Six Flags Magic Mountain

[BillM]

Did you read the article? There is no "fresh blood". It's just blanketed oversight now.

Yes I did. Seems like two dinosaurs are now gone from Knotts and MM. Sorry to see them laid off. But hopefully this will lead to "fresh blood" coming in at a later date. That's what I meant by my comment. Six Flags needs to get away from corporate running the parks. Each park is different and shouldn't be run the same in each location.

 

[Clive]

Yes I did. Seems like two dinosaurs are now gone from Knotts and MM. Sorry to see them laid off. But hopefully this will lead to "fresh blood" coming in at a later date. That's what I meant by my comment. Six Flags needs to get away from corporate running the parks. Each park is different and shouldn't be run the same in each location.

Yeah, I think two things can be true. Magic Mountain, despite some recent improvements, is not in good shape, and a change in leadership is probably a good idea. At the same time, this particular change in leadership (a shift from a single park leadership team to a broader regional leadership team) does not exactly bode well.

 

[GAcoaster]

I think all this ties in with the idea of “Regional Passes” being offered— upgrade to include the neighboring park for just a few dollars more. The idea of getting a Knott's and SFMM annual pass for a low price encourages people to visit both, especially if both offer different events. It means they have a unified strategy for advertising and marketing with regional parks complimenting each other.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

I see the regional approach being better for SFMM than Knott's. Park Presidents tend to get their asses handed to them at SFMM. It's tough to maintain enthusiasm for a park where employees regularly call out or do the bare minimum. Whole areas need an overhaul but corporate won't allocate the budget. Plans are drawn up for things the park actually needs, only to be told no, we want another coaster in there, but you can only build gimmicks because the budget is always the same $10-15 million. And who then gets the blame when it doesn't yield an attendance boost?

This way corporate has no one to blame but themselves, so they're less likely to tolerate a subpar park presentation.

 

[Rideguy70]

Walked around Hurricane Harbor a bit to take in the improvements. And there are a lot! It's basically a whole new waterpark. Practically every square inch has been refurbished, repainted, and/or updated. Main takeaways:

• Employees all have new tropical shirts, and there are brand new custom Hurricane Harbor trash cans
• All food service have updated facades, there are now two different drink refill stations, two new food shacks (one selling a teriyaki chicken sandwich--that's a new food item, isn't it?), and a bar
• All cabanas have been updated. All wooden cabanas now have fridges, fans, and food service. The upper tier will have safes, but they are not quite ready (staff seemed to think they'd arrive in the next 1-2 weeks). And while a few cabanas, notably ones near the wave pool, are still be being finished, once complete, they will have a total of 40 cabanas overall (up from the 32 they had before).
• All sand areas in the park have been removed and replaced either with grass or concrete. Sadly, in all honestly, a lot of the grass already does not look great (brown/dead and trampled)... but I can figure that all the sand probably caused problems for the slides and water filtration systems, so I get it
• There are small photo op touches throughout the park
• Not only have all the slides been refurbished, but nearly all buildings have as well
• There is now a fence all around the entire perimeter of the wave pool, I would imagine to increase safety and make the jobs for the lifeguards easier (which I can't argue). The movie screen has been removed.
• Tube rentals have been moved to the edge of the wave pool, instead of next to the main food location. Seating is now in its place.
• There is a new small store at the edge of the wave pool. No signage yet, but I figure one will be coming eventually
• The old Bamboo Racers slide has been replaced with seating
• All the loungers in the entire park have been upgraded, and many have shade structure tarps over them
• At current, the Diamond Elite seating area has returned to the far back corner of the park, near the Tiki slides. It is not fenced in, but there is a staff member watching over it.
• Men's bathroom/locker room is still the same in layout, but it does appear to have all new floors, walls, and fixtures... except, oddly, the bamboo wall and the benches.

Sadly, the new fence around the area is still pretty far from complete... it's maybe only about 1/2 down the main drag. And I did not actually get to go on any slides, so not sure if there any improvements there in terms of ops. But the slides do look great, and they all appeared to be operational. They do need to update the app, as all the photos of the slides are the old versions. The app also says Taboo Tower is closed, but it was open today (though it may have appeared one of the slides was down).

While it's a bummer they couldn't manage a new water slide, if you haven't been to Hurricane Harbor in a while (or ever), I'd say now would be an excellent time to go. It does seem they still have a few finishing touches to do (mainly the fence and cabanas), but overall it looks pretty amazing. I get the sense most guests were looking pretty impressed. I was.

A few posts below, but I have a lot more on my social if you want to look them up.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Yeah, Hurricane Harbor looks so good right now

I went Saturday and last year the park felt....dead but now it feels very much alive. The themeing has all been touched up and new photo ops all around the park
The only issue is the lines, the lines for food are still insane and many slides had full lines.

So I think the best time to go will be on weekdays when it opens for that and maybe the first hour or two of the day

 

[Rideguy70]

Another SFMM visit. Not too much new (nothing is yet going up for Heroes & Villains Fest), but:

• Soda Springs (by Tatsu) continues its renovation
• Pride merch is out, but nothing seems new
• Made to Thrill posters are being sold at the West Coast Racers store
• Some nice Spillikins Corners shout outs on the decorative wagon by Roaring Rapids/Katy's Kettle
• The old Scrambler area has had the entire queue ripped out, and all the pavement has been smoothed over, but the tarp remains. While I doubt it'll be another flat ride (as much as I think it should be one), it does appear Six Flags has some plans for the area. Personally, if I can't have a flat ride there, then I'd love to see another dedicated refill station there. The park literally only has one, and it's towards the front of the park. It could also make a nice character meet & greet area, though it seems a bit large for that. Anyone have any insight at all here?

Also not sure if this is new, but I never noticed it before. If it is new, it would seem to mean that despite apparent delays, they're still on track to add something. If it's old, disregard, haha

 

[coaster31]

Six Flags plans to double attendance at Magic Mountain to nearly 7 million visitors a year in a bid to make the Los Angeles-area amusement park “comfortably crowded” and increase revenue, according to company executives.

Six Flags Chief Commercial Officer Christian Dieckmann said during a recent investors meeting that Six Flags Magic Mountain should be able to rival and surpass attendance at Knott’s Berry Farm – the most visited park in the chain.

“We think we can double the market penetration rate and double attendance to get to Knott’s levels,” Dieckmann said of Magic Mountain during Six Flags Investor Day 2025.

Approximately 16 million people live within a 75 mile radius of Magic Mountain – a vast potential audience that Six Flags hopes to tap into.

Six Flags spent more than $10 million during the off season to upgrade the Hurricane Harbor water park next to Magic Mountain – in hopes of attracting past visitors and curious newcomers.

“We’ve got thrill and family attractions planned out for future years,” Dieckmann said of Magic Mountain’s upcoming capital investments.

Magic Mountain will add a new first-of-its-kind roller coaster in 2026 as part of Six Flags’ plan to spend $1 billion on new rides over the next two years.

A big new thrill ride typically increases attendance 10% and revenue 15% in the first year and results in a 30% return on investment during that first season, according to Zimmerman.

Six Flags plans to double attendance at Magic Mountain

Six Flags officials say Magic Mountain should be able to rival and surpass attendance at Knott’s Berry Farm – the most visited park in the chain.

www.dailynews.com