 Yesterday I headed up to Six Flags Magic Mountain for their first day of daily operations in over a year. It was great to be back in the park, I saw some very encouraging things and overall had a really fun visit. In this update I'll share some of my thoughts on the park, covid protocols and what you can expect if you'll be visiting the park in the near future. Written by Gregg Condon I arrived about 10:10 for my 10:30 reservation. I wasn't hopeful when I saw this, but they opened parking about 10:15 and I was in the park by 10:30.  I did a full walk around of the park and commentary on my day. Be sure to check it out on our YouTube channel. The queue for the temperature check and security. They ARE checking reservations. I saw somebody with a reservation for Sunday get turned away. So please, make sure you show up at your reserved time.  Lots of signs around the park and even outside the park. I found the completely touch-less temperature check and security to be a breath of fresh air and I hope all of the parks go this route. Not only does it give people a great first impression, but it's so fast and easy.  They currently have only 2 of the new security check devices, but you literally just walk through it. There was zero wait.  We missed you too!!   Lets head into the park   Absolutely zero wait at the gate. If you have a new pass they'll give you your pass card here.  It felt great to walk through these gates.   Lots of "rest" and food area's where you normally wouldn't see them.    I headed for Revolution first, figured I needed to start on something "easy" after a year of no riding, plus I absolutely LOVE Revolution  Social Distancing, cleaning and loading every-other row!  About to ride my first coaster in over a year. Tell me you can't see a smile through a mask!   It was a beautiful (and slightly warm) day   Heading over to Full Throttle. This was pretty much as empty as I saw the walkways all day.  20 minutes after park opening, lots of cleaning already going on!     A reminder, the stickers on the ground are there for a reason. Use them!   Not even exaggerating, I must have seen 100 sanitizer bottles throughout the day. It's amazing to see.  Social distancing FTW!  After a nice back-seat ride on Full Throttle it was time to grab a bite to eat.  I tried to do the mobile ordering at Wascals, but they were having some issues. No biggie, these are the kinds of things to expect after a year of the park not being open.  I had to ride Road Runner Express because I was wearing a Vekoma hat. And it's the only Vekoma in the park.  More seating locations where there aren't normally seating locations!  DO THE SIX!!
Batman was closed, it is apparently getting some new paint.   All of the Green Lantern stuff is still here, will be shocked if the new coaster doesn't use this as the entry/station/queue.  Don't see any panting yet  Social distancing markers in the games area too!  I know I sound like a broken record with all the dining area's, but seriously, it's impressive how prepared the park is.  If rumors are true, Tidal Wave isn't going to be around much longer. I do think the park needs more than 2 water rides, so hopefully they'll get some kind of splash battle or something in the next couple of years.  Some pics of Riddler's in action, because why not. Click to see larger views of each. Justice League was closed when I walked by, but apparently opened later in the day.  More seating!  Gold Rusher was also closed when I went by, but did open later.   The Underground was definitely the most popular area when I was at the park.    After a quick water/mask break I had to take a ride on West Coast Racers  From this angle I didn't think people were social distancing, but they actually were. So yay!  The park has gone to 100% mobile/card payments, but you can actually convert cash to a card at kiosks around the park. Really great idea!!  So overall I had a really great day at the park. There were some technical issues, but it's to be expected after the park has been closed over a year. I mean, you wouldn't try to start your car after a year and expect there to be no issues. Right? So just be prepared for ride down time and slower loading times due to cleaning and distancing. All that said, there are a few things I would like to see changed. Namely, more drink locations. Again, they are still re-staffing, but with the heat and masks it would have been nice to have more places to just get a drink vs having to wait in line. But that's small compared to all the good at the park. Kudos to Six Flags and the park staff for taking all the precautions they did. It's so great to have the park open and I can't wait to go back soon. Related Videos
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 Today we're back at Six Flags Magic Mountain for another look at Metropolis and Justice League Battle For Metropolis. Also, Apocalypse finally reopened this weekend after a lengthy refubishment and re-tracking. Did it help? Read on below. Written by Gregg Condon Here we are back in Metropolis, home of Tidal Wave?  Work has begun on Ace O' Clubs    Guessing we'll start seeing more visible work going on outside   Can't wait to see this done, guessing lots of great stuff is going on inside  Mmm Beer  It's going to look so great when it's all done   Repainting of Riddlers has begun  Old and new ... wish it was sunnier so you could see the difference better. I do like the green, haven't seen any of the new support color yet.  As we were walking by they were opening Apocalypse. You can see them removing the sign here.  It's great to see this ride back in action        So did the re-tracking help? Yes and no. The parts that were re-tracked are great. Smooth and fun. They did re-track the worst parts of the ride so that's awesome. Still there are a few parts that didn't get re-tracked and it would have been nice to see the entire ride get a re-track. We're hoping this is a multi-year process and the ride will come back down next offseason for more work to bring it back to where it was on opening day. We can definitely see the reason why the park wants to get the ride open for the busy Summer season. The park is advertising a couple of movies, one of them would make an AMAZING Fright Fest maze. We'll let you guess which one.   They are also preparing for their Grad Nite festivities.    Swashbuckler is also closed for a refurbishment. Don't think there's any other ride at this park that get's as much refurbishment as Swashbuckler.  Drop of Doom was closed due to high winds and sadly not to move the VR off of Revolution and onto the drop ride like some other Six Flags parks.  And lastly, we'll leave you with some Twisted Colossus pictures, because why not. Related Updates:  Over the weekend we got to check out the first night of the amazing Holiday In The Park at Six Flags Magic Mountain. In just it's third year this event has easily turned into one of our favorite events of the year. Even if you don't care for the rides at Magic Mountain, experiencing the Holiday atmosphere in the park is worth the price of admission alone. Pictures by Matthew Nelson and Gregg Condon Written by Gregg Condon (click on any of the pictures below for a larger version) Let's start off with a few daytime pictures because the park looks incredibly festive by day and night.   An AMAZING A cappella group greets you as you enter the park.  The transformation from Fright Fest to Holiday In The Park happens so fast every year  New this year is the Gleampunk District, and it's amazing.  Some great original holiday characters
 Even Twisted Colossus gets decked out for the holidays this year
 As night sets the lights come out ... also new this year is Santa's Wild Sleigh Ride  On The New Revolution for the Holiday Season is "Santa's Wild Sleigh Ride". We got a chance to experience the ride and we all really did enjoy it. I hadn't personally ridden the VR Version of Revolution since Media Day earlier this year and while I'm still not a fan of VR on coasters and it's impact to capacity I have to say I did enjoy this more than the regular Revolution VR. And that pretty much was the consensus among everybody I talked to. So be sure you check it out.
 Heading into the Gleampunk District  All the lights in the area are blue and green to match Twisted Colossus  It's spectacular in person   Lots of fun things to see  Raise your hand if you they should keep these lights on Twisted Colossus up all year!!
 Also new this year is a new show in the Gearworks Theatre - Kwerkmas. It's a fun cirque type show with great acrobatics, dancers and a magician. We've put together a slideshow below to give you an idea of what the show is like.  Rockin Universe is always one of our favorite area's   The Winter Wonderland is back and is as always just fantastic. 
 So one of the things that really put Holiday In The Park on the Map when it started two years ago was the food. This was definitely a departure from the normal "Burger and Fries" that Magic Mountain had been known for. The first year they started kind of traditional, with a ham feast, tamales and other traditional type holiday foods. Which was awesome. And yes, for those of us who live in Southern California, tamales are most definitely traditional holiday food. But last year they started "experimenting" with a few different things. Some things were removed and in it's place came the Holiday Turkey Dog (Turkey dog with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mayo) which from it's description you wouldn't think would work. But it DOES. Other favorites from last year included the Mac n Cheese Burger, Chocolate Covered Caramel Pretzel, Funnel Cakes and more. And all of your favorites are back with a few new treats to enjoy. And as we did last year, we'll be sharing our top 5 lists so you can be sure to know what to try when you visit.    Aftermath of our first food stop of the night. Sorry, we ate too fast to get pictures. Plus we were having such a good time just enjoying the company.  Towards the end of the night they had a nice reception set up for us near Katie's Kettle. SFMM sure does spoil us.  Lots of amazing treats.  
We actually remembered to get a before pic ... kind of. ;)  Top 5 food picks
We had such an amazing time at Holiday In The Park. It truly is one of our favorite events each and every year, not just holiday events, but in general. The lights are fantastic, the atmosphere is phenomenal, everybody is just out to have a great time, it's stress free, no drama. Oh, and the food is amazing.  Thanks again to Magic Mountain for the amazing night, we can't wait to get back and experience more of Holiday In The Park. And we WILL be back. Related Updates: |
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