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Park News - (7/27/10) The latest rumors suggest that the clearing in the old Sierra Twist spot is for a new restaurant location only and not a new ride. Even more bad news… I’m hearing rumors suggesting that not only is Thrill Shot going to be removed later this year, but this may be the last season for Tidal Wave as well. Between the removed Tidal Wave and the former Freefall location, that does open up a large spot of land for something new at least.
    (7/26/10) Theme Park Review drops into SFMM and finds a new clearing where the Sierra Twist used to be. Hmm…. A new flat ride on the way perhaps?
    (7/22/10) It’s been confirmed that there is now a sign in front of Superman: The Escape confirming that it will remain closed until Spring 2011 because “Something BIG is happening.” You can find a picture of the sign posted here.  The funny thing is that most people are still buzzing about a Bizarro tie-in being on the way for the ride next year… I guess we’ll find out if it’s true or not.
    (7/21/10) We’ve heard a report that a sign may have been placed in front of Superman: The Escape now claiming that it wont reopen until Spring 2011. Can anyone confirm this and get a picture?
    (7/14/10) Looks like the final nail has been put in coffin for any hope of the Terminator audio track coming back. All of the speaker locations in both trains have now been covered up with metal plates.
    (7/10/10) I’m not quite sure what the reason is, but following the end of the busy July 4th weekend, Superman: The Escape has been shut down. A barrier is up blocking the entrance with a sign now that says that the ride is closed for “routine annual maintenance work” which will “ensure your future enjoyment for years to come”. While a closure for a few days to fix a problem isn’t too crazy an explanation, the “annual maintenance” line sounds like complete crap since they would have done that during the slow off season.
    According to another source however, something is up with the ride that could keep it closed until sometime in 2011. Given the perfect timing of shutting it down following the busy weekend, this sounds more like a planned closure. Of course with all the rumors about cost-cutting across the Six Flags chain, I’ve got to wonder if they’ve opted to close it simply to reap the savings on the electric bill for the park as Superman does require a lot of juice to operate. Of course there were those crazy “Bizarro” transformation rumors earlier this year as well... hmmm... anyone else know more?
    (6/30/10) According to a reader SFMM has been experimenting with a new “Early Entry” option for an additional $10 fee. They don’t seem to be advertising this fact and once inside, the experience is said to be like a private ERT session for about 30 minutes before the public gets in. To date they’ve tried it three time and had good runs on Tatsu, X2 and Goliath.
    (6/24/10) Daring to be different, Six Flags Magic Mountain may have a big hit on their hands as the theme park will host an official MMA fight event with the California Fight Syndicate on July 31st in their Golden Bear Theater. Tickets are $40 for general admission or $100 for VIP seating, but this also includes admission to the park. The fight card will be finalized at the end of the week but will feature 8 MMA matches and 2 boxing matches.
    (6/5/10) I’ve gotten some interesting information on the Terminator Salvation audio issue. According to one reader, they claim to have ridden it two weeks ago and the audio was still working that day, however the majority of reports claim that it hasn’t been working for anyone else for some time now.
    According to another source, the park has pretty much given up on the system. As many imagined, the rougher ride experience given by any wooden coaster (compared to steel) has just proven to be too much of a technical hurdle and hindrance. According to one source, the system was prone to breakdowns and issues several times each DAY as it was literally shaking itself apart.
    (6/4/10) I’m just curious, but has anyone dropped by The Mountain lately and ridden Terminator: Salvation?  I’ve heard a few reports about the audio on the train no longer working. I’ve also noticed that the official Six Flags page for the ride also no longer lists it has having an on-board soundtrack any longer. Have they given up on it?
    (5/25/10) More rides at Six Flags Magic Mountain have been added to the quickly growing list of coaster trains that have been Ad Wraped. Joining the previously mentioned Karate Kid on Ninja is Viper train given the Axe Twist ad wrap treatment. I’m kind of afraid of what they have in store for Tatsu, since according to the SFMM website, Tatsu is also sponsored by Stride gum. Dare they make a clown car wrap for Tatsu?!
    (5/19/10) The coaster ad wave continues and have stretched into SFMM as well, with new Karate Kid themed trains now running on Ninja (see sidebar). At this point I think everyone is in agreement that these coaster ad wraps have gone too far, as they are now changing the very brand identity of the ride’s themselves. If it was your first time to SFMM and rode Ninja… your average guest would think it was called Karate Kid and not Ninja as they have virtually lost all of their normal brand identity.
    (4/8/10) The LA Times reports that SlamBang, a new show mixing street drumming, urban sounds and dancing will be added to the Magic Moments Theater from June 12 to Sept. 6th. The show will replaced the ill-received CSI: Live show.

2010 - Mr. Six’s Splash Island - Confirmed - (3/24/10) In a Q&A call on Monday night, Mark Shapiro confirmed that Hurricane Harbor will be adding a new kiddie play area called Mr. Six’s Splash Island. No word on if this will be an entirely new development or an enhancement of an existing area.

2011 - Mr. Six’s DanceCoaster - Delayed - (6/24/10) According to a Screamscape source the delay of the Mr. Six Dancecoaster at SFMM is actually not due to any kind of change in plans by Weber’s takeover. It seems the delay was set in motion by Shapiro before he left and the blame is actually all to be placed on the state of California it seems.
    Due to budget cutbacks, the ‘permit’ group responsible for the greater L.A. area has been trimmed way back. Since they don’t have the manpower any longer to do things the way they have been doing for years, it seems that many more requirements were suddenly dumped on the park, as well as tons of new hoops to jump through, which was going to make opening the new coaster before the start of the Summer impossible. Suddenly faced with the idea of a fall or winter opening, they instead opted to push it back to Spring 2011.
    (5/28/10) It seems one of the first new actions taken by the new acting CEO of Six Flags was to delay the Mr. Six Dance Coaster project at SFMM until 2011.  The question is… why?  The coaster was on site and ready to be put together, so was this simply a cost cutting measure or will they instead make this new addition just one piece of a much larger project?  And will it keep the same name and theme in 2011? Stay tuned…
    (4/13/10) Screamscape sources tell us to be a bit more patient for height limit issue on the Mr. Six Dance Coaster at SFMM. I’ve been given an assurance that everything should be fixed and set to a proper height limit by the time the ride is ready to open.
    (4/12/10) I’ve been sent a picture of the Mr. Six Dance Coaster track at the park, and you can fine a few more over at the Theme Park Review Forum this week, mixed in with some photos from West Coast Bash. In case you were wondering, SFMM is still listing the new coster’s height limit at 42 inches, and the only confirmation we’ve heard as to why is that the manual Vekoma issued with this particular ride when it was built for Jazzland back in 2000 listed it as being so, despite other identical rides having height limits of 36 inches, or even 35” at Disneyland down the road. Rumor has it that Six Flags has asked Vekoma to issue a clarification on the issue or to even issue a new specifications manual that would match up to the other identical rides with a lower height limit, but they have so far refused. While this is hardly a good way for Vekoma to “stand behind” their product, it seems so much at Vekoma has changed between 2000 and now that they’re not comfortable taking that kind of stance on this particular kiddie coaster product.
    (4/9/10) A Screamscape reader tells us that the track for the Mr. Six Dance Coaster has arrived at the park and is being held being a fence near Terminator. I’m sure someone will have pictures to show soon enough.
    (1/31/10) Six Flags Magic Mountain invited the wrath of local coaster fans on Friday when it was noticed that they had posted the height limit for the new Mr. Six’s DanceCoaster as being 42 inches”. Now normally safety is safety and I’m all for that but this is just silly as virtually every other identical Vekoma Roller Skater coaster has a height limit of 36” and this one is a clone of the Gadget Go-Coaster at Disneyland which actually has been thrilling guests with a 35” height limit for the past decade.
    Upon questioning Six Flags about it was told that was the posted height limit as they understood it, but were going to check into the concerns about the matter and look into it more to see about lowering it.  After all… 42” is a bit crazy for a kiddie coaster when all of the big coasters at Disneyland are only 40”. More when we find out.
    (1/29/10)  According to the LA Times, Six Flags Magic Mountain announced the name and theme for their new Vekoma kiddie coaster… Mr. Six’s DanceCoaster. Of course most of SFMM’s guests have already ridden the exact copy of this ride… over at Disneyland where it is known as the Gadget Go-Coaster. This particular version is coming to the park from the former Six Flags New Orleans property. Once up and running The Mountain will feature 17 roller coasters.
    (12/1/09) A photo report from The Mountain posted on Theme Park Review did manage to get a picture through the construction walls showing off the cleared site for the new kiddie coaster near Terminator.
    (11/19/09) According to UltimateRollercoaster the new coaster coming to The Mountain will actually be a used one from the former Six Flags New Orleans where it was called Roadrunner Express. This is a Vekoma kiddie coaster (aka: Roller Skater) with a layout that should be very familiar to the SoCal market, as it is an exact copy of the Gadget Go-Coaster that has been thrilling kids at Disneyland’s Toontown since 1993.
    (11/13/09) I’ve been sent an interesting rumor claiming that the kiddie coaster going into The Mountain will have a Mr. Six theme. Kind of creepy if you ask me. The one and only ride to ever be themed to the dancing senior citizen was Mr. Six’s Pandemonium at Six Flags New England, a spinning coaster. Somehow I don’t think SFMM will be lucky enough to get the same style coaster. Anyone know more?
    (3/17/09) In an interview with the LA Times, Shapiro confirmed plans to add a new roller coaster to the park for the 2010 season as well as a new waterslide into Hurricane Harbor that same year.

2011 - Bizarro / Superman - Rumor - (2/10/10) While the whole subject of adding a Bizarro side to Superman is suddenly very popular, I’m told that the issue of a backwards car hitting the emergency brakes is not as bad as first thought. First hand accounts from many who have experienced it claim that it was not at all a jarring experience, but more like what riders have become accustomed to today by the quick but smooth stops on other rides with magnetic brakes, such as Xcelerator at Knott’s. However the jury is still out on if the ride would ever run backwards or not since the entire ride system may have to be put under review one again before being cleared to run that way.
    (2/8/10) A reader was kind enough to point out a major flaw in the concept of transforming Superman: The Escape into having a backwards running “Bizarro” side. While I believe that the force of the launch could be handled in reverse, even with the addition of a new Over The Shoulder (OTS) restraint system if deemed necessary, the true problem lies with Superman’s emergency brake run behind the station.
    Most people have not experienced this system in action, and even fewer have witnessed it from the outside since the station is clear of all guests until the train returns to the loading station, but in the rare case that Superman’s LSM powered braking system fails to stop a car that is rushing backwards into the station, the car will pass through a hanging barrier and into a section of track lined with natural earth magnets that will stop it in it’s tracks very quickly. You can see this short section of outdoor track behind the station in this aerial photo of the ride posted to Joyrides.
    If a “Bizarro” car, running backwards, were to ever blast through into this emergency brake run, the riders would likely be thrown forward into their restraints (lap bars or even OTS if added) with such extreme force, that it would not only hurt, but also possibly cause serious injury.
    (2/5/10) According to a post on Coasterdom, based on an interesting Tweet by Six Flags, it seems that some new changes are in the works for Superman: The Escape.  While this could have something to do with why the Superman figure has been missing from the top of the tower for so long, they believe that last years rumors of a conversion of Superman into a Bizarro themed ride are also very possibly coming to pass.
    I heard this rumor myself from my own sources and as I understood it the idea from last year was that one side of Superman would be altered to feature a new Bizarro themed car that may run backwards. Then they would finally get both sides of the ride able to launch simultaneously once again, as this has been a major headache for the ride from Day 1. Anyone know more?

2012-2013 - Colossus Refurbishment - (6/5/10) I’ve got a soft spot for Colossus at SFMM… after all it was the woodie I rode most as a kid growing up in SoCal. I remembering riding it with the 3-Bench PTC trains in the early years and on the 2-Bench California style Morgan trains that were added in later years. I’ve even ridden it backwards many times using a borrowed B&M train from the Psyclone coaster.  That said… I’m hearing that Colossus is due to another revamp sometime in the next few years… as the Morgan trains are coming to the end of their lifespan and need replacing. Facing the aspect of buying some costly new coaster trains, management is hoping to find a way to market this costly expense in their favor and all eyes are keeping careful tabs on the Texas Giant rebuild in progress, as Colossus is said to be a possible candidate for the process as well.
    If Colossus does get the green light, it’s said that we could very well see some huge changes made to the ride’s layout in order to spice things up like banking those slow flat turns, and making the hills even more thrilling and full of airtime. Yep… I think it would be a great idea to make remodel Colossus back into the monster coaster it could be once again, so cross your fingers.