New Stuff at Six Flags Magic Mountain 26/11/2023

[Gazza]

Six Flags Magic Mountain

https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/six-flags-magic-mountain

Flight schedules from LA to Australia usually have you leaving in the evening, so it's somewhat of a tradition for me to do one of the parks there for a last hurrah before jumping on a plane back to Aus.

I hadn't been here since 2019, and my last visit was kind of shit because my wallet was stolen.

This visit was much better, with cool autumn weather making for a quiet park where most rides had short waits.

The rides are good, but man they know how to be irritating. Parking at the park now costs a whopping $40 USD, which is just taking the piss.

As has been publicised, the park has several ride closures at the moment. Superman, Ninja, X2 all closed and Scream didn't open in the time I was there. I wasn't too miffed since I was here to ride the new stuff and wasn't going to be at the park long enough to do everything anyhow, but still, wouldn't have minded doing Superman before it goes the way of TOT2.

The new stuff I was interested in was West Coast Racers, which missed its 2019 opening date last time I was there, and then proceeded to be further delayed by Covid. There's also Wonder Woman Flight of Courage, which to be honest was the main reason I was visiting because I was really keen to get on one of these Raptor coasters and all the others are less convenient to visit.....

Got there at opening and headed to Wonder Woman. Closed for technical difficulties with a guy out the front, so it was off to West Coast Racers instead.

The queue line is supposed to look like the Workshop of West Coast Customs but I think maybe the theming was too light on, so you lost that vibe of a bustling workshop, but the ride certainly makes up for it.

Once you contort yourself into the Premier trains, a launch sends you into a high 5 element, which was surprisingly snappy and maybe borderline uncomfortable. You then bank around into a zero g stall, with the other track doing a little hump underneath. For the best views of these dueling moments, definitley sit in the back. There's another launch following the stall, where you do an enormous corkscrew in parallel with the the other track. 

The next section of the ride is probably the most true to theme, with two helices in a figure 8 configuration allowing you to look across at the other train. The tracks cross over from outside to inside, so you get to see the other train seemingly pull ahead then fall behind.

A couple more turns and the track goes back into the ride building, where you stop for a moment while they dick around and load the other train. There's a screen next to you where a guy says "we are just doing some adjustments to your car right now" , with associated sound effects of rattle guns and tools coming from below.

The train then launches, and its the same layout again, though right at the end you do one extra corkscrew over the other track.

Overall, it's a great ride. Well paced, interesting elements, very good dueling, and at leas you are guarunteed to get it unlike on Twisted Collossus, where it really comes down to the speed of the crews.

At that point Wonder Woman still wasn't open, so I went around and rode a few other favourites, some of which I haven't done in years since it seems every visit I do to SFMM is only a part day.

Apocalypse was running very well, having clearly been retracked in many sections. A real beast of a wooden coaster, and decently long too. The layout ducks and weaves constantly, giving it a real elment of surprise. 

Tatsu is as good and intense as ever, but the less said about the new colour scheme the better.

Haven't done Riddlers Revenge in a while, and yeah the old stand up seats are nothing on the new surf coaster seats, but that all said, I forgot how bloody long this coaster was. After the mid course brakes its just endless turns, and quite a bit of track between the two corkscrews. Still a solid ride, and the station music is "unforgettable"

Batman surprisingly felt less intense than usual. Cold weather?

Kept checking back on Wonder Woman. You could see maintenance staff working on the transfer track, so at least it was looking like it would open at some point.

Justice League has 2d on the screens now instead of 3d, so 3d glasses are no longer given out. A double edged sword since it means everything is a bit brighter and easier to see, but a shame they couldn't keep the 3d going.

During my run it kind of crapped out halfway through the cycle and stopped, so a couple of scenes were just frozen with the car wiggling away, but it did get itself back in sync for the final scene.

Also did Lex Luthor Drop of Doom. The lap bar type harnesses make this one feel a little more exposed than GD.

Finally, trains started cycling on Wonder Woman, so I parked myself near the ride.

In a true Six Flags moment, they wouldn't let people form a line outside the ride, they would tell people "oh you cant wait here", so instead it became a bit of a rabble of people just waiting everywhere, which of course became a bit of a stampede when it finally did open. Why on earth was this preferable for them?

The queue is themed like a museum about the Amazonians.

Had to laugh at the random kangaroos on the map of Thermyscira

Fortunately I got on quite quickly first time around and ended up in the very back seat.

First impressions, solid coaster, but perhaps lacks the "WTF holy crap this is wild" sensation you get on the flagship RMCs. It was a bit more intense than Big Dipper but not that much moreso. I would put it on par with something like a good Gerst Infinity coaster.

Less shaky than Big Dipper too, but it still shakes a bit, so it must be an unavoidable aspect of these little single person car coasters.

The first drop genuinley kicks ass, as does that cool dive loop element with a twist at the top. (Reminded me a bit of the way you are flicked around on the non inverting loop on Rivals) The rest of the ride is stuff like zero g rolls and airtime hills all in a long line, which sounds good on paper, but perhaps lacks a little personality since its a bit formulatic and you can see it all coming up in a row. 

The elevated turnaround was something I had been wondering about since it looks crazy fast on videos and I was thinking you'd be thrown around like a ragdoll, but it was perfectly comfortable.

I went around for a 2nd lap, and by that point the queue had expanded to an hour, so waited it out and got a seat in row 4. Up front the first drop isn't as good but the other elements seem to work bettter, so swings and roundabouts.

Final impressions, decent ride, but imo the visual appearance of the ride is it's gimmick and the ride experience was really no better/worse than an equivalent coaster of similar size. Perhaps the linear layout doesn't really give the ride a chance to shine....If my experience on Big Dipper taught me anything, it is that weaving and quick transitions is what makes these single rail things most interesting 

I would be interested to try RailBlazer or the Wonder Woman at SF Fiesta Texas since apparently the prototype raptors are more intense. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Gazza

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

9 hours ago, Gazza said:

The queue line is supposed to look like the Workshop of West Coast Customs but I think maybe the theming was too light on, so you lost that vibe of a bustling workshop, but the ride certainly makes up for it.

Man that certainly looks VERY different to how it looked back during Spring Break - queue spilled out to the external overflow switchbacks and this room was PACKED. Flash pass was the only saving grace - and perhaps the themeing works well when they're packed in like cattle!

 

[Dean Barnett]

It’s the opposite for me - I B-line out there after I land to reject the jet lag. 
 

Did you do Wonder Woman in the back row? 
 

I found the rides (especially Tatsu) are considerably slower in the cold 

[New display name]

On 18/12/2023 at 10:04 PM, Gazza said:

The rides are good, but man they know how to be irritating. Parking at the park now costs a whopping $40 USD, which is just taking the piss.

Shhhhhh, don't give our parks bad ideas.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Wonderland had paid parking in it's early life. They abandoned it later on - but probably due to the labour cost than anything else. 

I can't see paid parking washing with our parks these days. Unless someone builds a covered multideck carpark and they want to recover the construction cost - in which case i'd be happy to pay for a spot that is covered, cooler out of the sun, and $20 a day or so is probably reasonable, IMO.

[Gazza]

^Raging Waters / WnW Sydney has had parking fees from the start.

 

 

[New display name]

I should have been clearer @Gazza.     Shhhhhh, don't give GC parks bad ideas.    

[Dean Barnett]

8 hours ago, New display name said:

. Parking at the park now costs a whopping $40 USD, which is just taking the piss.

I think this is purely a tactic to sell an annual pass - the platinum pass is $125 per year right now and includes parking - so you make it worth while with 2 visits.  A diamond pass at $200/y includes all US six flags parks.. all with discounts too.