Being a season pass holder for SFMM, I was entitled to many useful coupons throughout the year. They give you a booklet filled with coupons when you get your pass processed. I used two of these to take friends to the park back in March for their birthdays. As the year moved on, I slowly watched the days go by, and coupons being nullified by expiration dates.
But then something happened last week. Magic Mountain started promoting its Fright Fest. In the mail I received two sets of coupons (my girlfriend has a pass also). These coupons gave me 2 free child admissions, 2 free friend admissions, and 2 $15 admissions, for the month of September and October.
The end of September is approaching, so I decided to take a friend of mine who just moved into town to the park. Good Deed #1, he got in for free.
I have no children yet and none expected either, so the free kids passes were useless to me. So what did I decide to do? I figured I'd find a family waiting in line for tickets and offer the passes to them.
I arrived shortly before 10am to a standard crowd at the gate. I found a family of two adults and one child waiting in line. I walked over and asked if they were purchasing tickets and if they would like to get in for $15. The gentleman of the family was not so gentle. He scowled at me, stating that he did not want whatever I was selling him. I told him that he could get his family in for $15. No deal. I felt kind of sorry for the rude man. But oh well. I looked around and didn't see any other families.
My friend and I decided to head into the park and start our day and try again after lunch.
We headed straight for Goliath, where we would have walked right onto the ride, except they decided to remove a train from the track. Why they did this I don't know, because it lowered the train count to one. While waiting in line, we could see and hear Superman. I have never been on it, and looked forward to heading up the summit and hopping on.
Then we went around the corner to Collosus. My friend stated that ride sucked, especially after Goliath. Next was Scream. he seemed to enjoy that one.
A short break for the restroom, water, and frozen lemonade.
Next up, Batman. Thankfully a 10 minute wait for this ride. It had been a while since I had been on it. I had forgotten that the ride is non-stop from the drop to back to the station. Amazing, quick, sharp, but short. We headed around the corner to The Riddler, which was a decent wait of 15 minutes. Another fun one, but a little jerky after the MCB.
At this point, I could tell the crowds were showing up. We hung out in some shade for a bit and tried to watch Superman. Nothing. After 10 minutes or so, we hopped on the oldie, Goldrusher. My friend kept saying it was stupid the entire ride, until the final drop and helix.
Walked around to Psyclone and Deja Vu, but passed due to wait times. Headed up the hill to Ninja and Superman. No dice on Superman. Ninja had a much longer line that normal, but since my friend had never been on it, we decided to wait. The only thing I can think of as to why Ninja's line was so long, was because of Superman. I guess people went up to the Summit to ride Superman and realized that there was another ride at the top besides the tower that's never open.
After that, it was a quick hop on the Orient Express to ride down the hill and head out to lunch. By this point it was about 1:00 p.m. My friend passed on Wendy's (close and affordable) because his roommated got sick from one in North Carolina a few weeks ago. So I drove around to try and find a Jack In The Box or an In-n-Out. Needless to say, we ended back at Wendy's.
We returned to the park around 2:45 p.m. after a leisure lunch, which included a cat nap in the booths. As we walked from the parking lot to the gate, we came up on a family headed to the park. I asked them if they were going to be buying tickets here. They said not for them, but for their son. I reached into my pocket and produced a Free Child Coupon and they accepted. Success!!!! Many "thanks" and "you're welcome"s were exchanged.
Back inside, we decided on what to do next.....and last. It would be X. Now....I am sorry if this next part is long and drawn out, but I think it must be mentioned. The X operating staff on Saturday, October 18, 2004 was working hard and effienctly. (I believe). From what I believe has become standard operating procedure, they hold the crowd at the split in the line, until it clears out, and then allow people to walk up. My guess as to why is so that people are not standing in the blazing sun on the western side of the station. We were lucky enough to go to the shaded side of the building. But here's where things got better. They had a staff member at the top of the stairs, regulating access to the loading platform. So once my friend and I were inside, each row of seat only had four people waiting in line. It was nice to stand there without being nudged by other riders. Of course we went to the front and had a little longer wait there. Total wait time for X was the same as it was every other time I've been on it, about 1 hour.
After X and after my friend took a few minutes to pick up his jaw off the ground, we decided to head home. This was delayed for a funnel cake and water.
Overall, I think they day was good. Wish I could've gotten onto Superman, but what can you do. Headed out just because we were tired. He's probably gonna get a pass next year to catch up with Viper, Psyclone, & Deja Vu.
8 out of 11 coasters.
2 Frozen Lemonades, 4 Cups of Water, 1 Funnel Cake
1 Satisfied Friend, 1 Happy Child, 2 Happy Parents
You see people; If magic mountain was really horrible; it would effect everyone, seriously. But it doesn't effect everyone; therefore, it's not that bad
John, I've never had a problem waiting for X unless I am extremely tired and don't want to stand for an hour in the blazing sun.
How about this for an attack? Take the train up the hill to Ninja, then walk down to Deja Vu, Psyclone, Goldrusher, Riddler, Batman, Scream, Collosus, Goliath (probably some wait time), take a look at Flashback through the trees, Revolution (exit to the left and go down the path to get to), Viper, and then X. This is all dependent on whether or not the ride is operating.
And attention all readers, you could be a lucky visitor during Screamfest, because I've still got extra coupons.
You end up doing two MM days Ja...I mean, Fearnaro? ;-)