The Story Of: Six Flags Magic Mountain

Originally Published: September 29, 2019

Let’s see if this one’s as much longer to the Six Flags article as Cedar Point was to the Cedar Fair one.

It’s home to the iconic Sky Tower, the former tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, it’s the largest park in the Six Flags chain, and it’s the Thrill Capital of the World.

This is…

The Story of:

Six Flags Magic Mountain

The park opened in 1971 with admission costing $5 for adults and $3.50 for guests between 3 and 12 years old. That’s $31 and $22 today.

For comparison, the modern price is $55 at minimum. Nearly double of if they had only gone off of inflation.

The park is located in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California. A distant suburb located about forty miles north of Los Angeles.

Due to the distance, the park was serviced by the Greyhound Bus Line, from both Los Angeles and cities north of Santa Clarita.

Tickets to the park were available for purchase at the bus station, making getting into the park a little smoother of an experience.

The park opened with 33 attractions to its name.

Though a few of those weren’t exactly low quality, since many of the rides there were designed my Arrow Developments. This was during both their mere existence as well as when they had only really worked on rides for Disneyland.

The attractions there on opening day included:

Gold Rusher, a steel coaster that’s still there today.

Log Jammer log flume. Which was removed in 2011 and replace with the launch coaster, Full Throttle.

The Sky Tower, an observation tower that currently sits standing but not operating. I can’t find out why it’s in this state, but I hope it’s operational soon.

Grand Prix, a car ride very similar to Autopia at Disneyland. The ride was removed in 1986, and its former location is now the site of Tidal Wave, a shoot-the-chute ride.

El Bumpo, bumper boats which closed in 1979. The former location of the ride is now the site of the Riddler’s Revenge.

And the Grand Carousel, one of the first rides you come across in the park.

When it first opened, the park had three transportation rides.

The only remaining of these is the Helpful Honda Express, a funicular railroad, also known as a Cable Railway.

There was also the Metro, a monorail system that used to loop the park to three stations.

And Eagles Flight, a Skyride that also had three stations. One of which can still be seen on the way up to Ninja from Gold Rusher or Superman.

Another opening day attraction was The Showcase Theater, later renamed to Golden Bear Theater sometime in the 1990s.

This attraction was perhaps one of the more notable non-ride attractions at the park, first hosing a show by Barbra Streisand, who had at that point won 4 grammy awards and an AGVA Georgie Award. The ladder award being for general performances and entertainment.

Barbra Streisand would only be the first of many famous performers who would play at the theater and the park.

In 1971, thirteen years before six flags would gain the ip, Magic Mountain was given the rights to use the Looney Tunes characters by Warner Brothers.

Though, they would not use the ip after the 1971 season, due to the creation of park original mascots, trolls.

The king troll, King Blop, also known as King Troll, Bleep, Bloop and simply the Wizard, became the park’s mascot and the most memorable part of pre-Six Flags Magic Mountain.

The costumes for the mascots were provided by All Kings Productions until New Years Eve 1972. Quite the fitting name for the situation if you ask me.

The mascot kept being used until the 1985 season, making way for the Looney Tunes which Six Flags had gained the rights to the year before.

The park’s second roller coaster was added in 1973, Mountain Express. A Schwarzkopf Wildcat that was removed in 1982 and moved to Magic Landing, a park in El Paso, in 1984 and renamed to Wildcat.

From there it was moved to Bosque Magico, a park in Guadalupe, Mexico, in 1993. Though, it is unknown when it was removed from El Paso.

The coaster was removed from Bosque Magico sometime before 2006 and its current situation is unknown.

1974 saw the addition of several new spinning rides in a section that would later be called Back Street.

The area was located as one can imagine in the back of the park and is now the DC area, with two of the rides still remaining, Himalaya and Electric Rainbow now being Flash: Speed Force and Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth respectively.

1975 would see the addition of a new train ride, the Grand Centennial Railway. It took riders from Back Street to Spillikin Corners.

The modern locations would be the DC area and the new West Coast Racers coaster, making it a long ride.

The locomotive of the train also had a vertically mounted boiler.

Another railway at Magic Mountain was the ‘99’ Steam Train, also known as the ‘Train to Trollywood’ ran from the par’s opening in 1971 to 1980.

The route of the 99 took riders on a round trip from around where the Looney Tunes section is today to where Twisted Colossus stands. The 99 and Colossus did overlap from 1978 to 1980, but the train would be closed in October of 1980.

Moving on… 1976 marked the opening date of Great American Revolution, the Schwarzkopf coaster was the first permanent modern roller coaster with a vertical loop. Though others before it had vertical loops, they were all removed due to safety concerns, but Revolution still stands today.

The coaster didn’t have the immense amounts of shrubbery and trees surrounding it when it first opened as it does today, allowing riders then to see the layout and know exactly what to expect from the ride, whereas now riders can’t predict exactly what the ride layout will be.

It was of enough importance that Universal filmed a movie at the park with the Revolution being its centerpiece. 1977’s, Rollercoaster.

1978 saw the opening of the largest racing wooden coaster of its time, Colossus.

Which would promptly be closed and redone due to issues with the ride being too rough.

When it reopened, while some ride elements had been removed to make way for block brakes, the coaster was much m=smoother and now had the ability to race.

In the mid-80s, one of the trains would run backward. Though, due to changes in ride system it was no longer possible on a constant basis and had to stop running one train reversed until the 90s.

Before 2015, one train ran backward during Fright Fest, using the spare cars from Psyclone, a former wooden coaster located where Apocalypse now sits.

But in 2015 the coaster would see an overhaul by Rocky Mountain Construction, changing the layout and adding many ride elements that were previously impossible, the new coaster was coined Twisted Colossus and is now considered by some to be the best coaster at the park.

Colossus would be the last major ride built by an independent Magic Mountain.

For in 1979, the park was purchased by Six Flags and quickly had a name change in 1980 to Six Flags Magic Moutain.

In 1979, Roaring Rapids was constructed, and a midway was built connecting Spillikin Corners to the path leading to Revolution, allowing guests to make a full circuit around the park for the first time.

In 1985, previously mentioned events finally caught up to the timeline of events I’m talking about with the renaming of the kiddie area to Bugs Bunny World and the trolls began to be phased out.

The park also built a large stand-up coaster called Shockwave in 1986, which seems like a big investment but not big enough since it was closed in 1988 and moved to Great Adventure as a part of a ride rotation system the company was doing at the time to keep the parks interesting without actually building anything new.

The ride was sent to Astroworld and is now in storage.

Backstreet was re-themed in 1987, but not to DC yet, that’s later. Himalaya was renamed Subway, and Electric Rainbow was renamed Turbo. There was also a dance club in the back which was also renamed from Decibels to After Hours and allowed locals to stay in the section for another two hours after closing to enjoy the club.

That lasted one season.

Magic Mountain would see another first with the opening of Ninja in 1988. The ride was built by Arrow Dynamics and was the first suspended swinging coaster on the west coast, and has gone through very few changed since it opened, only replacing the wheels of the trains and some repainting.

In 1991, a new coaster was built called Psyclone, named after the famous wooden coaster at Coney Island. And with the coaster came the re-theme of Spillikin Corners to Psyclone Bay, a mostly cosmetic re-theme due to the previous theme relying on retail that had been removed before the construction of the coaster.

While the coaster would be damaged by the Northridge earthquake in 1994, the park had already begun to gain a repertoire of large scale coasters.

1993 saw both heavy re-theming of certain areas of the park, such as High Sierra Territory around the Showcase Theater, having the theater’s name changed to the Golden Bear Theater.

1993 also saw the end of live rap concerts in the park after a riot broke out due to overbooking one of them. The park blamed the riots, which saw hundreds of guests flock the park and vandalize the property.

Police were called and arrived in riot gear to get the guests out of the park and the park closed early, allowing for repairs to be made overnight. Though the park would operate normally the next day.

In 1994, the time came for Magic Mountain, as it would for many other Six flags park, with the addition of the B&M inverted coaster, Batman: the Ride. Beginning the theme transition of Back Street to the DC area we know today.

1995 saw the opening of Hurricane Harbor as well as the addition of a slingshot called Dive Devil the next year which requires an extra fee to ride for no apparent reason.

Superman: The Escape would open in 1997. Designed by Intamin, the coaster would accelerate from 0 to 100 miles an hour in seven seconds, and then climb a 41-story tower, opening as the tallest, and fastest coaster in the world.

It was re-themed in 2011 with a new paint scheme and a new name Superman: Escape From Krypton, as well as reversing the trains, now having guests facing backward for the launch.

And 1998 saw the opening of the tallest and fastest stand up coaster at the time, the B&M stand up coaster, Riddler’s Revenge.

In 2000, the first coaster added under the new ownership of Premier Parks was the hypercoaster, Goliath, built by Giovanola.

Quick fact about Giovanola: They went bankrupt in 2004, but that was after they had existed for 116 years. They were founded in 1888 as a steel forging shop but later went on to general engineering and manufacturing.

Back to Magic Mountain though, 2001 was slated to be the year of 3 new coasters, one of which being a kiddie coaster.

Out of the three coasters planned for the year, only the kiddie coaster, Goliath Jr., was open on time. The other two, Deja Vu and X opened late. Deja Vu in late 2001, and X in early 2002, making 2001 the year of one successful coaster, and many technical issues.

X’s opening wasn’t unimportant, however. As it was the world’s first 4th Dimensional coaster, and still the only one in North America wherein the seats will spin a full 360 degrees.

X was able to operate briefly in on the seventh of January, 2002 before closing due to more technical issues.

The coaster would open fully in August 2002 and operate normally until 2008, wherein it saw a major re-theme to the now open X2.

In 2003, a floorless B&M coaster, Scream opened, tieing Magic Mountain with Cedar Point for the first time.

While the tie was lost soon after, in 2006, the B&M Flying coaster, Tatsu, opened as the largest scale B&M flying coaster built at the time. It tied Magic Mountain and Cedar Point again, though this claim has been argued due to another coaster at the park, Flashback, standing but not operating at the park.

The park was in danger, however, in 2006 as Six Flags was going under and was looking to sell many of its lowest-performing parks. Including Magic Mountain.

The possible sale of Magic Mountain was not attributed to lowering attendance, though, attendance did drop between 2005 and 2006, but rather the rowdy nature of many of the guests at the time. Which collided with Six flags’ goal of being seen as a family-friendly chain.

By fall of that year, Six Flags said the park was up for sale and clarified that it was not to be sold to a real estate developer who would seek to close the park. Rather, they wished to sell to a company who would continue operation. A few buyers came up, such as Cedar Fair and Anheuser-Busch, though their offers never reached the asking price for the park.

In January of 2007, the company reevaluated the parks they were meaning to sell and decided that Magic Mountain, being a park in the Los Angeles area, was too valuable to sell due in part to the park becoming more valuable.

The other parks the reevaluated were not as lucky however as they were all sold as a package and remained operating without the Six Flags name.

In 2007, Psyclose was demolished, and as was Flashback in 2008, causing Magic Mountain to lose its tie with Cedar Point for most roller coasters. While they had never beat Cedar Point, they had tied on many occasions.

Rather, Magic Mountain began focusing on families with the addition of a Thomas Town area in 2008.

Also in 2008, a museum was added to the Sky Tower, Magic of the Mountain. It contained many historical facts and artifacts from the Park’s history including an old horse from the carousel, an old Goliath car shell, and an old King Troll costume among many more artifacts, models and concept art.

As of 2012, it seems the museum has closed, with all artifacts being gone, and the tower closed the last two times I’ve visited.

After Psyclone was demolished, something had to be added. And that something was a new wooden coaster, Terminator Salvation: the Ride. Opened in 2009, it was in the same location as Psyclone and featured new elements such as Tunnels, mist sprayers, and other special effects.

Two years later, in 2011 the coaster was re-themed to Apocalypse

Also that year, Six Flags CEO at the time, Mark Shapiro told the Los Angeles Times that they intended to build a new coaster in 2010 and add a new children’s area called Wiggles World in 2011, as well as an expansion to the water park.

On October 14th, 2010 a video leaked detailing the company’s plans for the park in the 2011 season. An official announcement was made on the 20th.

The first of the changes announced was a re-theme of the kiddie coaster, Mr. Six’s Dance Coaster to Road Runner Express.

As well as the re-theme of Superman: The Escape to Superman: Escape from Krypton.

And the final announcement was the addition of a brand new, sure to be loved coaster. The Intamin ZacSpin, Green Lantern: First Flight. The coaster would bring Magic Mountain to eighteen coasters, giving it the title of most coasters in one park, finally beating out Cedar Point, a title it still holds to this day and seems intent on keeping.

Later that year, the company intended to remove most non-Warner Bros. Theming from the park, but re-theming areas such as Thomas Town to Whistlestop Park. And The wooden coaster, Terminator Salvation: The Ride, to Apocalypse. Both renovations were done in 2011.

At some point, Backstreet was renamed Gotham City Backlot, perhaps after the addition of Green Lantern. And as such, the company decided to re-theme all the rides in the area to DC comics, as they had been themed without an IP before. Re-theming Grinder Gearworks to Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth and Atom Smasher was made into Flash: Speed Force. The section was also renamed DC Universe.

In September of 2011, it was announced that the drop ride, Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom would be added to the supports of Superman in 2012, making it the tallest drop ride in the world at the time of opening.

Also that month, it was announced that Deja Vu would be removed on October 16th, 2011 and moved to New England as Goliath where it still operates. Though, due to the popularity of the coaster, guests were allowed to ride after hours on the days leading up to its removal.

In October, Log Jammer was partially removed to make way for Full Throttle. Though at the time the new coaster was only a rumor.

Which would be confirmed in August of 2012.

The coaster would regain Six flags the lead once again for most coasters against Cedar Point at 18 when it opened n 2013.

The coaster was built to have not only the tallest vertical loop in the world but also be the first to have track on both sides of the spine, which occurs at the top of the top hat loop.

The first Christmas time celebration in the park, Holiday in the Park, would occur in December of 2014, and continue annually ever since.

In 2014, the park announced the closure of the park’s staple wooden coaster, Colossus. It would stop operating on August 16th, with an announcement being made on the 28th that the coaster would be renovated by Rocky Mountain Construction and would open as Twisted Colossus, opening in May of 2015.

2015 also saw the renovation of Revolution, with a new paint scheme and new cars eliminating the uncomfortable over-the-shoulder restraints. The coaster would open as The New Revolution in April of 2016.

The shooter dark ride Justice League: Battle for Metropolis was announced in September of 2016 and opened the following year, being nearly identical to rides installed in six other parks beforehand.

In 2018, the park would announce a coaster built by Premier Rides that would claim to have two records, being the first launched racing coaster, and the first coaster with four launches. Though another coaster in Ferrari World in the UAE already holds these records. It can claim to at least be the 19th coaster at the park.

This is possible thanks to the removal of the very liked coaster, Green Lantern: First Flight. The coaster will be moved to La Ronde in Canada and mean that West Coast Racers will not be the 20th coaster at the park.