Rating: 9/10
5. DEJA VU
Type: Inverted Shuttle Coaster
Manufacturer: Vekoma
Opened: August 25th, 2001
Height: 191
Max Speed: 65mph
Inversions: 6 (3 forwards, 3 backwards)
Deja Vu is one of four "Giant Inverted Boomerang" coasters. It has the same layout as Boomerang (at many Six Flags parks, including Six Flags Discovery Kingdom). The difference with this one is that it is inverted, it is a lot taller, the ride crisscrosses under itself, and the towers are vertical, rather than on a steep angle. It is also similar to Invertigo at California's Great America.
Deja Vu pulls you up backwards, up a vertical tower 191ft in the air. Your feet dangle and your weight is all on your chest. Then the train is released and you fly down and through the station, up and into a cobra roll at 65mph, Then into a loop that stands 102 ft in the air, and up another vertical tower, this time, facing the sky. You are pulled up to the top, and then in an instant, released. You travel backwards through the loop, the cobra roll, and the first tower before you are lowered back into the station.
Deja Vu is a great ride; if it is open. Out of the last three times I have been to Magic Mountain, Deja Vu has only been open once. My guess is because of the maintenance and unreliability of the ride. This particular design has had many flaws. The original shoulder restraints were positioned too high, making it possible for riders to touch the track of the coaster if they reach high enough. This was soon fixed with new lower restraints. During tests, the vertical lift hill also proved to be unreliable. The ride opened at three Six Flags parks in 2001, and in late 2007, two of the parks closed the ride. They were both eventually removed and sold to other parks. Magic Mountain is the only Six Flags park with Deja Vu now. Vekoma, the rides designer, temporarily went bankrupt because the ride's were so costly, and it is even rumored that Six Flags is no longer purchasing rides from them.
Rating: 9/10
6. TATSU
Type: Flying Coaster
Manufacturer: Bolliger & Mabillard
Opened: May 13th, 2006
Height: 170ft
Max Speed: 62mph
Inversions: 4
Tatsu is a flying coaster that was custom built for Six Flags Magic Mountain. It is currently the worlds fastest, tallest, and longest flying coaster. The name Tatsu is a Japanese word meaning "dragon." The ride opened in 2006, Magic Mountain had a big ceremony and celebration, with such stars as
Paris Hilton, The Jonas Brothers, Jessica Alba, Rihanna, and
Nick Cannon.
A flying coaster is one that is similar to an inverted coaster, where you are below the track. The difference is that in a flying coaster, your back is parallel to the track above you, so you face the ground, giving you a flying sensation. When you enter the station, the trains are in a vertical position, much like an inverted coaster. You enter your seat in a sitting position. Your feet are locked in through special feet restraints. Then the whole train rotates, pulling your feet up behind you, so you end up facing the ground. Tatsu has two sides two its station, making it very efficient. This makes it possible to load and unload two trains at the same time. They enter the main track using a switch track, which is a small track piece that rotates left and right, depending on which train is entering.
Tatsu has some very cool features, one being the record breaking 124 ft tall pretzel loop (shown above). This is a maneuver where you enter a half loop from the top, while below the track. You go head over heels in the half loop, end up on your back, and come upwards for another half loop. From one angle, this element has a similar shape to a pretzel. Many enjoy the extreme g-force of this pretzel loop, but I personally dislike it. When you are at the bottom of the loop, right after you go head over heels, all your weight is pushed into your shoulders and head, creating some discomfort. Tatsu is also unique to Magic Mountains landscape. Its layout is very open, plunging through the trees and on top of Samurai Summit. It travels through four different areas of the park.
Rating: 8.5/10
7. TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE RIDE
Type: Wooden
Manufacturer: Great Coasters International
Opened: May 23rd, 2009
Height: 95ft
Max Speed: 50mph
Terminator Salvation is another great addition to the never ending thrills Magic Mountain is continuing to provide. It might seem modest to build a wooden coaster with all the record-breaking steel coasters being built today, but Terminator Salvation proves itself worthy. Probably the best-themed ride in the park, this $10 million investment was built in a mere five months.
Terminator Salvation is a wooden coaster that features millennium flyer trains (similar to those of Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom). These trains utilize one row of seats per car (seating two), rather than the traditional train that has two or three rows per car (seating four or six). This makes for a much smoother ride; sometimes you even forget you are on a wooden coaster! The ride also features a station fly-thru, where the track actually goes through the station above the exit. While waiting in line, you can see and hear the train fly through the station (hence the name). The trains also are equipped with audio, making the ride even more enjoyable. During one part of the ride, you fly passed some fire cannons that blast fire into the air. You also go through two tunnels, one of which has mist inside. These are similar to the effects that were added to X during its transformation into X2.
The queue line for Terminator Salvation looks awesome. They have props, such as vehicles, that were used in the movie. Flammable barrels, cactus's, and mesh nets give a deserted-apocalyptic feel. The ride ushers wear camo to appear as the resistance. As you make your way inside, you watch a brief video about what's going on. Magic Mountain is an abandoned Skynet facility, and the unfinished terminators are coming to life. The only escape; the coaster. The video stars actress
Moon Bloodgood from the feature film. You pass a few rooms with terminator torsos hanging from an assembly line, and as you approach, their eyes light up red. You finally make it into the station, climb aboard, and make it out alive.
Rating: 8.5/10
8. NINJA
Type: Suspended Steel
Manufacturer: Arrow Dynamics
Opened: May 18th, 1988
Height: 60ft
Max Speed: 55mph
Although Ninja may be an older coaster, it still delivers the thrills. This coaster is very unique and one of only four of its type in North America. Ninjas Japanese themed station sits atop
Samurai Summit. The lift hill is quite short because the ride travels downward, where it gains most of its speed. You swing left and right through the hilly terrain, as you whip passed the treetops. You even end up at parallel to the water at one of Ninjas 180-degree swings. Since the ride ends at the bottom of the hill, a lift hill is required to get the train back to the station. The wait time is usually short for this ride, so be sure to check it out!
Rating: 8/10
9. BATMAN: THE RIDE
Type: Inverted Steel
Manufacturer: Bolliger & Mabillard
Opened: March 26th, 1994
Height: 105ft
Max Speed: 50mph
Inversions: 5
Batman: The Ride is featured at eight different
Six Flags parks. The coaster was the first inverted coaster (one where riders are below the track, with there feet free to dangle). It was also the first movie-themed coaster. Batman's themeing is one of the best in the park. You enter
Gotham City in order to make it to the ride queue line. Once at the entrance to the queue, you enter
Gotham City Park. The grass is green and trees pruned perfectly. You make a turn and enter a run-down, crime filled
Gotham City. There is graffiti on the walls, broken concrete, lots of wreckage, and an old police car with bullet holes in it. You then enter a building and climb up some stairs, entering the
Batcave. This dim-light environment is filled with rock walls and even a Batsuit in a display case.
When you take your seat, the floor below you sinks down a foot or so, and you began your ascent. Batman features two vertical loops, a zero-gravity roll, and two corkscrews. Although the ride isn't very tall, the track layout is so compact that the ride is really intense, and it feels a lot faster than it really is. Batman has been noted to cause headaches with many people. It has happened to me once or twice, but I still do enjoy the ride.
Rating: 8/10
10. RIDDLER'S REVENGE
Type: Stand-Up Steel
Manufacturer: Bolliger & Mabillard
Opened: April 4th, 1998
Height: 156ft
Max Speed: 65mph
Inversions: 6
Riddler's Revenge is the tallest, fastest, and longest Stand-Up coaster. It features six inversions, which are two vertical loops (one of them goes around the lift hill), two dive-loops, an inclined loop (loop that is tilted on an angle), and two corkscrews. The ride is themed to one of Batman's archenemies,
The Riddler. Question marks and quotes such as "riddle me this" line the walls of the station. Techno music plays in the background, which is pretty catchy and many people have downloaded it, including myself (Ecuador, by Sash!). Riddler isn't a rough ride, but it is rougher than many newer
B&
;M coasters such as
Scream and
Medusa. Riddler's wait can get long sometimes, but if you haven't ridden it, give it a shot.
Rating: 7.5/10
11. COLOSSUSType: Wooden Dual-Track
Manufacturer: International Amusement Devices
Opened: June 29th, 1978
Height:125ft
Max Speed: 62mph
Colossus is probably the most classic coaster at
Magic Mountain. When it opened, it was the tallest and fasted wooden coaster, and first coaster to have two drops over 100ft tall. Colossus features two tracks, side by side. It would seem as though they would often race, but the coasters rarely are run at the same time (a big disappointment). The track layout is a double out-and-back. The ride is a little rough, but hey, it is a wooden coaster that was built in the 70's. During October's
Fright Fest, one of the tracks is run with backwards trains. The trains are actually the old trains from
Psyclone, a wooden coaster that was dismantled in 2007 to make room for
Terminator. Riding backwards is even rougher, but it's not something you can do often, so it's always a good thrill. Colossus is a nostalgic coaster, still taller and faster than most wooden coasters today, definitely a must ride.
Rating. 7.5/10
12. REVOLUTION
Type: Steel Looping
Manufacturer: Anton Schwarzkopf, Intamin AG
Opened: May 8th, 1976
Height: 113ft
Max Speed: 55mph
Inversions: 1
Revolution
opened up in 1976 as the
Great American Revolution. The ride staff wore Continental Army style uniforms to fit the theme. In 1979, when
Six Flags purchased the park, the ride became
La Revolucion, named after the Mexican Revolution. In 1988, the ride finally became Revolution.
Revolution was the worlds first looping coaster. It received a plaque in 2002 from the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE), for being a "Coaster Landmark." Revolution is featured in the film
Rollercoaster, and in
National Lampoons Vacation.
Revolution is a custom-built coaster for
Magic Mountain. The track hugs the terrain and uses the hills to its advantage. The ride features a 144 foot long tunnel, and the track even goes through the loop. The trees hide most of Revolutions track now, making it more of an exciting ride.
Rating: 7/10
13. GOLD RUSHER
Type: Steel Mine Train
Manufacturer: Arrow Dynamics
Opened: May 29th, 1971
Height: 70ft
Max Speed: 35mph
Gold Rusher was Magic Mountains first roller coaster, and opened along with the park. It features two lift hills, and goes under
Superman and
Log Jammer. Gold rusher uses the hilly terrain to its advantage. It does feel like a runaway mine train when you are on the ride. Although the coaster isn't the fastest or tallest, it is still a classic coaster and the wait time is usually under 15 minutes.
Rating: 7/10
14. VIPER
Type: Steel Looping
Manufacturer: Arrow Dynamics
Opened: April 7th, 1990
Height: 188ft
Max Speed: 70mph
Inversions: 7
Viper opened up as the tallest, fastest looping coaster in the world. It also held the record for tallest vertical loop, standing at 144ft tall, until
Superman Krypton Coaster beat it at 145ft tall. Viper remained tied with
Superman Krypton Coaster for fastest mulit-looper in the world at 70mph until 2004 when
Hersheypark built
Storm Runner, with a maximum speed of 75mph.Viper is currently still the tallest multi-looper in the world.
Viper features three loops, two corkscrews, and a batwing element, sometimes known as a boomerang. Viper has always been a rough ride, and the firm harnesses hurt when you bang your head on them. Many people, including myself, don't enjoy the ride because of this reason. A little tip: if you keep your head to the right, resting on the right side of the harness throughout the ride, you won't bang your head nearly as much. Some say the ride is smoother now since the ride had been repainted, I haven't been on recently myself so I am not sure. Viper is featured in the films
Encino Man, True Romance, and
Space Cowboys.
Rating: 6/10
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom promoted their event as "our scariest Fright Fest ever!" this year as well as "more zombies than ever before!" I do have to hand it to them, there were quite a few scare zones throughout the park walkways and ultimately, it was scarier this year than before. They featured 6 haunted houses, the newest one being named "Total Darkness." My expectations for this house were let low due to the bright safety lights that were towards the floor. I'm assuming having a "total dark" house was a safety hazard and that is why they had these lights on. Slaughterhouse Pig Farms had the best theming out of the houses, but unfortunately there seemed to be a lack of actors/scarers in the maze. The other houses were good, and since this was the first of my 4-park adventure, I felt they really did a good job and stepped you the scare factor from previous years. I did feel though that same of the actors could have made more attempts to scare people; often I would see one and walk passed and they wouldn't do anything. 
Next I made it over to California's Great America for their Halloween Haunt. This was my first year ever going their for Haunt, and actually the first time being at the park since 2003. They featured about 10 haunted houses and LOTS of actors walking around scaring people. The whole park really transformed once it became dark. The houses blew me away with how great the theming was. Each room in each house had tons of props; I think I spent more time looking at the props then looking out for actors! My favorite was the corn maze; they turned the old-fashion car ride track into a walkway, and lined the whole thing with corn/hay bails. People would pop up from behind the corn and you never knew where they were. What really impressed me was that even when I saw an actor or knew where one was, they STILL managed to scare me each time. Kudos to Great America and their attention to detail in their houses, as well as their well-trained actors.
On to Southern California, next stop was Universal Studios Hollywood. Like Great America, I had never been to Halloween Horror Nights before. The whole night began with an awesome "opening ceremony" in the main plaza that was themed to the movie The Purge. As soon as the let us all free, tons of actors came running through the crowds with chainsaws. The first house I made it to was the Insidious house. This is one of my top favorite scary movies, so I had high expectations for this. Before walking in, the outside decor looked just like the house from the movie. Inside was amazing, the rooms were so detailed and almost identical to scenes from the movie(s). The costumes were great and they did a great job at scaring. Other houses included Evil Dead, the Walking Dead, Black Sabbath, El Cucuy, and Monsters Remixed. The one thing I did notice about their scare-tactics was that in each room, they were always behind a curtain and would pop out for a second, scare people, and go back in. The only downside to this is that anytime you walk into a room, you know where they will come from because it is where the curtains are. I was highly impressed for my first experience attending Halloween Horror Nights. (Insidious, pictured below)
Lastly I made it to Six Flags Magic Mountain for their annual Fright Fest. The last time I had been to it there was in 2008. This was the only park that I ended up needing the VIP Flash pass at. The park was PACKED and even right after Fright Fest began, lines looked easily close to an hour. The VIP Flash pass granted us access to all the houses with no wait (at most, I think I waited 2-3 minutes for one). Willoughby's Resurrected was my favorite house, and had great theming and great actors. This house is built underground below the Sky Tower, and has a natural musty smell and look to it. With the VIP pass, we were able to do this one 2 times. Aftermath was their newest house, which was built inside the old Batman Theater. This had really good theming, it really felt like a deserted city, but there weren't many actors in the maze. Total Darkness was at this park too (just like Discovery Kingdom), but it took a very different approach to the fear of the dark. This maze was inside the theater. and once inside, we were put into a group of about 10 people. They gave us a 15 foot rope and we each had to hold onto it. The person in front was given a very small flashlight that shined light about 3 feet ahead and only had a tiny radius. We were then told to walk through the maze, which literally was in "total darkness." We all inched our way along, moving extremely slowly since we couldn't even see where the walls or path were. They had reflective exit signs on a few walls so this helped us continue in the right direction. Actors would scare us any most of the time we couldn't even see them and they were only inches away. The scariest part of this maze is not knowing where you are going an losing your ability to see. We ended doing this one twice, the second time I got to lead the group with the flash light. At times I would reach a corner, and while trying to find my way, I would shine my light right into the face of an actor and they would scare the whole group. Other houses included Toyz of Terror, Weepy Hills INsanetorium, Chupacabra, Cursed, and Black Widow. Willoughby' takes the cake, followed closely by Total Darkness. Oh yeah, and the hypnotist show was hilarious. I wish I could have seen it again and again; lots of laughs and very entertaining!(Willoughby's pictured below)
