Six Flags Magic Mountain
With more rollercoasters than any other park in the world, this is less of a ‘theme’ park and more of a steel forest. There are nineteen coasters in all, some of which are truly outstanding. However, although Six Flags Magic Mountain is clearly aimed towards the thrill-seeker end of the market, there are a real variety of coasters and everyone in your group is bound to find something they enjoy.
Last visited Sept 2019
INVESTMENT
9
THRILL FACTOR
8
FUN &
LAUGHTER
6
STAFF &
FACILITIES
9
UNIQUNESS
8
VALUE
9
THEMEING &
IMMERSION
4
THOMPSONS'
RATING
8
The 'steel forest' that is Six Flags Magic Mountain
BEST BITS
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Two of the best launch coasters you will ever find – Full Throttle (Hayley’s favourite) and Superman: Escape from Krypton (Joe’s choice).
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Six Flags parks are generally very good value. An annual pass costs about the same as 2 day tickets, and gives unlimited access to every Six Flags park in the USA.
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Six Flags invest in their parks, meaning that there are new rides being added all the time. And they are quite inventive. The new ride designs generally feature novel elements and experiences.
DOWN-SIDES
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The queues are not as well managed as at other theme parks. It is rather frustrating to be standing in a queue watching a car go around with empty seats in it. Don’t get us wrong, the organisation is nothing like as bad as at PortAventura, but it is not quite up to the standards of other USA parks.
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There are so many coasters that, inevitably, not all of them are as good as the best. It is impossible to go on all the rides in one day, so planning is required to ensure you don’t spend all your time going on the less good coasters. We recommend using our helpful ratings to assist you!
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The park in general, and most of the rides, are not particularly heavily themed. This means the park is not as immersive as the parks in Florida.
TOP TIPS
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You really do have to plan; especially if your time at Six Flags MM is limited. Make sure you have looked at the park map in advance and planned which rides you want to target. You will not have time for everything in one day.
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We always say don’t go on the first ride you see, and here we mean it more than at any other park. Full Throttle and X2 are both near the entrance and it is tempting to go straight to them (because they’re great). But this is what everyone does. You will queue a lot longer if you fall into this trap.
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There are water fountains near most of the restrooms.
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The terrain is quite hilly towards the left of the park; with some rides at the top of a hill. The 'Honda Express' is a useful way of getting up the top of the hill if you don't fancy the walk.
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Thrill seekers will need more than one day at Six Flags MM to fully experience all the rides.
Full Throttle
Thompsons' overall rating 9
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
9
9
5
7
9
Superman: Escape from Krypton
Thompsons' overall rating 9
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
9
8
6
8
9
X2
Thompsons' overall rating 7
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
10
7
6
9
6
Tatsu
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
8
6
3
6
7
Twisted Colossus
Thompsons' overall rating 5
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
6
6
4
4
5
Scream!
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
8
7
3
7
7
Batman The Ride
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
7
6
5
5
6
Goliath
Thompsons' overall rating 6
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
7
6
3
6
7
Ninja
Thompsons' overall rating 3
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
3
4
3
3
8
Viper
Thompsons' overall rating 3
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
4
3
5
4
4
Apocalypse
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
5
3
5
4
4
The Riddler's Revenge
Thompsons' overall rating 3
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
6
2
4
4
3
Justice League: Battle for Metropolis
Thompsons' overall rating 7
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
4
7
8
6
7
CraZanity
Thompsons' overall rating 7
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
7
2
1
6
N/A
Jet Stream
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
4
3
2
3
N/A
Roaring Rapids
Thompsons' overall rating 4
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
3
6
3
4
N/A
The New Revolution
Thompsons' overall rating 5
Thrill
Fun
Themeing
Immersion
Smoothness
4
5
2
3
5
X2
A one-of-a-kind, 4G coaster built by a company who went out of business shortly after it was completed, meaning there are unlikely to be any others. The ride is virtually indescribable, but we will try. The seats on the coaster move independently of the track (due to being attached to separate rails). This means that the seats tilt into completely unexpected positions; often the exact opposite of the direction you would expect them to go on a normal coaster. The ride features multiple inversions and vertical drops. Whilst it is not jerky, it is also not a smooth ride as there are lots of sudden jolts. The seats have speakers in the headrests, providing a musical accompaniment.
Our view: This is not a coaster for the feint-hearted…or even the normal-hearted. It is an astonishingly intense experience; utterly breath-taking in every sense. It is not a ride which you are likely to feel like going on multiple times in a day, and you will certainly need to sit down after you’ve ridden it. It took us a while to decide if the coaster is brilliant or just terrifying. On balance, we think it is brilliantly terrifying.
Tips:
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You have to put everything in a locker, which is in the ride station.
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We found that the seats nearest to the track (on the inside) offer a much better experience; less jerky and therefore much smoother.
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You will come off feeling dizzy. We think this is because the seats move the opposite way to how your brain is expecting them to move, leading to confusion.
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The harnesses fasten almost like a waistcoat and close down the middle of your chest. If you are tall, it is a good idea to pull the harness up as high as it can go before you close it, otherwise it tends to dig into the area just below your ribcage.
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If you feel anxious about trusting rollercoaster harness then we advise not going on this ride. The way the harnesses close can feel like they are going to spring open. Obviously they’re not, but if you don’t trust that then you will hate this ride.
The X2 lift hill, with Viper in the background
Tatsu
A flying coaster, built using the hill terrain (the ride is at the top of the ‘Magic Mountain’. The ride features multiple inversions and a very enjoyable long dive into a big loop towards the end.
Our view: A very good flying coaster, which makes clever use of the terrain to increase the size of the drops. The ride is very smooth and Joe thinks it is well worth the queue it tends to attract. However Hayley finds the G-force on the loop too intense, which puts her off this ride.
Tips:
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As with all flying coasters, being at the front of the car means you will hang down the first drop waiting for the rest of the car to go over the top of the lift hill. We quite like that feeling, particularly on flying coasters.
Goliath
A hypercoaster which has a big first drop, some smaller airtime hills and a number of banked turns with some high G-forces.
Our view:
Whilst not up there with the modern B&M hypercoasters, the first half of Goliath is very enjoyable and has good airtime. Unfortunately the second half is much less fun, with more focus on G-forces than airtime. But overall it's a decent ride.
Tips:
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You will need to put your personal belongings in a locker to use this ride.
Scream!
Superman: Escape from Krypton
X2, one of the most intense coasters in the World
The New Revolution
Magic Mountain's oldest coaster, this was the first in the world to feature an inversion. Fortunately, they have recently added new seats and harnesses to this ride. They are in-keeping with the old fashioned style, but a lot more comfortable.
Our view:
We found this ride surprisingly fun. It was a lot smoother than most old coasters, and we particularly liked the long build up to the loop-the-loop.
Tips:
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You can take your bags into the ride station.
Batman: The Ride
A hanging coaster which features multiple drops and inversions. The ride is themed around the Bat Cave.
Our view: This is a fairly typical hanging coaster. Not quite as smooth as some more recent examples, but still enjoyable. We would not recommend queuing for long to get on this ride, but if the queue is short it is worth it.
Tips:
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You need to put belongings in a locker to go on this ride.
Roaring Rapids
A standard rapids ride.
Our view:
The ride has no special features or anything particularly outstanding about it. It's okay, but nothing more.
Tips:
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You will get very wet on this ride (more than some other rapids rides). We strongly advise leaving bags in lockers, or they will get wet.
Full Throttle
A truly unique launch coaster with so many interesting features that you have to ride it a few times to fully appreciate it. For starters, it has three launches and one of them is backwards. It also features the world’s largest launch coaster loop and what is now known as a ‘top hat’, where the coaster track also goes over the top of the loop later in the ride.
Our view: This is a world-class coaster that is well worth a queue. It is both thrilling and fun, meaning we often laugh as we go around. It is also extremely smooth and a thoroughly enjoyable ride; enhanced by the fact that it has a lap-bar rather than an over-the-shoulder harness.
Tips:
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The best time of day to ride Full Throttle is early afternoon, when the front of the park is at it quietest. However, the ride has quite a low capacity so there is always a queue.
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The only downside is that the ride ends with the top-hat element, and the breaks are applied as you descend. This means that if you are sat at the back the ride feels like it comes to a premature end. We prefer to sit towards the front, ideally on the front row.
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You can leave you bags in the ride station.
Twisted Collossus
Previously a wooden coaster, the ride was refurbished to include a steel track on a metal structure. The ride has two cars which go around simultaneously, giving the impression of racing each other. However, there is only one track, the second half of which runs mostly alongside the first half. The ride retains its ‘wooden coaster’ layout and features multiple drops and turns. However, when refurbishing the ride they did add a couple of inversions.
Our view: Whilst the addition of a steel track was very welcome, this ride is still quite jerky. Because it feels like you do two laps, the ride is quite long.
Tips:
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You can leave your bag in the ride station.
Scream!
A floorless coaster which features multiple drops and inversions.
Our view: This is a really enjoyable coaster. Probably the best thing about it is just how smooth it is, despite how much it does. It is well worth a ride.
Tips:
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You need to use a locker for your belongings for this ride.
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Joe much prefers the back, but Hayley much prefers the front...
Viper
A coaster which features multiple inversions (including a loop-the-loop) and several high speed corners.
Our view: This coaster is quite old and, like other coasters of its age, is very jerky. There is nothing particularly special about it and we would not suggest bothering with it.
Ninja
A swinging coaster on which the cars hang below the track and can swing outwards as they go around corners. The ride features drops and corners.
Our view: This coaster is fairly slow and gentle, making it suitable for those who are not looking for big thrills. There is nothing unique or exciting about it, but the swing of the cars around corners is quite fun and smooth.
Joe with the start and end of Full Throttle
X2 - one of craziest coasters we've been on!!
Apocalypse
A wooden coaster which features multiple high speed drops and banked corners. It is themed around riders escaping from an impending disaster.
Our view: This is a fairly standard wooden coaster. As with all others of this type, it gives a rough ride. However, it has some enjoyable drops and is quite fast.
Superman: Escape from Krypton
The first coaster to go over 100mph. The ride is very simple; cars are launched backwards firstly horizontally and then up a vertical track. Once at the top they pause for a moment before descending rapidly back down. The whole ride takes about 20 seconds and riders experience up to 6 seconds of weightlessness at the top of the hill.
There is some theming, with the queue taking you through a kryptonite cave. There is also the Superman music as the car returns to the station.
Our view: This launch coaster is one of the most thrilling experiences around. The launch is incredibly smooth, and the feeling of weightlessness is unlike anything we have experienced. For a few seconds you get a sense of what it must be like to be in space. The feeling is almost addictive, and we think once you’ve been on it you will want to go again and again.
Tips:
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We much prefer the back row, which goes furthest up the track, but there are only 2 seats in the back row so the queue takes twice as long.
The sign outside Superman: Escape from Krypton
The Riddler's Revenge
A standing coaster themed around one of Batman’s enemies. It features drops and inversions.
Our view: This is not enjoyable; it looks better than it is. We find standing coasters to be uncomfortable as you feel the need to brace yourself the whole way around. Also, Joe finds that the harnesses do not allow you to either fully stand up straight nor to properly sit on the bicycle-style seat between your legs. Holding yourself in a slight squat position, bracing against the ride forces, leads to you coming off the ride feeling like you’ve done a weights session in the gym but without the satisfaction.
Tips:
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For men especially, the ‘seat’ can be very uncomfortable whilst riding, as it can impact on a very delicate part of the body. We advise pushing the seat down a little for comfort.
CraZanity
The World's biggest pendulum ride. The top of pendulum takes rides well past 90 degrees.
Our view:
Higher and faster than all other pendulum rides, CraZanity is quite intense. But it is really enjoyable.
Justice League: Battle for Metropolis
A 4D dark ride, in which riders follow members of the Justice League (Batman, Superman etc.) as they battle a number of villains. The ride uses both screens and physical sets. The ride vehicles have laser guns for riders to shoot targets as they go around.
There are two pre-ride scenes which explain the story to queuing riders.
Our view:
This ride is not as immersive as other dark rides (like those at Universal), but is certainly a welcome addition to Six Flags. The story is a bit chaotic and hard to follow, but the ride experience is fun.
Tips:
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We enjoyed it a lot more not using the laser guns, as it is easier to focus on the story of the ride (and, therefore, more immersive).
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You cannot take any food or drink into the ride building.
Jet Stream
An old log flume ride, with two drops.
Our view:
We found this ride very disappointing, with no outstanding features. Although the drops are quite fast and fun, the rest of the ride is very bumpy (the boats literally bump into the sides constantly).
Tips:
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We're not sure if this is to do with the age of the boats, but they all seemed to have a lot of stagnant water inside them, which does not drain away. So riders get soaked before the ride starts, and even more so when the water sloshes around the boat during the ride. So we advise trying to put your feat up as much as possible, and leaving bags off the ride.
CraZanity