Magic Mountain relinquishes coaster crown
Sadly, it’s official. California’s Six Flags Magic Mountain is no longer the “roller coaster capital of the world” — surrendering the title to Ohio’s Cedar Point amusement park.
With the dismantling of Magic Mountain’s Flashback now underway and the addition of Cedar Point’s Maverick in 2007, the world record for most roller coasters at a single amusement park officially moves from Valencia, Calif., to Sandusky, Ohio.
The score: Cedar Point 17, Magic Mountain 15.
“That’s indisputable,” said Cedar Point spokesman Robin Innes.
Magic Mountain vows to reclaim the coaster crown after the jump.
Magic Mountain took the crown from Cedar Point around the turn of the millennium after adding a coaster a year during a building binge that stretched from 1997 to 2003 — bringing the thrill park’s total to an all-time high of 16 coasters.
In 2006, Magic Mountain added the flying Tatsu coaster but demolished the wooden Psyclone coaster — resulting in no net gain.
For 2008, the Mountain chose to upgrade the existing X coaster instead of building a new ride, essentially ceding the lead to Cedar Point — at least for now.
“Someday we will reclaim the title,” vowed Magic Mountain spokeswoman Sue Carpenter. “We’ll be back.”
Canada’s Wonderland, Cedar Point’s sister park, will pull into a tie with Magic Mountain for second place this summer with the addition of Behemoth, the Toronto park’s 15th coaster.
Roller Coaster Database webmaster Duane Marden points out that several of Magic Mountain’s marquee rides suffer from frequent downtime issues — including X, Superman and Déjà Vu.
“Magic Mountain lost this status long before they started bulldozing roller coasters,” RCDB’s Marden said. “While they may have physically had more roller coasters than Cedar Point, just how often were all of these roller coasters in operation on a given day at the park?”
Of some consolation, Magic Mountain continues to hold a commanding worldwide lead with 35 inversions to 15 upside-down flips for both Cedar Point and Canada’s Wonderland, according to RCDB.
One other silver lining: Magic Mountain still has more roller coasters than 1,693 other amusement parks.
Is the Magic Mountain roller coaster dynasty over?
Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the
Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
[Photo: Six Flags Magic Mountain]
34 Comments on “Magic Mountain relinquishes coaster crown”
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January 17th, 2008 at 11:00 am
In the end though, chasing the coaster crown really wound up hurting the park more than helping it by pinning the park into a narrow demographic niche. I applaud their ambition when it came to gambling on new designs, like Superman, Deja Vu and X however. But, like in many parts of life, risks sometimes don’t pay off.
I think they are on a better path now with making the park more appealing to a wider variety of people. Along with Thomas Town, in my opinion they are missing two major common staples of theme park attractions that would complete the park.
What they really need is a consultant to take them through MM and point out what can be done to maximize it’s potential, and how to pay for new construction cheaply but effectively.
January 17th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
claiming that magic mountain has a ‘roller coaster dynasty’ is a bit far fetched. Like the article stated, the park has terrriable down time issues. Outside of the park’s local community, it has never been considered the roller coaster king of the world.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
hmm, I beg to differ. All over the world SFMM and CP have been looked to as the kings, but no matter what, magic mountain did have all the rights to the most coasters in a park record…
January 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Magic Mountain’s roller coaster dynasty will never be over why? because over these few year’s we had ride’s that did not operate but we also have unbelieveable ride’s like x,tatsu,scream all of sixflags magic mountain’s ride’s are custom and have there own meaning. sixflags magic mountain right now may not have the most coaster’s but has the most love from it’s fan’s and that park has most memories an feeling’s other park’s wish they could diliver.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:40 am
SFMM has a great opportunity right now to really improve itself. By getting rid of underperforming rides and adding a more well-rounded scope of attractions they can attract more people which becomes higher revenue.
With a new General Manager hopefully they have the local park leadership to move this along.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Magic Mountain may end up getting more Coasters then Cedar Point sooner or later. But that’s only because Cedar Point is on a penninsula, that fact alone gives Cedar Point a huge edge. Not to mention Cdear Point consistantly has their coasters in the top of the rankings year after year, for example, Magnum held the number one spot for about a decade. Also Cedar Point has been the best amusement park for a decade. Until Magic Mountain can produce a coaster that holds a record longer then Magnum, or can beat Cedar Point’s streak…Cedar Point will always be the REAL coaster capital of the world.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
It had always been a dream of mine to pay a visit to SFMM. I finally made it out in 2006 and was thoroughly disappointed. Aside from the large amounts of downtime, the park was ran horribly! Coasters could have been run much more efficiently. There were line-jumpers in every single queue we had waited in (No joke). It was quite the letdown. I made it a point to give the park another chance one year later and ran into the same issues. SFMM may have some interesting coasters… but that’s about it. Take one visit to Cedar Point and I guarantee you will be in awe of the Roller Coaster Capital of the World. There is no competition… there never was.
January 18th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
@ Nick Russo:
Not all of Magic Mountain’s rides are original. They have Deja Vu which is a clone. With the exception of Wicked Twister (and don’t point out TTD because CP had that design first), all of CP’s rides are original. As for the fan base, I think CP and SFMM have 2 of the largest fan bases in the world. I think MM will always be chasing CP though because it seems there is a stronger, more dedicated fanbase to CP than MM.
January 19th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Lets not forget that Batman is a total clone, and as for Deja Vu, was it not the original?
January 19th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I live about an hour from Cedar Point and am a season pass holder that attends around 15 times a year. I made a trip to Magic Mountain a few years back and was extremely disappointed. I’m not sure if any of the coasters were up all day and some of the major ones such as X and Superman were down all day. Cedar Point’s coasters are almost always running and they are far better than anything Magic Mountain can offer. Cedar Point as always been and will always be the roller coaster capitol of the world.
January 19th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
In my eyes, Cedar Point has, and will always be the roller coaster capital of the world. Seeing that some park-goers like to think that Superman is a roller coaster, I have to disagree. If it was, then Cedar Point’s Millennium Force would not have been the first 300-foot coaster. Cedar Point will always reign supreme!
January 19th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Magic Mountain Sucks!!!!
January 19th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I don’t get how they say Magic Mountain “took the crown” because when they had 16 coasters so did Cedar Point. Am I wrong? It just seems to me that Cedar Point has always had that titled and will always be known for having the best thrills in the world…Just take a look at Amusement Today, I think it kind of shows what park is beter year after year. Just my thoughts.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Ceder Point Is the roller coaster capital and always was and always will be. Sorry to burst your bubble
January 19th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I grew up near CP but moved to CA 20 years ago. Been to both parks. Don’t like how the SF parks are run.
Most people in LA have probably never been to CP. They have no idea what they are missing. CP has the best rides and the best run park. Always look forward to going there. CP’s coasters are the best!
Best Amusement Park in the World 10 years running.
The title belongs to CP, hands down.
January 20th, 2008 at 4:26 am
There is no contest to this matter at all. Cedar point has a better coaster lineup. Not to mention more operational coasters. I have been to both parks and there is no comparison…Cedar Point is an all around better park with better coasters! Not to mention a better fan base!
January 20th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
To call this record a ‘dynasty’ is ludicrous. They never at any one point had more coasters then CP. Not to mention that Six Flags parks (across the board in my experience) are horribly run and downtime is frequent. As someone who has been to CP several times a summer my entire life (I am 25) I can say with experience that I need only one hand to count the number of times there has been a coaster that has been down for an entire day (weather issues notwithstanding) not to mention several down at a time. Six Flags does not know how to run a park period. In my view the ‘coaster capital’ was something SFMM could claim only on a technicality and I’m glad that there is now irrefutable evidence that Cedar Point is and always has been the coaster capital of the world.
January 20th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I may not have been to Magic Mountain but I have been to several different Six Flags parks and all of them that I have been to have a pretty sad effeincy as far as people on ride per hour. WHenever I go to Cedar POint (once a year) it always has good effeincy and thier coasters are always a thrill, all thier new coasters are always breaking records and shatering the charts with new rankings. Now MM may have some good coasters but they dont have the wide variety and record shatering coasters all in the same location.
Cedar Point is better 7 fold!
January 21st, 2008 at 10:55 am
i have never been to mm but last year at one of many trips to cp i waited in line with a rollar coaster enthuised family from cali and they were season ticket holders to mm but decided to take a summer out to visit other parks around the u.s. after talking with them i found that they were amazed by cedar point and were suprised that they couldnt even ride all of the rides in one day!
January 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
The title “roller coaster capital of the world” isn’t bestowed onto Cedar Point because it has the greatest number of coasters. It’s simply because Cedar Point has the best roller coasters in the world. It’s a place that takes great pride in the service they offer to all their guests. I’ve never been to Magic Mountain. However, I have been to Canada’s Wonderland, which has a lot of roller coasters, but it fails in comparison to the mighty Cedar Point. This Toronto area park does’t even come close to the spendor of Cedar Point even though it has a reported 15 coasters. Cedar Point regardless of it’s number of roller coasters will always be the best amusement park on the planet. CP management and the CP guests work and play respectively at a truely magical place, which is why it will always reigh supreme as the roller coaster capital of the world.
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:46 am
Im from CA and I’be been to both parks and I would say that the biggest difference is that Magic Mountain is filled with thugs. X is an unbelieveable coaster. Goliath is pretty good too. But neither touches Millenium Force and Cedar Point has a Midwest charm to it.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:42 am
I’ve been to both parks numerous times and I think Cedar Point not only towers over Magic Mountain, but strives to be a more family friendly park. Definitely putting itself on the map not only as the Roller Coaster capital of the World, but the Best Amusement Park in World.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
I have been to both parks and Cedar Point is the best of the two. CP is not only the Roller Coaster Capital of the World, but it a great family park. They offer something for everyone!
January 24th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Visited CP last year. Saved for 3 years to make the trip from England. Was CP worth the wait and more importantly my £5,000??? You bet it was. Well run, great service and value for money. Saving to do it all again.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Visted MM a few years back and the park is in horrible shape they have really let it go. CP is so clean and with such beautiful scenery there is no comparison. Any park where you have to go through a metal detector is no good in my book!
January 25th, 2008 at 11:52 am
We live in Ohio and are season passholders to CP. When we visited California last year we visited Knotts and MM….we were so disappointed in both, but MM more….most of the coasters were down and the wait times were horrible! Our teen twins couldn’t wait to get back to Ohio and CP. We had a six flags here and they ran the park into the ground…they did such a poor job that even when Cedar Fair bought it and tried to revive it, it was a lost cause. That is very sad. And MM was dirty and we didn’t see one security person the whole time we were there.
If you can, come to Ohio and visit CP…you won’t be sorry. It is beautiful in the summer!
January 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
i visited CP last summer. it was definately woth the savings and i just have three words.
Cedar Point Rocks!
January 27th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I’m a huge roller coaster enthusiast. As such, I’ve been to over 180 amusement parks, where I’ve experience more than 630 roller coasters. I’ve been to both Cedar Point and Magic Mountain multiple times.
Of all the parks I’ve visited, Cedar Point ranks as my favorite. It is also home to my 4 favorite coasters.
Meanwhile, when in the L.A. area, I’ve found that I’d rather visit Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. Those parks may not have as many coasters as Magic Mountain, but I’ve found that I have a far more enjoyable time at those parks.
I’d much rather have quality over quantity. Cedar Point has both. Magic Mountain merely has quantity.
I should note that I pay very close attention to a park’s operations when I visit. Magic Mountain and other Six Flags parks have had numerous issues when I’ve visited, making me question the safety of their operations. When I’ve filed complaints, I’ve been very dissatisfied with the results, leading to my opinion that Six Flags is the single worst multiple-park operator in North America.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
CP is so beautiful! They really do take care of the park. Come and visit the park, Soak City (CP’s water park), and spend time on there beaches….I think you will be very impressed!
May 13th, 2008 at 12:07 am
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I can not agree with you in 100% regarding some thoughts, but you got good point of view…
July 9th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I would take Los Angeles over Sandusky any day. SFMM was the guiness books record holder and will be again. LA is shiny brand new compared to Ohio and has way better weather. The girls are hotter and the future of the park will destroy any competition. LA will grow astronomically while little Ohio will put along like it always does. The economics plainly point out that the future expansion of Six Flags and all of So Cal’s other parks will be massive. It’s like downtown LA was years ago, a rathole. Now downtown is moving in thousands of citizens. Six Flags may be run down but in the future you will see an explosion of roller coasters that will demand people from all over the globe to fly into both of our international airports, LAX and LA/ONT. Just try to keep up with California because the rest of the world is trying too.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:04 am
This thread isn’t about whether LA is better than Ohio. I’m an Ohioan who moved to California for the weather, but Cedar Point reigns supreme not only in its roller coasters, but in the beauty of its location (how it’s maintained as well as the surroundings) and the total quality of its experience.
Cedar Point is somewhat isolated, but it’s not a total outpost. The distance to Cleveland from CP is not quite three times the distance from SFMM to downtown LA (about 65 miles to about 25 miles … depending on conditions, it can be driven in about the same time). I am not saying Cleveland is LA’s equal, but a traveler should consider that they have many of the same amenities (pro sports, culture) in common.
In any case, anyone who claims to be a roller coaster aficionado must make the trip to Sandusky.
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:27 am
If any one LIVED in LA, then they’d see the REAL magic mountain. Visiting from somewhere else is definitely not gonna give u the real experience. Since i live in LA i went twice in two weeks and got the real deal. All coasters operating, clean park, and no lines! So stop making complaints if u dont live in LA!
September 4th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Cedar Point wins Amusement Today’s 2008 Golden ticket Award for best amusement park yo.