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Six Flags Magic Mountain is an amusement park in Santa Clarita, California, north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 29, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the same company who then owned SeaWorld in San Diego. It wasn't until 1979, when the park was purchased by Six Flags, that the name was lengthened to include Six Flags. It is probably the most well-known park in the Six Flags amusement park chain, as it played the part of the fictional park "Walley World" in the 1983 movie National Lampoon's Vacation, was shown during the beginning credits to the sitcom 'Step by Step', was the fictional park shown in the movie Encino Man, played a pivotal role in the finale to the 1977 film Rollercoaster, was the rollercoster park in Space Cowboys and was the setting of the made-for-TV movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. With the opening of Tatsu on May 13, 2006, Six Flags Magic Mountain broke the tie with Cedar Point for the title of "most roller coasters at one park" with seventeen, although Flashback, one of the seventeen, has been standing but not operating (SBNO) since 2003.
Incorporation Due to the park's uncertain future the City of Santa Clarita has made a strong attempt to Incorporate the park into the city. The main reason for this is to give the park Tax write-offs and reduce ticket prices to hopefully attract more people and increase revenue. As of 10 January 2006 no offical annexation has been filed but the city will most likely do so before the year is up. Parks uncertain future On June 22, 2006 Six Flags, Inc. announced that it was exploring options for six of its parks, including Magic Mountain and its neighboring water park, Hurricane Harbor, that could involve selling the park with possibility of selling to real estate developers, with an intent to close the park and build housing developments in the area.• Park officials cite dwindling attendance and rowdy behavior among some of the park-goers (notably teenagers and young adults, who account for a large percentage of the park's attendance). Recent statistics say the park's attendance has declined by 19 percent from a year ago, despite the recent opening of Tatsu, a high-speed roller-coaster at the park. The decrease in attendance may be due in part to the fact that the park raised its ticket prices by $10 to $60 for the 2006 season, as well as increasing the price of parking to $15. * Throughout the Six Flags chain, attendance in the second quarter of 2006 was 14 percent lower than it was in the second quarter of 2005. * Ride/Attraction timeline Arrowhead Splashdown renamed back to Jet Stream; Chinese Acrobats of Hebei show; Paintball Alley shooting gallery; Revolution reopens; Sky Tower reopens; Orient Express reopens; Circus Wheel reopens; Freefall reopens. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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