Wednesday April 17 (Day 5)
Chapter 14: Our Day at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Wednesday would mark the second of our two "field trips" where we would be leaving DLR to play in different parks. After enjoying Knott's Berry Farm on Tuesday, our next destination would be much further from Anaheim. Given Six Flags Magic Mountain's location north of LA, Uber was not practical, so I rented a car from Alamo on Katella. Because of the distance from the hotel, this would also be the only day of the trip that we would not be returning for a mid-afternoon break. Since the Alamo was only a short walk from our hotel on Harbor, and Magic Mountain did not open until 10:30, we had time to again take advantage of the free breakfast offered at the Anaheim Desert Inn.
We finished breakfast around 8 AM and walked to Alamo to pick up our car. We were on the road by 8:15, and predictably hit a lot of traffic on our way north since it was rush hour in LA. I took a route that was a bit longer in mileage to avoid some of the worst backups, but there is only so much that can be done when trying to get through/around LA at that time of day. We were still able to arrive at the parking lot at SFMM before 10 AM, so overall we made decent time. Because we are Six Flags Diamond Elite members, we had complimentary access to the priority preferred parking area. Of course, no matter how good your parking spot is at Magic Mountain, it is still a long way from the front entrance, but we were still there ahead of most of the crowds and able to gain quick entry through the member priority access line.
Once inside, our first stop was the Flash Pass HQ to pick up our discounted FP for the day. It took a few extra minutes due to some confusion about whether we could use memberships from another 6F park to get discounted FPs at Magic Mountain, which was a bit frustrating since the website is very clear on this point, but it was eventually resolved. Along with our FP, we also got skip the line passes for Twisted Colossus and Full Throttle. Since the park was just opening, we went straight to Full Throttle via the regular line. Full Throttle is a launch coaster that launches you from 0 to 70 mph and through a 160 foot vertical loop (the tallest in North America), followed by a dive loop before entering a tunnel, at which point the ride stops for a few second, after which you are launched backward out of the tunnel and partially back up the dive loop, then the train rolls back into the tunnel and you are suddenly launched forward yet again up and over a top hat on top of the initial vertical loop before the train comes to a stop. It is a short ride, but one of the coolest coasters I have ever been on and definitely in my top 3 at SFMM.
Next we trekked to the far corner of the park to ride X2. This part of the park was closed on my only prior visit to MM, so this was new to both of us. X2 is an Arrow 4D coaster (the first of its kind) in which the seats rotate forward and backward a full 360 degrees, so you're flipping around in your seat at various points throughout the ride. I admire its originality, and was different from any other coaster I've ever experienced, but 4D coasters are generally not to my liking and this one was no different. Just as I can enjoy a very basic ride, I can also respect a ride's creativity but not enjoy riding it. My daughter felt the same way, describing it as more confusing than thrilling, which I thought was apt. This would be a one and done for us, though I might give it another try on a future visit.
Our next ride would be the more traditional Viper, a steel looping coaster with 7 inversions. While a bit dated, Viper is still a really fun ride and we decided we would like to come back again and try it after dark if we were still in the park at night.
After Viper, we crossed through most of the park to make our way to Goliath. Goliath is a hypercoaster, quite similar to Nitro at Great Adventure in New Jersey, and in my top 3 at Magic Mountain. The highlight is a 255 foot drop into an underground tunnel. Goliath is not a particularly original coaster, but it always makes me really happy. It's a great example of my taste in coasters, which is that you don't need to launch me or flip me in order to be a great ride. Not that I don't enjoy high speed or inversions or other coaster technology, but a nice big high speed drop is still my favorite part of the ride. My daughter definitely agreed and gave Goliath a big thumbs up.
I had seen that they were testing Twisted Colossus as we were on Goliath, so we went there after our ride. In my experience, Twisted Colossus often opens an hour or two after the rest of the park, so I was keeping an eye on it in hopes of being able to ride it once with a short standby line before needing to use our FP (you are limited to 1 FP ride on TC per day) or our skip the lines. Twisted Colossus is generally regarded as the headlining attraction at Magic Mountain, and widely considered one of the top 10 coasters in the world. I don't happen to quite share that opinion, as it is only my 4th favorite in the park, but it is a really fun and unique ride and the lines tend to get long early and stay that way. Our timing was excellent, as they were just starting to board riders as we got on line, so we only had to wait a few minutes to ride. Twisted Colossus is a racing coaster where you duel with another train on separate tracks, but what makes it really cool is that you actually do both sides of the track, so you go around twice. The first time you are chasing the train ahead of you, the second time being pursued by the train behind you. It's not easy to describe and needs to be experienced to fully understand.
Next we stayed in that section of the park to ride Scream, a B&M floorless coaster with 7 inversions. Scream is basically the twin coaster to Bizarro at Great Adventure, which my daughter and I both enjoy. I think Scream is a bit rougher ride overall, but still fun.
Our next ride was Tatsu, which is my favorite ride at Magic Mountain. Tatsu is a B&M flying coaster, the tallest and fastest of its kind in the world. I don't always love flying coasters, but this one is just awesome! The highlights are a zero G roll (the only one on a flying coaster in the world) and the world's highest pretzel loop. You fly close to the ground at some points and way up above the rest of the park at others. The way Tatsu takes advantage of the park's terrain really takes the experience to the next level. I was really glad that my daughter loved it too, and we agreed that it would definitely be a priority to return to after dark.
Now is probably a good time to mention that I had received a surprise text that morning from my wife's cousin Danno, who lives in LA and was hoping to meet us for dinner around Disney one night toward the end of our trip. Instead he said that he and his girlfriend Tiffany had taken the day off and were going to meet us at Magic Mountain. I knew that my daughter would be really excited to see them and spend the day hanging out and riding roller coasters. They would not be getting to the park until lunchtime, however, so we still had a little time before meeting them. I didn't tell my daughter that they were coming so that they could surprise her.
Our last ride before lunch was the New Revolution, a classic ride that was the first coaster in the world to feature a vertical loop. While many more thrilling coasters have been built in the past 40+ years, it was fun to experience this landmark ride.
Next we went to Sports Bar for lunch, where we would be meeting Danno and Tiffany. Unfortunately they had some delays trying to get into the park, so we ended up sitting down before they arrived since we were really hungry by this point. My daughter was a little confused by the table for four but was more concerned with getting some food. Soon after our meals arrived, Danno and Tiffany showed up and my daughter was really surprised and excited to see them. While there were still some rides that we wanted to ride for the first time, my daughter was also very excited to take Danno and Tiffany on some of her new favorites.
After lunch our first ride was Justice League: Battle for Metropolis, an interactive 4D shooting dark ride. As I've mentioned, these are not my cup of tea, but my daughter really enjoys them. We decided to do a boys vs. girls competition, which turned out to be a blowout since Danno somehow managed to get a score that ranked in the top 1% of all-time despite it being his first time on the ride!
Next we went to Riddler's Revenge, a B&M standup coaster that I really enjoy. It features six inversions, including two dive loops and a pretty epic vertical loop. I sometimes find standup coasters uncomfortable, but this one is not bad, and it's a really fun ride. My daughter, Danno, and Tiffany also enjoyed it.
At this point, Tiffany unfortunately had to make some calls to deal with an issue that had come up at work, but the rest of us continued to explore the park and do more rides as a trio. It was a crowded day at the park, so we decided to take advantage of the combination of our FP and skip the line passes. Caroline and I used our FP for Full Throttle and gave Danno one of our skip the lines so we could all board pretty quickly. My daughter rode with Danno, and everyone agreed that it is an awesome coaster!
Next we went to Twisted Colossus and used the same FP plus skip the line pass strategy to ride that. The ride operators really nailed the timing and we ended up with a great duel on both segments of the ride, practically able to reach out and high five the riders in the other trains.
Tiffany wasn't quite ready to rejoin us, so the three of us went over to Batman the Ride. Batman is the only ride at both Great Adventure and MM that I consistently have trouble riding due to my size, so I sat that one out and watched Danno and Caroline. They agreed that it was fun, but nearly as good as several of the park's other coasters.
Tiffany was now finished resolving her work issue, so we met back up with her and all went to Goliath. We had to wait in a long-ish line (maybe 45 minutes or so), but it gave us all a chance to catch up and chat. Caroline rode with Tiffany, and everyone really enjoyed the ride.
By the time we finished Goliath, the sun had set and Caroline was really excited to ride Tatsu with Tiffany and Danno. We only had to wait about 30 minutes, and I was glad that everyone shared my appreciation for Tatsu, which was indeed an even cooler experience at night.
Danno really wanted to try one of the water rides, so next we went to the nearby Roaring Rapids. Everyone on our raft took their turns getting soaked and we all had a great, if very wet, time. Park close was nearing and we would have a long ride back, but we decided to do one more ride before leaving the park. Viper was my daughter's choice since the line was short and she really wanted to try riding it in the dark. Everyone enjoyed it and we took a group selfie before we went our separate ways.
We gave Danno and Tiffany our remaining skip the line passes (1 each for Full Throttle and Twisted Colossus). They were able to use them to ride together on Full Throttle before the park closed. Caroline and I meanwhile filled up our drinks on the way out and made our way to the parking lot. While we had stayed at the park later than planned, it probably helped us from a traffic perspective since we had a relatively easy drive back to Anaheim. We hadn't eaten since lunch, so after returning the rental car we ducked into the Denny's next to our hotel for a late dinner before crashing for the night. We really enjoyed our day at Magic Mountain, and were also looking forward to returning to
Disneyland the next morning.
Stay tuned for Chapter 15, where we use our Magic Morning at Disneyland and enjoy rides in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland before our breakfast with Minnie and friends.
Day 5 statistics
Parks visited: Six Flags Magic Mountain
Rides: 17 (12 different, 5 repeats)
Miles walked (according to my Fitbit): 13.24