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Six Flags Magic Mountain is one of those parks every coaster enthusiast has either been to or is planning on going to soon.  It is basically a park built around Roller Coasters.  You’ll notice this very soon after you arrive at the park.  From classic coasters like Colossus to the completely different X2 there is something for every body.

We got to the park extra early because we thought it opened at 10:00 when it actually opened at 10:30.  A 60 minute wait to start your day isn’t exactly what we had in mind but fortunately this turned out to be the longest wait of the day.  The wait gave us time to plan our attack of the park and it didn’t take long for us to decide to head straight  up the mountain.  Knowing how long rides like Tatsu and X2 take to load we wanted to get those done first.

Unfortunately X2 was of coursed closed to start the day.  We then made a daring decision.  We turned around and decided to kick off our 09’ roller coasteering season with Viper.  This classic Arrow Dynamics coaster could have ruined our day but it turned out to be a quick little thrill with zero wait time.

Tatsu was now squarely in our sights.  This was a very good decision.  We had a one train wait for this coaster while later in the day we would observe lines over the hour mark.  This ride is just a pleasure to ride.  Being at the top of the mountain it really adds to the effect of flying, if this coaster had been built in the parking lot like some of the others it would have been just OK.  While not as intense as other flying coasters (like Superman or Firehawk), it does have a very intense “Pretzel Loop” and the greater flying experience makes up the difference.

We then headed over to check out Deja Vu as we have never been able to ride one of these models and we saw it was “testing” so we thought we might be get a ride.  Of course not.  I am sure parks love having to pay someone all day to stand in front of a coaster to tell you it’s closed.

After checking out construction progress on Terminator: Salvation we decided to head for Ninja.  After getting stuck on the wrong side of one of the steepest sidewalks in a park that side of Silver Dollar City we finally found Ninja.  It turned out to be worth the walk for sure.  This is my favorite suspended coaster (of the three I’ve ridden including Flight Deck at Kings Island and Iron Dragon at Cedar Point).  It is fast with pretty good pacing and has great side to side action.  Now I just need to ride Big Bad Wolf to make a real decision.

After riding Ninja we noticed that X2 was now open.  We were fortunate to get in line fairly quickly, and we only had a 35 minute wait for this coaster.  I wasn’t looking forward to a long wait for this sucker and that wasn’t too bad.  I have been trying to think  how I would put down in words my thoughts on this ride...  It is really impossible to do, I have read lots of thoughts and reviews on this ride and none of them do it justice.  To put it simply this thing ROCKS!  It is by far the most unique experience on a coaster you can have.  Everyone should ride this thing at least once.

After that, we needed a break considering that I couldn’t even walk straight after getting off that ride.  So we grabbed a sandwich and a pop.  I would say that over all the parks choices of food are pretty typical but the prices are on the high side.   But you don’t come to this park for the food.

So whats next?  Goliath!  Why not follow up a super intense coaster experience of X2 with this giant speed demon?  Blackouts thats why!  We both experienced a little narrowed vision in the Helix.  This is a great ride with some very intense sections.  The first drop could be better but you can’t have everything.

Dramamine Time!  A little motion sickness pills along with some Tylenol was all I needed to get the rest of the coasters in.  The remaining coasters at Magic Mountain are pretty typical, definitely some coaster worth riding but I think I’ll spend my time waiting for X2 on my next visit. Scream! was a disappointment mainly because of its location (parking lot).  Also as a side note that has to be one of the worst names for a coaster ever (Japanese coasters excluded).

I would like to give an honorable mention to the Observation tower.  While not a coaster it is very tall and sways a whole lot.  Oh and as a bonus you get some pretty awesome views of the park and surrounding mountains.

A quick note on LA traffic, we stayed in downtown LA and this turned out to be a great decision.  When we were headed out of the city the rush was headed in and when we were headed in the opposite was true.  We experienced no real traffic slow downs.

Overall this was a great park to visit and I can’t wait to go back.  I rode my new number one steel coaster X2, and also got to ride to more coasters that turned out to be “best in class” for me in Ninja and Tatsu.  If you are all about coasters then you should be all about this park.  And the future only looks bright for this particular Six Flags property.  The addition of the GCII’s Terminator: Salvation should prove to round out the coasteering experience while providing a great Family class thrill.  And who knows what 2010 will bring with the hinted at addition of yet another steel coaster.

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