Any strategy to visit Six Flags Magic Mountain?

Edited: January 17, 2016, 7:40 PM

Hi guys! After years of waiting, I´m finally planning my first ever trip to SFMM! I´m planning on going on 01/31/2016 which is on a Sunday. I checked the crowd calendar from isitpacked.com and it says that it will be a "Ghost Town" on that day even though it is a Sunday. Does anyone know why it is supposed to be that empty? I always thought Sundays were more crowded than Saturdays.


Anyway, the park will be open from 10:30 am to 6 pm and I would love to know what strategy to take to ride all the big boys. I´m guesing Flashpass won´t be necessary? The rides I want to get on are:

X2
Twisted Colossus
Goliath
Full Throttle
Tatsu
Superman: Escape from Krypton
Ninja
Riddler´s Revenge
Apocalypse
Scream

I would greatly appreciate your help!

Leo

Replies (11)

January 17, 2016, 3:15 PM

SFMM usually is dead for the first few hours of operation, so make sure not to miss out on this time. Below is the plan that I often tell my peers when they are planning to go to SFMM. The plan below is good in terms of walking distance, but its not so great in terms of doing the most popular rides first. If you do decide to do my plan, try to run between rides.

When the park opens heard towards Twisted Colossus. Ride it twice, as it is a pretty great ride and you may not have another chance to ride it. Then ride the two coasters closest to it, Goliath and Scream. Lex Luthor Drop of Doom and Batman: The Ride are both pretty close to Twisted Colossus, so ride those too. Then do Full Throttle, X2, and Viper in that order(only do Viper if you guys are OK with rough rides or you guys are tall enough so that your heads are above the OTSRs). Then head over to Tatsu, and walk up to Samurai Summit where you can ride Ninja and Superman. After that, walk down towards Riddler's Revenge and then ride Apocalypse. Depending on how busy it is (I have never been to SFMM during this time of year) you may be able to finish this route very quickly.

January 17, 2016, 5:16 PM

Great. Thank you very much! I will do just that, specially because riding TC twice sounds like something I would do. You can never get enough of those RMC hybrids. I don´t think I will be riding Viper though, as I rode the Great American Scream Machine back in the day at SFGA and it was just too painful and rough.

Edited: January 17, 2016, 5:52 PM

At Six Flags Magic Mountain, Saturdays can be busy year-round but it is very common for off-season Sundays to be completely dead (except for holiday weekends). You will likely see lines no greater than 15 minutes for any coaster running at least two trains. However, I was just at the park yesterday and several major attractions (Full Throttle, Superman, Tatsu) only have one train available at the moment. Twisted Colossus will also likely be going down to two in order to swap one of the trains out for the green train (it has four, but only three can run at once). Therefore, I would suggest the following:

1. Get to the park at least 30 minutes before opening. While it isn't critical that you do this, it will allow more time for re-rides.

2. When the park opens, head immediately to Full Throttle and ride. This coaster is located directly at the front of the park and only has a capacity of about 300 per hour with one train, so once it builds a line it will not go away.

3. Take the Orient Express to the top of Samurai Summit and check the status of Superman: Escape from Krypton (it doesn't always open on time). If it is running, ride it and then ride Ninja before heading to Tatsu. If it isn't open yet, ride Tatsu, then Ninja, then Superman (if open).

4. Take the Orient Express back down the mountain and head to Screampunk District (skip Goliath for now). Here, ride Twisted Colossus and then Scream.

5. Complete the remaining coasters on your list in the following order: Goliath, X2, Apocalypse, Riddler's Revenge. If you still need to ride Superman, do so after either X2 or Apocalypse. Stop for lunch whenever you feel like it...crowds shouldn't be too much of an issue. Feel free to do any nearby rides of interest as you pass them. In addition to what you listed, I highly recommend riding Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom and suggest checking out Batman The Ride. You should be able to complete everything on your list by about 3 P.M., so that leaves plenty of time for re-rides.

Lastly, have a good time. Six Flags Magic Mountain is a fun coaster park, and provided there aren't any unexpected events you should have no problem doing everything on your list, re-riding your favorites, and doing any other rides of interest by closing.

January 17, 2016, 7:38 PM

AJ, I can´t thank you enough for the thorough strategy you provided. You are always on point when it comes to planning a day at a theme park and I thank you for that. As for unexpected events, I just saw on the website that that specific Sunday is a "Bring a Friend Free" day for passholders. Do you still recommend going on Sunday or going on Saturday instead? I honestly don´t know how much that would affect the crowds as there are only two "Bring a Friend Free" days listed and those are Sunday January 31st (the day I am planning on going) and Sunday February 28.

Edited: January 18, 2016, 12:39 AM

It sounds like there is a bring a friend offer for that specific Sunday (I haven't set up my pass account yet, but will verify there once I do). In that case, I would switch to Saturday if possible. Bring a friend free days can see lines of an hour for the big rides (even longer with one train operation), and you would probably barely be able to get one ride on each of your listed attractions without a Flash Pass. Saturday won't be dead, but I'd expect lines more in the 30 minute range. I doubt a Flashpass will be necessary, but if possible I would suggest budgeting for one just in case.

If visiting on Saturday, you can still follow the plan I posted above, just don't anticipate much time for re-rides as it will likely take you until around 5 P.M. to do everything. If you visit on Sunday, follow steps 1-3 and then do the rest of the rides in this order: Goliath, Twisted Colossus, Scream, Lex Luthor (optional), Batman The Ride (optional), Riddler's Revenge, Apocalypse, X2. Do not do anything else or you may not complete this plan.

One other tip...if it is busy and your party is willing to split up, take advantage of Single Rider when available. Lex Luthor, Riddler's Revenge, and Viper all offer single rider lines (Green Lantern does as well, but it will likely be down for maintenance), and using those will usually get you on within 10 minutes. They aren't particularly well marked, but in general just go up the exit until you see the Single Rider sign and then just follow the arrows. Lex Luthor's is a short queue next to the grouper and for the other rides you go up a special staircase (not the exit stairs). If you get lost, just ask an employee.

Edited: January 18, 2016, 12:54 PM

AJ, I need to thank you again for the professional description you gave me. I will follow the exact same plan and hopefully get all those amazing rides done. I am a passholder for Six Flags Mexico so does that mean I only need to show up at the turnstiles and scan my ID and fingerprint to get in? If so, that would save me enough money to buy the regular flashpass for that Saturday.

January 18, 2016, 12:25 PM

Unless the rules are different in Mexico, a Six Flags pass for any of their parks is valid at all of their parks. Just go straight to the gate and you should be able to just scan your pass and enter. If your pass is Gold level, you will also be able to use it to get free parking. However, any of the other passholder discounts are only valid at your home park, so you won't be able to use those at SFMM.

Don't buy a Flash Pass in advance...wait until you get to the park. If it isn't too busy, you don't need one. If you start running into 60 minute waits, however, you'll definitely want to pick one up.

January 18, 2016, 12:59 PM

I'm glad to hear that. I hope the flash pass isn't necessary though I wouldn't hesitate to get one if the lines start to get long. Thank you again for your advice and time.

January 18, 2016, 1:54 PM

My Great Adventure Gold Pass is valid at Mexico and La Ronde so yours should be fine.

January 18, 2016, 3:30 PM

As long as we are on this subject, does this also work for a Six Flags membership? Like can I go to SFDK with my SFMM Membership card?

January 18, 2016, 3:49 PM

The membership works identically to a season pass, it is just paid monthly instead of yearly and may offer different discounts. So yes, a membership would be valid at all Six Flags parks just like a season pass.

This discussion has been archived and is no longer accepting responses.

Vacation deals

Park tickets

Subscribe by email

Subscribe by RSS

New attraction reviews

News archive