First Day Back at Six Flags Magic Mountain

The last time I had been able to go to Magic Mountain was January 15th, 2020. I started a new job shortly thereafter and then the pandemic reared its head in a way that made going in February or March an ill-conceited idea. 

So that’s 13 and a half months without going on a roller coaster. You can watch as many POVs of rides as you want on YouTube, but you’ll never get the same sensation as being on the ride. And I had completely forgotten about the actual sensation of riding–the sense of speed and the G-force pulls. 

When I drove up the hill and saw X2 making its way through its first massive half loop, I knew that any sort of jaded ennui toward the rides had dissipated. I had no idea what to expect and it was all going to feel brand new. 

The first ride back was down to two choices: Tatsu and Twisted Colossus. After getting my reservation time checked, I went through the easiest security process I’ve ever experienced at Magic Mountain. You go through a storage container built to monitor everyone’s temperature and then coast right through the new machines that they have set up–don’t open your bag, don’t empty your pockets, just wander on through in a slightly confused state like me. 

I decided on Twisted Colossus. It’s the most consistent ride in the park in terms of being a medium-sized extended punch. I knew that it’d take through everything I’d feel on any other ride: airtime and laterals and inversions and hot, nasty, badass speed. 

With the reservation system, it winds up being that the mornings are light and then the crowd picks up throughout the day. I was one of the first people to make it back to Twisted Colossus and was thus able to ride once in the back and once in the front. I’ll always prefer the backrow for it’s insane whip effect, but the front row is so wide open on this ride that you feel like you’re going way faster than 60. 

I’ll admit that climbing the blue lift that first time, I still didn’t have an idea of what was going to happen. I had ridden this hundreds of time but still, this was following a long layoff. 

I walked over into DC Universe to check out the construction walls and to confirm that the smoking section still existed. I was certain they’d close them all as part of their Covid protocols. I even bright one of those Juuls just in case. But thankfully, I was able to indulge in my gross-ass habit. 

The walls have grown to encompass the Kent Corn Stand. There’s still a large gap toward the Lemonade stand where you can see that not much has been done beyond erecting the walls. 

Toward the Tidal Wave side of the project, it was the same story: a little bit more of the area had been blocked but not much further work has been done since I last saw anything. 

While it looks like Tidal Wave ain’t long for this world, I have this insane hope that they’ll keep it and that whatever their building (like, say, a Raptor) weaves around the old water ride in the same way that the Go-Kart track was incorporated into West Coast Racer’s design. 

The issue is that they’ve already removed a good-sized portion of the flume and… boy, it sure looks decrepit and ready for the trash fire. 

This project, and this location, has me really curious about how everything is going to look once it’s completed–will Metropolis and the DC Universe finally be a connected land? If it does wind up being a rumored clone of Jersey Devil, I wouldn’t mind being able to walk alongside the speed hills of its return trip… 

On the 15th of last year, the Underground had barely opened and I didn’t really get a chance to explore the area beyond my first couple rides on West Coast Racers. Since my next stop was Apocalypse, I was able to really absorb how well they put together the entire area. With WCR snaking around the land, it’s really jumped up into a higher level of vibrancy than in the late Cyclone Bay days where Apocalypse really fit in with how sun-bleached and rotted out the kinda-sorta beachy area was. 

Apocalypse is still running butter smooth. Prior to the shutdown, they did a buttload of track work on the ride during the closure for the construction of the Underground and West Coast Racers. My cynicism told me that the great rides during that January day were fleeting, that the ride was baked and warped again during the shut down.

I was surprised at how well it was running, then. Front to back it hauled major ass and was as smooth as any other GCI coaster out there. Even that final turn over the extended queue wasn’t as jittery as it once was. 

And the speed! That ride just tears through the entire course without any letup. I love it. 

For lunch, I decided to try the Chicken Coupe over near the Go-Karts. I had already tried the tacos back on my original visit and I wanted to try one of their chicken sandwich offerings. 

The sandwich had fried pickles and a chipotle aioli. As with Twisted Wiches, this new offering proved to be better than a lot of the standard fare that’s been around the park for awhile. While I usually go in for the chicken salad at Katy’s Kettle, this might be another item to add to the list as it was pretty good. 

I backtracked over to Goliath and waited in my first and only line of the day. People were as good as they could be with social distancing 

I rode in the front row of the second-to-last car and experienced air time on the first drop. Maybe this is some type of “magic seat” that I didn’t know about or perhaps it was just a fluke. But the speed hill and the centrifuge are no joke. There’s a reason for sure as to why Goliath still pulls major lines after over 20 years. It may not be the most insane or highest quality hyper-coaster out there, but it is a people pleaser and it has its place in the skyline. 

At this point, I had only been in the park for three hours but everything was starting to get packed. Even Viper had an extended wait by this point in the day. 

My watch said I had already walked 4.5 miles, and I hiked in Big Bear the day prior, and so I felt pretty done with physical exertion and just… waiting in line didn’t sound appealing. 

So I called it a day. While a short trip, it was still an amazing time and exactly what I needed after such a long layoff. 

Also, good to see the geese are still around.