Six Flags Magic Mountain

Never in my life have I taken more than 10 roller coaster rides in one day like yesterday. Woohoo! It was simply amazing! I have seen big roller coasters in TV, but it never occurred to me that I will be experiencing them myself.

The Place – Six Flags Magic Mountain. And boy was it magical!

Looking at the winding and convoluted steel tubes in myriad of colors, plus the blood-curdling screams that can be heard incessantly, it was truly daunting. From a onlooker’s perspective, it looked scary.

But I wanted to do it anyway. Life is a roller coaster, we just have to ride it. So that was what my friends and I did. We tried almost all the rides, from the moderate thrill to the maximum thrill (yes they do rate their rides according to the level of thrill) that included uncountable corkscrews, loops and all sorts of twists and turns which names I don’t even know.

Without a car at hand, we were forced make use of the public transportation that took us a couple of hours to reach the magic mountain located at Valencia, California, where thrills await us.

Six Flags is a big place. It fits more than 20 roller coaster rides and a host of other entertainment activities. It is a place for the whole family.

But of course, we didn’t come in a family so our aim was to ride all the rides that were in the “moderate” and “maximum” categories. Come to think of it, I remembered the fear I had when I was about to try the “Corkscrew” roller coaster in Genting Highlands back in Malaysia. At that time, that was the most thrilling ride I could ever ask for.

Not surprisingly, the “Corkscrew” that I mentioned is only like one of the moderate thrill rides at six flags – simply incomparable to the rest.

I also met 3 Singaporean groups that day. Guess it’s because of the holiday season. In all 3 cases, I found out they were from Singapore because I overheard their accent. It’s funny how good it feels to hear the Malaysian/Singaporean accent when I’m so far away from home. It feels good to talk like that again once in a while with strangers!

Anyways, here are some of the highlights of the rides in Six Flags that we tried:

1. Revolution

This is the first looping roller coaster ever built, according to the pamphlet “Six Flags Magic Mountain Park Map & Guide”. Heck, this was actually my first roller coaster loop. This was the first thing we tried and it promised a moderate level of thrill. Immediately after this ride, it raised up my level of expectation, for no rides in Malaysia can be this horrifying!

2. Tatsu (Flying coaster)

Ho…the second ride of the day – Tatsu. It has some Chinese influence, hence the dragon image welcoming the riders. This is a ride that was in the “maximum thrill” category, and damned was it only our second ride. Tatsu is the world’s tallest, fastest and longest flying coaster. After this ride, we felt that we were ready to take on any rides the park could offer. RAWR! *Dragon breath*

3. Apocalypse

Apocalypse has a very amazing architecture. It is a modern roller coaster that is imbued with the classic woodwork in its design. And you know what they say when it comes to wooden roller coasters…SPEED. Man was that a fast ride!

4. Superman: Escape from Krypton

This is a must try at Six Flags! From a horizontal track to a vertical one, it literally blasted us up into the air in a spectacular fashion done in guess what…100 mph! From the ground, it sounded and felt like an airplane flew over us every time one of these superman rides launches up into the air. At the peak, I felt like I was floating in an anti-gravity environment before I was harshly dragged back down by gravity. Oh, and this is one of the moderate ones.

5. Ninja (Suspended Roller Coaster)

Said to be the West Coast’s fastest suspended roller coaster, but it’s in the “Thrill Seekers in Training” category, meaning that it is meant to give the lowest thrill. For us, it was pretty fun, but definitely not as thrilling as the other rides we tried.

6. Gold Rusher

We also paid a visit to the Gold Rusher, which is the park’s first roller coaster ever. This ride is in the “moderate thrill” category, but it wasn’t as thrilling as we thought it would be. Little rides seemed like nothing to us now that we have tried the big ones.

7. The Riddler’s Revenge (Stand-up roller coaster)

We tried this one after lunch, but fortunately enough, it was a one-and-a-half hour wait so our stomachs were ready for it, if you know what I mean. On the unfortunate side, it was a long wait!! The ride got delayed because somebody puked and they had to clean up the coaster. Eww! Imagine what would happen if somebody puked while the coaster was doing a loop. Another one of our first’s, the Riddler’s Revenge is a stand-up roller coaster. So we were standing up throughout the whole ride, doing the loops and the likes. It was definitely a unique experience having to stand up and having the legs as support instead of a seat. And yes, the legs would be withstanding the high Gs.

8. Batman The Ride (Suspended roller coaster/Bottomless coaster)

This was one ride that was veritably intense! Like a bat, it made sudden left, right, up and down motions that abused our senses. To top it off, it was done in a speed of a bat. I felt like it was one of the fastest rides at Six Flags as well. To intensify the experience, this is a coaster without a platform for the legs, hence our legs were relentlessly thrown in all directions throughout the ride. Maximum thrill guaranteed!

9. Colossus

Aptly named, this is one big heck of a roller coaster, one on wood too. It’s woodwork is phenomenal. It is a dual-track roller coaster. Again the speed in this one is quite amazing. But it was quite a bumpy ride too and it sort of slowed down and started off again many times throughout its journey, but fun and exciting nonetheless. The thrill rating for this one is moderate.

10. Scream (Suspended roller coaster)

This has a floorless design that propels riders at high speeds with their legs dangling in the air. Scream, as the name suggested, generated lots of screams from the rides, but by then I was screaming so much that I decided to tone down my screams.

11. Goliath

From the name one would think that this is an extreme ride that is gargantuan in size…it certainly is, without the slightest doubt. Offering the maximum thrill, the highlight of this monster coaster is its drop from a 255-foot peak to a height of –120-foot underground! Insane! That, I can assure you. Definitely the highest drop at Six Flags, and it felt like the drop was never ending. This is a ride that lived up to its name.

12. Viper

The last ride of the day was Viper (also rated with a maximum thrill), a ride that turn riders upside-down 7 times! Analogous to a snake, this ride made us spin and swirl like never before, leaving us with a slightly lighter head at the end of the ride. A ride not recommended for the faint-hearted or people who just had a meal.

Some of the rides we missed were the “X2-A Whole New Xtreme Xperience” and “Green Lantern – First Flight” and “Déjà Vu”. X2 is the world’s first 5th dimensional thrill. I assume it’s partly because of the fireball effect in the middle of the ride. Green lantern had too many people in line so we skipped that. Déjà Vu wasn’t available at that time. According to an online source, it is moving to another location.

So with more than 10 roller coaster rides, we called it a day. Adrenaline pumped yet inwardly tired, we vowed to return to Six Flags to conquer the remaining rides.

Hope you get some percentage of thrill from reading this post, and if you’re really thrilled, you should try them out yourself! After going through this experience, I bet nothing is now too horrifying or scary for me…well except maybe skydiving, which is the next extreme activity on my list!

Enjoy the compilation of pictures below:

The Apocalypse

The architecture is simply stunning…old school.

Superman

Look at the background. An opening is formed in the clouds to allow the escape from Krypton! Hmm, on second looks, it seems like a batman logo is being formed.

The Riddler’s Revenge

This ride has lots of LOOOOOOOOOPS.

Batman The Ride

Just look at that loop!

Unrelated yet related – A Bat Mobile spotted at the premise. We actually saw life-sized Batman and Robin but they were being briefed by their boss. lol.

 

Self-group picture. Two people are missing. The one on the far right is always this dramatic when taking pictures. Haha.

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Season’s Greetings to all readers, sincerely from The Cock and The Bull. And Happy Holidays! Have a good break and recharge yourself. =]

 

For further information regarding Six Flags. Please go ahead and check out their website.

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Disclaimer: The number of exclamation marks used in this post do not correspond to the level of thrill of each ride. It is loosely used in this post to represent the post-thrill effect of the Six Flags experience. Also, the rides highlighted here are not for everybody, so ride with your own risk.