Day 12 | Six Flags Magic Mountain
From Long Beach it’s an hour long trip to Santa Clarita where Magic Mountain is and this Sunday started a bit cloudy and even cold outside. On the way there it even started to rain in a few spots but we’recommitted that today’s the day for Magic Mountain. It’s only open on the weekend days in this low season so it is now or never.
By the time we got to the car park there was a light steady drizzle but we’re doing this and it appeared a lot of other people thought the same.
We went straight into the gift shop to find wet weather gear (funny so had everyone else). We checked our backpack and realised we had only brought one poncho with us.
The park didn’t have any adult ponchos as they were not expecting bad weather, they only had kids ones - Angus got one.
Luckily before the stampede Rosie had spied the coolest brolly ever and it was must buy, now more so than ever. Being massive it was perfect for today’s weather.
The first ride was the Revolution which was the first roller coaster to have a loop. By today’s standard it was okay but we know there are some more amazing ones here.
The X2 is next. We were in line for over an hour when they said the ride was having technical difficulties. We decided to wait for a bit and finally it came back on line. In total we waited just over two hours. But it was totally worth it. This ride lays you on your back and shoots you around. Really strange going backwards and when the gravity inverts you do feel a bit exposed.
We didn’t care that it was raining - it just added to the atmosphere and probably reduced the amount of people at the park, there were still long wait times on the popular rides so I can’t imagine how long the wait times would be on a busy day.
We stopped for lunch now and had some of the most average burgers ever. But hey we were cold and hungry so they did the trick.
Next was Tatsu and this is one of the fastest around and it lays you on your front, a bit like superman. McKay, Angus and Rosie queued just over an hour and went on this one. We noted they had signs around the park clearly setting out the rules of the park - which included no profanities, no line jumping or holding places in line and no bathing suits. At one point while we were waiting we witnessed a group get escorted from the line (most likely out the park) as one of the members had challenged a staff member after going to the toilet and trying to rejoin the line. She tried to resist but realised it was futile and eventually went quietly. They take it very seriously.
The kids were getting very cold now so we parked them in a warm cafe where they were very happy and Rosie and Angus were off to the Goliath which is a conventional seated roller coaster. After over an hour in line we were finally on. The first ascent-descent is over 70 m and amazingly fast and smooth. The ride was really thrilling and we were approaching the crest and the ride just stopped. And then the wind blew, and we waited. We were all talking to each other about the strange circumstance, nervously joking. By which time we had all realised that something was not right. One of the teenage attendants arrived up to the adjacent platform to check we were all calm and okay while they got the problem sorted. There was a lot of banter about delivering food and blankets as we shivered on the ride. Everyone was texting and taking
photos and we were there for about 20-30 minutes. We heard an alarm and it slowly restarted and everyone stuffed everything away.
When it moved forward it proceeded to go straight into a slow roll which was agonising. The rest was as uneventful as any 100 km/hr roller coaster ride and when we came into the loading area everyone cheered and applauded.
It being after five we called it a day. We decided on dinner at Chili’s in Long Beach. This is a chain of restaurants that does a great Margarita and has a great sport-bar / family restaurant
feel. We were well attended by our server Ashley who ‘mixed at the table’ guacamole, replenished the bottomless soft drinks and served the food not to mention the hot chocolate lava cake desert.
The valet parking is a thing in a lot of places. For six dollars a guy took the car away and returned it when we had finished dinner. This really needs to catch on, especially in the city where parking can cost easily twenty and you have to find the park and then go back and
get it.
When we got to the motel and went in the phone rang once. Just like at home we all looked at each other. No one on the phone but it rang again and it was reception to say we got mail today. Fancy that, mail on a Sunday. Anyway it was just another invoice from the Hospital.
Highlights
All the rides especially the X2 and Goliath and also getting free from the Goliath | Rosie
X2 ride on your back | Angus and McKay
Table Guacamole | O’Regan