The Effect of a Potential Magic Mountain Dismantling

[ExJungleSkipper95]

I don't think we will see much of a difference is Magic Mountain closes down. Magic Mountain was a "discount" park, which means there were a variety of special offers at any given time which offered a reduced rate for admission into the park. There were buy one get one free, 50% off offers all the time which made the park very affordable for gangs and other criminal elements. I can't imagine a gang banger from east LA paying 65 bucks for a day at Disneyland. As much as I dislike the high admission prices for Disneyland, I do see that the high prices discourage troublemakers and gang members from entering the park due to the fact that they can't afford it or don't want to pay that much money to go cause problems. In 1994 when there was free admission day for anyone wearing a halloween costume it was utter chaos. Many people came to Disneyland that could never afford to do so,most of which were the worst elements of society. I know this sounds snobby but it's really true if you think about it. Our high prices keep the lowlifes out. Knotts will be their next target.

[CAspace]

Perhaps Disney should buy Knotts turn it into the 3rd gate/mega water park.
Let Cedar Fair take Magic Mountain and be done with it

ExJungleSkipper:
there are plenty of non gang banger low lifes that pay the high admission price to Disneyland. Higher prices does not equal nicer guests. But I digress, there are plenty of threads that have made both our points many times already.

[Saddlesore Swanson]

Eccchhhh.... My stomach is getting sick thinking of SFMM being turned into cul de sacs and McMansions ... That'd be a real shame.

[DLFreak71]

Yes, there are rumors of SFMM being closed-

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?se...cal&id=4299226

I know last year Six Flags almost went up for sale.
With new owners they are trying to turn the park around
The last article that I had read talked about Six Flags being inspired by Disney and trying to atract more families and have more family things available.

[TP2000]

The closure of Magic Mountain on DLR would be negligible at this point. Magic Mountain attendance has fallen to 2.8 Million in '05, even though they are open year round. As a point of reference, Six Flags Adventure in central New Jersey had attendance of 2.9 Million in '05, and that park closes in October and doesn't reopen until April. Six Flags Great America outside Chicago had 2.8 Million in '05 with a similar 6 month winter closure.

So after adding four major coasters in the last five years Magic Mountain can't even surpass the other seasonal Six Flags properties in other major cities even though Magic Mountain has the luxury of year-round operation. Right there, that tells you that Magic Mountain profits are slim to none, and a company doesn't sell of it's "most profitable" piece of property for any reason. Magic Mountain has been on a downward slide for 10 years, and with the horrible condition the park has gotten into in the last 5 years they are now past the point of no return.

That said, the 2.9 Million attendance they do eek out won't impact Anaheim 90 minutes to the south. It would be a mild boost for Knott's, and a smaller boost for Universal. But the Disneyland crowd and the Magic Mountain crowd have become so different in the last 10 years, that it would be like asking if a Morton's Steak House would see better business because the old Denny's two blocks away is closing.

I've been to Magic Mountain recently, in summer '04, and from the looks of the crowd at that park back then, we don't want those people to come to Disneyland. I doubt many of them would be able to get past bag check to begin with, and if they did get in the gate, their general behavior would have them kicked out of Disneyland in the first 60 minutes of their visit. That's an exageration, of course, but I think you get the idea.

Magic Mountain purposely went after the trashiest, sleaziest demographic they could find. How many times in the last five years have we seen on the nightly news helicopter footage of riot police sweeping through Magic Mountain and forcing rowdy teens out of the park after violent gang fights broke out and people were injured? Can you imagine that happening at Disneyland?!? Now that they are going to shut down and turn the place into condominiums and a Best Buy, the only thing Disneyland should worry about is if some of those old Magic Mountain customers showed up in Anaheim in '07. Trust me, you don't want those people at Disneyland. SCARY!

[CAspace]

Don't forget right nextdoor to Magic Mountain the Newhall land company is building one of the largest housing developments in the country, 21,000 homes!
It is being built as we speak, for a real sad development check out there website and look at the map click on living here then location map, look how close MagicMountain is to the development. It is easy to see how the days of that park are numbered. The only hope the park has is for the planning comission to not allow any more housing to be developed although that would not rule out Office buildings etc. http://www.newhallranch.net/index.asp

[Saddlesore Swanson]

I don't think we will see much of a difference is Magic Mountain closes down. Magic Mountain was a "discount" park, which means there were a variety of special offers at any given time which offered a reduced rate for admission into the park. There were buy one get one free, 50% off offers all the time which made the park very affordable for gangs and other criminal elements. I can't imagine a gang banger from east LA paying 65 bucks for a day at Disneyland. As much as I dislike the high admission prices for Disneyland, I do see that the high prices discourage troublemakers and gang members from entering the park due to the fact that they can't afford it or don't want to pay that much money to go cause problems. In 1994 when there was free admission day for anyone wearing a halloween costume it was utter chaos. Many people came to Disneyland that could never afford to do so,most of which were the worst elements of society. I know this sounds snobby but it's really true if you think about it. Our high prices keep the lowlifes out. Knotts will be their next target.

Intrigued by some of the points you made in this insightful post, I went and consulted with some acquaintances I have in the "gangbanging and other criminal elements" community to verify a few of your comments. I spoke with Lil' Smokey of Maple Street Maniacs (23rd Division) about the high prices of DL and the discounts at SFMM and he had this to say: "Nah, homes, it's not really the high prices that make us pick Magic Mountain over Disneyland. It's because we actually find Disneyland kind of boring. Everyday I'm already surrounded by real pirates (why do you think we all wear Raiders jerseys?), big piles of white powder (so who needs the Matterhorn?), and I stroll up and down my own Main Street everyday selling that cotton candy and those helium balloons (if you know what I mean) ... So why go to boring-@$$ Disneyland? Plus, all the fine hinas go Magic Mountain. And yeah, it might be cheaper, but you have to bring a can of Coke. And we hate that sh**, homes. Everybody knows that gangstas prefer Pepsi."

So there you go. And it's true: they do like Pepsi better. Swear to god.

[TP2000]

I know last year Six Flags almost went up for sale.
With new owners they are trying to turn the park around
The last article that I had read talked about Six Flags being inspired by Disney and trying to atract more families and have more family things available.

Out in Arizona, you probably missed the media frenzy this Magic Mountain closure news created in SoCal last week. Here's a link to an AP story that should get you up to speed on the imminent demise of Six Flags Magic Mountain.

http://tinyurl.com/n7sf8

[TP2000]

So there you go. And it's true: they do like Pepsi better. Swear to god.

For Those Who Think Young!

And I believe you.

[WatchYourHeadNStep]

Would anyone care to speculate on the bearing this potential event may have on Disneyland?

More dark, brooding, P.O. looking, mad at the world, gangster like teenagers hanging out in dark corners and alleys at Disneyland. There goes your family-oriented theme park down the drain!

Either that or Disneyland security will be hiring more team members!

[RobotMirror]

From the link I posted earlier, I think that if Magic Mountain goes under, it will be because they lost share to Disneyland. Disneyland doesn't need to take customers that would be lost to Magic Mountain, as apparently their strategy for the 50th has been incredibly damaging to the competition.

From the Daily News (full story available at: http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_3973919)

"As its corporate owner contemplates a sale of the thrill park, the future of Magic Mountain may hinge on its ability to attract customers like the Pearsons. The Castaic family lives a short drive away from Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor. But instead of making that drive, they bought a season pass for Disneyland in Anaheim.

It's been a decade since Laura Pearson visited Magic Mountain. But Pearson, whose children are 11 and 13, has heard things about the 17-roller-coaster park.

"What I've heard is that it's not a great place for kids. ... Not the cleanest place in the world," she said.

"When you walk into the Disneyland park everything is clean. There's people working continuously, they have a smile on their face - you feel safe there."

Six Flags Inc., Magic Mountain's corporate owner, is trying hard to attract families like the Pearsons."

[DLFreak71]

Out in Arizona, you probably missed the media frenzy this Magic Mountain closure news created in SoCal last week. Here's a link to an AP story that should get you up to speed on the imminent demise of Six Flags Magic Mountain.

http://tinyurl.com/n7sf8

yup
luckily we missed it.
The big new out here is all the fires.


thanks for the link

[Mr. Dark]

No impact on Disneyland, but one would think even selling at $650 million would be shortsighted. You can only sell the land once. The collection of coasters, managed by a company that actually knows how to run and promote a park, could easily bring in that much money within a couple of YEARS and keep right on paying. The constant switching of corporate owners has left Six Flags a ruined organization.

Oh, and by the way, yes lowering price DOES bring in a lower quality crowd. That dynamic in entertainment has been proven again and again and is no longer in dispute. $25 for an annual pass? (One promo or another was offering that price in the recent pass, if I remember correctly.) You're just asking for trouble. I doubt you'll find similar prices at King's Island, Cedar Point or one of the other midwestern/east coast coaster meccas that bring in the dough. Cedar Fair made enough money to buy all these places like Knott's from managing and being successful with parks INFERIOR to Magic Mountain, it's clear it can be done.

[A Disney Dreamer]

MM closing?

That just doesn't make sense, at least for the time being - they just built Tatsu.

[mrcoaster]

I don't think it would have much of an effect on DL. It might have some effect on Knott's though. As a huge coaster fanatic (check the username), it would really sadden me to see MM closed, sold and dozed. Six Flags has a number of problems and some of the coasters aren't great (Viper - OUCH!!), but there are some very good coasters there and it's always sad to lose a park to homes, condos, parking lots, shopping malls and the like.

Still, what used to be an automatic visit in the past when I flew into LA has become something I've skipped most recently. Crowds, one-train operations creating long lines, rowdy teens, line-cutters, etc. I hope the park survives this threat, but I'm expecting the worst.