Six Flags Magic Mountain Update – West Coast Racers – September 5th 2018

Sean: After a spectacular announcement party and late-night construction tour of West Coast Racers last week, we were back at the park to enjoy an afternoon of coasters. In this week’s update we’ll take a look at all of the Fright Fest preparations, general park changes, and of course West Coast Racers construction!

---

– Over the years, many of our images have popped up on other sites and forums, awesome that our coverage spreads, not so awesome that not everyone mentioned where they got the images from. We are totally fine with our audience using our images, BUT ONLY IF credit is given to californiacoasterkings.com. Thank you! –

---

Fright Fest

Upon arrival to Six Flags Magic Mountain we were welcomed by the Demon’s Door sets, as Fright Fest is less than 2 weeks away! This scare zone was added to the event in 2014 and has been the main plaza’s Fright Fest scare zone since then. 

The Demon Door scenery is mostly black-light inspired. This means that once the area comes to life at night, with the added fog of course, it really is an impressive experience. The park has been dedicated to the fire and fog effects and I’m hoping to see that return again this year. 

Next up is the scare zone below The New Revolution, Nightmares: A Twisted Fantasy. The scare zone is very black-light dependent, as the props will display. The area seems completely prepared for the start of the event. 

Actors are usually incredible in this scare zone, so are the props. Even though this scare zone has made an appearance several times over the past few years, it’s still one of the better ones!

Willoughby’s Resurrected is returning this year as well, it’s one of the park’s best mazes. This can be found on Samurai Summit, also known as Exile Hill during Fright Fest. 

Speaking of Exile Hill, one of the park’s three new mazes is Sewer of Souls, which will be replacing the Willoughby’s Garden of Darkness.

The exterior of the building has received a facelift with what looks like it will be blacklight sensitive paint. What is to expect from the inside is unknown at this time, but either way we’re excited to see a new maze at the event.

The entrance to the maze will either be located here, as seen below, or off to the side where it has always been. We’re having a hard time finding out if this is just a facade or the actual entrance to the maze.

A new scare zone to inhabit the area of Metropolis this year is the Witches Lair.  Cauldrons can be seen all around the scare zone. 

The Witches Lair seems to be a place where many of the actors will be hiding out. This is great, because it will add another level of fright walking through the scare zone. Unlike last year, where the concept of a live show mixed with scare zone failed. 

The set pieces are plenty, yet the area is very open and large. Let’s hope they are able to pull off this new scare zone without making it feel too spacious.

This year we welcome back City Under Siege. The park welcomed the Suicide Squad the past two years, which brought mostly meet ‘n greets. This year we’re back to the original clown filled streets of DC Universe but with a new twist… can you spot it?

The park is using their light package of several million lights to create a new light show to accompany the return of the infamous scare zone. Some buildings received the lights, though they have yet to be rolled out for production.

Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth and Flash! on the other hand have already received their Fright Fest/ Holiday in the Park lights.

The park also welcomes back TERRORtory Twisted which is the largest scare zone in the park. The scare zone made its debut in 2015, it was one of the new state of the art areas to feature projection mapping. Below, you will see the iconic TERRORtory Twisted marquee.

Over the last few years the park has not only increased the effects for scare zones, this one in particular, but also increased the props and theming.

The park has done a wonderful job creating a steampunk inspired scare zone while staying original. Most of that is thanks to their amazing soundtrack along with props as seen in the pictures below.

The creative team at the park is very dedicated to detail, which TERRORtory Twisted is definitely not lacking.

A big theme for the area is skulls, along with mechanical spiders. The landscaping remains unchanged around the area. This demonstrates the nice integration of the themed elements for Fright Fest, such as one of those spiders in the background.

Here’s another one for you all, perfectly integrated with the preexisting Screampunk District landscaping. Twisted Wiches in the background lends itself nicely for light and projection equipment.

Here’s a closer look at the lights installed on top of the restaurant, though I have yet to spot any of the projectors for the projection mapping.

Along with the scare zones and mazes, Six Flags Magic Mountain will also feature two separate shows. One of these being VooDoo Nights, which will also bring the chills to the stage. The stage is currently undergoing changes to go from Full Throttle Nights to VooDoo Nights!

---

Park Updates

Now we’ll be moving on with some general changes and updates around the park. No better coaster to start with than the one tattoo’ed on my leg. Viper. The classic 1990 Arrow looping coaster has been down for a few weeks now, seemingly they are replacing the lift-hill chain along with some brakes. For those concerned about the ride’s status, I did get a confirmation from the park that our beloved mega-looper isn’t going anywhere but is just receiving an extensive refurbishment. 

It’s hard to tell, but as far as I could see while riding The New Revolution, Viper‘s chain is still missing. I’m assuming they’re replacing the chain, which can be a lengthy process. 

The exit of course is still guarded with this little fence, meaning that they’re not quite ready to reopen this beast. Besides, it needs a chain first.

We have yet to talk about West Coast Racers construction, but as I was walking by the “Greatest Coasters in the World” wall, I was thinking of the addition of West Coast Racers and the retheme of Apocalypse. The sun-bathed damaged Apocalypse sign needs to be replaced anyways. 

Scream!’s sign needs an update to, not only did the colors of the ride change 3 years ago, the sign is just ugly.

Speaking of a fresh update in the park. There were tables added to the dining are of  Ace O’ Clubs near the Riddler’s Revenge. They are nicely situated around the planter and make for an excellent place to dine.

On the topic of dining, Johnny Rockets has also added a new queue area to the restaurant. It is nicely situated under the restaurant awning to provide shade on warm days. In addition to the queue line, more dining tables have appeared outside of Johnny Rockets to accommodate guest dining at the restaurant.

Here’s a closer look at the new switchbacks, they seem to be going to the back of the restaurant. The newly replaced awning looks fresh, and the addition of a queue system is appreciated. Every window now has a number, as shown to the left in the picture.

The new awning looks beautiful, the “Hamburgers” “Shakes” and “Fries” signs have been added as well. None of these are as exciting as what is taking place on the left of the restaurant though. Let’s take a look!

To the left of Johnny Rockets you will notice a new dining terrace has been added. This new dining area will extend to the back of the building. The new dining area has been under construction for a while and features a ton of new tables and seating. 

The new tables extend out in front of Johnny Rockets in the newly re-themed Boardwalk area. The park has also added another building to the dining area that will serve as concessions/refill stand. At least that is what we’re expecting, as Six Flags Magic Mountain remains to be the sole Six Flags property to not have any of these.

Here is a closer look at the new building in Johnny Rockets dining area. The inside of the building appears to have machine hook-ups that will be for drinks. Several faucets and sinks are visible from where we took the picture.

The park has done a good job running Superman: Escape from Krypton with two sides lately, the park was not crowded at all, so appropriately they only ran one side. We did see it touch the red a few times, for whoever still gets excited for that.

Six Flags Magic Mountain placed new banners for the 2019 season pass prices on the poles between the entrance and parking lot.  There seems to be no promotion for West Coast Racers yet, but we expect the banners will appear soon.

Continue with a detailed West Coast Racers construction update on page 2!