When you've spent the better part of the past decade traveling all over riding theme park rides, it's rare for me anymore to discover a truly unique new experience on a ride. And, to be honest, I didn't expect to find one on Six Flags Magic Mountain's Full Throttle, which debuted to local reporters today.
But up at the top of that loop? A moment unlike any other on roller coasters awaits you.
As its name implies, Full Throttle doesn't take its time getting to the action, launching from the station to 70 miles per hour, up and into a 160-foot loop.
And it's in that loop that Full Throttle delivers its take-away moment — a full second (which seems like eternity) of weightless airtime, upside down, lingering at the apex of the loop. Oh, and did I mention that Full Throttle doesn't pin you down with over-the-shoulder restraints? Yep, just a lap bar — and the power of physics — keep you up there for your moment of floating in roller coaster heaven.
Fortunately, the rest of the ride won't waste your time back to the station. The loop transitions through a nifty high-speed banked turn into an Immelmann loop, which then drops you into the old monorail tunnel under the Superman plaza. From there, you launch a second time, backward, up onto the Immelmann for another moment of zero-G airtime, before gravity pulls you back into the tunnel for a third launch, a "kick in the pants" that drives you up and over the top hat that spans the upper edge of the ride's initial loop.
Another lingering moment of airtime awaits you there, again, before a quick, face-down drop back to the station. It's a sudden stop there -- the only rough moment on what is otherwise a silky-smooth, whisper-quiet ride.
Except for your and the other riders' screams, of course.
Full Throttle runs two trains with 18 riders each, so don't expect high visitor through-put on the coaster. With an active ride time a little over 60 seconds, capacity will be under 1,000 riders per hour, with loading efficiency determining how close to that figure the ride gets. As always with new coasters, get there early, or prepare to wait.
For after your ride, Six Flags has opened two new food stands adjacent to the Full Throttle Plaza, Loaded Dogs and High Octane Wings.
I tasted the wings earlier this year, so today I opted for the "Full Throttle Dog" at Loaded Dogs instead.
The dog, which is grilled on site next to the stand, comes dressed like a sale rack, with pastrami, bacon, chili, cheese, tomatoes and onions, and is served with waffle fries, for $10.99. Other varieties of topping-loaded hot dogs are available, along with corn dogs and topped fries. It's all a mess, of course, but tasty and fun.
Full Throttle opens to the public tomorrow, Saturday, June 22.
TweetIt was all media today, plus ACE and the local Boys & Girls Club, so not a typical cross-section of park visitors. I found the seat comfortable, but I'm not that big. With individually adjusted lap bars only, and no over the shoulder restraints, I would think this would be a relatively accommodating ride.
No Flash Pass signage, but the queue wasn't completely set up yet.
Cool, thanks. Look forward to the video.
I thought the ride was great! The loop over delivers on hangtime and enjoyment.
I'm glad Six Flags is going after unique ride experiences as opposed to just putting up steel. (Which is what if feels like they did with Green Lantern. IMO that delivers one of the worst ride experiences ever)
I think we got our Vote of the Week: Full Throttle Dog BEFORE or AFTER the ride?
BEFORE! Full Throttle! Live life to the fullest! YOLO!
Looks awesome, Robert. I can't wait to ride it (the coaster, not the dawg) this fall if I make it to Magic Mountain during my Disney excursion as planned.
Silly question for Six Flags, but does the coaster have any sort of background story or narrative?
Did you happen to ask if the hot dogs are all beef or chicken parts/sawdust, or what?
Don't recall about the hot dog, but you could opt for a turkey dog, if you'd like.
No backstory, but they had a huge video screen under a shade structure in the plaza that was showing a music video montage of action sports clips and very nice on-ride footage from other Magic Mountain rides, to reinforce the "Full Throttle" theme. I hope that stays. It provided a very nice scene-setting touch to the wait area.
How far do you have to bend your knees in the car? My wife has a bad leg.
To Dan McNeely: Green Lantern can't be any worse than Flashback was. That was a waste of steel. It was a prototype - and riding it explained why there was only the one. I never rode it without getting a headache.
To Eric Fisher: No argument there. Thinking about that ride makes me flashback to a headache.
Eric,
You'll definitely need to bend your knees. The lap bar has another pad that hits at shin level, so that you can't keep your legs straight underneath the lap bar on the ride.
Turkey dogs?! Ewwwwwwww.....
"I'll be there in a few weeks, and I'm hoping to avoid as many "walk of shames" as possible."
All of Premier's coasters seem to use the same lap bar restraint and it looks like FT has the same trains as Kennywood's Sky Rocket. I would assume that if you can get on Revenge of the Mummy and Flight of Fear you should be able to get on this.
Rao and I AGREE on something regarding food? Huh. Who knew?
To me the ride looks alright at best, based on the video. I'm just not a fan of coaster vids. To quote Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.."Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby."
I've ridden a few coasters with serious loop hangtime, but never one with just a lap bar. Looks like a lot of fun.
Great to see Magic Mountain on the move again. The coaster is one thing, but to see them offering food like that is a sure sign. That's a serious hot dog.
The food looks good. The coaster meh. I think the review is inline with the "below average" expectations that many have had for this ride.
It's a shame that they didn't respect the Log Jammer and refurbish it instead.
Is Full Throttle sponsored by.....Full Throttle?
I too was wondering about the largness of the guests in regards to what the seat can accomodate. I'm pretty big (no Riddler's Revenge or Batman at SFMM for me) and am heartened to learn that this is a lap-bar only ride. Xcellerator at Knott's is also a lap-bar only ride BUT the bar has to click back a minimum amount before they will let me ride. The bar at Knott's could not click back enough for them to let me ride. I'm wondering, even though it's lap-bars only, if this ride can be ridden by larger-than-average individuals. Is there a Test Seat or Big Boy Seat (like on Scream)?
I thought there would be little more going on in the tunnel (the pre-vis video made it look like they would at least have a fog machine in there).
Also, I would technically call the other inversion a "dive loop" since the train dives down into the inversion instead of up like an immelman.
That capacity is just a killer, and while SFMM has dozens of other big coasters to spread the crowds, Six Flags can terribly inefficient at running their attractions, Full Throttle is going to carry some seriously long waits (longer than the typical 2 hours for X2 and 90+ minutes for Tatsu).
^
I put the *theoretical* capacity at 1440 guests per hour since the third launch happens around the 45 second mark. I'm pretty sure they they won't be able launching trains every 45 seconds as it will be based on how many trains they have and how efficient the crew is.
On the bright side, I've heard that Discovery Kingdom has been doing a great job at pumping up capacity and moving the line quickly with Superman, another Premier coaster.
Even on it's worst day Full Throttle should have better capacity than Green Lantern and Lex Luthor ;)
So I'm finally traveling to LA for the first time in my life on business, and I finally get the chance to make it to Magic Mountain, which I've basically been looking forward to since I was 10.
Obviously, I'll be taking advantage of the Flash Pass, with myself only getting to be there for one day.
I wanted to say that Six Flags has JUST updated their Flash Pass website and made the following modifications:
Flash Pass WILL BE AVAILABLE for an addition fee for Full Throttle, but ONLY for those with Platinum Flash Pass.
They have also removed the fee associated with Lex Luthor.
Now I'm REALLY excited to go. :)
Yes Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has done a good job moving the line quickly with Superman. They do their best to make sure every seat if filled with a body. To the person who is going to Magic Mountain for the first time, I would try to get there early and knock out Tatsu, and X2 asap. Those two rides always seems to have the longest lines for me, sometimes with a 2 hr plus wait!!! I've been lucky to never have a long wait time for Superman.
Working here @ Magic Mountain has been super exciting. Being a part of the Ful Throttle opening? Just amazing! The ride is the most thrilling I've ever had in all my life. As I type this, I can still hear the wonderful screams from the hangtime.. The dogs? Absolutely amazing! I had the chili cheese and I am looking forward to the All American!! Yes, flash pass is available, but you'll have to pay to play! See u guys soon.. YOLO
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Robert, this is going to sound like a silly question phrased in the rudest way possible, but here goes:
Did you see any fatties riding it today?
I'll be there in a few weeks, and I'm hoping to avoid as many "walk of shames" as possible. Also, did you notice if Flash Pass was going to be available for it?