Trip Report: Six Flags Magic Mountain reopens safely and responsibly

The thrills have returned to Southern California with the reopening of Six Flags Magic Mountain. It’s the first theme park in the region to reopen with rides.

By Eric Oh

The State of California recently updated their “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” to reflect the current rate of COVID-19 vaccinations and case numbers. The updated guidelines allowed amusement parks to reopen beginning April 1, 2021 (no joke) with the Red Tier, which allows parks to reopen at 15% maximum capacity.

I visited Six Flags Magic Mountain on April 1, the first day of Season Pass and Member previews. The park officially reopened to the public today, April 3, and will be open daily.

The park experience is very similar to others around the country, with temperature screenings, advanced reservations, physical distancing requirements, and the use of face coverings. From what I observed, they were prepared to operate under the state’s guidelines to ensure that the health and safety of all guests and employees is enforced.

The majority of their rides were operational, but many didn’t open until later in the day, and others experienced long downtime. At times, I was rather frustrated with the lack of communication from the park operations team and ride operators.

I also took advantage of the All Season Flash Pass, which lets guests book a reservation for most roller coasters and experience them during their ride time. I experienced a lot of attractions that were open, but the Flash Pass was showing select attractions as “Ride Full” or “Delayed”, which forced me to adjust our plans consistently. But I was able to successfully use my Flash Pass on the attractions that were offering it.

I downloaded the Six Flags app and used mobile food ordering, which is brand new to the park. They only had three restaurants available for mobile ordering, which included Wascal’s, Katy’s Kettle, and Johnny Rockets. Many of their restaurants had signage telling guests to use the app to purchase food and drinks, but that option wasn’t available in the app. This made it difficult to physically distance. Having more restaurants available for mobile food ordering may help promote physical distancing in the future.

Face covering compliance was higher than anticipated. It was much better than my visit to SeaWorld San Diego recently. At the main entrance, team members were all over the plaza ensuring that all guests were following the rules.

Physical distancing enforcement throughout the park was apparent, especially in attractions where no indoor queuing was allowed. Team members were actively telling guests to stand on yellow dots, which act as distancing markers. Compliance during my visit was exceeding high.

Overall, I found Six Flags Magic Mountain to be a safe and fun experience. The employees were operating in a responsible manner, which was great, compared my visit to SeaWorld San Diego.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is now open daily. Reservations are required for all guests, including season pass holders and members. Visit sixflags.com/magicmountain/reserve to book your reservation.