Arrow mine train, despite their roughness. I appreciate their character and they are usually pretty fun. But not for Gold Rusher. Gold Rusher has no re-ride value whatsoever. During the entire ride, I was trying to brace myself for the creased lead-ins and underbanked elements. I think it may have something to do with the lap bar settings that apply to all 6 seats per car. Those bars were like fence poles and not comfortable at all. It needs the Excalibur trains and it might be a decently fun ride. #smallminetrainsmatter





Goliath



Goliath diving straight into the ground literally

Goliath: We were both very excited for Goliath because we were huge fans of Titan. We were disappointed though. Titan was a huge upgrade. The first reason is that Titan's pre-MCBR helix is legendary stuff. Goliath does not have this helix. Also, Goliath's MCBR holds the train at a complete stop for like 10 seconds. When we rode in the front car, the car hangs at about 50 degrees directly after the MCBR. It's bizarre [in a bad way] to lean at such a severe banking at like 1 m.p.h. Titan's MCBR, while aggressive, does not ruin the second half like that. Titan is remarkable, Goliath is passable. It's strange how that can happen with roller coasters that are so similar. Re-ride value isn't great.





Lex Luthor Drop of Doom





Amazing sight to behold

Lex Luther Drop of Doom: I'm including this in the report because it won my heart. I was deathly afraid of it because I get a little shaky with heights that high, in fact I actually started crying the first time we rode it But I quickly realized the ride was miraculous. We rode it 7 times in the two days there, and I kept wanting to go back to it. There was never any line, and the sensation of immense fear and endless airtime is something I could not get enough of. I'm going to SFGAdv next month so I'll get to ride Zumanjaro. That's something I look forward to, since Zumanjaro is even taller





Ninja



Ninja's weird curved station, empty

Ninja: Ninja was actually closed the first day for technical reasons, and I'm very happy that it was opened on the second day. It ended up being a big surprise. We rode in the front row and the back car, and the back is nothing compared to the front. The front row is a freaking adventure. Visibility is a big factor, but the forces in the front are a lot better than the back too. That low ground turn over the pond pulls amazing g's. It's also amazing to see the coaster against the hillside in real life. Videos don't do that factor justice. Ninja is nestled beautifully against that steep hill, which also justifies the split lift/curved station system a lot more. Ninja's track makes so many unusual accommodations for the terrain, and for a good reason. This roller coaster is an amazing suspended- definitely a lot better than Iron Dragon or Bat. Re-ride value is high with this one.





Riddler's Revenge



Yes very exciting, Riddler was my 100th.





He has some beautiful little theme objects and surroundings!





This quick whip after the cork is pretty fun



And this air hill provides some fun standing floater!

Riddler's Revenge: This stand-up is better than a lot of the sitting down multi-loopers I've been on. It is a ton of fun, it has a great layout, and even a few low-g moments which prove to be really unique on a stand-up. It's much better than Mantis or Iron Wolf, almost in a league of its own. We were eager to ride it a second time. Probably the best stand-up out there.





Scream

Scream: I'll just be honest. Scream was peak hangover time for me and it was by the hands of an angel that I didn't throw up into the hedges after riding it front row. So it might have impacted my view on the ride. But I'll be going on Bizarro at SFGAdv next month so I can confirm that the layout is mediocre at best. But B&M multi loopers are all kind of blurring together at this point in my life. With Scream I was like... meh. We get it. Generic. For a few moments I was pretty sure I would be throwing up in public haha. Hangovers and B&M multi-loopers do not combine well. While multi-loopers are fun in a generic sense, they don't constitute "top ten" material these days. Thankfully B&M flyers and megas save the day.





Tatsu



Classic entrance area view.





She is a beaut





Dat line

Tatsu: Between Superman, Manta, and Tatsu, this one takes first by a long margin for me. It's a pretty hefty walk up to this station, but so worth it. Tatsu had no line while we were there. Every element is purposeful and graceful and the lift is a LOT higher off the ground than it seems from pictures and videos. The corkscrew is gigantic and awe-inspiring, and the cork/zero g is even better. Perfect hammerhead placement. Then the pretzel loop comes, which is debilitatingly strong. The final roll and helix make an awesome final combo. Tatsu is one of the best B&Ms of any type in my opinion.





Twisted Colossus

Twisted Colossus: This ride has so much variation in force, with force changes happening in the blink of an eye. TC is relentless when it comes to airtime and lats. The zero g stall is magnificent. It's hard to express the craziness of TC, but "falling down stairs" comes to mind. I highly recommend it to everyone. We went back for it a few times, but it is a lot to handle lol. It's not really worth describing any further because I find that a lot of people that haven't ridden it are quick to dismiss its intensity. I advise against doing that





Viper





Viper: I remember being afraid of Viper because of my experience on Vortex and other smaller Arrow corkscrews. I was prepared for a really rough and unpleasant ride. Because of this, we rode in the middle car. I was greeted with an astoundingly smooth first half, and your typically sad Arrow second half. But truly, the fact that Viper's first half is that smooth and comfortable is worth commending. The first drop and first loop are exquisite. We made the joke that Viper would be an outstanding ride if riders could opt to exit the train at the MCBR haha. Regardless, I was surprised by how great the first half is.





X2



The pathway to X2 on the second morning. We were really thankful that we didn't have to deal with excessive crowds. Especially when it came to X2.





X2 has some epic supportage.



Looking at the inside of the station again makes me miss it so much...



... and so does looking at this

X2: How do I even begin to describe X2? Everything about X2 is perfection, excluding the last couple of elements (which get a little rough). The height, the on board music, the rotation, the restraint system. Facing downward during that vertical drop... I can't dramatize it enough. It's incredible, and so is the first giant raven turn. The floating sensation at the top of the first raven turn while the train brings you face down is an unparalleled sensation. The next camelback that contains the floating backwards flip is awesome, to say the least. And the remaining elements each have their own charm/pain. All of this with such a unique restraint system (for those who are curious: a seat with a gigantic thigh separator and two contoured bars that create a vest at the height and tightness of your own choosing.) It took me two or three rides to find a good custom fit lol. We rode 16 times in two days, but we only left the station 4 times. We were able to bounce around the station thanks to lines hardly accumulating during our visit. Bottom line is that X2 is unique, exhilarating, and the re-ride value is maximum. And the on-board soundtrack really adds points to the experience. Calves may take a beating but you suck it up for X2. I can't speak highly enough of this roller coaster. It wins the SFMM trip.

[Paradox]

You didn't miss anything with Green Lantern. Apocalypse is so rough because Six Flags doesn't know that wooden coasters need maintenance, but they'll let it rot until they can no longer drain money out of it. Riddler is by far the best ride at SFMM for me at least. Scream is so inferior to Bizarro it's not even funny. When I was there Lex Luthor was down so it's nice to hear it at least provides some air. Zumanjaro does literally nothing and is a waste of space. Twisted Colossus is my least favorite RMC and I've ridden Outlaw Run and Wicked Cyclone as well.

I just found SFMM to be trashy. Knott's is like so much better.

[Turbo]

SFMM is one of my favorite parks. But yes. It is trashy. For one reason. Staff and management.

Paradox wrote:

You didn't miss anything with Green Lantern. Apocalypse is so rough because Six Flags doesn't know that wooden coasters need maintenance, but they'll let it rot until they can no longer drain money out of it. Riddler is by far the best ride at SFMM for me at least. Scream is so inferior to Bizarro it's not even funny. When I was there Lex Luthor was down so it's nice to hear it at least provides some air. Zumanjaro does literally nothing and is a waste of space. Twisted Colossus is my least favorite RMC and I've ridden Outlaw Run and Wicked Cyclone as well.

I just found SFMM to be trashy. Knott's is like so much better.

Lex and Zumanjaro are like the same exact thing, how can you claim that Zumanjaro doesn't provide airtime when it is literally a freefalling object?

[Paradox]

tiepilot35 wrote:

Paradox wrote:

You didn't miss anything with Green Lantern. Apocalypse is so rough because Six Flags doesn't know that wooden coasters need maintenance, but they'll let it rot until they can no longer drain money out of it. Riddler is by far the best ride at SFMM for me at least. Scream is so inferior to Bizarro it's not even funny. When I was there Lex Luthor was down so it's nice to hear it at least provides some air. Zumanjaro does literally nothing and is a waste of space. Twisted Colossus is my least favorite RMC and I've ridden Outlaw Run and Wicked Cyclone as well.

I just found SFMM to be trashy. Knott's is like so much better.

Lex and Zumanjaro are like the same exact thing, how can you claim that Zumanjaro doesn't provide airtime when it is literally a freefalling object?

I've ridden it. It might have some air, but it's nothing compared to an S&S tower.

No.

[Paradox]

Once again, I've heard Lex Luthor is very different from Zumanjaro so I do not know how to judge it since I never rode it. I still firmly believe that S&S makes the best drop towers.

I do suppose it's all a matter of opinion. I'd be sad (and surprised) if Zumanjaro was much different from Lex Luthor, though. I don't see how anything could cause them to be substantially different. And I enjoy S&S towers too, especially the launch upwards one at Valleyfair, but they don't go nearly as high, and they have a constant cable connection. I read that that causes the drops to be a fraction of a magnitude weaker than pure freefall, whereas the Intamin gondolas actually detach entirely from their connection and fall freely down a track into brakes. The longer lasting airtime is what won me over.

Anyway, blah blah blah, I hope you all are enjoying the actual trip report lol

S&S towers are a bit of a waste I feel. Both the upwards and downwards launches both have a really good pop of airtime at the top but after that it feels like sitting on a bench. might as well just be over.

[Paradox]

MagnumFreak25 wrote:

S&S towers are a bit of a waste I feel. Both the upwards and downwards launches both have a really good pop of airtime at the top but after that it feels like sitting on a bench. might as well just be over.

Scream at SFNE, Supreme Scream at Knott's, and Down Time at Lake Compounce are my favorite drop towers ever.

Wow...Awesome trip report! And I agree with most of your ride thoughts, especially X2 and TC, both of which are two awesome, unique experiences. X2 is one of the most awesome rides in the world imo, especially that first drop and raven turn combo. TC gets better the more I ride it, and now that it's broken in, the airtime (especially in the front 3 rows) is my favorite on an RMC so far.

Excellent trip report! I really like reading the impressions first-time visitors (or very infrequent visitors) have of the parks I visit several times a year. It sounds like you had a pretty enjoyable trip. Six Flags Magic Mountain is not the greatest park out there, but it is a fun park and a must-visit destination for anyone who likes roller coasters. Missing Superman and Green Lantern isn't really that big of loss, and while Revolution is great with the new trains it wouldn't have been any fun with the old. A few responses to your ride reviews:

-When Apocalypse opened, I considered it the best coaster in the park (especially at night). SFMM has unfortunately allowed the ride to deteriorate rapidly due to lack of maintenance, and when the ride was only 4 years old it was rougher than most GCIs are after 10+. At this point, I doubt anything other than a total retrack could restore the ride to opening day condition, and SFMM will never invest that kind of money. The queue is pretty impressive for Six Flags (it represents the level of theming they can put into the ride if they try), and back when it was Terminator the attraction had multiple pre-shows and a few mechanical show elements in the queue, plus an on-ride soundtrack.

-Initially, Goliath was barely trimmed on the midcourse brakes, but after someone died on the ride they turned them up. Over time, the ride has been slowed more and more, and as of a year or two ago it now fully stops on the midcourse. It's a shame because the ride really could be so much better, but I still find it a pretty good coaster.

-Lex Luthor is a bit weird, and I know several people who hate drop towers but love this one. Having been on both Lex Luthor and Zumanjaro, I'd say Lex Luthor is a little better but the two are fairly comparable. Both have floating airtime the entire way down, which is a completely different sensation from an S&S tower (those launch you down instead of just dropping you, resulting in an ejection at the top).

-In my opinion, Ninja is the hidden gem of SFMM. It's short and more of a high-intensity family coaster than a serious thrill ride, but it is a fun attraction when the line isn't bad.

-On a good day, Scream is decent. On a bad day, Scream is one of the roughest B&Ms out there. Bizarro is much better all around. I wouldn't say that the layout is mediocre, I'd just say it is unimaginative. There are exceptions, but the majority of B&M sitting and floorless coasters use a variation of the layout B&M came up with for Kumba. Scream happens to be one of the rides with minimal variation from that ride, so it has a "been there, done that" feel for an experienced enthusiast.

-Twisted Colossus is way more intense than you would expect given the height and layout. It is pretty much two 30-second coasters connected together, but each 30 second coaster has more force than most full-length rides. I haven't been on many RMCs (just Twisted Colossus and Goliath), but based on what I have seen and experienced my impression is that they are outstanding rides but so extreme that they're difficult to ride more than a couple times in quick succession. I once did 8 consecutive rides on Twisted Colossus during an ERT session...I don't recommend it (I'd suggest instead doing 3 and then taking a break).

-Viper is really smooth for an Arrow. Even the second half of the ride isn't too bad other than one particularly brutal transition coming out of the batwing. I just wish the ride wasn't trimmed quite so much.

-X2 seems like it is a love/hate ride. Most of my friends either rank it in the top 3 or bottom 3 at the park, with very few placing it in the middle. I really like the ride, I just wish the ending wasn't so brutal. But 16 rides in 2 days? How in the world did you pull that off? On a completely dead day, I usually only ride twice...maybe three times if it's running well.

-Lastly, just for fun (and potential comparisons), here's how I rank the coasters at SFMM:

Top Tier:
1. X2
2. Twisted Colossus (I go back and forth whether or not to rank this above X2...it definitely beats X2 when dueling)
3. Tatsu
4. Full Throttle
5. Goliath
6. Riddler's Revenge

Middle Tier:
7. Scream!
8. Apocalypse the Ride (this one bounces all over the middle tier depending how it's running, but in general I rank it here)
9. Batman The Ride
10. New Revolution (this one may move once I get more rides with the new trains)
11. Superman: Escape from Krypton

Lower Tier:
12. Viper
13. Ninja
14. Green Lantern: First Flight
15. Gold Rusher

^ Awwww...poor little Gold Rusher lol. Maybe because there is never a wait for it, but I like it.

rcdude wrote:

-X2 seems like it is a love/hate ride. Most of my friends either rank it in the top 3 or bottom 3 at the park, with very few placing it in the middle. I really like the ride, I just wish the ending wasn't so brutal. But 16 rides in 2 days? How in the world did you pull that off? On a completely dead day, I usually only ride twice...maybe three times if it's running well.

It was so empty these two days that they didn't even make us leave the station. A couple of times, we didn't even have to leave our seat. This was a shocking but wonderful surprise from a Six Flags park. We were so obsessed with the ride and not getting sick of it at all that we just kept going over and over until our calves could not take it. It was so fun getting on the same train or the very next train without waiting more than a couple of minutes. I feel really fortunate that this happened because I've heard how crazy the line can get for it. This was surely a once in a blue moon chance and we seized it. I currently have it as my #1 and I miss it every day.

^That might explain it. I've seen pretty empty days at the park, but when you don't even have to get up and walk around that is very, very rare. Still, that's way more rides than I'd ever want to do, but different people are different. On a dead day, I'm more the ride twice then move on type, and maybe I'll revisit my favorites for a third ride later in the day. If you can tolerate it, go for it, since X2 is one of those rides that regularly gets 60-90 minute waits in the summer (sometimes longer).

^^Even though Gold Rusher is my least favorite coaster at SFMM (excluding the kiddies, of course), it is far from my least favorite coaster period. I'd say it's the best of the lower tier Arrow mine trains and still worth riding if there isn't a wait. I'd love to see SFMM get new trains (or at least new restraints) for the ride so that it can have a 42" height restriction.

I could not possibly get enough of X2. The last few elements are pretty bad, but we found ways of dampening the shakiness that comes with them. It's so badass it makes me scream like a little girl. And yes we got really lucky with crowds.