Saving Magic Mountain, bettering California

By Lynda G. Helm
The Collegian

THE WIND WHIPPING through your hair at 30-50 miles per hour as you twist and turn through massive heights. Water drenching your back while floating up a human made river in an oversized flotation device.

Viper, Colossus, Goliath, Déjà Vu — these are just a few of the well-known rides and experiences at Magic Mountain.

However, California may soon lose this fantastic thrill seeking theme park. There has been talk of Magic Mountain being shut down permanently.

What is the intended replacement for this fun filled park? A housing complex.

I believe this would be a travesty and a mistake. Yes, other theme parks do exist in this state. Some competition includes Knott’s Berry Farm, Paramount’s Great America, Legoland and, perhaps the most famous, Disneyland.

While each of these has their own wonderful qualities so does Magic Mountain. While Disneyland has a plethora of fun theme-based rides it lacks the thrill seeking touch that Magic Mountain so often advertises.

Each new roller coaster it builds pushes the envelope one step further — oftentimes taking adventure seekers into scary, death defying adventures.

Take, for example, one of their latest rides, X.

This roller coaster not only twists and turns with loops and corkscrews, it spins the passengers around throughout the ride.

TATSU, another fairly new ride, drives its riders through loops and turns while fastened on their stomachs high up in the air. The only option is to look down and hope you don’t have a heart attack before the ride is over.

I realize that not everyone is a thrill-seeking maniac. I enjoy the fun, imaginative rides at Disneyland as much as the next person. But, when it comes down to it, Disneyland is a family-based park geared primarily toward children.

Knott’s Berry Farm and Great America come close, but lack the thrill seeking spirit of Magic Mountain.

I traveled down to Magic Mountain a few weeks ago and it is obvious that they are lacking funds.

The boats for Jet Stream need a new paint job. At the end of Jet Stream we were stuck for about 10 minutes. One boat was threatening to overtake the boat in front of it.

The Cyclone, one of the oldest wooden coasters in the park, needed to go through three test runs with no one on it before visitors were allowed to board.

The X was shut down for two weeks. The televisions that used to show Looney Tunes cartoons to entertain guests while waiting in line were shut down and dusty.

Not to mention the price of an admission ticket has jumped to $60 without a coupon. The city is fighting hard to keep Magic Mountain open.

There have been rumors that one possible solution is to make the park a historical landmark.

If this were the case it would be required to stay open. However, if that plan does not work I think there is another possible solution.

Fresnans: remember a couple of years ago when Measure Z was the talk of the town? It was displayed on bumper stickers and billboards throughout the city. Fresno voted yes to Measure Z. As a result, county residents pay a tax to help support the Chaffee Zoo.

Maybe something similar could work for Magic Mountain. Magic Mountain is going through some rough times but the new rides show promise.

Classic rides such as Colossus and Viper only get better with age. All Magic Mountain needs is a new paint job and some extra money to keep the rides going.

Maybe if everyone visits within the next year we can make a point to demonstrate how important Magic Mountain is to us Californians.

I hardly believe new housing would be more beneficial and profitable to the town than a theme park that brings in about $50 million a year.

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