page_title: Six Flags Magic Mountain
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Six Flags Magic Mountain / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Jet Stream is a family friendly flume ride located near the entrance to Gold Rusher. The ride opened in 1972.
context_page_description: Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known simply as Magic Mountain, is a 262-acre theme park located in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971 as a development of the Newhall Land and Farming Company and Sea World Inc. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name "Six Flags" to the park's name.
  With 19 roller coasters, Six Flags Magic Mountain holds the world record for most roller coasters in an amusement park. In 2017, the park had an estimated 3.3 million visitors, ranking it sixteenth in attendance in North America.
context_section_description: When the park opened, there were 500 employees and 33 attractions, many of which were designed and built by Arrow Development Co. which designed and built many of the original attractions at Disneyland. The admission price in 1971 was $5 for adults, and $3.50 for children between the ages of 3 and 12. Because the park was in a relatively remote part of Los Angeles County, the Greyhound bus line provided bus service to and from the park and Los Angeles, as well as from Northern California, and optionally allowed purchase of park admission at the time the bus ticket was purchased.
  At its 1971 opening, the rides and attractions included Gold Rusher, a steel coaster; the Log Jammer, a log flume; the Sky Tower, an observation tower; Grand Prix, similar to Disneyland's Autopia ride; El Bumpo, bumper boats; a Carousel; and other smaller rides. There were four transportation rides to the peak: Funicular, a cable railway or funicular, later renamed Orient Express; the Metro, which consist three monorail stations around the park: Whitewater Lake, Country Fair, and Mountain stations; and "Eagles Flight", a skyride that combined two stations at the peak: the long one north to Galaxy Station, and the short one west to El Dorado Station.  The Showcase Theater (renamed Golden Bear Theater), was part of the original park and featured Barbra Streisand as the first of many headline performers who would appear at Magic Mountain over the years.
  In the 1971 season, Magic Mountain obtained permission from Warner Bros. to use Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies characters. However, they did not continue using the characters after their first year. In 1972, they began using trolls as the park mascots. The trolls King Blop, also known as King Troll, Bleep, Bloop, and the Wizard became recognizable symbols of Magic Mountain. All King Productions, a contractor, provided the entertainers wearing the costumes until December 31, 1972, when Magic Mountain took on that role. The characters were used until 1985. Also in 1972, a second flume ride named Jet Stream was added.
  In 1973 the park added its second roller coaster, the Mountain Express, a compact Schwarzkopf Wildcat model steel coaster.  In 1974 the park also installed a new complex of spinning rides in what would later be known as Back Street. The new additions consisted of the Himalaya, Electric Rainbow, and Tumble Drum. In 1975, the Grand Centennial Railway opened in the Back Street. It took riders on a train journey to Spillikin Corners and back.
caption: Jet Stream is a family friendly flume ride located near the entrance to Gold Rusher. The ride opened in 1972.
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