Six Flags Magic Mountain

Today started off in a very poor fashion. Not only did it start early at 6am but once we got outside we found that a) it was spitting, b) that the forecast was for rain, and c) our bus was driving away from us despite us being on time. It felt too early to put on the problem solving hat but sometimes that’s the way it goes.

First step was to try and get a cab to beat the bus to the next major collection point. This would have worked had the cab shown up but no such luck. After looking at replacement options we delayed the day by an hour and caught the next bus, which was only 30 minutes away by this point.

We finally got back to LAX and off to Hertz to pick up our next bit of transport, a Ford Mustang convertible. Being on the American part of our trip we had to have a big American car and what better than the modern version of an American classic. There was quite a bit of rain around at this point so it was great to get into the car underway on our own steam.

Our first stop was out to T-Mobile to pick up a new sim card, and then we were on our way out to the thrill factory that is Six Flags Magic Mountain.  Six Flags is a fair way north of LA, most of the way on the huge interstate freeways which crisscross the city. It was quite an introduction to driving in the states but I was having a great time pushing the Mustang around (safely of course) and pretty soon had the hang of it. The beauty is that the speed limits are guidelines as long as you are moving with the flow of traffic. As a country, America may do some strange things but this approach to driving is excellent, along with their constant 2+ occupant lanes. The trip out to Six Flags took about an hour, so we clicked our way through the turnstiles just after 12 noon.

After the magic that was Disneyland, the Six Flags park was a real let down. The tired boring décor, significantly less families, and the overcast day gave the appearance that the park had no soul. The park is on a hill so we spent a fair bit of time just wandering around trying to get our bearings, and an understanding of how the park worked. All in all it wasn’t looking very optimistic.

Until we got on a ride.

Because Six Flags is all about scaring the crap out of you. There’s no time for fancy props and landscaping when all the park is trying to do is put you up a hill and throw you down it as fast as possible. This is why Six Flags is awesome; because it’s everything Disneyland isn’t trying to be.

We started off on the Viper, which only I did as we hadn’t yet figured the system of dealing with gear and Kathryn wasn’t totally ready for it first up. This roller coaster was of fairly standard design but threw you through seven loops within about 30 seconds, hence the high thrill rating.

We then both jumped onto Revolution, which was the first roller coaster in the world to have a loop. This was really interesting as it showed the huge steps coaster design has taken. While most coasters now largely use track to control speed, the Revolution used regular brakes to slow the car right down for the next section. The track designers were so nervous about the loop they actually stopped the cars before the loop and then launched them again, resulting in the slowest loop I’ve ever done. That said, as a whole the ride was still very entertaining despite its age.

After Revolution (and throwing in a go-kart track) we felt that the lines were just that bit too long despite the colder weather and expected rain, so we grabbed a FlashPass, the Six Flags booking system. This works different from Disneyland in that you rent the device which lets you book your place from anywhere in the park. You’re allocated a time to come back based on if you were standing in the line but without actually having to stand there. After a raucous welcome just for us from the Flashpass sales team we were out in the park and ready to really get into it.

The next ride was Goliath. This one got Kathryn and I both nervous, as it kicks off with a 26 storey drop into a tunnel at 85 mph. It’s difficult to explain how massive a drop this is but it certainly got the heart pumping. The feeling afterwards was definitely part satisfaction of actually doing it to go along with the excitement of the ride itself.

From here we moved right across the park to the Apocalypse ride, which is a modern coaster disguised as a classic wooden track. The tight turns and tremendous noise, along with the odd exploding car made this coaster well worth the lengthy walk.

Our next booking was for the Green Lantern ride but we managed to sneak in a quick Gold Rusher run, which was a surprisingly exciting mining cart ride. After a moments confusion about which green track was actually Green Lantern we skipped a huge part of the line and took our spot for the ride. Green Lantern is a ride type that’d we never done before, where the track is on one vertical axis and the riders hang off the side. This meant it incorporated giant drop type elements as well as vertical rotation at speed.   While short, it was a fantastic ride.

We backed this up with the Batman ride, which is a suspended coaster (you hang below the track). Because you do the turns and loops on the outside the forces are reversed and so rather than feeling like you’re going to fall out, you’re actually pushed even more firmly into your seat. This helps a lot as the ride is brutally fast!

We then did our standard one big wait of the day, this time for the Riddler’s Revenge which wasn’t included in the FlashPass. Despite that, this was one ride I was really keen to do (Kathryn not so much) as you do the coaster effectively standing up. The wait was about an hour and we were both pretty anxious once we got to the front, but the feeling of standing up was actually great and gave a whole new perspective to the ride. We would definitely have done it again.

By this time it was 5.30 and the cold and tiredness was making it difficult to keep up the enthusiasm. It was also pretty dark by then and the park isn’t very well lit so there wasn’t much to see. We decided that we had time for one more, the highly anticipated Tatsu. This is a flying coaster, so once you’re seated and buckled in you’re rotated over so that you are looking straight down. Tatsu is the highest, fastest and longest ride of this type so I was looking forward to see what it could do. 

In the end I was blown away by this ride, but not because it thrilled me (there was only on drop that turned my stomach). It was simply that the feeling of soaring through and above the night time tree canopy felt like the closest you could come to flying. The coaster was so smooth and the harness so supportive that it felt like they weren’t there and you were just soaring on our own. Because of the lack of thrill this wasn’t my favourite ride of the park, but it did cause the best reaction.

Luckily for us the rain we had driven out of on our way to Six Flags hadn’t eventuated over the park, which was a huge bonus. It had taken a bit of juggling to ensure Six Flags would fit into our trip plan and we’re very thankful that the weather gods have so far played their part.

All done for the day we jumped back in the Mustang and drove the hour long trip back south to our hotel in Anaheim. After a quick spa to relax the muscles we managed to haul ourselves half a block down the road for dinner and thank god we did because we found some delicious pizzas at Pizza Press, made before you like Subway with your input. The guys working there were great and the pizzas were outstanding. We ended up with a window seat watching a replay of the Disneyland fireworks, so a great end to the night.

Tomorrow is our first cruisey day, a later start at 9am before driving out to Las Vegas to join up with our Contiki group. We’re yet to see how this will all pan out and what activities we’ll be doing and when, but I’ll get a blog post up when I can. I've also been a bit slack with getting photos up on here but I'll add some in tomorrow for the last couple of days.

Rob