January Magic Mountain and Universal Studios hours

[rramstad]

Hey there. My 13 year old son and I are likely to head to SoCal for the weekend of January 4th.

I am considering coming down a few days early and ideally hitting Magic Mountain and Universal Studios.

When I check the Six Flags Magic Mountain web site, I see no dates posted for January... I would think they'd be open because schools are likely closed for the winter break, but I am not sure. 12/30 and 12/31 are listed as 10:30 to 6 PM and I'd kind of think that 1/2 or 1/3 would be similar...

Similarly Universal Studios shows no hours in January but 12/30 and 12/31 have hours from 9 AM to 8 PM (actually starting a bit earlier one day, and staying open a bit later the other day). Again, would kind of think 1/2 or 1/3 would be similar.

Am I way off base, or is it reasonable to assume that these parks will be open those dates, and probably similar hours?

Beyond that, if anyone wants to make any suggestions as to how to best handle these days and parks, I'm all ears. I've heard Universal Studios is very cool but doable in a half day if you get there at park opening. Given this, and the possibility of short hours at Magic Mountain, is there any logic to possibly spending part of two days at MM and a half day at Universal?

(I haven't been to MM in ten plus years, and have never been to Universal.)

 

[Ryan120420]

Universal will be open. They are open 365 days a year rain or shine.

Six Flags is usually open for the first week of January before going to weekend only operations from Jan-Mar. Also Keep in mind, if there is a forecast for a significant amount of rain, Six Flags will not open.

Your pretty much right about hours for both parks. Universal may be open an hour earlier and close at 10pm. These two parks usually release their operating hours for 2014 in November, so just keep checking.


You will only need one day each at both Universal and Six Flags.

Doing both parks in the same day is possible, if rides is the only interest you have at Universal. Universal only has 5 rides including the 1-hour long Studio Tour. However doing all rides and shows in a half day or less is not possible.

 

[rramstad]

Thanks for the info.

We often like to ride roller coasters more than once, hence my thinking of possibly trying to do two days at Six Flags, if they are only open from 10:30 to 6 PM, which seems short to me, given what I've heard. Presumably though there are some strategies for ride sequences that I should research that will help cut down on things... I've heard of 2+ hour lines, which is absurd.

That said working this around the Universal park flow seems difficult as everything I've read has stressed that you need to get there early, hit specific attractions, then shows, and I did not realize that seeing everything was easily a one day deal now... the last time I looked into it, quite a while back, most of the sources I consulted said a half day was sufficient to see everything. Nice to hear it's more comprehensive now.

If we have a Thursday and a Friday, the 2nd and 3rd of January, which would you spend at which park, assuming hours for either day are similar to the other one?

 

[rramstad]

Sorry for the top, but I'd love to get an opinion on the question:

If we have a Thursday and a Friday, the 2nd and 3rd of January, which would you spend at Six Flags Magic Mountain and which at Universal Studios, assuming hours for either day are similar to the other one?

Follow up question: Is there a recommended coaster sequence for SFMM? (Presumably newest and/or cycle rides first, and single rider last.)

Bonus points: Any "don't miss" food options near either park?

Thanks again.

 

[Ryan120420]

Thursday at Magic Mountain and Friday at Universal would be the best.

This is the sequence I do when I go to the park.

Get to the park at least 45mins prior to park opening to make sure I'm at the front of the entry gate.


When the park opens RUN to X2, assuming it will be open. Currently it is not open and is said to be down until the end of the year. If its closed, go to Full Throttle first.

Then ride these rides in this order as fast as you can:

-Tatsu. If you ride Full Throttle first, use the Revolution exit/Flashpass entrance as a short cut up the hill to get to Tatsu. This will save you 5 mins of walking.

-Superman Escape From Krypton.

- Apocalypse

- Riddlers Revenge (This Ride Has A Single Rider Line)

- Goliath.

- Green Lantern (This Ride Has A Single Rider Line)

- Batman, if its open. It may be down for the backwards conversion.

- Colossus.

- Scream

- Full Throttle (assuming X2 is open)

- Revolution (This Ride Has A Single Rider Line)

- Viper (This Ride Has A Single Rider Line)

- Ninja

- GoldRusher

- Drop of Doom, has a single rider line but does not open until 12pm.

- And if you want to ride, Road Runners Express in Bugs Bunny World.


have fun!

 

[rramstad]

Hey, that's super helpful, thanks so much, especially the info on probable ride closures and such.

To give you an idea, the last time I was at SFMM Revolution had lap bars... Viper was the newest most exciting coaster...

Everything I've read has indicated that SFMM at this point has Knott's beat hands down in terms of coasters. Do you believe this is correct? Are we likely to see 2+ hour lines on Thursday the 2nd of January?

I ask because of the obvious... if it's likely to be a nightmare at SFMM, it might be worth going elsewhere if the lines are significantly better and the coasters reasonably similar... but at least around here my expectation would be that near the end of the Christmas break it's probably likely that most of the locals have been to SFMM already during the break and so a Thursday near the end of the break is unlikely to be crowded... and I definitely get the impression that SFMM has a wider range of quality coasters.

 

[rramstad]

Topping this for the cause.

Everything I've read has indicated that SFMM at this point has Knott's beat hands down in terms of coasters. Do you believe this is correct? Are we likely to see 2+ hour lines on Thursday the 2nd of January?

I ask because we now have plane tickets (yeah!) and are arriving fairly early on Wednesday the 1st. We could either plan two days at SFMM (the 1st and 2nd) with the first day being partial, or we could hit Knotts on the 1st and SFMM on the 2nd.

Also curious given that we're going to Universal on Friday the 3rd, if it makes more sense to get a hotel near SFMM and use that as a home base both days or if they are far enough apart that it makes more sense to stay near SFMM on the 1st, and near Universal on the 2nd... or simply stay near Universal both nights and drive up to SFMM. I have trouble with LA geography and maps aren't terribly helpful, I see that's 15-20 miles apart, but is that an area that routinely would have heavy traffic in the evening?

Thanks again for any help!