Six Flags' Magic Mountain's latest coaster, West Coast Racers, opens to the public on Thursday, but the park this morning hosted a media day so that we could get our first official on-ride videos of the new Premier Rides racing coaster.
I reviewed West Coast Racers when it opened to Six Flags members and passholders last month. Another ride today just strengthens West Coast Racers' case as an all-around fun ride with great action throughout.
Though some are looking at the ride's modest stats (top speed of 55 mph and a max height of 67 feet) and calling this a family coaster, I think your family would need to include nothing but coaster junkies for that description to fit. While West Coast Racers does not hit you with intimidating height or speed, the ride pulls some impressive Gs, especially in the spaghetti bowl. Couple that with a butt-kicking High Five element right out of the gate, and this ride might scare off some rookies... but it should satisfy any veteran thrill seeker.
West Coast Racers anchors the park's new The Underground land, which includes the wooden coaster Apocalypse as well as two counter-service restaurants, Chicken Coupe and Twin Charged Tacos. (Neither were open early this morning, so I'll leave those reviews to others.)
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Just the way I like my coasters: not too extreme, but intense and long enough you'd to ride over and over again. Excited for that one!
I guess my biggest issues with this coaster are the capacity and the pit stop. Why oh why couldn't Six Flags come up with an attraction that can actually meet or exceed projected demand? Also, if trains are going to stop halfway through at the garage, why can't they come up with something more interesting for guests to look at than a couple of toolboxes and oily rags. At least they could license some music or a video to play while the train is waiting for the loading train to be dispatched to the launch track.
As usual, this looks like a decent coaster, but Six Flags refuses to go that last mile to make their ride truly great. I never understand why they put effort and go through the motions to try to make something cool and unique, but they fail to follow through and think about what it takes to differentiate a good coaster from a great one.
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I got a chance to ride this during the preview period, and while it's not the biggest or most extreme coaster out there West Coast Racers is still a ton of fun to ride. I agree that calling it a family coaster is inaccurate...it would be tough to imagine anyone who has ridden this not acknowledging it as a legitimate thrill ride. While the coaster does have a few similarities to Full Throttle and Twisted Colossus, it's actually a fairly good fit at SFMM and probably a top five coaster in the park's impressive lineup. Plus, I'm amused that Six Flags was able to build a better Fast and Furious ride than Universal on a fraction of the budget. The biggest issue is going to be the capacity of about 500 riders per hour, which might lead to some epic waits once spring and summer crowds arrive.