Six Flags Magic Mountain, Los Angeles

...in stuff, the merchandise at Six Flags Magic Mountain is rather good! There is a large collection of different types of clothing, toys, teddies, ride merchandise and Loony Toon merchandise, of course it all comes at a rather high cost, much like the food but I can’t complain too much as although it’s very expensive it’s no more than at other Theme Parks.

The kids may not like the large rides but they won’t mind ...
...Batman and Superman rights which Six Flags own. Luckily they have done a good job on the themeing of these rides, but I can’t help feeling that they lack individuality due to the Batman or Superman name, these rides could have been much better with a bit more imagination, and a better theme.

All this in account I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed nearly every moment of my day’s in the park. True, it was the rides that ... more

The name doesn’t lie, this park is a mountain! Walking round the park, in this case is rather painful at times, going up and down that mountain….but this is a good thing because it means the park is large and full of rides. Another important note is that the walking isn’t boring. The park has always got something for you to look at, be it the large variation of rides or the 9 different themed lands.

In the hot Californian sun you need lots of shade, and the lush green landscape provides this. The area around the park is very baron, and it’s a delightful surprise to see the park so green. The trees help to make up the atmosphere of excitement, which the park holds. It’s the themeing, which makes up that atmosphere. Now it’s not stunningly brilliant themeing, but the park have obviously tried, and its highly unusual and highly well placed. Most of this themeing is evident throughout the queue lines, which make them seem to move so much quicker. Don’t forget that hot weather though, which is combated with cool mist in most queue lines spraying down onto you.

The Batman queue line holds many treats in store. Crashed Cars, sewers that you walk through, and screaming sirens build up an intense atmospheric feeling, which cumulates on boarding the train. The station blaring with music, lights and fog make you feel ready to ride and experience rather than a coaster. The inverted coaster is massively intense, more so than Nemesis. The element after element track doesn’t ever let up, you never know what’ll happen next but you know when it hits you.
Batman is not only a ride, but also the star of his own Stunt Show! Along with Robin, Batgirl, Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze the action packed evening adventure full of fireworks, motorbikes, cars and stunts is one adventure not to miss whilst in the park.

One of Batman’s enemies is still fighting him, this time in the coaster wars! Riddler’s Revenge, is green and mean! A Stand Up Coaster with a heart pounding 6 inversions is possibly the smoothest and longest Stand Up Coaster that you could ever ride. If you want to ride another coaster, with inversions try Viper, a classic sit down adventure coaster and by classic I mean classic. The roughness hasn’t been removed, so expect a bit of an ear bashing from the restraints, but it’s still perfectly ride able. The inversion after inversion on Riddlers Revenge however are all so gentle, and you have a brilliant opportunity to see the world slowly turn around, that is if you haven’t shut your eyes through fright from the mammoth drop. Talking about mammoth drops you’ll find them on 2 other coasters in the park.

Goliath is the park’s 250foot Hyper Coaster, dropping you down to the ground at speeds of over 60mph. The drop is not the most interesting part of this ride it’s the G-Force ridden finale. After a few drops you enter a section of the ride that delivers so much G-Force and is so intense you will see stars. The train dives into a series of high speed turns and helix’s, pushing you further and further back into your seat, going faster and faster, when your out of the elements, you’ll know it and you’ll be talking about them for the rest of the day.

If you want huge amounts of height and speed though as well as a mammoth drop try Superman The Escape. As you wonder through the Fortress of Solitude you can hear the screams and whir of the ride. You also notice people going in, doors shutting then the loud un-describable noise of the LIM’s, which push the train from 0-100mph in 7 seconds. You can hear that noise from anywhere in the park, and you can also see the 462-foot Structure towering above everything. This ride has everything, speed, height and airtime!
What are those LIM’s then? Well basically large magnets that make your car go faster and faster along the long straight track towards that huge high 462-foot tower which your going up. Faster and faster you go, up and up towards Superman who is standing at the top looking at you. Before you know it your dropping backwards, leaving your seat at 0-G, with 6 seconds of airtime, before you are slowing down and back into the station, this ride leaves you breathless.

Steel isn’t the only type of coaster though; wood is still good, but only in the case of one of the two wooden coasters. Colossus is worth a ride, it’s smooth, holds some fun bunny-hops and you can see the Goliath track all around you, Cyclone however is not! Cyclone is so painful, it’s rickety and rackety if you don’t want to invest in pain killers don’t goon this ride. While I’m on the subject of investing in stuff, the merchandise at Six Flags Magic Mountain is rather good! There is a large collection of different types of clothing, toys, teddies, ride merchandise and Loony Toon merchandise, of course it all comes at a rather high cost, much like the food but I can’t complain too much as although it’s very expensive it’s no more than at other Theme Parks.

The kids may not like the large rides but they won’t mind as they have the whole of Bugs Bunny World to themselves. A Loony Toon themed area packed full of small rides for the not so daring. Every child I saw here had a big smile on their faces, but any small child not in the land, seemed a bit board. It’s a shame all their rides are in one area, but there area lot there, and it all looks great fun.

The park is now officially called the Extreme Park, with the most coasters on earth, 15. This at the moment can’t be true. Since early 2001 they launched the details of X and Deja:Vu, two world first coasters that were to be open by early summer. As of August 2nd 2001 they were not. They were built but not yet running, they do however look extreme. X is a fourth dimension coaster, where you hang to the side of the track, in seats that can turn 360 degrees through the ride, giving you a world first experience. It’s Yellow and Purple color scheme make it glisten in the sun, and the skydive drop, and numerous inversions are going to make this a ride that must be ridden. Deja:Vu in its blue and shocking green sits at the back of the park, apposed to X at the front. It’s inverted like Batman, and takes you up a vertical lift hill, then drops you over a cobra roll, loop then up another vertical hill. You then drop again and get Deja:Vu as you do it all backwards.I am hoping to pop over to LA to ride these rides by early next year, so expect full reports, with blow-by-blow accounts of these stunning rides.

With a park so large on the mountain you need a huge car park, which they do have. A problem however is the poor signage within the car park, and the lack of help if you have lost your car, as we did. We wondered in the 96-degree heat for over an hour looking for our car, with very little help from any staff we asked. The staff we not all so un-helpful though, none were brilliantly lively, cheerful but the majority seemed willing to help, should you ask for it. Another problem is the park have taken the easy option by using the Batman and Superman rights which Six Flags own. Luckily they have done a good job on the themeing of these rides, but I can’t help feeling that they lack individuality due to the Batman or Superman name, these rides could have been much better with a bit more imagination, and a better theme.

All this in account I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed nearly every moment of my day’s in the park. True, it was the rides that did that, but there were other small factors such as a few staff members and some areas of themeing, which helped to do that. When the park open X and Deja:Vu it will be truly worth 5 bulbs, but for now it’ll just have to do with 4.
 

...less