Six Flags Magic Mountain
| Six Flags Magic Mountain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 View of the park from Interstate 5 |
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| place | Valencia , California , USA | |||
| opening | May 29, 1971 | |||
| Visitors | 2.848 million (2014) | |||
| surface | 1.06 km² | |||
| Website | www.sixflags.com/magicmountain | |||
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Coordinates: 34 ° 25 ′ 28 " N , 118 ° 35 ′ 51" W.
Six Flags Magic Mountain is an amusement park near Los Angeles in the US state of California . It is located about 55 kilometers northwest of downtown Los Angeles near Valencia , a district of Santa Clarita . With a total of 19 roller coasters (as of 2020), the largest number of roller coasters in a single amusement park worldwide, Magic Mountain is the largest park in the Six Flags amusement park chain and is the only park in the chain that is open all year round (on weekends during the winter months) . With an estimated 2.85 million visitors (18th place), the park was one of the 20 most-visited amusement parks in North America in 2014.
Directly adjacent to the park is the Hurricane Harbor water park, which is also owned by the Six Flags chain , but is managed separately. The two parks are also marketed together as Six Flags California .
history
Construction and first years
Due to the strong influx of southern California in the 1950s, land prices soared, so the Newhall Land and Farming Company decided to sell their previously only agricultural and oil-producing areas in the San Fernando Valley and neighboring areas such as the Santa Clarita Valley , in the the park is to be used as building land. Instead of selling the land to one of the numerous interested parties, she decided to build a planned city , today's Valencia. She commissioned the Austrian city planner Victor Gruen with the planning . In addition to the construction of golf courses and other attractions, it was hoped that an amusement park would increase its popularity, similar to what the settlement of Disneyland had done for Anaheim. In cooperation with SeaWorld, the park was built from 1969 and opened on May 29, 1971 under the name Magic Mountain. The construction cost was about $ 20 million. Only a few of the original 33 attractions have survived today. These include the Sky Tower observation tower , the Showcase Theater (today: Golden Bear Theater ), Percy the Small Engine , a ride especially for children, and Goldrusher , the only roller coaster when the park opens.
After the first season, Newhall invested more than $ 5 million in renovation and expansion work. The trolls Bleep, Bloop and Boop and a wizard were introduced as the park's mascots and the children 's area was expanded to include the Wizard's Village . In the following years, Six Flags expanded the park with several smaller rides such as a wild mouse .
Expansion to include Revolution and Colossus
For the 200th anniversary of the American Revolution , the construction of the first “big” roller coaster, the Great American Revolution, followed in 1976 . What was revolutionary about the roller coaster, which is often only briefly referred to as " Revolution " and now officially called The New Revolution , was the use of the first loop in the modern age . Early attempts with looping at the end of the 19th / beginning of the 20th century had repeatedly led to injuries due to the lack of control of the g-forces , so that 75 years had passed since the last ride with looping in the USA (in Coney Island ) . In addition, the roller coaster designed by Anton Schwarzkopf and Werner Stengel was the highest and fastest roller coaster in the world at that time. Aside from two small rides from the year the park was founded, Revolution is now the oldest operating roller coaster in Magic Mountain and has achieved landmark status. In the following year turned universal here the film Rollercoaster (dt Title:. Roller coaster ) in which the roller coaster Revolution played a central role.
A year later, in 1978, another ride was opened with the Colossus wooden roller coaster . When it opened, Colossus also set a new record for the height and speed of wooden roller coasters. West of the Rocky Mountains, Colossus was the tallest wooden roller coaster until it closed.
Owned by Six Flags
In 1979 Newhall Land and Farming Company sold the park to Six Flags for $ 51 million to focus on its core business, building the city of Valencia. Since then, the amusement park has been called Six Flags Magic Mountain. The construction of the whitewater course Roaring Rapids ( "Thundering rapids") in 1981, the first major investment by Six Flags, two areas of the park were connected so that from now on a round trip through the park was possible. In 1982 the Free Fall ride was built, in which you fall in free fall for a short moment , i.e. feel weightless, before the route slowly merges into the horizontal.
In 1984 the Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles. As a tribute to the Winter Games in Sarajevo that same year , the Sarajevo Bobsleds were built, a ride that simulated a bobsled ride . They are one of the many rides that have been transferred back and forth between the various parks by Six Flags over the years (ride rotation program) . The Bobsleds transferred Six Flags in 1986 his eldest and namesake for the chain Park, according to Six Flags Over Texas .
Six Flags used the trolls as the park's mascot until 1985. That year they were replaced by the characters of the Looney Tunes , whose rights of use Magic Mountain had already acquired in 1971. Among other things, this made it necessary to redesign the children's area Wizard's Village , which was now called Bugs Bunny World . The Clown Coaster was also renamed the Wile E. Coyote Coaster .
In 1988, Ninja was built, a Suspended Coaster type roller coaster. Ninja is still in operation today and, together with Vortex, holds the speed record for roller coasters of this type in Canada's Wonderland with 88.5 km / h.
In the years that followed, Six Flags added an amusement ride to the park every year. In 1989 the water ride Tidal Waves was built, followed in 1990 by the steel roller coaster Viper , at the time of construction the roller coaster with the highest and fastest vertical loop in the world. Storm Runner holds the record for the fastest inversion today in Hersheypark , but Viper is still the roller coaster with the highest loop. The next year, 1991, the wooden roller coaster Psyclone followed , although it was not particularly popular as a rough ride . In a survey of roller coaster fans in 2006, Psyclone landed on the penultimate place out of 179 available wooden roller coaster. In 2007, the roller coaster was torn down again to make room for the wooden roller coaster Apocalypse, which opened in 2009 . The roller coaster Flashback , which was built the following year, 1992, was also demolished in 2007.
After the water ride Yosemite San Sierra Falls (1993) and the inverted coaster Batman The Ride (1994), the next expansion of the park followed in 1996: The 20 million dollar roller coaster Superman: Escape from Krypton was the first roller coaster worldwide to break the prestigious one 100 mph mark (160 km / h). The height of the roller coaster of 126 meters also set a new record. In Superman: Escape from Krypton , the train is accelerated from the station using LSM from 0 to 160.9 km / h within 7 seconds. Then the train travels vertically up a 126.5 m high tower. During the ascent and descent in the vertical, passengers feel the feeling of weightlessness , the so-called airtime, for 6.5 seconds .
In 1998 the longest, fastest and highest stand-up coaster worldwide opened with The Riddler's Revenge .
Premier parks
Expansion of the park
In the largest acquisition in the history of the theme park industry, the fast-growing Premier Parks chain acquired Six Flags from Time Warner that same year for $ 1.86 billion . The aggressively expanding chain began using the more traditional brand name Six Flags for its own parks and acquired several parks in Europe, which they also put under this name. Premier Parks invested heavily in new roller coasters in its parks. Magic Mountain, with its now eleven roller coasters, played a special role, as the park was to compete with Cedar Point in Ohio , America's second oldest amusement park, for the prestigious title of amusement park with the most roller coasters.
First, in 2000, the park was expanded to include the Goliath steel roller coaster, which held the record for the highest first drop for a few months . In 2001, the 40th anniversary of Six Flags, the company announced the opening of three new roller coasters to outperform Cedar Point. Due to technical problems, however, only Goliath jr. according to plan. Déjà Vu could still be commissioned at the end of 2001, the commissioning of X was delayed until the beginning of 2002 and continued to suffer from long downtimes. X was the first 4th Dimension roller coaster . In contrast to "normal" roller coasters, the individual rows of seats can also rotate 360 degrees around their own axis. Due to recurring problems and downtimes, lighter wagons were purchased in 2008, the railway received a redesign and is now called X² .
Cedar Point also built a 15th roller coaster in 2002, so that in the 2003 Guinness Book of 2003 both amusement parks were listed as world record holders with 15 roller coasters. The next year in Magic Mountain, the Floorless Coaster Scream! built another roller coaster, but Cedar Point also opened a new roller coaster.
In the meantime, the parent company Premier Parks had run into financial difficulties due to various factors, including the poorer consumer climate as a result of the bursting of the dot-com bubble or the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as an unfavorable exchange rate of the euro against the US dollar. In the face of a mountain of debt of more than two billion dollars, Premier Parks cut its budget for expansion investments and began to part with individual parks. In 2004, the group sold its parks in Europe. As a result of financial difficulties, Six Flags and Tatsu did not build the next roller coaster in Magic Mountain until 2006. With the 17th roller coaster Magic Mountain was now the sole record holder. Admission was raised to $ 60 for adults and $ 30 for children for the 2006 season.
Sales plans for 2006
In late June 2006, Six Flags announced that it would be "exploring strategic options for six of its parks," including its flagship Magic Mountain and neighboring Hurricane Harbor water park . This news was all the more surprising when investments were made in a new roller coaster that same year. Even the demolition of the park was under consideration due to soaring land prices, but a consultancy estimated the park to be worth $ 400 million, while demolishing the park and selling the property would have raised an estimated $ 100 million. In December, the plans for a possible demolition were therefore shelved. In early January, Six Flags finally sold seven of its parks, but decided to keep Magic Mountain and the adjacent Hurricane Harbor park .
present
In 2007 the wooden roller coaster Psyclone was demolished. In their place, Apocalypse was created , also a wooden roller coaster that opened in 2009.
The Southern California wildfires in October 2007 also threatened Magic Mountain, but ultimately did not damage the theme park. On October 22nd, the park had to be evacuated in the afternoon when fires broke out a short distance away.
In 2008 another roller coaster was demolished with Flashback , so that the sole record for most roller coasters in a park passed back to Cedar Point. Six Flags invested around 10 million dollars in the new cars and the redesign of X , and another children's area was created with Thomas Town . The aim is to increase the attractiveness for families, the park is to develop from a pure adventure park for teenagers to a more family-friendly park.
Role in film and television
Due to the park's proximity to Hollywood , scenes for feature films or television films, but also documentaries about roller coasters are often filmed in Magic Mountain. In addition to the aforementioned film Rollercoaster , in which the park itself plays a central role, the opening credits of the series A Strong Family in Magic Mountain were filmed. In it, however, the park was moved to a beach using a computer effect.
Other series are Wonder Woman and Entourage , other films Kiss - Hunted by phantoms , The shrill four on the move , Stone Age Junior , My Life for You , Space Cowboys , This Is Spinal Tap and True Romance .
Park attractions
In addition to the roller coasters, there are also five water rides and the two children's areas Bugs Bunny World and Thomas Town with a whole range of rides for children on the 106 hectares of the park . Several short shows are performed daily on the stages in the children's areas. In addition, various concerts and other events take place throughout the year. The Fright Fest around Halloween has a long tradition , when the park stays open longer and the roller coasters can be ridden in the dark. In addition, the wooden roller coaster Colossus is driven backwards.
In 2008, a museum on the history of the park was established in the Sky Tower observation tower . The exhibits include components of roller coasters that have since been demolished, old overview maps, design drawings for the design of the individual theme areas of the park and the costumes of the mascots Bleep and Bloop, which have been replaced by the Looney Tunes .
Many older roller coasters, especially from the 1970s, but also from the 1980s, have now been demolished and replaced by more modern ones. Some roller coasters were also swapped back and forth between the various parks in the Six Flags chain as part of a " ride rotation program " . For example, Shockwave was transferred to Six Flags Great Adventure in 1989, whereas Flashback was installed in 1992 , which was already in Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Over Georgia.
Below is a list of the roller coasters in the park today:
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| Surname | Opening year | Manufacturing company |
|---|---|---|
| Gold rusher | 1971 | Arrow Dynamics |
| Magic Flyer (renamed and redesigned several times) | 1971 | Bradley & Kaye |
| The New Revolution | 1976 | Schwarzkopf GmbH |
| Ninja | 1988 | Arrow Dynamics |
| viper | 1990 | Arrow Dynamics |
| Batman The Ride | 1994 | Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) |
| Superman: Escape from Krypton | 1997 | Intamin |
| The Riddler's Revenge | 1998 | B&M |
| Canyon Blaster | 1999 | Miler Coaster Company |
| Goliath | 2000 | Giovanola |
| X 2 | 2002 | Arrow Dynamics |
| Scream! | 2003 | B&M |
| Tatsu | 2006 | B&M |
| Apocalypse | 2009 | Great Coasters International |
| Road Runner Express | 2011 | Vekoma |
| Full throttle | 2013 | Premier Rides |
| Speedy Gonzales Hot Rod Racers | 2014 | Zamperla |
| Twisted Colossus | 2015 | Rocky Mountain Construction |
| West Coast Racers | 2020 | Premier Rides |
No longer existing roller coasters
- Colossus
- Déjà-vu
- Flashback
- Green Lantern: First Flight
- Mountain Express
- Psyclone
- Sarajevo bobsleds
- Shockwave
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Six Flags Magic Mountain in the Roller Coaster DataBase
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Global Attractions Attendance Report 2014. (PDF) TEA, accessed on January 16, 2016 (English).
- ^ International Directory of Company Histories from: The Gale Group, Inc. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
- ↑ Entertainment, Travel Editors: ADVISORY / After 20 Years - Six Flags Magic Mountain's Colossus Is Still the West Coast's Most Thrilling 'Woodie'. In: Business Wire. December 4, 1998. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ↑ Entry on the park's website , accessed November 21, 2008.
- ↑ http://www.ushsho.com/detailedwoodrollercoasterpollresults2006.htm (accessed November 21, 2008)
- ^ A b International Directory of Company Histories from: The Gale Group, Inc. (Retrieved November 21, 2008)
- ^ Six Flags Inc. Announces Unprecedented Capital Expansion for Los Angeles Property; Three Coasters to Debut in 2001, Transforming Six Flags Magic Mountain From Theme Park To 'Xtreme Park'. Press release dated December 19, 2000. (Accessed November 21, 2008)
- ↑ Guinness Book 2003.
- ^ Six Flags to Explore Strategic Options for Six Properties - Buffalo, Concord, Denver, Seattle, Houston and Los Angeles; Company Provides Mid-Quarter Update on Operations , press release June 22, 2006 (accessed November 21, 2008)
- ↑ The mountain may remain open, but is the magic gone? by Emily Bryson York. In: Los Angeles Business Journal. December 18, 2006 (registration required)
- ↑ Six Flags Agrees to Sell Seven Parks for $ 312 Million Press Release January 11, 2007 (Retrieved November 21, 2008)
- ↑ Fires burn in neighborhoods around Magic Mountain In: Theme Park Insider. October 22, 2007.
- ↑ California Fire Siege 2007: An Overview California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, March 17, 2008 (PDF; 13.9 MB; accessed October 6, 2012)
- ↑ The Magic Mountain Sky Tower Museum ( Memento of the original from December 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed November 21, 2008)
- ^ Colossus - Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California, USA). In: rcdb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
- ^ Déjà Vu - Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California, USA). In: rcdb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
- ↑ Flashback - Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California, USA). In: rcdb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
- ↑ Six Flags Magic Mountain to scrap 'one of the worst coasters ever'. In: The Mercury News. March 26, 2019, Retrieved June 2, 2019 (American English).
- ^ Mountain Express - Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California, USA). In: rcdb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
- ^ Psyclone - Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California, USA). In: rcdb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
- ^ Sarajevo Bobsleds - Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California, USA). In: rcdb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
- ↑ Shockwave - Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California, USA). In: rcdb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
