Magic Mountain was the third park in the rotation, and thankfully it was only 32 dollars for an online ticket, because it was definitely not up to par with anything I've experienced. Maybe it was because we had gone to Disney the day before, but Magic Mountain felt like the oldest, dirtiest, most run down park I have ever been to.
It started right as we walked out of the parking lot and boarded the tram to the entrance...the tram that felt like it was going to break every chug along the way. Once we got to the entrance, it got better. It was where we passed through the metal detectors. Definitely a catch-22 type moment. I felt completely unsafe that I was in a theme park that needed metal detectors to keep out guns and knives, but then again those same detectors should have kept that stuff out so there should be nothing to worry about. Moral of the story is that I was very scared while waiting to get into the park.
Once in things brightened up as there was ample room to walk through the park and we head right for Magic Mountain's biggest draw, X2. The only coaster in the park that had more than a ten minute wait on this Tuesday, X2 was unlike anything I had been on before. It's a coaster in which you sit on the side of the track, rotating forward and backward in your seat while the car goes along an equally scary track. Take a look...
In the end it's ability to scare me was greater than it's level of enjoyment. That's why it wasn't as good as Tatsu. Tatsu is the world's tallest and fastest flying coaster. I thought Superman at Great Adventure was good. This thing put it to shame. No feeling on a coaster can top the lying down loop feeling of Tatsu.
Other highlights from the park were Riddler's Revenge (a standing up coaster), Goliath (from the Apollo's Chariot family, but not nearly as good) and Ninja (a Big Bad Wolf type swinging coaster through the trees).
The low-light of the whole experience was how absolutely run-down and un-themed this whole place was. I couldn't stop commenting on how awful the queue lines were, as we walked through chain link fence areas with signs of High Voltage. The absolute worst was while riding the Scream coaster. As you made your way up the first hill, you realized this coaster was built on an actual part of the parking lot. Obviously they used to have more guests and had a bigger parking lot. This coaster was built on an extra lot and they didn't even bother getting rid of the white parking space lines. Just complete lack of effort.
Magic Mountain had a few awesome coasters, and some types I had never been on before, so it was definitely worth the trip (especially for 32 bucks). Having said that, I will never make another trip to this park. Even though its rides were at the same level, if not a bit better than Great Adventure, its upkeep was way worse and I was afraid for my life at times. I don't recommend a trip to Valencia, CA for this park, unless you feel the need to check out X2.
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