Roller coaster · Cyclone Bay
Goliath
The 255-foot Giovanola hypercoaster with a 61-degree first drop, an underground tunnel and the helix that greys out the front row.
48" minLine-skip
Southern California · Valencia, California
Six Flags Magic Mountain
The self-declared coaster capital of the world, and for once the marketing is close to true.
Magic Mountain opened in 1971 as a family park and spent the next five decades collecting roller coasters the way other parks collect carousel horses. The count now sits around twenty depending on what is running, which is more than any other park this site covers, and the lineup runs from a 1971 mine train to a 4th-dimension coaster that rotates you independently of the track. Nobody leaves having ridden everything in one day for the first time.
The park is built on a real hill. The summit section — Samurai Summit, at the top of a long incline from the entrance — holds Tatsu, Ninja and the Superman tower, and the climb is a genuine fifteen-minute walk. Plan the geography before you plan the rides: the mistake everyone makes is racing up the hill at eleven, coming down at two, and going back up at four. Do the summit once, early, and work down through the day.
Magic Mountain is a Six Flags park, which means three practical things. The crowd floor is higher than the regional average in summer, the Flash Pass — Six Flags' line-skip product — is priced like the park knows it, and weekday operations in spring and autumn can be genuinely empty: the same coasters that run ninety-minute waits on a July Saturday are walk-ons on a September Wednesday. The single best decision available at this park is which kind of day to buy.
Last verified July 2026
At a glance
- Best for
- Coaster enthusiasts · Thrill-seekers · Teenagers and young adults · First-time-in-LA park days
- Less ideal for
- Families with children under 42 inches · Anyone avoiding hills and heat · Dark-ride and show people
- Days needed
- 1 day minimum
- Tallest requirement
- 54in (137cm)
Everything about this park
All 12 attractions
The complete list, sortable and filterable
Height requirements
11 rides with a minimum height
Where to eat
3 restaurants, carts, and lounges
Best snacks
4 tracked items with prices
Park map
Printable, works offline
Accessibility
Transfers, rentals, quiet spaces
First-timer guide
A plan you can actually follow
Headliners
The rides you plan the day around
If you only get a handful of long queues in you, spend them here.
Roller coaster · Samurai Summit
Tatsu
The flying coaster that launches off the summit of the mountain — you ride face-down over the whole Santa Clarita valley before the pretzel loop folds the sky in half.
54" minLine-skip
Roller coaster · Cyclone Bay
Twisted Colossus
The 1978 racing wooden twins rebuilt in steel — now a single hybrid that races its own second train and high-fives its own track twice.
48" minLine-skip
Roller coaster · Samurai Summit
X2
The 4th-dimension coaster whose seats rotate you independently of the track — face-down off the first drop, on your back into the raven turn, screaming the whole way.
48" minLine-skip
6 distinct areas
The lands
Walking order from the entrance. Each land page carries its full attraction and dining list.
Opened 1971
Six Flags Plaza
The entrance plaza, where Full Throttle's giant loop hangs over the front of the park like a gate.
2 attractions2 places to eat
DC Universe
The superhero strip, where Batman and The Riddler's Revenge run adjacent inverter-and-standup formation.
2 attractions
Samurai Summit
The top of the mountain: Tatsu, Ninja, Superman's tower and the best view of the whole park.
4 attractions
Cyclone Bay
The back corner where the wooden Colossus twins became Twisted Colossus and the racing continues.
3 attractions
Baja Ridge
The eastern ridge line, home to Viper's three loops and the park's steepest drop on Goliath's far side approach.
1 attractions
Rapids Camp Crossing
The family and water-ride lowlands, where the height requirements drop and the spray zones open.
0 attractions1 places to eat
Food
What to eat here
Our highest-priority items in Six Flags Magic Mountain. Mark them on the tracker and they save to your device.
Brisket plate
Sliced brisket with sides at the plaza smokehouse — the park's one real hot-meal answer.
Our take: The best savory stop at the park. Not destination barbecue, but honest portions at a fair theme-park price.
Funnel cake
Sweet Tooth Funnel Cake Cart
Fresh-fried dough under a snowfall of powdered sugar, with fruit toppings available. The midway classic, done in the classic way.
Our take: Worth it once per trip at close, ideally shared — the sugar and the fried smell are inseparable from the park at night.
Churro
Midway churro carts
Cinnamon-sugar churro from the roaming carts — the queue-line-adjacent snack that survives every Six Flags menu change.
Our take: The best portable snack at the park. Buy it walking, not waiting.
Turkey leg
Savory snack carts
The smoked turkey leg the size of a toddler's arm, walked around the park on the theory that it is a meal.
Our take: Split it between two people or commit to being finished with food for the day. Salt-forward, photogenic, a theme-park rite.
Things worth knowing before you go
The weekday discount is the real Flash Pass
Spring and autumn Wednesdays run the same coasters as July Saturdays at a fraction of the crowd. If your dates flex, buy the quiet day instead of the skip-the-line product.
Two cars on the mountain beat one
For parties with mixed thrill tolerance, split at the summit base: thrill riders up top, everyone else to the crossing. The reunite point is obvious and shaded.
Ride X2 in the middle of the day
Its queue peaks at open and close; the lunch hours are its quietest window on most days.
The refill bottle math
If you will ride the hill twice in one visit — you shouldn't, but if you will — the souvenir drink bottle pays for itself on a hot day. On a single loop it usually doesn't.
Parking-lot tram or walk?
The main lot's walk is under ten minutes to the plaza; the tram saves less time than its queue costs except from the far rows.
the fall haunt changes the park
After dark on haunt nights, several midways become scare zones and some family areas close. If you are visiting in late September or October with young kids, check which nights run the overlay.
Getting there
Parking
Large main lot off Magic Mountain Parkway, with preferred rows near the gate. The walk from standard rows runs five to ten minutes; trams serve the far rows seasonally.
At the entrance
Security screening is outside the plaza; the metal-detector line, not the turnstiles, is the morning bottleneck. Arrive twenty minutes before posted opening.
How to get here
- By car: roughly 35 miles north of downtown Los Angeles via I-5, exit Magic Mountain Parkway. Without traffic it is 35–40 minutes; with Friday traffic it is two hours.
- By train: Metrolink's Santa Clarita line from LA Union Station, then a short rideshare from the Valencia station.
- By rideshare: well-served, with a designated drop-off lane at the main gate.
Six Flags Magic Mountain questions, answered
How many roller coasters does Magic Mountain have?
Around twenty depending on the season and what is running, which is the most of any park on this site and among the most of any park in the world. The exact count moves with retirements and new openings, so treat the current number as a range rather than a fixed figure.
Can you do Magic Mountain in one day?
Yes, with a plan and a weekday. The hill makes naive touring expensive — go up once at open, work the summit, descend and never climb again. On a summer Saturday, one day covers the headliners only, and a second day or a line-skip product is the honest answer.
What is the height requirement situation at Magic Mountain?
The headliner tier sits at 48 and 54 inches: X2, Twisted Colossus, Goliath and West Coast Racers at 48; Tatsu, Full Throttle, Viper, Batman and Riddler's Revenge at 54. Ninja at 42 inches is the summit's family entry. A child between 42 and 48 inches has a real but much smaller park here.
Is the Flash Pass worth it at Magic Mountain?
On weekdays in spring and autumn, usually not — the park runs near walk-on for its headline coasters. On summer and haunt-season weekends, it is the difference between ten and twenty-five rides and is priced accordingly. The line-skip guide on this site has the current pricing tiers.
How do I get to Magic Mountain without a car?
It is possible and annoying. The Metrolink Santa Clarita line from downtown Los Angeles stops in Valencia with a short rideshare connection to the park. Most visitors drive; the park sits where the I-5 and SR-126 meet, about an hour north of downtown LA without traffic.
What should I ride first at rope drop?
Tatsu. Its queue is the most popular on the mountain and the walk up the hill is the price of arriving before it builds. Everyone else heads for X2 or Full Throttle near the entrance — let them.
Does Magic Mountain have good food?
It has adequate food at theme-park prices. The smokehouse locations and the plaza eateries are the reliable tier; the snack carts (funnel cake, churros) are the consistent win. Nobody visits this park for the dining, and the plan should treat eating as logistics, not an event.