Halloween time outside the berm

[Phroobar]

Typical load/unload times for most coasters seem to average about 5-10 minutes per train. When the train arrives they wait until everyone is off the train and have left the loading platform before loading new people. Once seated, they check restraints which takes about 3 minutes since they usually have to release them again or tell someone to throw their stuff to side. Then they have to do it all again. After that we wait until the ride operator gets around to dispatching the train. The ride operator is typically distracted by off duty employees hanging out with them. I'm not sure what these other kids do. Only one of these people below are working. Can you guess which one? I've also seen team managers openly discussing work hours with employees in front of guests distracting them from their jobs. The employees completely ignored the queue by not opening unused queue space. The line spills out into the crowed walkways.

Building maintenance is still a problem over at Ninja. The building still look like it is falling apart and the floor hasn't been cleaned in years. Ninja was about a half hour wait. The park cut back a lot of the forty plus year growth around the track but never planted anything new or even picked up the trash in places. The ride is still fun though.

 

[Phroobar]

Jet Stream had an hour wait since they only put 13 boats in the floom. When we got in we were greeted with three inches of standing water. When we went up hill, it all came sliding to the back of the boat. The water was within a half inch of my butt. It didn't seem to be draining correctly.

Since it is Fright Fest, they had multiple scare zones setup. Here are some pictures of them in the day time. Fright Fest is open to everyone in the park. However the seven mazes are an up cost of $25 for weekend and $20 for friday. On a day where every ride had at least an hour or more, the mazes were only about half hour typically.

 

[Phroobar]

We did four out of the seven mazes. The Willowby's mansion was a typical haunted house. The sets were lower quality than Knotts but a little better than someone's garage. White makeup was used. No gore. Just a few employees jumping out at you. Willowby's Garden was just a hedge maze with a few living statues and people in gillie suits. We were the first one in line for these. It was the first time my daughter and her friend did these kind of mazes. It was fun watch them clutch each other as they walked through the mazes. They were totally scared but loved it! It wasn't too scary like Universal or Knotts and were good beginner mazes.

Next we did Toys of Terror in 3D. This was a clown maze with minimal costumes and sets. It was mostly painted 3d walls. It had a spinning tunnel that made me sick. Red's Revenge was the last one we did. Little Red Riding Hood created some monsters to seek revenge on the wolf. Good sets and large non animated figures. This one was more along the lines of Knotts. No gore.

Basically the mazes were pretty low rent compared to Knotts. They had very little detail and half the number of monsters. The scare zones only had two characters running around typically. The Suicide Squad area looked great with all the projections and lighting. The music was great however the meet and greets were less frequent. Harley Quinn and the Joker were only there for short half hour times. They were half hour on and half hour off and appeared only four times at night. When we did see them, they looked fantastic. There was only one guy walking around scaring people in this scare zone.

Because Magic Mountain doesn't kick people out for Fright Fest all the lines stayed long all night long. The newer rides like Scream and Twisted Colossus were long but moved a lot faster than Tatsu or Batman. The new Revolution always has long lines because the VR stuff causes problems. Everyone needs help putting the VR goggles on and adjusting them. Reports are the movie is typically out of sync with the ride or just off. I recommend riding without the VR.

One thing Disney does well is take you money quickly. Here the food lines moved really slow. The skeleton staff was overwhelmed with people. The staff would take the order and make the food as if they were sleepwalking. No attempt was made to take multiple orders or have one employee take the order and give it to the other making it. One would wait while the other made the food. Sometimes there were employees just hanging around not helping prepare food. They were a distraction to those on duty. They would talk in front of guests about their personal lives. Lines never moved.

Magic Mountain has a free refill policy on their large sipper cups. Most people just wanted these things refilled. The one Coke Freestyle machine in the park had a twenty minute wait and no one checked to see if the cup was a $1 refill or a free all year cup. If you buy one get the cheaper one. The employees let everyone refill for free.

Magic Mountain is a place you avoid on a crowed day. They can't handle large crowds. Even during the summer I never saw this place as crazy as it was. January is a great time to go because of low attendance. The mazes were low rent but decent. There is a lot of room for improvement. Its nice that Magic Mountain sends a survey to me after every trip. This one will be pretty unfavorable.

 

[NobodyElse]

The skeleton staff was overwhelmed with people.

What else would you expect during Fright Fest?

 

[Phroobar]

I expect the place to be well staffed during popular events and not act like its January during the off season. The place is only open friday through sunday. They allow too many people in the park. I except rides to function at full capacity. I expect restrooms to be clean and sanitary. I except food services to work quickly and make edible food.

 

[NobodyElse]

I expect the place to be well staffed during popular events and not act like its January during the off season. The place is only open friday through sunday. They allow too many people in the park. I except rides to function at full capacity. I expect restrooms to be clean and sanitary. I except food services to work quickly and make edible food.

Allow me to rephrase my earlier message.

The skeleton staff was overwhelmed with people.

 

[Phroobar]

Allow me to rephrase my earlier message.

 

[NobodyElse]

There you go.

Thank you for not making me beat you over the head with my skeleton staff.

 

[Phroobar]

There you go.

Thank you for not making me beat you over the head with my skeleton staff.

I'm just a bone head.