Six Flags Magic Mountain, 9/11/09, Season Pass Appreciation Day

Park was open 4pm-10pm. I did not know exactly what to expect. This was my first time going to one of these. I have read reports here and on other sites about how empty they usually are at other parks so I figured it was worth a try. I can hardly believe how well it turned out. I got on 40 total rides even though they were only open for 6 hours. It is the 3rd highest ride total I have ever had at SFMM. I got on 43 once and 41 once but those were both on days when the park was open much longer. I also rode X2 14 times!! That pretty much made the day worth while even without the 26 other rides I got. I didn't ride every coaster this time like I usually do. I was trying to concentrate on favorites and rides that usually have long lines. I also did not get a Q-bot since the park was nearly empty.

I got there at 3:30. They had the electronic sign at the entrance to the parking lot saying "Park open 4pm-10pm for private event". Pretty cool since this was my first private event at SFMM. When I got there, there were only 3 cars at the parking booths. A very good sign. I was able to park in the front row of the parking lot. Only the 3rd time that has happened. There were only about 20 cars in the parking lot. At 4:00 when the park opened there looked to be about 100 people at the entrance. The first parking lot was never more than 1/3 full the whole night.

On the tram ride to the entrance I was talking to a woman and her kids. She told me she was going to Hurricane Harbor. I told her that HH was not open. I assumed she knew about Season Pass day and told her that only MM was open. In the process of talking a little more I found out that she did not know about SP day and that she thought both parks were still open daily. She was planning to go to HH for "a few hours". She was shocked to find out that MM was open until 10pm and that only SP holders were allowed in. I found it really funny that she knew nothing about what was going on and lucked into possibly the best day of the entire year to visit MM. Lucky for her, her whole group had SP's.

Here is the day in order: Most rides had less than 10 people in line when I rode.

X2: 10 times in 1 hour! All walk ons. Sat in almost every row.

Viper: twice, walk ons. Didn't leave my seat.

Revolution: once. Walk onto front row. Solo ride.

Tatsu: 3 times. Walk ons. Front row the first time. Switched rows and went 2 more times. Heard the sonic boom from the space shuttle while in line. People in line for next row over started joking about Los Angeles being invaded.

Terminator Salvation: twice. 10 minutes then walk on. The only time I did not walk on the whole night. There were so few people that we were allowed to walk right throught and skip the pre-show. They also blocked off the regular queue and let everyone enter using the flash pass entrance which is a much shorter walk.

Deja Vu: twice. Walk ons. Didn't leave my seat.

Terminator Salvation: once. Walk on.

Riddler's Revenge: 3 times. Walk ons. Front row twice without leaving my spot then moved to 2nd row and went again.

Batman: 3 times. Walk ons. Twice without leaving my seat then switched rows and went again.

Scream: 3 times. Walk ons. Front row twice without leaving my seat then moved to row 4 and went again.

Goliath: 3 times. Walk ons. Row 5 then near the middle then very back. Only had to switch rows and get back on.

X2: twice. Walk ons.

Tatsu: twice. Walk ons. Only had to switch rows.

Viper: once, front row. Solo ride. When I got there I was the only one. I walked up to the front row. The ride ops unlocked one seat individually and left the rest of the train locked. I got in and they started the ride within a few seconds.

X2: twice. Walk ons.

40 total rides: X2-14, Viper-3, Revolution-1, Tatsu-5, Terminator Salvation-3, Deja Vu-2, Riddler's Revenge-3, Batman-3, Scream-3, Goliath-3

Wow that sounds awesome!!!! If only i had a six flags park that big next to my house. I'm curious as to how the SFNE one goes. Glad you had an epic time.

Yes, it was definitely awesome. Since I was able to ride X2, my #1 coaster 14 times and still ride all of my other favorites multiple times in only 6 hours, it was probably the best day I have ever had at SFMM. Before yesterday the most I had ever rode X (it was still X at the time) in one day was 7 times. The 5 times I rode Tatsu, my #2 coaster, is also tied for the 2nd highest daily total I have ever had on Tatsu. Two years ago I had one day when I got on Tatsu 6 times.

Have a great time at SP day at SFNE if you are going.

Yes someone else who has X2 as their number 1 coaster. questions SFMM addict... what are the crowds like during that last week of operation in december and do all the rides stay open during that time....

No i'm not going to SP day at SFNE. I'm in college right now. There is a chance i might finally get out to SFMM come the end of March. Do you happen to know what the crowds are like then?

Jimmy Boy.

Another person with X2 as their #1 coaster. I haven't been in December, but I went quite a few times this January and every coaster was open and the crowds were minimal. I rode X2 at least five times on one of those visits but I remember it being pretty chilly after the sun went down. Made for a nice burst or warmth when the flames went off. :)

Gigaforce,

As for March, crowds generally aren't too bad unless you catch the Spring Break crowds. From this last year, the place is pretty dead anytime except from Memorial Day to Labor Day, where it's hit or miss during the week and probably pretty busy on the weekends.

GIGAFORCE01, Crowds at SFMM on weekdays in March are very light as long as you avoid Spring Break and make sure there is not a special event on that day. Sundays in early March are manageable but all Saturdays in March are packed. Just avoid all special events, specifically Physics Day, but that is usually the 2nd Sunday in March.

Jimmy Boy, RockDown is correct about January, that is usually a nearly empty month. I have found that Sundays in January are nearly as empty as school days.

In my experience, everything is usually open in December. They do a lot of maintenance in Jan/Feb after school starts again but the trade off is that those two months are usually pretty dead. Two coasters might be closed, but the ones that are open have very short lines.

I went to SFMM on Sunday, 12/31/06. Hours 10-8. Even on New Years Eve, crowds were light. Tatsu had a 1 1/2 hour line. I used all 4 of my paper flash passes on it and also went once when the park first opened. All other coasters had no more than a 20 min. line. X was closed. I don't remember my exact ride count from this trip but it was around 25-30.

Here are some "mini trip reports" from the past few years which may help you.

12/2/07, Sunday, Hours 10-6. Rode 29 total rides. Park nearly deserted. All rides were walk on. Rode X 7 times. This was also the last day that X was open before the remodel. Park was nearly as empty as SP day which I just went to.

1/2/08, Wednesday, 10:30-6, 26 total rides. Tatsu had 30 min. line, but I used all 4 flash passes on it. Everything else 10 mins or less.

2/2/08, Saturday, 10-8, 32 total rides. Tatsu had 1 1/2 hour line, used all 4 flash passes on it. Deja Vu was long but I used the single rider line. Everything else was walk on.

2/17/08, Sunday, 10-8, 33 total rides, Tatsu had 1 1/2 hour line, used flash passes., Deja Vu and Riddler were about 1 hr, used single rider line. Batman and Goliath, 30 mins. Everything else 10 mins. or less.

3/31/08, Monday, 10:30-6, 41 total rides. Spring Break ended the day before. Every ride in the park was walk on. Most of the time you could stay on and go as many times as you wanted. Rode Batman and Tatsu 5 times each, Scream 9 times and Riddler and Goliath 6 times each.

The single rider lines I mentioned don't exist anymore.

The next three trips were after I joined this site so here are the links.

12/7/08

2/1/09

3/1/09

I'm actually kind of bummed I missed the Passholder day. Sounds like it was money.

I went to the Gay Night a couple years ago and it was a similar experience. The only real wait was Tatsu (X was closed). I had a great time but I didn't have a pass that year. Now it's hard to justify paying to go to the park once you've already bought the pass. And the drive to Valencia blows on a Friday night too.

Glad you had a good time that night. Yes, it would be difficult to justify paying to get in when you have a pass. I had something similar happen when I had to buy a MM ticket so that I could go on the class trip for high school graduation, even though I already had a SP. I asked the teacher who was in charge of the trip if I could go on the bus with the school but not buy a ticket, but she said that if you went on the school trip you had to buy a ticket from the school. Since it was graduation and the tickets was 1/2 price I went anyway.