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As for the rides themselves... |
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Six Flags Magic Mountain.... Valencia, California. X2... brilliant! The seats aren't so "deeply exciting" (actually the recording was "equally exciting" but deeply made more sense when the ride first opened) and more comfortable. The soundtrack is hilarious, way better than California Screamin' Roller Coaster or Space Mountain at Disneyland. I miss the paint-job on the car though, and how it changed from blues, pinks and yellows. When I went last time the innards were visible, so I think they're working on a cover. I bet the gas for those flame throwers is going along just nicely with the cost it takes to keep closing that ride down because it is sinking. Yes, S-I-N-K-I-N-G.... an old bog claim, but if you look at it, and some history of the area, the whole park is sitting on a riverbed... the same one that brought water from the St. Francis Dam disaster to a Ventura beach (concrete chunks could still be found along the river and on the beach). As far as I know, Superman still has the dent in the center of his forehead, which I think is a myth, but still... the man of steel has a dent. Its a wonder why they keep slowing (so the car doesn't go so high) that down, which I think is another myth. How, I'm not sure, someone with a garden shovel or golf ball perhaps? It has to be hard enough to hit and make a impression. I've seen golf balls, tennis balls, ping-pong balls and the common coins go, which a lot of people loose on the way back down. The trick is not to "throw" the item, but just let it "float" off your hand, and hopefully grab it before you go backwards. I've tried coins, most I've lost, probably in the shrubbery below. The first time I went on it I swore I wouldn't go on it again. Well, about a year later I did. Quite liked it, except for the hair-tie gave out and my hair was a tangled mess. I would have gone on it again, but the 2 hour wait wasn't worth it. I go on it when the line is 1/2 hour or so. Viper is still good classic metal loop/cork-screw, and like every coaster the back gets the thrill (via being pulled by the front of the car it gets more "kick" wink , the fronts the view (see where your going, not much "kick" if any), and middle is in between the two. The one loop wonder... Revolution. My first real coaster. I was tricked onto this years ago, in that my mother's boyfriend (note: not married at the time) asked if I wanted to go on Revolution while we were standing by the fountain. Well I glanced over at the loop and he told me that was another coaster. I go on it and was just about to kill him when that "head back" sign told me something was up. I went on it again - a second time - after waiting in line about 15 minutes later. Ninja needs to stop the operators from going "high-ya" seriously, stealth and silence is the key to being a Ninja... and "high-ya" is well... getting a bit old and I wonder if the employees there actually like to repeat it over and over again. Tatsu... Fly at the Speed of.... what MM could afford for coasters... technically not the "speed of fear" as they claim. This ones fairly easy to scare your friends. Such as to wait in line and block view of coaster - so they don't see how the seats really are - and let them puzzle on why the thing has a over-head as well as across the ankle brace. The inverted loop is a blast and the pictures are hilarious - mostly the ones that aren't yours... then again, I got one that I look like I'm asking the dragon the old Brobdingnagian Bard question "do virgins taste better than those who are not?" and another that has an "gods save us" look with my arms out. The tower has been closed for quite a while. I hear it's opened and changed into some sort of park museum with an old carousel horse and coaster blueprints. I'll have to go check it out sometime later. Flashback.... correctly named... though no longer there. It was blue and white and basically went in a square over and over. Chiropractors must have loved this one... gave them more patients. I have mixed feelings about the loss of this old thing... glad to see the rusted parts gone and sad to see an old classic vanish. Colossus is sticking around, perhaps because of its ability to go backwards and is the only double track in Southern California still in existence. Yes, it goes backwards, mostly around October when MM has their Fright Fest, which by the way they had a bright idea of putting headrests on the seats. This coaster reminds me of the racing one back at Knots around late 80's early 90's. Occasionally they do have 2 trains running on separate tracks and have races, yet that's usually when the park is packed. Batman still running smoothly, though the fan in the tunnel rarely runs anymore. The "jumping man" on the wall where a city silhouette is, I think the park covered it up when they repainted that - which is obvious because the words aren't exactly covering the old "building a better tomorrow." Someone's bound to put him leaping off again eventually. Riddler, the only stand-up coaster in So-Cal. Bicycle seats... so watch how you sit. I've been on this so many times I can sit where the thing is all the way down, and stand where it is all the way up (for my height, being on aside with a ledge to lift ye higher helps) and be fine through the ride. Usually the line is not worth it, yet people in there... sometimes amusing enough to make it worth the wait. I once heard some Harry Potter fans puzzle over if the Riddler was a Slytherin - because of the colors. Another time was a group of kids that probably made about $5 just by picking off the coins on the overhanging nets that protect those waiting in line. Most of the carnie rides still exist. The carousel is still there, missing the couches, but still there. Last time I went the tilt-a-whirls were gone, yet they vanished before a couple of times years ago only to be moved to a different location. The little yellow coaster-thing that went in a circle is gone. The swings were closed for a while, to get a new coat of paint on, looks good in bright red. The pirate ship needs painting, yet is still working. Bumper cars are still there and still have a outrageous line. That orange and white elevator-like one by Riddler is gone too. The Scrambler is still around, though there is a rumor saying that will vanish eventually too. The water rides like Jet Stream, Log Jammer, Roaring Rapids, and the one with the big boat and one drop (that people wait on a bridge to get soaked) are still there. I barely get a drop on me every time I go there, except on my butt because of the wet seats, and perhaps some soaked shoes because the boat is waterlogged. I have some feeling that Goliath is slowing down - just because some idiot got on ignoring "if you have these don't get on dumb-butt" signs - and that one turn (that gets within feet of the old parking lot ground) that has some major (positive) G-force. In short positive G's push you into the seat, negative ones throw you out... and perhaps scare the hell out of you. For example, a airplane goes in loops. The loop when the pilot pulls up and does the loop is positive, when he/she/it does the opposite, it's a negative. I have to give that coaster a credit though, got me to drive my mothers Mercedes. *Looks through journal entries* I thought I did. So anyway, I told my parents I was going to Magic Mountain, my mother wanted to go because she had not been there since Batman first opened. She wanted to go on the newer rides, I told her that it wasn't such a bright idea, and to stick with Colossus, Viper, Batman... the older and "gentler" type. Well, we went on X - after 2 hours of waiting. That scared her. We went on Tatsu (with the paper flash passes) and she said that scared her but was something different, since she didn't think a coaster could get close to negative g's (which it does on an inverted loop that you can see by the Revolution's loop). We went on GoldRush after that, while searching for a place to eat, which still seems the had the typical no-line. I don't recall on what we had, but after waiting in line we went on Goliath. I'm quite used to the first drop - into the tunnel - yet it didn't seem like my mother was up to it. She claims she passed out, and could barely walk when the ride was over. I had to get a wheelchair and then practically carry her from the front gates onto the tram and to the car, which I got to drive home. That thing is a speeding ticket on wheels I tell ya. The accelerator is very sensitive as well as the brake. I was basically driving by my toes, not willing to put the whole foot on either petal... least I hit zero to gods only know in split seconds and the same going from that back to zero. Good thing the park is not that far from home.... a few hours.... not days. Have fun visiting. Oh, and please don't bring small items like cell phones on coasters like Tatsu and X - those things hurt when they hit people on the ground, make a mess for park cleaners and cost you money to buy a new one since the park isn't liable for anything.
Nikiki · Sun Apr 12, 2009 @ 04:11am · 0 Comments |
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