We were recently invited to attend a hard hat tour of the Full Throttle construction area at Six Flags Magic Mountain. We were able to get some great behind the scenes pictures. In addition we got a close up look at one of the new buses that will be replacing the aging trams and finally we got to try out some of the new “Full Throttle” food offerings that will be offered at the park.
Today, instead of looking at construction from above on the Sky Tower, we are able to be right in the middle of it. Tim Burkhart, Director of Maintenance, Construction and Engineering at both Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor was also on-hand to answer any questions we had.
We also had a chance to ask some of your questions from the MiceChat Facebook page.
- One of the questions asked was about capacity of the ride. Tim mentioned that they hope to hit at least 700-750 per hour.
- Tim also confirmed that the facade of the Log Jammer building will be staying as it will serve as a break between the High Sierra Theme and the Full Throttle Theme. Some retail will likely go into this space.
- We did also confirm that the amazing “Blackout” maze from Fright Fest last year will be returning, although not in this location.
During our tour (Wednesday, February 27th, 2013) they were finishing off the track inside the tunnel. From there, they will be installing track on the back-side of the hill, over Superman Plaza and down the hill. They will then begin installing the station track so they can get started on the station, queue and all of the electrical work that entails.
The rest of this area will be themed to fit the “Full Throttle” theme. The theme isn’t specific to any kind of activity such as car racing, motorcycle riding, etc. It will be interesting to see what type of themeing the area ends up with. Hopefully the theme will also include some shade.
- We also asked about future attractions going in this area due to Full Throttle only taking up about 1/2 of what was there for Log Jammer. No plans currently, or at least none that Tim could tell us about.
- Tim also reiterated that the ride will have the tallest “Vertical Loop” in the world, not necessarily the tallest “inversion”.
After our tour we were invited into Mooseburger Lodge to try some of the new “Full Throttle” themed food. There will be 6 different types of wings (Original Buffalo, Lemon Pepper, Hot Hababnero, Orange, Bar-B-Que and Garlic Parmesan). In addition to the Wings they will also offer “Full Throttle Fries” (Criss-Cut Fries with Cheese and a tangy 1000 Island type dressing) and Garlic Fries.
All of them were very tasty. My personal favorites were the Lemon Pepper, Hot Habanero and Garlic Parmesan. The Full Throttle and Garlic Fries were also very good.
After our quick lunch I headed out to the boneyard to get a look at the track that’s waiting to be brought over to the site.
New Buses
We also got a chance to check out one of the new buses that will be replacing the aging tram fleet at the park. Some of the trams were bought before the park originally opened in 1971. They are certainly considered classics at this point.
It will be interesting to see if these buses help get people from the park to their cars. On one hand, these do seem like they’d be less efficient than trams, on the other hand they do seem to work out ok for Disney and the off-site lots. We are willing to wait and see at this point.
They will also be re-profiling the tram drop-off and pick-up points so there will only be one line. We wish them luck!!
That will do it for today’s update. We would like to offer a special thank you to Tim Burkhart, Sue Carpenter, and Connie Lujan for setting up this tour for us. We also hope that you enjoyed this backstage look at the new ride. We will be bringing you more updates before the ride opens.
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