Rob
Mega Poster
Hi everyone!
So last week, I was lucky enough to be able to visit a bucket list park - Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was in the states with family and had a few spare days, so I decided to fly from Seattle to LA for a day and visit Magic Mountain. As I only had around 6 hours to hit the whole park, I opted to buy the top teir flash pass (fast track to us UK lot) costing circa $200, just to make sure I could do everything.
So my expectations, ride wise, were pretty high. I was REALLY looking forward to X2 (no idea on what to expect as I'd never ridden anything like it) and Tatsu (love air). Park wise, I was expecting something like a hybrid between Thorpe Park and a fairground.
Rather than a blow by blow account of the day, I'll give a little round up of my top and bottom 3 or 4 positives and negative rides, then a general summary of my thoughts on the park as a whole and some questions for the US cohort of members.
So, my top 4 positives:
1. Twisted Colossus - I'd basically overlooked this one in terms of hyping myself up for the day. After all, it's a 120ft tall hybrid coaster. Compared to the mammoth that is Goliath right next to it, how good can it be?
Very. Very good.
I was absolutely blown away by how much of a punch this thing packed for such a relatively small coaster. What really impressed me was how every single feature on both sides delivered so much more than you'd expect for its size - even down to the silly little bumps between the station and the lift (expectation: ultimate style pointlessness, reality: little, comfortable pops of airtime).
The overall experience was, for me, fantastic. The layout delivered the typical RMC fare (a unique level of wild yet not nausiating or ouch), managing to combine this with a number of genuinely scary headchoppers (it's rare I feel the need to duck or put my arms down but on this thing, I was practically trying to get into the fetal position) and the buttery smooth execution you find on every RMC. What really impressed me, though, was the way RMC have managed to combine the next level experience you'd expect from them, with the dueling coaster element, without compromise. This coaster really is a unique level of special in my eyes because there's absolutely no compromise on the ride experience of either side purely to enable the trains to duel. Its essentially like they've tied together two coasters, that would stand alone as headliners, and managed to make something that is quite uniquely special.
I've often thought the reason UK coasters tend to feel a tier below their European counterparts was due to our general unwillingness to build much above 100ft, but here's the proof that you can essentially match the wildness and thrill of Zadra with just half the height. If Blackpool gave Grand National the RMC treatment (with an extra 40ft or so on the lift), I think you might have my UK fave in one.
2. Tatsu - I hoped it would be good, I was excited about it, it was very good. (I got front row too).
3. Lex Luthers Drop tower with a long old name - exactly what you'd expect from a silly high Drop tower. I think it's the first tower ride I've ever ridden that's so high it feels as though it reaches terminal velocity before hitting the brakes. That makes it pretty fun and the experience is kinda unique - you go from feeling as though the car is dropping away from you, to a sense of pure zero G - just casually floating between the seat base and the restraint, it was great!
4. Riddlers revenge - Everything shockwave should have been. Very smooth for its age and just better than I expected.
The negatives:
X2 - this one is just bad. For a coaster of that height, you'd expect it to be exciting/scary (and it is), but holy Jesus Mary and the wee donkey, its all the roughness of an SLC with a unique leg destroying ouchness as the cars randomly shimmy back and forth (something to do with the kit that's makes the cars spin being old?). Not only that, but it only had 1 train available (a second sat in the shed but the staff said it was unserviceable). That alone makes the throughput something ridiculous like 200 riders per hour. WTF. I also noticed nothing that makes X2 the 2 bit, was working. No sounds or special effects, basically X but red rather than rhubarb and custard. No thanks.
2. Everything Premier - I was really looking forward to Full Throttle. I was really disappointed by Full Throttle. The initial launch is good and the backwards one that sort of inverts the back of the train is pretty fun, but the layout is short, the top hat forceless, and the brakes straight out of the top hat just hurt. With West Coast racers, I was hoping, it would be another unexpected delight, but it was essentially a wish.com version of an RMC. Not as smooth, not as well executed, unpleasant restraints and somehow made me feel sick (rare but seemingly slightly more common as I age).
3. Goliath - What a waste of space this thing is. Its up there with Pepsi max, vying for the top spot in the league of most pointless coasters. Straight up RCT2 designed, the only forceful moment is the toilet bowl helix where you almost faint (mainly due to dehydration but more on that later).
The Park
Given my expectations were pretty low, I'd describe the general atmosphere of the park as pleasing. It wasn't untidy or dirty and there was a nice amount of landscaping, building upkeep was mostly good and area themes were somewhat present, although it was difficult to tell where one "area" ended and another started. The ride specific themes were very variable, for instance, apocalypse, West Coast racers and Batman all had quite nice levels of themeing, but then things like Scream, Tatsu and Full Throttle just sort of exist. My overall synopsis for the Brits reading this would be slightly worse than Thorpe Park but WAY better than Blackpool.
Q1: Is Magic Mountain one of the better or worse six flags when it comes to themeing?
When it comes to operations, they were appallingly bad. Like, next level atrocious. Near enough everything was on ONE train. So for Goliath, that essentially meant 30 people every 5 minutes. It was a similar story for all the B&M coasters and Wonder Woman really took the biscuit - with a capacity per train at a whopping 12 people, I calculated the through put to be in the vicinity of around 200 riders per hour. This created artificial queues, averaging around an hour for every ride. I know people love to knock Merlin, but in their defence, atleast it's rare to see 1 train operations, even on a quiet day.
Ride availability wasn't good either. The day started with only a handful of rides open at opposite sides of the park. Throughout the day, various things opened, then closed, then opened etc. Superman and Viper didn't open at all (apparently they're weekend only), but this isn't advertised or pre-warned anywhere, which I think is pretty poor when it's a planned closure.
Q2. Is this typical? Is one train ops just pure cost saving?
The park also smashed the leader board for staff to capacity ratio - the best being Wonder Woman, which had no less than 9 staff in the station for 1 train operation, with about 7 of the 9 staff stood doing nothing. I often think there's a sweet spot for operational efficiency, with less staff usually getting the best outcomes (best ops I've seen has been at Port Aventura, where Stampida would have as little as 3 staff operating 2 coasters (Stampida red and blue) - 1 op and 1 host per platform). Interestingly, I find less staff tends to be better as they don't get distracted having conversations and generally work as a more task focused team (Merlins parks often being in the middle ground with circa 4-6 staff for big coasters, generally pretty slick but sometimes busy chatting and ignoring the job). This was an example of extreme over staffing, although in their defense, the staff weren't too slow. It just seems mad that they waste SO much cash on unnecessary staff and don't seem to want to reduce the staffing and put the money towards 2 train ops.
But, on the staffing front, it got OH so much worse. It appears six flags don't do such things as ride announcements (or, to be fair, ride soundtracks), so it seems staff compensate by trying their best to do it themselves. Yes, to the extent that i was wondering if there's a karaoke element to the job interview. Anyone better than 4/10 need not apply. During my visit I was treated to the following singles:
1. I came in like a weeeeekin' ballll (op singing as he started Crazanity)
2. "We're soaring, on tatsu, there's not a star on tatsu that we can't reach" (PAINFULLY ) loud duet on EVERY dispatch of Tatsu (mind you, as it was 1 train op that was about once every 12 minutes)
3. "TATSUUUUUUU" literally screamed down the PA on every dispatch.
It was cringe, it was unbearable, and it makes the park look like it's being run by a group of over-enthusastic teenagers taking the p*ss.
Q3. Is this normal or did I just get the over-enthusiastic teenagers on my visit?
The ones who weren't sharing their vocal abilities were often just being straight up aggressive, such as the ones giving a minute long speech about how they'll stop the ride and get you kicked our if they see you using your phones. It was a very weird dichotomy of over-zealous fun at one end of the spectrum to gangsta-style abuse at the other - although I will say most of the platform staff were perfectly polite.
Signage around the park was also pretty terrible. Ninja was hard to find and it was really difficult to work out where to find the flash pass queues on lots of rides.
Now for something I never expected to say - the food and drink pricing here makes Merlin look exceptional value for money. I paid $18 for essentially 4 chicken nuggets and chips (cheapest item on the menu). It was 30 degrees Celsius out and water was $6.49 (£4.65ish) for a 600ml bottle (the smallest one). These prices were PRE tax, and EVERY transaction you made was given a $1.30 surcharge, due to "increased labour and supply costs". They've also removed all water fountains, so you can't even refill a bottle - in 30°C heat! This means, if you're feeling faint from an artificially created 1 hour 30 queue and a toilet bowl helix on arguably the most pointless coaster of your life, your rehydrating $6.49 water actually cost $7.79 plus tax, if that's all you buy. Again, well done six flags because you're managing to make Merlin look reasonably priced and very ethical.
Q4. Just Magic Mountain? Just Six Flags? Or just America?
This combination of awful operations, blatant profiteering and non-exsitent morals put a massive downer on the day.
Q5. Americans - why do you go back? Genuinely, this type of behaviour from a corporate is exactly the reason I lost interest in the industry. Back in the heyday of Merlins profiteering, where prices just rose by silly % season on season (which, thankfully, I do think we've now come out of) I just didn't bother going to most UK parks. If I was a local, I'd probably only be able to justify visiting once every few years. Sure, some of the rides are pretty epic, but when the operator is so immoral I just leave with such a bad taste in my mouth, I wouldn't be able to justify giving them any more of my money.
So, yes, the summary:
Presentation of the park better than expected, rides as expected (world leading basically), operations poor, park management appalling.
Would I go back?
Not in a hurry.
So last week, I was lucky enough to be able to visit a bucket list park - Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was in the states with family and had a few spare days, so I decided to fly from Seattle to LA for a day and visit Magic Mountain. As I only had around 6 hours to hit the whole park, I opted to buy the top teir flash pass (fast track to us UK lot) costing circa $200, just to make sure I could do everything.
So my expectations, ride wise, were pretty high. I was REALLY looking forward to X2 (no idea on what to expect as I'd never ridden anything like it) and Tatsu (love air). Park wise, I was expecting something like a hybrid between Thorpe Park and a fairground.
Rather than a blow by blow account of the day, I'll give a little round up of my top and bottom 3 or 4 positives and negative rides, then a general summary of my thoughts on the park as a whole and some questions for the US cohort of members.
So, my top 4 positives:
1. Twisted Colossus - I'd basically overlooked this one in terms of hyping myself up for the day. After all, it's a 120ft tall hybrid coaster. Compared to the mammoth that is Goliath right next to it, how good can it be?
Very. Very good.
I was absolutely blown away by how much of a punch this thing packed for such a relatively small coaster. What really impressed me was how every single feature on both sides delivered so much more than you'd expect for its size - even down to the silly little bumps between the station and the lift (expectation: ultimate style pointlessness, reality: little, comfortable pops of airtime).
The overall experience was, for me, fantastic. The layout delivered the typical RMC fare (a unique level of wild yet not nausiating or ouch), managing to combine this with a number of genuinely scary headchoppers (it's rare I feel the need to duck or put my arms down but on this thing, I was practically trying to get into the fetal position) and the buttery smooth execution you find on every RMC. What really impressed me, though, was the way RMC have managed to combine the next level experience you'd expect from them, with the dueling coaster element, without compromise. This coaster really is a unique level of special in my eyes because there's absolutely no compromise on the ride experience of either side purely to enable the trains to duel. Its essentially like they've tied together two coasters, that would stand alone as headliners, and managed to make something that is quite uniquely special.
I've often thought the reason UK coasters tend to feel a tier below their European counterparts was due to our general unwillingness to build much above 100ft, but here's the proof that you can essentially match the wildness and thrill of Zadra with just half the height. If Blackpool gave Grand National the RMC treatment (with an extra 40ft or so on the lift), I think you might have my UK fave in one.
2. Tatsu - I hoped it would be good, I was excited about it, it was very good. (I got front row too).
3. Lex Luthers Drop tower with a long old name - exactly what you'd expect from a silly high Drop tower. I think it's the first tower ride I've ever ridden that's so high it feels as though it reaches terminal velocity before hitting the brakes. That makes it pretty fun and the experience is kinda unique - you go from feeling as though the car is dropping away from you, to a sense of pure zero G - just casually floating between the seat base and the restraint, it was great!
4. Riddlers revenge - Everything shockwave should have been. Very smooth for its age and just better than I expected.
The negatives:
X2 - this one is just bad. For a coaster of that height, you'd expect it to be exciting/scary (and it is), but holy Jesus Mary and the wee donkey, its all the roughness of an SLC with a unique leg destroying ouchness as the cars randomly shimmy back and forth (something to do with the kit that's makes the cars spin being old?). Not only that, but it only had 1 train available (a second sat in the shed but the staff said it was unserviceable). That alone makes the throughput something ridiculous like 200 riders per hour. WTF. I also noticed nothing that makes X2 the 2 bit, was working. No sounds or special effects, basically X but red rather than rhubarb and custard. No thanks.
2. Everything Premier - I was really looking forward to Full Throttle. I was really disappointed by Full Throttle. The initial launch is good and the backwards one that sort of inverts the back of the train is pretty fun, but the layout is short, the top hat forceless, and the brakes straight out of the top hat just hurt. With West Coast racers, I was hoping, it would be another unexpected delight, but it was essentially a wish.com version of an RMC. Not as smooth, not as well executed, unpleasant restraints and somehow made me feel sick (rare but seemingly slightly more common as I age).
3. Goliath - What a waste of space this thing is. Its up there with Pepsi max, vying for the top spot in the league of most pointless coasters. Straight up RCT2 designed, the only forceful moment is the toilet bowl helix where you almost faint (mainly due to dehydration but more on that later).
The Park
Given my expectations were pretty low, I'd describe the general atmosphere of the park as pleasing. It wasn't untidy or dirty and there was a nice amount of landscaping, building upkeep was mostly good and area themes were somewhat present, although it was difficult to tell where one "area" ended and another started. The ride specific themes were very variable, for instance, apocalypse, West Coast racers and Batman all had quite nice levels of themeing, but then things like Scream, Tatsu and Full Throttle just sort of exist. My overall synopsis for the Brits reading this would be slightly worse than Thorpe Park but WAY better than Blackpool.
Q1: Is Magic Mountain one of the better or worse six flags when it comes to themeing?
When it comes to operations, they were appallingly bad. Like, next level atrocious. Near enough everything was on ONE train. So for Goliath, that essentially meant 30 people every 5 minutes. It was a similar story for all the B&M coasters and Wonder Woman really took the biscuit - with a capacity per train at a whopping 12 people, I calculated the through put to be in the vicinity of around 200 riders per hour. This created artificial queues, averaging around an hour for every ride. I know people love to knock Merlin, but in their defence, atleast it's rare to see 1 train operations, even on a quiet day.
Ride availability wasn't good either. The day started with only a handful of rides open at opposite sides of the park. Throughout the day, various things opened, then closed, then opened etc. Superman and Viper didn't open at all (apparently they're weekend only), but this isn't advertised or pre-warned anywhere, which I think is pretty poor when it's a planned closure.
Q2. Is this typical? Is one train ops just pure cost saving?
The park also smashed the leader board for staff to capacity ratio - the best being Wonder Woman, which had no less than 9 staff in the station for 1 train operation, with about 7 of the 9 staff stood doing nothing. I often think there's a sweet spot for operational efficiency, with less staff usually getting the best outcomes (best ops I've seen has been at Port Aventura, where Stampida would have as little as 3 staff operating 2 coasters (Stampida red and blue) - 1 op and 1 host per platform). Interestingly, I find less staff tends to be better as they don't get distracted having conversations and generally work as a more task focused team (Merlins parks often being in the middle ground with circa 4-6 staff for big coasters, generally pretty slick but sometimes busy chatting and ignoring the job). This was an example of extreme over staffing, although in their defense, the staff weren't too slow. It just seems mad that they waste SO much cash on unnecessary staff and don't seem to want to reduce the staffing and put the money towards 2 train ops.
But, on the staffing front, it got OH so much worse. It appears six flags don't do such things as ride announcements (or, to be fair, ride soundtracks), so it seems staff compensate by trying their best to do it themselves. Yes, to the extent that i was wondering if there's a karaoke element to the job interview. Anyone better than 4/10 need not apply. During my visit I was treated to the following singles:
1. I came in like a weeeeekin' ballll (op singing as he started Crazanity)
2. "We're soaring, on tatsu, there's not a star on tatsu that we can't reach" (PAINFULLY ) loud duet on EVERY dispatch of Tatsu (mind you, as it was 1 train op that was about once every 12 minutes)
3. "TATSUUUUUUU" literally screamed down the PA on every dispatch.
It was cringe, it was unbearable, and it makes the park look like it's being run by a group of over-enthusastic teenagers taking the p*ss.
Q3. Is this normal or did I just get the over-enthusiastic teenagers on my visit?
The ones who weren't sharing their vocal abilities were often just being straight up aggressive, such as the ones giving a minute long speech about how they'll stop the ride and get you kicked our if they see you using your phones. It was a very weird dichotomy of over-zealous fun at one end of the spectrum to gangsta-style abuse at the other - although I will say most of the platform staff were perfectly polite.
Signage around the park was also pretty terrible. Ninja was hard to find and it was really difficult to work out where to find the flash pass queues on lots of rides.
Now for something I never expected to say - the food and drink pricing here makes Merlin look exceptional value for money. I paid $18 for essentially 4 chicken nuggets and chips (cheapest item on the menu). It was 30 degrees Celsius out and water was $6.49 (£4.65ish) for a 600ml bottle (the smallest one). These prices were PRE tax, and EVERY transaction you made was given a $1.30 surcharge, due to "increased labour and supply costs". They've also removed all water fountains, so you can't even refill a bottle - in 30°C heat! This means, if you're feeling faint from an artificially created 1 hour 30 queue and a toilet bowl helix on arguably the most pointless coaster of your life, your rehydrating $6.49 water actually cost $7.79 plus tax, if that's all you buy. Again, well done six flags because you're managing to make Merlin look reasonably priced and very ethical.
Q4. Just Magic Mountain? Just Six Flags? Or just America?
This combination of awful operations, blatant profiteering and non-exsitent morals put a massive downer on the day.
Q5. Americans - why do you go back? Genuinely, this type of behaviour from a corporate is exactly the reason I lost interest in the industry. Back in the heyday of Merlins profiteering, where prices just rose by silly % season on season (which, thankfully, I do think we've now come out of) I just didn't bother going to most UK parks. If I was a local, I'd probably only be able to justify visiting once every few years. Sure, some of the rides are pretty epic, but when the operator is so immoral I just leave with such a bad taste in my mouth, I wouldn't be able to justify giving them any more of my money.
So, yes, the summary:
Presentation of the park better than expected, rides as expected (world leading basically), operations poor, park management appalling.
Would I go back?
Not in a hurry.
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