Six Flags Magic Mountain for the first time!

I don't post on here too often anymore unless it's a TR and I'm also sorry it took so long to post this but anyways. This was my first trip to SFMM. Having grown up on the East coast this was a dream come true. I moved to Utah this past February. This made it just a 600 to 700 mile drive away. The drive there took almost 12 hours thanks to bumper to bumper traffic in the middle of nowhere between Las Vegas and California. I was considering stopping by at the Stratosphere tower, but I just wanted to get there. I felt the same way coming back. Stopping in Vegas is for a different trip.

Friday December 29th

X2
I have dreamt of coming to this park since the 1990's. With that said you would think my first ride choice would be hard, but actually it was a no brainer. Sure Twisted Colossus might be the better ride, but I had never been on a roller coaster like X2 before. I have been on over 100 coasters now, but not even a wing coaster to compare. I entered the station thinking I had a back seat, but soon realized I had a front seat. It just shows how crazy this thing is. The ride was totally nuts. I think it would rank just outside my top five. It felt on the really rough side though and I soon found out why.

Usually I would continue my TR by writing a paragraph for every ride, but for the remainder of the first day I can not do that fairly. Shortly after my ride on X2 I realized that I had caught the stomach virus that was going on in my cousins house christmas day. Going to the bathroom constantly was actually the least of my concerns. The bigger issue was that all the rides became painful almost intolerable. Most normal people would have just called it a day, but I kept going.

The rides in order after X2 were Viper, Riddlers, Scream, Twisted Colossus, Ninja, Apocolypse, Gold Rusher and Full Throttle. I felt like it was unfair to rate any of those rides feeling the way I was. Viper felt like the roughest ride I have ever experienced. I could barely keep my eyes open. The only other good ride I had all day other than X2 was the pleasent surprise of Full Throttle. The ride was incredibly smooth and I would know that being as sensitive to smoothness as I was. I was fortunate enough to get a front seat and it turned out being a very enjoyable ride. It was the one ride from the first day that I would take over my second day ride on it. That ride was a middle seat.

Saturday December 30th

Day two felt like a day that was hopefully going to make up for day one. The plan all along was to get the gold flashpass on the second day. I took some Excedrin pain killers in the morning hoping they would do better than the couple Ibufrofen I took the first day. Excedrin is suppose to be better with headaches and I haven't grown a tolerance to them like I have Ibufroin. I only took two pills and it made all the difference! On my second day the rides were as enjoyable as ever. The gold flash pass also helped because I could essentially go to the bathroom while waiting in line. This trip really turned into a tale of two different days.

X2
The flashpass doesn't give you X2 so I ran for it before even getting the flash pass. This time I went for a back seat. As soon I was about two cycles away the ride broke down. I asked the ride attentant if I could use the bathroom and come back to the same spot and to my surprise he said yes. This was probably the single best ride that I had on X2 or any other ride on this visit.

Superman Escape from Krypton
The flashpass also doesn't work for Superman making this the easy second choice for the day. Once in line I quickly reserved my time for Tatsu. This was the only time I got on Superman for this trip and unfortunately that's all it earned. It's nice going backwards, but not at the costs of a over the shoulder restraint. I'd much rather face forwards with just a lap bar. I'd have enjoyed this ride a lot more if I could have blocked both KK and TTD from my mind. It just didn't deliver compared to those two. The worst part about this ride is that it doesn't have to clear a hill so Six Flags can run the ride at whatever speed they want. On my ride and from what I witnessed during my visit the ride barely got into the red track. Can anyone tell me the height that the track turns from blue to red? From here it is an easy calculation to find the speed. My guess is that the ride was going 90 mph at most.

Tatsu
The flash pass was amazing here. By the time I got off Superman it was already my time for Tatsu. I had almost no wait for a back seat. This is by far my favorite flying coaster. My only two others are Superman Ultimate Flight and Batwing. The prezel loop was incredible and it just seemed to have everything you would want in a flying coaster.

Goliath
Definitely one of the coasters that I was most looking forward to at the park. It's one of only two Giovonoly coasters in the world, but I defintely didn't want to try the black out g-forces feeling the way I was the first day. I really hate saying this, but this has to be the second worst hyper(SROS SFA) I've ever been on. The ride must have been so awesome when it opened. The 60 degree angle on the first drop just doesn't deliver. 60 degrees used to be steep back in the day, but it is simply out dated like most everything else on this ride now. The air time hill was ok. The most annoying part was how the ride comes to a complete stop at the MCBR. I know when it opened it didn't. I didnt really find the Helix to be all that intense towards the end and I really have to wonder how it felt when the ride first opened. As it stands now those G-forces are nothing compared to the first turn on I-305.

Revolution
Not much to say here. I'm just glad the virtual reality wasn't in operation, and that I simply got a ride on this coaster landmark.

Lex Luthor
I had another extremely short wait thanks to the flash pass. I found this ride very enjoyable. It's definitely better than the Superman ride especially when Superman is under performing. This might be the best free fall sensation I have ever had on a ride. Overall it's probably my second favorite drop tower behind Falcons Fury.

Batman the Ride
With the Green Lantern down for scheduled maintenance( not sure how upset I was) this was the last major ride left. Oddly enough this was the longest wait I had all day with the flash pass. It seemed everyone with flash passes thought the same. I got a middle seat which is all I cared because having ridden the SFGADV version front seat and back, I only cared for the credit.

Riddlers Revenge
It was now time for repeats and especially for those highly regarded rides that I simply could not enjoy the first day. This was a back seat ride. Compared to my two other stand up coaster experiences Shockwave and Mantis this definitely was the best. The ride is intense but totalty tolerable.

Viper
Nothing was worse than my ride on Viper the first day. I also know that this coasters years are numbered. That made this ride very special. I went in line for a front seat. I was a single rider and found one person sitting alone 2 cycles in front of me. I went to sit next to him. I have never seen or heard of anything like this. He went totally berserk over me sitting next to him. He wanted the front row all to himself. I really didn't care especially since I had already reserved my next time for Full Throttle with the Golden Flash pass. I simply got up and gave it to him. This became a laugh for the rest of the day for me and others. Here is a single rider refusing to let others sit with him. Anyways the ride was much better than before and smoother than I remember GASM at SFDADV.

Full Throttle
This is an outstanding ride and certainly the best wild card in the park for me. Like I said earlier this was the only ride where my day one ride was better than my day two ride. With that said, this was still one really good ride!

Twisted Collosus
Just before this ride I finally dared to eat something with the stomach virus. It actually didn't come right out and my stomach virus was gone it seemed. It's amazing, I can actually say that the stomach issues lasted only during the hours I was at the park and the night in between. Obviously the ride was a lot more enjoyable this time around. On the second lap the front of the other train caught up to the back of my train and it was ever so close to an actual dual. I just wish they could have slowed our train down, but obviously capacity would be an issue if that just kept happening.

Goliath
Once again the flash pass made this a short wait. This was now a night ride and my opinion remained the same. I love the way this ride looks. The letters of it's name are just awesome. I also really thought that the jungle theme was cool. I really hate calling a ride this good looking the second worst hyper I've ever been on, but it really is that outdated.

Tatsu
This was suppose to be the second to last ride of the night. Just before, I was curious of the line at X2 so I went over to look. Everything seemed good. It didn't appear to be filling out of the station or anything. Once I got to Tatsu I was told it was down. A park guest annoyed the ride attendant and told him that X2 was also down. This I found odd since I was just over there. Sure enough I went over there and the ride was still running. I then found that very ride attendant and told him that X2 was running. He had a smirk. He also told me that Tatsu would be up in about 40 mintues. The time was 7:50 and the park closed at 9. Why on earth would they open a ride for only 30 minutes is beyond me. At this point it was time to give up my flash pass and finish with X2.

X2
I started and ended this trip with to my opinion is the best and certainly most unique thrill in the park. This ended up being a two hour wait probably close to all my waits put together for the day. Part of this wait was thanks to a train getting stuck on the lift hill. In classic fashion though the line kept moving at almost the same speed thanks to people giving up. My final ride was great just like the other two. Apparently they didn't reset the music when they reset the lift after the breakdown. This made the final ride earily quiet. The ride was great, but much to my surprise I think I prefer this ride during the day time. It's almost like if everything is dark there is no telling if your right side up or upside down.

Overall: Wow what a park! After going to Cedar Point in 2001 and 2003 when I was 13 and 15 respecictaly this has always been THE PARK to go to. My expectations were meet. My only issue with this park is that it is nothing but roller coasters. It's amazing to think that in two days I only got one non roller coaster ride in. For someone like me that is fine, but for a family I could see many issues there. I think my final rankings for this park would go 1. X2 2. Twisted Colossus 3. Tatsu 4. Full Throttle 5. Goliath

X2 was number one at SFMM for me, but probably not for the year. I'd like to add one paragraph for my trip this August to Lagoon in Farminton, Utah. I choose Cannibal for my 100th coaster and wow!! I knew it was going to be good, but not this good! The immelman might be the best I've ever experienced. The first drop is 200 ft at a 116 degree angle with just lapbars and that's not even the best part of the ride. The lagoon role literally hangs you upside down with just a lapbar! None of the other rides in the park compared. It was interesting being in a private non corporate park that simply did things it's own way. The river rapids ride didn't have seat belts. I recall seeing someone standing up while on the ride. The most odd thing for me was that all the rides simply closed when the park did. The typical protocal is to let everyone in line by the time the park "closes" get their chance to ride. That's not the case here.

Great Trip Report! X2 is phenomenal..I wish it were still as smooth as back in 2002. Even with the train revamp it's still a little bumpy.

Good TR. We still have yet to make it to the west coast. I have been wanting to go to magic mountain since X was new. Also want to hit Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Sea world, and other smaller parks while there.

Finally got a taste of 4D with the Joker at Great Adventure, but X2 is a whole other level.

The S&S rides aren't even in the same ballpark as X2. X2's first drop in the back row still takes my breath away.

I thought X2 was the worst ride I've been on in a really long time.

Yup. I believe the words I used were "Paint shaker."

eightdotthree said:

I thought X2 was the worst ride I've been on in a really long time.

I did too. Until we walked over to Green Lantern: Worst Flight. Then X2 settled in behind that torture device. Comic Book Guy and Trump don't have enough superlatives between them to describe the way I feel about that ride...

Nice TR. Magic Mountain is on my bucket list although it's a long way to go for someone like me who lives on the East Coast. Your comments about Goliath are interesting. I just watched a video of it on YouTube and it appears to be identical to the other Giovanola, Titan at SFOT. I didn't much care for Titan the first time I rode it but it has since grown on me. A 255-foot drop is nothing to sneeze at although I must say that the location of the MCBR is odd. As one accustomed to riding B&M hypers, I was surprised to have the train some to a stop at a left-banked curve. When I rode near the front it was a case of being stalled partially over the turn. Other than that it wasn't bad. I thought that the airtime is actually pretty good.

They're not identical. Goliath doesn't have the helix going into the MCBR.

I like both Giovanolas right up to the end of the first air hill. The drop is super tall but not especially steep, the turn around is ho-hum and the air hill is pretty solid. Everything after that is uncomfortable, especially after standing in line in the Texas sun. I totally understand why you are not allowed to ride Titan twice in a row. I will say, riding in the front hanging out of the train on the MCBR is a unique and interesting experience.

Titan and Goliath are both as high as they are on the Coasterbuzz top one hundred because of me, I guess. ;) I find both rides absolutely fantastic, with Titan being one of my favorite coasters of all time (even my #1 or tied for it for a while). I feel like where pretty much every hypercoaster has been focused on airtime, it was cool to try one more endowed with righteous positive g-forces. I give Titan the edge because even the first helix was almost punitive in its intensity, which was highly unexpected in light of the altitude.

I've only ridden Superman in the forward configuration, but I still found it to be a worthy rush, if not as exciting as TTD/Kingda Ka.

X2 is worth the roughness, in my opinion. The unpredictability of that experience is just incredible. I wish there were more of them around here.

Those of you who are impressed with Goliath find the front or the back more impressive? My two rides were both in the far back. Perhaps the hanging over edge sensation really does make a difference while in the front. The back of the train certainly doesn't seem to get any whip from the front down the main drop.

I love both the Gio hypers, but I can’t say where the best seat is. I’ve ridden front and back but the difference to me was negligible.

The front is the only part that hangs sideways off the MCBR.

They are fun rides but try to cram way too much coaster into a small space so we end up with a full stop at the mid-course.

I don't believe that the hanging over the front of the MCBR was part of the original design. I believe that as it was revealed that the 2nd half was turning out to be too intense for some, this is how it was handled. Hanging the train part way over the drop delays the acceleration, providing the same effect as a trim brake.

Obviously we've seen this before, on Mean Streak and other large woodies. Mean Streak especially was trimmed so far over the crest of the lift hill that the train didn't really start accelerating until 1/3 of the way down, it seemed.

^ Definitely! Just youtube "Scream Parks" and you can see a POV towards the end of the show of when Goliath first opened. There is absolutely no hanging after the MCB at all. Like I said in the TR I really wonder how intense this thing was when it first opened. I-305 seemed much more intense to me and all my rides on it were in 2010 after the trim was added to the drop.

Same here. X2 really rattled me - but Green Lantern was actually painful. We even met people in the park looking and pointing at it, and loudly told them "DON'T DO IT!"

My one and only visit to Magic Mountain was in January 2014 and I dubbed it the best day ever. The place was dead, every coaster was operating and with multiple trains. I absolutely loved X2 and rode it several times. One of my all time favorite coasters and I can't wait to go back someday. As for Green Lantern, it was a walk on but after watching it I still passed.