For those who aren’t familiar with the Los Angeles
area, Magic Mountain is the local Six Flags amusement park. It first
opened six or seven years after I was born, as a simple little amusement
park. There was one roller coaster, the Gold Rusher, which sprawled over
one side of the mountain, and had no steep dips or drops; there was the
Log Jammer, your basic flume ride, on the other side of the mountain;
there was a sky ride, like a gondola-style ski-lift; a carousel; a bunch of
prettied up carnival rides; and a weird sort of ferris wheel thing called
the Galaxy. At the top of the mountain was the “Sky Tower”, with an
observation deck at its crown. A funicular railway went to the top the
hill, and a simple monorail called the Metro travelled around the park.
The park had a vaguely German/Alpine theme to it, and was presided over
(in lieu of Disney characters) by a wizard and a bunch of large rotund
trolls covered with pale blue fur.

One of the first times I went, they had a deal where you could get a
special shoulder patch called “The Red Badge of Courage” if you went on
five of seven scary rides. I don’t recall what they all were, but given
what the park has become, I find it rather ironic.

Over the next few years they added additional rides, including (in 1976,
tied in with the U.S. Bicentennial) the Revolution, the world’s first
looping roller coaster. (Last night I heard two guys discussing which
coasters they’d ridden on that night, and how many times, and
consequently how many loop-the-loops they’d ridden through. I believe
the total was 54.) Later they added Colossus, at that time the world’s
largest wooden coaster–and that, in my mind (though I’m no coaster
enthusiast) is when Magic Mountain’s destiny became clear. How was Magic
Mountain to survive against the competition of Disneyland and Knotts
Berry Farm? It became coaster city.

Since then it’s been bought by Six Flags. They’ve added a water park,
Hurricane Harbor, next door; and with the addition of Scream, a brand new
coaster that opens today, they have sixteen roller coasters.

The last time I’d been to Magic Mountain was before most of the new
coaster were built, something like eight or ten years ago. Jane and I
had thought about going a couple of times in the last few years, but
as she’s carried, delivered, and nursed three babies in the last six
years it hadn’t really been possible. But this week I got a bright idea.

See, this past week was Spring Break for my older son, David, who is in
kindergarten. Since Jane wouldn’t be needing to get David to and from
school, she decided that it would be an excellent week to get our younger
son potty-trained, which I’m sure he’ll one day be ecstatic to know was
discussed publically on the Internet. Obviously we wouldn’t be going out
and doing anything exciting as a family, but it would be a definitely
help if I could get David out of the house for a while.

And, for some reason, I thought of taking him to Magic Mountain. I did a
little research on line and verified that yes, they still had enough
rides he’d like to make it worth while. I also discovered that season
passes were really not that expensive–the same as two adult admissions.
Ho, I thought. I go, get myself a season pass, and then on our next date
night, Jane and I go together. She gets a season pass, good until the
end of the calendar year, and then if we went even one more time after
that, the passes have paid for themselves. And the park is close enough
to our house that going there in the evening for even just a couple of
hours is reasonable, provided you’re not paying full price each time.

So I’ve been to the Mountain twice this past week, once with Dave, and
once with Jane, last night, and we frequented entirely different parts of
the park. ‘Twas wonderful; it’s still the beginning of the season, and
with the new coaster not opening until tomorrow the park wasn’t very full
on either day. We pretty much walked on to most of the rides without
waiting.

Both Jane and I enjoyed reflecting on all of the changes we’ve seen take
place at Magic Mountain during the past thirty years. The trolls are
long gone, and mostly forgotten, replaced by Bugs Bunny and friends; the
kiddy rides are much better than they were when I was a kid; and while
some of my old favorites are gone, most remain: the Log Jammer, the Gold
Rusher (still a darn good coaster), the Funicular, the Metro, and the
Carousel.