Help planning Magic Mountain Trip

Hi there. First of all, to decide what day to go I would visit isitpacked.com , they give you an approximation of how crowded the park will be that day. If it says that it is going to be packed, I would buy a regular level or gold level flashpass. If it says forget about it, buy a gold or platinum with X2 up charge, or don't go. If it says anything else, you should be fine in the standby line.

Once you enter the park. Run to The New Revolution. Then go get your flashpass (if your buying one). After that head up the giant hill to the top where Superman is and ride it. Sometimes it doesn't open with the park, if it sounds like a jet fighter is landing on top of the mountain, then it's open. Ride Tatsu when you're up there, and then head down the hill to Twisted Colossus. Ride this ride multiple times as it's AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! As your leave Twisted colossus, you'll see a giant drop tower on the side of Superman. If you're by yourself, get in the single rider line and do it. The single rider line is essentials a free pass to instantly get on the ride. Go do Golitah, and then congratulations, you've probably done every ride that will get a line over 45 minutes! Go do now every other ride except X2 and Full Throttle. If you're staying till the park closes, you will be able to get in the shortest line all day for Full Throttle then. If you're not planning on doing that, ride it after The New Revolution, before heading up the hill to Superman. X2 has a magical time from 2-4 when there is pretty much always no line. Ride it then, or if it is super crowded, get the upcharge.

Flashpass tip: If you're getting the flashpass, and have one where you can only ride a ride once, use that reservation for when the line is long. If it's short, wait in it.

Twisted Wiches is the BEST FOOD AT SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN HANDS DOWN!!!!!!!! It is the best theme park food I've ever had, and probably the best sandwich.

P.S. Tidal Wave is 99% of the time closed, so don't get your hopes up. And Apocalypse is Ghostrider pre-refurbishment rough. Roaring Rapids will get you soaked, you get sprinkled on Jet Stream. Viper is a major headbanger

First off, I would absolutely avoid going on the 16th or the 30th. These are Saturdays, and at SFMM you absolutely must purchase a Gold or Platinum Flash Pass to do everything on a summer Saturday. There is also a special event on the 14th, so I'd try to avoid that as well. Fridays will be a little busier, so if you have flexibility I'd recommend going on other weekdays, but it shouldn't be a huge difference so pick whatever best fits your schedule.

Next, Flash Pass. Given that you have never visited Six Flags Magic Mountain before, I would budget for a Flash Pass in case it is exceptionally crowded. However, in my experience you generally don't need one if you're okay with doing one ride per coaster. If, however, you would like to do a lot of re-rides, you'll need to pick one up. These are the approximate wait times you'll likely see on a July weekday:

0-30 minutes: Batman, Gold Rusher, Scream, Viper
30-45 minutes: Apocalypse, Green Lantern, Lex Luthor, Riddler's Revenge, Superman Escape from Krypton
45-60 minutes: Goliath, Twisted Colossus
60+ minutes: Full Throttle, Tatsu, X2
Highly Variable: Ninja

Note that most of these attractions will be shorter in the morning and evening (except Full Throttle, which is fairly consistent until the last 30 minutes or so of the day). The exception is X2, which is actually shortest in the afternoon.

Now for the touring plan. Unfortunately, New Revolution has thrown my tried and true plan for a loop and I have yet to find a new one that works just as well. However, I just visited the park on Monday and the following worked pretty well, so I would recommend starting here and changing it as needed.

1. Get to the park 30-45 minutes before opening (the earlier the better). Once the park opens, head directly to New Revolution. Due to horribly slow operations resulting from VR equipment, this ride routinely gets 90-120 minute waits, so you absolutely must do it first if you wish to ride with VR (my wait was 55 minutes). In the event that New Revolution is not operating, skip it and try again after riding all the other big coasters.
2. Exit up the stairs and head to Tatsu. If the line is short (no more than two switchbacks), ride now. Otherwise, skip the ride and head up to Samurai Summit. Here, do Ninja and Superman, then head down the back of the hill.
3. Go all the way back to Apocalypse and ride. If Jet Stream is operating, ride it now as well. Afterward, return to where you descended the hill and ride Gold Rusher, Riddler's Revenge, and Tidal Wave (if operating). Riddler's Revenge has a single rider line that will usually get you on in a couple trains, so if the line extends out of the switchbacks before the station go around to the exit and use this (there are signs directing you to a semi-hidden staircase to the left of the exit stairs).
4. Now is a good time for lunch. I usually just grab something at Waterfront Commissary (burgers, chicken strips, and pizza), but JB's Barbeque is also reportedly pretty good. If neither of these sound appealing, Twisted 'Witches is in the direction you're heading.
5. After lunch, do Twisted Colossus and Scream in either order. Once you have done these two, backtrack to Lex Luthor, then head into DC Universe for Batman and Green Lantern. Both Lex Luthor and Green Lantern have single rider lines in case the regular queue is lengthy.
6. At this point, you have a choice...

Option 1: Backtrack to Jet Stream and ride, then do Roaring Rapids, Tatsu, X2, Viper, New Revolution (non-VR), Full Throttle, and finally Goliath.

Option 2: Go to Goliath, then do X2, Viper, Roaring Rapids, Tatsu, and New Revolution (non-VR). Afterward, descend back to Full Throttle and ride, then take the Helpful Honda Express to the top and head down the back to ride Jet Stream.

It doesn't matter a ton which of the options you choose, but the later you wait to ride Roaring Rapids and Jet Stream the shorter the lines will be. However, note that Roaring Rapids in particular will leave you dripping wet, so if you want to allow ample time to dry you will want to do it sooner rather than later. If you rode Tatsu in the morning, you can skip it or re-ride (depending on wait time). For New Revolution, go through the single rider line to ride without VR and you will be placed on the next available train. You absolutely must ride this coaster both ways as the experience is completely different.

If everything goes as planned, you should be able to complete every ride on your list by park closing. In addition, I recommend doing Viper and Green Lantern as well if time permits. If you are lucky, you may also have time for one or two rides on your favorites.

Lastly, remember to stay hydrated. SFMM regularly gets above 100 degrees in the summer, and if you are dehydrated the coasters will make you ill. This is one park where purchasing a souvenir bottle and constantly filling it with ice water is a really good idea. You can get soft drinks as well, but stick to the rule of two waters per soda.

I hope you have a great time at the park. Six Flags Magic Mountain isn't known for heavy theming, but they have the best roller coaster collection of any park that I've visited. After Disneyland, I'd say it's probably the So Cal park I enjoy most, you just have to visit with the mindset that you're there for thrill rides and not for immersive themed attractions.

I had pretty good luck w/virtually no one in the park on a Wed or Thursday. I got there in the afternoon too so I may've just gotten lucky but if they still have the tram...I think it's called the Orient Express...going up that big a** hill to Superman & Ninja, ride it! It's a b**** to walk up (please excuse my language, that's just the best way to describe that wretched hill), it literally wore me out! The tram was closed when I went. There was almost no wait for Viper, it did bang my head a little but nothing like the SLC's. Revolution was closed when I went but since it's reopened, I have to go back & ck it out.

A note, it WAS INDEED Hotter than hockey sticks. I literally felt like I was actually going to melt. I kept pouring water on myself to cool off but it was so HOT that the water evaporated before it hit my skin. The water fountain water was so disgusting-tasting, it literally was undrinkable, plus each fountain I tried had barely a trickle and could not fill my bottle up. I don't know if that's been fixed or not. What you may want to do, ride a water ride get sloppy wet to stay cool for a while or perhaps fill your cup up with ice & let it melt, that way you will have fresh tasting cold water to drink. Lots of great advice in the previous posts. They're more the experts than I am. Have fun! Don't forget to write a post visit report.

AJ Hummel, the "Helpful Honda Express" lolololol I LUV it!

Thanks for all the input guys! Are Viper and Green Lantern really as bad as people say they are? I am going to go on the 12th. Im not going to get a flash pass, as I went ahead and bought a season pass online. I will be back again this year. Thanks and Good Luck to everyone who gave tips!

+Green Lantern is absolutely terrible. Don't ride it.

+Viper is a hit and miss. Some people find it unbearable with the head banging, but other people, like my friend, don't get any head banging at all. I think it really depends on your height, the taller you are, the more painful it is.

+Apocalypse is really, really rough also. It is like Ghostrider before the refurbishment, if you don't like rough rides, skip it. Hope you have a fun day!

The 12th should be a good day to go. If you'll be visiting multiple times this year there's no need to purchase a Flash Pass as you can always return when crowds are lighter. As for the rides and roughness...

-Viper mainly depends on your body shape and where you sit. If you're large enough that the harness can hold you in place or small enough that it doesn't bang into you, you won't experience much discomfort. If you're loose, however, you'll get some headbanging. For a smoother ride, sit in the front of the train in the front row of a car (basically rows 1, 3, or 5) and brace yourself when you see a turn approaching. The ride itself isn't too rough, it just was designed before computers became prevalent and many of the transitions are abrupt and jerky.

-Green Lantern is highly variable. The ride itself isn't rough, but the forces can be extremely uncomfortable depending on how your vehicle rotates while moving through the course. The ride recently got new straps on the restraints and my ride last month was better than my past several, but this is the lowest priority coaster at the park.

-Apocalypse has one train that runs rougher than the other (I think train 1 is the rougher one), but both tend to shake you up quite a bit. It is still a solid wood coaster, but make sure you hold on for this one.

-Riddler's Revenge rattles a little, but it's not too bad. Ride toward the front for a smoother ride.

-Scream has a recently refurbished train (orange stripes) and a train that is still waiting for refurbishment (yellow stripes). The refurbished train runs far better, so try to ride that train if possible.

-X2 is, in my honest opinion, the roughest coaster in the park. Make sure your harness is tight on this one as it will throw you around like a ragdoll if you leave it too loose. Also, ride toward the front for a smoother ride. It's tough...if this ride ran smooth it would be in my top 3 at the park, but unfortunately it ranks more like 9th for me. You have to ride this for its uniqueness, however.

Nothing else in the park is notably rough or uncomfortable.

You cant miss twisted colossus!!!!!