Trip Report For 11 Mar 2012 |

This is a photo trip report for Six Flags Magic Mountain from Sunday, March 11, 2012.

The most exciting news for me today was finding out that the 2012 park maps were finally out. This provided some new information about upcoming changes that the park hadn?t publicly disclosed until now. I?ll point those out shortly. It?s no surprise that the park?s only new 2012 attraction, Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom, is on the front cover:

The park is still two weeks away from the official opening of the 2012 season, but the entertainers are already back working the waiting crowds in front of the main gate:

One thing I noticed right away on the new map is the addition of ?THE DAILY PLANET Gift Shop? at the base of the Superman tower. The description says ?Basic necessities and an ATM for your convenience.? My guess is that this is just a rebranding of the existing Guest Necessity Center that you see below. Also, the work lights?and?crane/lift?are the only signs I saw of any work being done for Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom:

The map also showed that the Paintball Gallery would be making a return, but the Boardwalk Arcade would not. The park had previously indicated that the arcade building would now serve as the queue for LL:DOD, providing the waiting guests some hearing protection from Superman as it screams up the tower. Judging by where LL:DOD is labeled on the map, this appears to be accurate.

As I was walking by Fresh Cut Fries, I smelled something that was much better than just fries. Meat! I looked over and saw an outdoor grill setup with both beef and chicken being grilled. Just like JB?s Smokehouse Barbeque?cooks their food outside, Food, Etc. is going to be doing the same thing:

I didn?t snap a picture because there were several people working trying to get the place open for lunch, including some supervisors, and I felt very conspicuous as the only person in the place, so I left. However, the far right side of the food counter is now open for business serving grilled carne asada and grilled chicken, both of which are cooked on the grill out front. I?ll get an updated pic next week, but here?s the section it?s located in:

The middle section of the Food, Etc. counter looks nearly complete, but it isn?t open yet. I?m being told that it will offer up a selection of pasta dishes and will open soon.

Slurpees, a flavored frozen drink that until recently were only available in 7-11 convenience stores, can now be found throughout the park. According to the new map, you will be able to find them at Soda Springs, Soda Shack, Wascals?s, Snack?n Shack, and Food, Etc. Looks like the flavors will be Coca-Cola, Fanta Wild Cherry, and Fanta Blue Raspberry. Should be good for a hot summer day.

Moving on the the former monorail station that was recently demolished, I think I finally figured out why. It?s going to serve as an access road for all of the construction vehicles, getting them from the maintenance area behind Bugs Bunny World to the site of the 2013 roller coaster being built in the former Log Jammer area. As I was looking at it today, there is a swinging gate providing quick access once opened:

As you can see here, there is now a wide-open path across the midway:

The gate to the former Log Jammer area is also portable, providing quick access:

Here?s a better shot showing the clear path across the midway, between the two gates:

As a side note, the new walls that were erected to the right of the above photo, just past the arcade and in front of the old Flashback queue, appear to be permanent. I didn?t get a picture, but as I was looking at them today, the steel supports have been permanently attached to the concrete. They are not the typical construction walls that we see. The biggest downside here is that the park just lost another restroom.

Getting back to the construction site, you can see lots of tire tracks going to and from both this gate and the old monorail location above. I didn?t think it made sense for them to build an attraction back there, and this pretty much confirms it:

On a positive note, they once again opened up the area where the Log Jammer water cannons used to be located, giving everyone a front row seat to the construction:

As I was surveying the area again today, I started thinking about the old pump house. It obviously had some serious power being fed into it to run the massive water pumps. I bet they?re going to use it as a power station for the new ride, especially if it ends up being a multi-launch coaster. It?ll need lots of juice:

According to the new park map, this former Johnny Rockets on the backside of the park by Apocalypse, will soon become a ?Kickin? Chicken? location:

The former Johnny Rockets location in the front of the park has been earmarked to be a ?Dogs & Snacks?, featuring a variety of hot dogs:

One of the fountains in the Six Flags Plaza was having some problems today. It was barely spitting out any water. Can you tell which one:

I saw this FEARnet item listed in the new map and had no idea what it was. My friends over at SFNEOnline told me it was a new sponsorship, replacing Stride Gum, but I couldn?t find an official announcement from either company. Apparently FEARnet is a cable tv channel that plays nothing but horror movies. Should we be on the lookout for a FEARnet-wrapped X2 train??I thought the placement of their logo was odd because all of the other sponsor?s logos appear after the description of the ride:

I already covered the new parking lot overlay in a previous post (here), but I wanted to provide some close-up pictures now that I was actually standing on it. It really does look good and was desperately needed:

The problem with an overlay is that it just tends to mask the defects and doesn?t really fix them. As you can see here, the areas of the lot that were all cracked, still are. Water is just going to get into the cracks, under the asphalt, and continue to break it down further:

But from a distance, it sure does look nice. This is part of the exit road:

The handicapped parking:

The valet parking:

It even extends all the way out to Magic Mountain Parkway:

I hope you enjoyed this weekly update. As always, if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please don?t hesitate to drop me an email or leave a comment here. Look for a new ride profile, with a special video, coming in the next week or so. ~K~

Source: http://www.thecoasterguy.com/index.php/2012/03/11/trip-report-for-11-mar-2012/

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