Six Flags Magic Mountain

[tacalert]

JL:BfM is actually a pretty decent shooting dark ride when everything is working. It's a shame that it now has low ridership due to those stupid preshows. I'm baffled it took them this long to finally get rid of them. The next logical step would be to relocate the entire queue inside by adding queue railings in the former preshow sections.

Just rode it the other night. You now just walk through the pre-shows and it is no longer 3D. What an improvement. I enjoyed the ride so much more without the stupid glasses.

The other problem with this ride is no one knows its a ride. The sign is far off in the corner and not lit up. People, in my opinion, just think it's store.

 

[tacalert]

 

[SailwiththeTide]

 

[Southerncoasterer]

Wonder Woman ran it's first test cycle today! Looks like it's going to fly in the Valley heat.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

Wonder Woman ran it's first test cycle today! Looks like it's going to fly in the Valley heat.

 

[coaster31]

 

[chris.g]

I just cant get myself excited for this

 

[coaster31]

I just cant get myself excited for this

Why?

 

[JS610]

Let's just hope they don't rush this and open it with numerous unresolved technical problems...well not too many anyway

 

[chris.g]

Why?

1. It's a clone
2. it's a gimmick
3. It's another coaster in a park so desperately oversaturated with them
4. It's an eyesore and plopped so awkwardly in the park
5. it's going to have terrible loading

 

[JS610]

Magic Mountain made the decision decades ago that their identity as a park, in order to differentiate themselves from other parks in the area, was to be "coaster Valhalla". They'll do anything to keep the coaster record, even if it means they neglect other park experiences. Squeezing WW:FOC into this plot is exactly what we should expect. Whether you agree with that approach, is your choice

 

[Wesker69]

I mean... having worked there, I can definitely confirm it is full of poor choices.

But I also agree, it's just a "meh" addition if there isn't MORE being added with it.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

All if their additions are meh. Why would you guys expect anything different this time?

 

[chris.g]

Would disagree because Twisted Colossus, Justice League and Crazanity was a nice trifecta of additions.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

^ I'll give you Twisted, but Crazanity has a weak cycle and is closed half the year, and Justice was a massive flop.

Not a single Magic Mountain addition is the best of its type, because that's not what they care about.

They care about adding the cheapest addition they can with a gimmick they can market for a year, before they then let the attraction rot. They couldn't care less whether Twisted Colossus ever duels again or that it already looks run down,because they've already squeezed all the money they're going to get outta that ride.

At least Wonder Woman looks fun, and won't likely beat the crap out of its riders like half the rest of the line up does. At least for the year or two they actually care about it.

 

[coaster31]

^ I'll give you Twisted, but Crazanity has a weak cycle and is closed half the year, and Justice was a massive flop.

Not a single Magic Mountain addition is the best of its type, because that's not what they care about.

They care about adding the cheapest addition they can with a gimmick they can market for a year, before they then let the attraction rot. They couldn't care less whether Twisted Colossus ever duels again or that it already looks run down,because they've already squeezed all the money they're going to get outta that ride.

At least Wonder Woman looks fun, and won't likely beat the crap out of its riders like half the rest of the line up does. At least for the year or two they actually care about it.

But also. That was under different “ownership”

remember this new CEO apparently wants to actually spend big $$$ on rides at its highest performance parks.

 

[Freak]

Welp, it happened again. The thread has cycled back to how mediocre the park's additions are. I guess I'll make the obligatory "SFMM needs to take a break from coasters and improve the park" post.

It's clear that as the trend is going now, SFMM is not interested in adding a really good, high-quality coaster for the park. If that's the case, I want them to take at least a four year hiatus from adding coasters and improving the park and when they do add one, wait until they can afford to make a quality ride. The shade situation, better food, nicer-looking areas, general improvements around the park are all something the park desperately needs.

As it is, unless they're about to replace an already existing coaster (Looks at Scream and Viper), they should not be adding any more coasters. They just can't handle running any more roller coasters as is. Not to mention with each addition, the park just keeps getting uglier with concrete slabs.

But back to Wonder Woman, it'll be a fun ride I look forward to riding, but we just lost two rides for this (Tidal Wave and Flash), and more trees. Ugh.

 

[coaster31]

(12/18/21) We hinted at this last week, but I’m hearing that big changes are starting to happen to the management structure at Six Flags, both in the corporate office as well as at the theme park level. All of this seems to be coming down from a restructuring plan from the new CEO who is of the belief that there are too many layers of management in the company, and has set forth a new plan to streamline everything. Unfortunately i’m not sure if this will involve some lay-offs at the management level, or if this is more of a restructure with positions being moved around, or perhaps a little bit of both.
One thing that was implied to Screamscape was that the new management structure may actually be more reminiscent of how Six Flags was run decades ago, long before the RedZone take-over and eras that followed. Back in the early days Six Flags Park Presidents were said to hold a lot more power and control over how their parks were run, and a significant amount of say in what kind of new attractions were needed. Under the management system the chain has used for the past couple decades, the power most Park Presidents said to be mostly limited to the point that all the big decisions were made at the corporate levels, leaving the Park President to mostly serve as a General Manager to ensure the corporate will was executed on the local level, but unable to make much in the way of decisions or policy on their own. Even under that system, select Park Presidents have made a name for themselves and were able to gain limited support from the corporate office, but this is the exception and not the rule. From the sound of things, the new CEO seems to be ready to give the power back to the Park Presidents and empower the parks once again, who best know their own demographics, to help guide and lead their own future development.
Again, this is a lot of speculation and rumor right now, but on the surface these changes may be leading Six Flags in a very positive new direction going forward. For the moment however, there is going to be a bit of chaos and change to deal with ahead of the 2022 season. Stay tuned!

Corporate Park News

screamscape.com

 

[Southerncoasterer]

But also. That was under different “ownership”

remember this new CEO apparently wants to actually spend big $$$ on rides at its highest performance parks.

One can certainly hope. But I hope he realizes that we've heard it all before, and will need to show results before the shareholders pressure him to get back to the gimmicks.

Corporate Park News

screamscape.com

As an employee at SFMM, I have seen some positive changes already. But I can't totally buy into all of this until he proves he can do this long term, and not just for a year or two until he gets frustrated and leaves the company like we've seen over the last decade. The chain needs the stability of a good "long term" leader.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

Welp, it happened again. The thread has cycled back to how mediocre the park's additions are. I guess I'll make the obligatory "SFMM needs to take a break from coasters and improve the park" post.

It's clear that as the trend is going now, SFMM is not interested in adding a really good, high-quality coaster for the park. If that's the case, I want them to take at least a four year hiatus from adding coasters and improving the park and when they do add one, wait until they can afford to make a quality ride. The shade situation, better food, nicer-looking areas, general improvements around the park are all something the park desperately needs.

As it is, unless they're about to replace an already existing coaster (Looks at Scream and Viper), they should not be adding any more coasters. They just can't handle running any more roller coasters as is. Not to mention with each addition, the park just keeps getting uglier with concrete slabs.

But back to Wonder Woman, it'll be a fun ride I look forward to riding, but we just lost two rides for this (Tidal Wave and Flash), and more trees. Ugh.

I'd love this. And I'd go a step further and say I wish all the Cali parks would just stop adding coasters all together, for good.

But as soon as Great Adventure adds a giga or Over Texas adds a huge top 10 roller coaster, here come all the SFMM fans wondering why we're being left out lol.