Why does anyone like to go to Magic Mountain?

[MK-fan]

Not sure if any of you go to this park but if so, why do you like it.

I used to go when I was a kid growing up furing the time Time Warner owned it in the 90’s but ever since Premier parks bought it some years later, it’s only gone downfall. The park is just a mess, it’s dirty, dried out paint everywhere, advertisements everywhere, the theming is awful, the people who work there are so unhappy, it has some of the worst guests, there are so many buildings left empty and on top of all that, the park insanely large with inclines up the mountain that make you wanna die. Also, it is always so hot and the park is so out of the way unless you live in Valencia. It’s been 10 years since I’ve been there and before that, I had another absence of 10 years. It’s not a place I find enjoyable and I am a fan of thrill rides but I wouldn’t go here because of how the park operates. My son is nineteen and he won’t even step in that park. This is not a place for families either IMO and it’s no wonder the place doesn’t do well and almost gets bought out or closed every couple years. Other flagship parks under Six Flags are maintained pretty well so I don’t know why SFMM, their main flagship park doesn’t make the cut.

I know people love thrill rides, especially coasters and this is the coaster capitol of the world but don't all of those red flags bother you?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So like…one of the most iconic parks ever?

You don’t get it?

It was never about the rides. Start there

 

[MK-fan]

So like…one of the most iconic parks ever?

You don’t get it?

It was never about the rides. Start there

Is this sarcasm? lol. Iconic because of the coasters? I guess. If it’s not just solely about the coasters or rides, what else is there?

The ambience?

 

[Disney Irish]

Not sure if any of you go to this park but if so, why do you like it.

I used to go when I was a kid growing up furing the time Time Warner owned it in the 90’s but ever since Premier parks bought it some years later, it’s only gone downfall. The park is just a mess, it’s dirty, dried out paint everywhere, advertisements everywhere, the theming is awful, the people who work there are so unhappy, it has some of the worst guests, there are so many buildings left empty and on top of all that, the park insanely large with inclines up the mountain that make you wanna die. Also, it is always so hot and the park is so out of the way unless you live in Valencia. It’s been 10 years since I’ve been there and before that, I had another absence of 10 years. It’s not a place I find enjoyable and I am a fan of thrill rides but I wouldn’t go here because of how the park operates. My son is nineteen and he won’t even step in that park. This is not a place for families either IMO and it’s no wonder the place doesn’t do well and almost gets bought out or closed every couple years. Other flagship parks under Six Flags are maintained pretty well so I don’t know why SFMM, their main flagship park doesn’t make the cut.

I know people love thrill rides, especially coasters and this is the coaster capitol of the world but don't all of those red flags bother you?

Its a Coasters Thrill Park, and is why people like it.

As Cedar Fair and Six Flags just merged I have a feeling the new combined company will do a bit of updates to the park, but overall it provides a unique profile of rides that seem to be popular as it consistently ranks in the top 20 of US parks.

 

[Phroobar]

Disney-snobs don't like the place. If you are used to the Disney bubble, every other park in the country will never do.

 

[TP2000]

Disney-snobs don't like the place. If you are used to the Disney bubble, every other park in the country will never do.

Eh, I get that, and mostly agree. But Magic Mountain is truly awful, for all the reasons stated above.

That Adriana's Insurance ad (a SoCal campy icon) plastered over a walkway cracks me up, and sums it all up perfectly!

I haven't been to Magic Mountain in 20-ish years, since I had to shepherd my young teen nephews there a few times as part of my campaign to be the Cool Uncle. It was miserable. Nothing was clean, not a single surface you touched felt clean. Everything was sticky. I remember distinctly seeing rotting chicken bones covered in ants in one coaster queue, clearly that had been there for days. The employees were truly dreadful, matched only by some of the most unpleasant clientele you could imagine; the F Word and its various derivations had replaced nearly every adjective and pronoun they knew.

Nothing there looked nice, nothing there was nice.

But, I will grant you, the coasters were fun and provided plenty of thrills and G forces. Back when my skeleton could take it.

 

[MK-fan]

It’s a Coasters Thrill Park, and is why people like it.

As Cedar Fair and Six Flags just merged I have a feeling the new combined company will do a bit of updates to the park, but overall it provides a unique profile of rides that seem to be popular as it consistently ranks in the top 20 of US parks.

True but this is because it’s a SoCal park, I don’t know if it would be top 20 if it wasn’t. I mean, SFMM wasn’t always a shi*show. I know that in the 70’s-90’s, it was a pretty enjoyable and unique experience. Since then, crap has hit the fan and they are just letting the park get worse and worse with no sign of them in a beautification of the park. Let’s hope that Cedar Fair does bring in some updates to the park, it definitely needs them. Knott’s is Cedar Fair’s top dog and they do give the park attention for that reason. Magic Mountain is Six Flags’ top dog but it is a dumpster fire of a park and it sucks that other Six Flags parks across the country are treated with much better care.

 

[Disney Irish]

True but this is because it’s a SoCal park, I don’t know if it would be top 20 if it wasn’t. I mean, SFMM wasn’t always a shi*show. I know that in the 70’s-90’s, it was a pretty enjoyable and unique experience. Since then, crap has hit the fan and they are just letting the park get worse and worse with no sign of them in a beautification of the park. Let’s hope that Cedar Fair does bring in some updates to the park, it definitely needs them. Knott’s is Cedar Fair’s top dog and they do give the park attention for that reason. Magic Mountain is Six Flags’ top dog but it is a dumpster fire of a park and it sucks that other Six Flags parks across the country are treated with much better care.

Well its clear it has a fan base otherwise it would be empty all the time which it is not, and not making the top 20 list.

We'll just have to wait and see what SFEC (Six Flags Entertainment Company, new name of the merged company) will do with the park. Worse comes to worse they'll just sell it off, but expect they'll invest into it and improve it overall.

 

[Phroobar]

Eh, I get that, and mostly agree. But Magic Mountain is truly awful, for all the reasons stated above.

That Adriana's Insurance ad (a SoCal campy icon) plastered over a walkway cracks me up, and sums it all up perfectly!

I haven't been to Magic Mountain in 20-ish years, since I had to shepherd my young teen nephews there a few times as part of my campaign to be the Cool Uncle. It was miserable. Nothing was clean, not a single surface you touched felt clean. Everything was sticky. I remember distinctly seeing rotting chicken bones covered in ants in one coaster queue, clearly that had been there for days. The employees were truly dreadful, matched only by some of the most unpleasant clientele you could imagine; the F Word and its various derivations had replaced nearly every adjective and pronoun they knew.

Nothing there looked nice, nothing there was nice.

But, I will grant you, the coasters were fun and provided plenty of thrills and G forces. Back when my skeleton could take it.

To be fair, it's hard to judge a place you haven't been to in twenty years. For better or worse things change. A lot of things Disney fans complain about at other parks are also true if not worst at Disney parks. They are just overlooked or ignored.

 

[PiratesMansion]

People basically go for the coasters and nothing else. It's really and truly all the park has going for it.

And don't underestimate the willingness of coaster dorks to make excuses for an overall sub-par park experience if a park has, and keeps building, coaster after coaster after coaster. That's why so many coaster simps will keep going to SeaWorld and Busch Gardens even as the park experience keeps declining-they keep building coasters, so from their perspective, who cares?

I find the place frustrating because the park is just dripping with potential. If the park was run competently, better maintained, and had a greater diversity of offerings, it'd be amazing. But at the same time, given its market, location, and its terrain (I imagine few grandparents ever were going to choose the park with constant elevation changes even before the place fully became what it is now), I do wonder to a point if its transition into the ultra-youth focused thrill park was somewhat inevitable.

 

[Phroobar]

A lot of simps go to Disneyland for the "Magic" and pay a premium for a park that is half closed, packed, bad service and be nickeled and dimed to death.

I'm just saying it's hard to judge others without looking in the mirror.

Having rollercoasters isn't a bad thing. Disney parks also have rollercoasters but with more plastic and magic.

 

[Touchdown]

United parks are head and shoulders above SFMM. I am a coaster nerd I travel all over the place, I visited SFMM once. Glad I did, do not need to go back anytime soon, give me DLR, SWSD, and KBF anyday. I actually felt the same about USH until recently (when I went the only thing that park had that wasn’t the same or better then USO was the studio tour) when they added Mario, SLoP and Jurassic World, I’m going to be going back very soon. My trip to LA will include USH/HHN, WB Studio Tour, DLR/OBB, and KBF/KSF. No Magic Mountain trip planned.

I visit Cedar Point every year, it has basically the same amount of coasters as SFMM, but manages to also have other rides, decent shows, and an all around better experience.

 

[socaljoeyb]

I'm hoping since Cedar Fair now owns Six Flags they will improve the ambience of SFMM.

 

[SuddenStorm]

I LOVED going to Magic Mountain growing up. I moved to Santa Clarita in 5th grade, and had annual passes up until I worked there when I was 16-18 and could go for free. It was great for hanging out after school with friends. Or an easy place to go when family was visiting from out of town. And it was great for dates in high school. You don't go all day, but it's great for 4-5 hours or so when you live 10 minutes away and have an AP that costs less than $100 for a year and includes parking.

It sounds like Covid wasn't kind to it- and that the park has been mismanaged ever since with incredibly poor attraction reliability and a CEO that raised prices while doing nothing to actually make the place worth the price increase. I saw a post on LinkedIn that said they hired a new chief of maintenance with the primary goal of getting their rides in working order again. I haven't been in probably 6 or 7 years, but once I know things are back in shape I'll revisit if only for the nostalgia.

And Disney has also suffered in terms of maintenance, show standards, cleanliness, and cast member quality since covid. So the problem isn't unique to Six Flags.

 

[mickEblu]

I LOVED going to Magic Mountain growing up. I moved to Santa Clarita in 5th grade, and had annual passes up until I worked there when I was 16-18 and could go for free. It was great for hanging out after school with friends. Or an easy place to go when family was visiting from out of town. And it was great for dates in high school. You don't go all day, but it's great for 4-5 hours or so when you live 10 minutes away and have an AP that costs less than $100 for a year and includes parking.

It sounds like Covid wasn't kind to it- and that the park has been mismanaged ever since with incredibly poor attraction reliability and a CEO that raised prices while doing nothing to actually make the place worth the price increase. I saw a post on LinkedIn that said they hired a new chief of maintenance with the primary goal of getting their rides in working order again. I haven't been in probably 6 or 7 years, but once I know things are back in shape I'll revisit if only for the nostalgia.

And Disney has also suffered in terms of maintenance, show standards, cleanliness, and cast member quality since covid. So the problem isn't unique to Six Flags.

There was a split second in the mid to late 90s where I loved Magic Mountain. Anyone remember Twickets? That’s the Magic Mountain I’m nostalgic for. Riddlers Revenge was the newest/ best ride in the park. The moose burger lodge and Log Jammer were holding it down as Magic Mountains Critter Country and I wasn’t a hypochondriac yet. They even had a sweet little fried chicken spot somewhere between the entrance and Log Jammer. The topography in the area is neat and the only park that has those kind of elevation changes (that you have to walk up/ down as opposed to taking an escalator like USH.) I think getting rid of Log Jammer and all those trees for Full throttle was a mistake. Of course the 90s are also infamous for the gang fights that used to take place there. That was probably its low point in terms of clientele.

 

[MK-fan]

Disney-snobs don't like the place. If you are used to the Disney bubble, every other park in the country will never do.

There’s plenty of parks that are aesthetically nice and a great experience. Parks such as Knott’s, Dollywood, Kennywood, Knoebels and some Six Flags parks are all proof of that. It doesn’t take a Disney snob or being used to the Disney bubble to know that Magic Mountain is a steaming pile of dung heep compared to those parks.

 

[MK-fan]

There was a split second in the mid to late 90s where I loved Magic Mountain. Anyone remember Twickets? That’s the Magic Mountain I’m nostalgic for. Riddlers Revenge was the newest/ best ride in the park. The moose burger lodge and Log Jammer were holding it down as Magic Mountains Critter Country and I wasn’t a hypochondriac yet. They even had a sweet little fried chicken spot somewhere between the entrance and Log Jammer. The topography in the area is neat and the only park that has those kind of elevation changes (that you have to walk up/ down as opposed to taking an escalator like USH.) I think getting rid of Log Jammer and all those trees for Full throttle was a mistake. Of course the 90s are also infamous for the gang fights that used to take place there. That was probably its low point in terms of clientele.

This was the Time Warner era, I grew up with this version of Six Flags Magic Mountain. The Twickets were awesome, another day at the park for 2 Bucks, count me in!!!! I do agree that taking out Log Jammer was a huge mistake and ruined High Sierra Territory and I do miss the Yosemite Sam Sierra Falls attraction, basically a pre-Hurricane Harbor attraction lol.

 

[DLR92]

I haven’t gone to that park at all. I been more active to spend my time in Valencia. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see this park be sold to be another development for warehouses or valuable prime cookie cutter home development.

 

[CaptinEO]

There’s plenty of parks that are aesthetically nice and a great experience. Parks such as Knott’s, Dollywood, Kennywood, Knoebels and some Six Flags parks are all proof of that. It doesn’t take a Disney snob or being used to the Disney bubble to know that Magic Mountain is a steaming pile of dung heep compared to those parks.

100%. Dollywood is a beautiful park and so well ran and maintained. It is like if Disney ran a coaster park.

There's all kinds of fun themeparks in the nation and Six Flags is always low bar. I used to work there and I wouldn't vouch for them. One person I interacted with was so into coasters she had an X tattoo on her arm.

 

[Phroobar]

I haven’t gone to that park at all. I been more active to spend my time in Valencia. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see this park be sold to be another development for warehouses or valuable prime cookie cutter home development.

I think they would have done that awhile ago but they are getting close. This is a relatively old picture. Most of the graded areas are already houses. One can see the back of the park from the house.