Warp Drive

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Six Flags: The Better Late Than Never Blog

Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the Six Flags anthem. Take it from here, Mr. Six! Alright, with that out of the way, let us begin. On the 3rd of June, a friend and I accompanied another friend and his girlfriend to Six Flags Magic Mountain. I had never been there before, so I was actually quite excited to be invited along for the ride.

I would like to explain one little thing first. My friend was originally going to give me a free pass, but then, I decided to invite another friend. In hindsight, my friend actually had two free passes (in addition to the season passes that he held for himself and his girlfriend), but we had sort of agreed to just one before I brought my other friend into the equation (who he had never even met before). So, my friend instead gave me a coupon. I entered the park for around $25, and my other friend entered for free. The reason behind this friendly gesture being, I knew (beforehand) that he was short on money. Besides, this way, he does not owe me anything, and we all have a genuinely fun day at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The $80 that my friend still owed me from last year's trip to Disneyland hung over our friendship like a storm cloud, and I did not want the same thing to happen with my other friend. Owing money to someone can certainly damage (or even destroy) an otherwise solid friendship.

Thankfully, the park was not very crowded on the day that we went. It was not exactly like National Lampoon's Vacation, but we did manage to get on every ride in less than 10 minutes, and that is an A+ in my book. Our first ride was aboard Revolution (formerly known as Great American Revolution). Why is it called Revolution, you ask? Well, it happens to be the world's first modern roller coaster to feature a vertical loop. As the train approaches the loop, riders are instructed to place their heads against the headrest. I am not one to ignore a direct order given to me on a roller coaster, so I did just that. I usually do not handle looping coasters very well, but I must say, Revolution was a very smooth ride. Following that, we slowly worked our way to some of the bigger rides in the park. Ninja has a train that is suspended below the track, giving riders the feeling of flight. I only wish that I could have ridden in the front. Colossus is a wooden roller coaster, and a damn good one at that. It features two identical side-by-side tracks, and drops in excess of 100 feet. I did manage to ride this one in the front, and it brought me to tears.

Okay, that does it for the little pansy rides. Up next, prepare to Scream! My first thought upon boarding this ride was, "where the hell is the floor?" That is right, your feet are left dangling in midair. I was so distracted by this that I failed to notice that Scream! has a whopping seven 360-degree inversions. It was a bit extreme for my tastes, but I held it together in the end. Goliath would be our next conquest. After boarding, I seem to recall asking my friend how fast the ride was, and he gave me a fairly snark reply, "I will let you be the judge." The answer, in case you were wondering, is 85 mph. We came very close to engaging the flux capacitor, and I came very close to losing my eye sight. My friend referred to it as a religious experience. I know that I will not soon forget it. Finally, we came to the last major ride of the day, Riddler's Revenge. How does this one stack up? Well, it has a 124-foot tall vertical loop, two diving loops, an inclined loop, and two corkscrews. It also has one of the most unusual seating arrangements that I have ever seen. You sit on a bicycle seat, and at your own discretion, can propel the seat upward until you are in a standing position. Riddle me this, Internet, what is green and goes all over the place? If you guessed vomit, you are correct! Yes, I lost my lunch, and it was a roller coaster first for me.

After my star performance on Riddler's Revenge, we decided to take a break from the roller coasters. Instead, we attended Mat Hoffman's Danger Defying Daredevils at the Street Sports Action Theater. If I might be quite frank, I was not expecting much, but found myself pleasantly surprised. The majority of the show featured a mix of skateboard and BMX half-pipe stunts. The main attraction, however, was the motorcycle stunt cage. At the climax of the show, two motorcyclists drove in, and the host himself stood in the middle. Then, the motorcycles began to spin around him at an alarming rate. I thought for sure that someone would get hurt, but these guys were true professionals. Exhaust smoke filled the air as the show concluded.

With all things taken into consideration, Six Flags Magic Mountain was indeed a blast. I experienced a level of thrill never before encountered, and had a real bonding moment with my fellow riders on Riddler's Revenge. One thing is for certain. I will never look at Disneyland attractions the same way again.

Six Flags Magic Mountain (Extreme-O-Meter)
9. Orient Express (0/6 Flags)
8. Log Jammer (1/6 Flags)
7. Roaring Rapids (2/6 Flags)
6. Revolution (3/6 Flags)
5. Ninja (3/6 Flags)
4. Colossus (4/6 Flags)
3. Scream! (5/6 Flags)
2. Goliath (6/6 Flags)
1. Riddler's Revenge (7/6 Flags)

No comments:

Post a Comment