Six Flags and Great America Announce New Rides in California

Tis the season when regional parks let us know what will be opening the following year; here’s what to expect in the Golden State. (MiceChat previously covered the new dive-coaster coming to Knott’s Berry Farm HERE)

Six Flags Magic Mountain

During my coverage of Magic Mountain’s opening of Justice League Battle for Metropolis in July, I observed that the park’s few non-coaster thrill rides seemed to date back to at least the Ford administration. That will be changing next year with the addition of CraZanity, a pendulum ride in a newly themed Beach Boardwalk area.

The ride is essentially a taller version of the Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth ride that opened at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom this year, besting the latter’s 147 foot height by 25 feet. The new name was required in SoCal because Magic Mountain already has a ride called Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth, although that one may date back to Nixon.

The area will also include “Enhanced Bumper Cars, renovated attractions, dining, games and shopping.” Perhaps the bigger news from Valencia is that Magic Mountain will begin 365 day operation in 2018. The rail riders among us can only hope that the school day experience will be the same kind of laid back scene one finds at Knott’s Berry Farm on a Tuesday in November. As I write this there are technical issues with the Magic Mountain website preventing me from downloading additional concept art; if you are reading this sentence, those issues were not resolved when we had to put this baby to bed, but here is some video courtesy of Six Flags.

Like all Six Flags parks nationwide, Magic Mountain is currently holding the annual Flash sale. The sale goes through September 4, 2017 and promises the best price possible on annual passes. For Magic Mountain this means Gold passes, that grant admission to all Six Flags parks in the country with parking included for a mere $79.99 plus an inevitable service charge. With parking itself being $25, that alone would justify the purchase, but it is actually even cheaper than a one day ticket purchased at the gate. The first use must be at the park where purchased (so don’t try getting the cheaper price through Discovery Kingdom below if you cant use it there first by November 5, 2017), will only include the water park associated with that “Home” park, and can include add ons like meal or photo plans, discounted Fright Fest Maze Tickets for additional cost. Other restrictions may apply, so read the fine print. Details can be found HERE

Other Six Flags parks can be accessed through the national site HERE.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

After her feature role in the Battle for Metropolis, Harley Quinn gets her own Crazy Coaster, snuggled into the ever expanding DC area of the park just across from her main squeeze, The Joker. Like Dare Devil Dive Coaster that opened a few year’s back, it is a bit of a stretch to call this a coaster; in a way it’s an expansion of the 3D “coaster”. In this case, it’s a vertical figure 8 arrangement with two trains passing each other at 70 mph, forward and back, with multiple fly by moments.

It will likely require a sturdy constitution to keep one’s innards in check, but it could pack quite a punch for the amount of space utilized. Nothing appears to be displaced in the concept art with both Superman and the upcharge Go Karts still shown (all concept art courtesy of Six Flags.

Like all Six Flags parks nationwide, Discovery Kingdom is currently holding the annual Flash sale. The sale goes through September 4, 2017 and promises the best price possible for annual passes. For Discovery Kingdom this means Gold passes, that grant admission to all Six Flags parks in the country with parking included for a mere $54.99 plus an inevitable service charge. With parking itself being $25, that alone would justify the purchase, but it is actually even cheaper than a one day ticket purchased at the gate. The first use must be at the park where purchased, will only include the water park associated with that “Home” park, and can include add ons like meal or photo plans, discounted Fright Fest Maze Tickets at additional cost. Other restrictions may apply, so read the fine print. Details can be found HERE.

Other Six Flags parks can be accessed through the national site HERE.

California’s Great America 

Earlier this year the Santa Clara City Council approved a master plan allowing the park to expand with higher coasters, a shopping district for park guests as well as those going to the adjacent Levi’s Stadium and more. I touched on it briefly during the opening of the floorless coaster Patriot, formerly the stand up known as Vortex. That conversion marked the last project completed before the afore mentioned master plan approval. On August 16, National Roller Coaster Day, the park invited media types to an announcement of the park’s first project post approval. Ironically, we would not be able to properly celebrate Roller Coaster Day since the park was already on a weekend schedule. Many local schools were already back in session, so not sure why these kids were hanging out instead of getting an education.

There was a decidedly outdoor recreation vibe going on, and a lot if “SR1” highway signs. We were directed to the site that previously held Invertigo, an inverted face to face variation of Boomerang dismantled a few years ago after a chain broke. It was a lot more fun than a standard Boomerang, and it had always seemed to me that they sell chains, but that page has turned. The construction walls told the history of coasters going back to the days of Marriott’s Great America. I went as high as I could to see behind the wall, although I feel that I have failed you by not at least climbing one of the nearby trees, but it was too early in the process to get kicked out. It’s a small footprint, but let’s give them a chance.

Directly we were called to assemble at the small stage and and after a greeting Santa Clara Mayor Susan Gilmor spoke.

Anyone want to hear a politician speak? No? Didn’t think so, moving along. At this point park Vice President and General Manager  Raul Rehnborg made the grand unveiling, seen in the video below. During his presentation concept animation was shown which included both an overview and POV. Those two videos can also be seen separately below courtesy of California’s Great America. However, one must watch the full announcement in order to see a clip of Cedar Fair President, formerly of Disneyland, Matt Ouimet riding a test track at the Rocky Mountain Constitution site in Idaho. (Concept art courtesy of California’s Great America)

So it appears that they are indeed making great use of a small space. Despite capacity concerns on an 8 passenger train, everything about what will be known as RailBlazer looks fun. The unique single rail straddle will be interesting on its own, but if the animation is any indicator the coaster will have a great flow, and RMC has a history of creating sublime inversions. The program concluded with some of the attending dignitaries holding an official groundbreaking (apparently the earth moving heavy equipment among the piles of dirt beyond the walls are part of some unofficial groundbreaking).

Like most theme parks, these are all gearing up for Fright Fest at the Six Flags parks and the Halloween Haunt at California’s Great America. Distance and prior commitments will prevent me from attending Fright Fest at Magic Mountain, although my presence at the MiceChat Knott’s Scary Farm event September 30 means you may submit your complaints in person at that time. Before that fun night rolls around, I will be checking out all of the Halloween fun at Discovery Kingdom and Great America, so look for those adventures on a future Day by The Bay.

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