Traveling the Globe for the Best Coasters and Theme Parks
It’s February, and that means cooler temperatures and some clouds in the sky! We flew in from Florida for another two glorious days at one of our favorite parks: Six Flags Magic Mountain! Let’s take a look at some of the work being done around the park and feature some new photography!
Continue reading “Six Flags Magic Mountain Park Update – Trip Report”
Things are starting to take shape over at the construction site for Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage at Six Flags Magic Mountain! Let’s take a closer look:
Continue reading “Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage, Six Flags Magic Mountain – Construction Update”
In the wake of the highly-anticipated opening of Iron Gwazi we decided it was time to finally do a ranking of North America’s RMC Iron Horse coasters. We’ve wanted to do it for a while – but of course we had to wait until our local purple crocodile was ready to perform!
Continue reading “All RMC Iron Horse Coasters – Ranked”
That the Six Flags chain as a whole is going thru plenty of changes currently isn’t news, but Six Flags Magic Mountain itself has plenty of work being done as well! Let’s track the progress on some of the big projects such as Tatsu‘s repaint, the remodeling of DC Universe, and the construction of Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage!
Continue reading “Six Flags Magic Mountain Update – Late January, 2022”
Due to the pandemic our last visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain (Sean and Alex) was early 2020. We were so excited to head back and spend a day and night at the Valencia theme park. The housing development behind the park that’s currently under construction provides some great views of the park. Let’s see how Magic Mountain’s collection of coasters is holding up!
Continue reading “The Backside of Magic – Magic Mountain Fall 2021”
Six Flags Magic Mountain, the undisputed “Thrill Capital of the World,” in partnership with Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment and DC, today unveiled plans to add yet another record-breaking coaster—WONDER WOMAN™ Flight of Courage—to its unparalleled thrill ride lineup. Six Flags Magic Mountain’s record 20th roller coaster—the most at any theme park in the world—will debut as the tallest and longest single-rail coaster on the planet where riders will fly over 3,300 feet of track, towering 13 stories and soaring at speeds up to 58 miles-per-hour. The new coaster will be located in the six-acre DC UNIVERSE™ area of the park, which will be expanded and entirely remodeled to include a new, innovative restaurant and bar experience, plus retail locations featuring exclusive DC branded merchandise.
Continue reading “Six Flags Magic Mountain Announces Record 20th Coaster WONDER WOMAN Flight of Courage”
It’s that time a year again! Welcome to Coaster Kings’ 3rd annual Twenty Year Top 20, where we count down our picks for the twenty best coasters turning 20 in 2021!
Continue reading “Twenty-Year Top 20: The Best Coasters of 2001”
We’ve wanted to write a Flying Coaster Top 5 for years now, but a certain Dutch prototype project in Germany made us take pause. Now that we have F.L.Y. under our belts, we ask ourselves: how does Vekoma’s flying coaster reset stack up against the flying coasters of the preceding 20 years?
Continue reading “The Top 5 Flying Coasters”
Six Flags Magic Mountain’s 28th season of Fright Fest is back with 24 terrifying nights of monsters, ghouls, and crazed characters ready to strike fear in any one who crosses their path. The bone-chilling lineup of haunted attractions features two new spine-tingling scare zones, a dark and twisted photo experience, two new mind-numbing shows, and added days. Six Flags Magic Mountain leaves no tombstone unturned to deliver what guests want most…an all-out terrifying experience.
Continue reading “Six Flags Magic Mountain – Fright Fest 2021 Details!”
We’re inaugurating our new ranking series with Coaster Kings’ original home park! Our first Crown Rating will rank Six Flags Magic Mountain based on five categories: Roller Coasters, Non-Coasters, Other Attractions, Food and Beverage, and Atmosphere. What will Magic Mountain’s Crown Rating be?
Continue reading “Six Flags Magic Mountain – Crown Rating”
After a much-needed recent visit to Six Flags Great America (one of the strongest regional parks in the country), we finally felt that we had enough experience with the Six Flags chain of parks to gather a comprehensive ranking.
Continue reading “Six Flags Parks – Ranked”
In Part 9 of this series I briefly mentioned Six Flags ambitious expansion throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. A growing American economy made the expansion of the theme park market seem unstoppable. A series of park acquisitions and the acquisition of Six Flags by Premier Parks that was finalized in 1998 expanded the company’s portfolio to include European parks, movie themed parks, and animal parks. At the park level Six Flags unveiled park expansions and additions at a dizzying rate. From the years 1997-2003 Six Flags Magic Mountain received a brand new coaster every year. It is worth noting that with the exception of 1999 each one of these additions was a major, and in many cases record breaking coaster: 1997 saw the addition of the record breaking 400 ft tall Superman: The Escape. 1998’s Riddler’s Revenge remains the largest Stand-Up coaster in the world. 2000’s Goliath opened as the world’s tallest continuous circuit coaster. 2002’s X introduced the world to the 4th dimension coaster. And 2003’s B&M floorless Scream was built to be a reliable addition after X‘s problems. X was originally set to open in 2001 but was delayed significantly. Six Flags chose to open another major thrill machine from Vekoma. Unfortunately, this coaster would have its own set of problems. In August of 2001 Six Flags and Vekoma unveiled the world’s first “Giant Inverted Boomerang”, Deja Vu.
Continue reading “Lost Coasters of California – Part 10: Déjà Vu”
Six Flags Magic Mountain announced plans to reopen the park to members and passholders on April 1 and 2, and to the general public on April 3, 2021. In accordance with state reopening guidelines for theme parks, Six Flags Magic Mountain will operate at reduced attendance levels utilizing a new reservation system. The park is also implementing extensive safety measures including several new advanced technology systems to protect guests and employees. The plan, developed in consultation with infectious disease experts, sets standards for executing at the highest levels of hygiene and social distancing protocols. These procedures will be adjusted on an as-needed basis to ensure compliance with state and county recommendations.
Continue reading “Six Flags Magic Mountain Will Reopen April 1st WITH Rides!”
Last week I discussed the short lived Psyclone at Magic Mountain. Psyclone’s trains designed by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger and Mabillard caused much of it’s woes. This week’s article looks at the first coaster these designers worked on, and one with lasting impacts in the coaster industry.
Continue reading “Lost Coasters of California – Part 6: Flashback”
In Part 4 we looked at the construction and eventual transformation of California’s tallest wooden coaster, Colossus. Today’s lost coaster resided at the same park. This story includes a natural disaster, a young Swiss ride manufacturer, and the unfortunate death of a coaster design icon.
Continue reading “Lost Coasters of California – Part 5: Psyclone”
When a park sets out to build the biggest, fastest, and baddest coaster around the problem always arises that its records and stature will eventually be surpassed. For Magic Mountain’s Colossus this was not a problem for much of its life. From its construction in 1978 until the construction of Viper in 1990 it was the tallest full circuit coaster in all of California. After Viper Colossus reigned as the king of the California wooden coasters until it’s RMC conversion in 2014, passing the crown to the nearby GhostRider.
Continue reading “Lost Coasters of California – Part 4: Colossus”
Cruis’n the Park Car Show
World’s first drive-thru auto show inside Six Flags Magic Mountain, presented by West Coast Customs.
Continue reading ““Cruis’n the Park Car Show” Coming to Six Flags Magic Mountain”
I’ve had the distinct privilege of traveling around the world and riding all three of the large Arrow/S&S 4D Coasters. Having lived next to Magic Mountain for many years, I’m very familiar with X2‘s distinct last Raven Turn, but how do the other two compare? Eejanaika and Dinoconda look similar but deliver vastly different ride experiences. Join me as I take a look at all three 4D Coasters, their differences, ride experiences, and learn which one is my favorite.
Continue reading “X2 vs. Eejanaika vs. Dinoconda”
For about as long as Six Flags Magic Mountain has been in operation, nearby Hollywood has frequently mined the park for on-location filming of amusement park scenes for feature films, television, advertisements, and more. Classic sequences, like National Lampoon’s Vacation at “Walley World”, remain cultural iconography.
In 1990 the opening of Viper (and the advent of a professional camera rig that could be mounted to the nose of the train) catapulted Magic Mountain even further into Hollywood notoriety, with major productions now having utilized the enormous Arrow Looper countless times over the last 3 decades. Let’s take a look at some, shall we?
Continue reading “Viper: Hollywood’s Favorite Coaster”
Earlier this year documents were uncovered on the LA County permitting website that show plans for a new roller coaster for Six Flags Magic Mountain! The proposed ride, an RMC Raptor/single rail coaster would re-use the former Green Lantern station and use some of the area currently occupied by Tidal Wave. New permits show that Six Flags Magic Mountain has been granted approval for $1.3M of foundations for the coaster’s supports.
Continue reading “Six Flags Magic Mountain Gets Approval to Lay Foundations of New RMC Coaster”