Magic Mountain... Tell me how the VIP stuff works...

[helenb]

We're thinking of going to Magic Mountain on a Saturday in July. I'm guessing it will be very busy then! We're a family of 4, and we all love coasters. None of us have ever been to MM (or any 6 Flags park) before, although we've done a few Cedar Point places.

I'm trying to figure out the 'line access' options. I'm interested in the Platinum Flashpass, but it looks like it is $130 per person, PLUS you have to buy the park entrance, food, etc. The VIP Tour is $300 per person, but I *think* it includes park admission, parking, sit down restaurants, snacks all day, plus 'walk-on' access to all rides in the park.

Has anyone done either the platinum Flashpass or the VIP tour? Can you tell me if my understanding is correct? Are either of these things worth it if the park is very busy?

 

[violakat03]

If SFMM is like the other Six Flags parks I've been to, the Flashpass is a set fee for the first person and then a reduced fee for each additional. So it will be $130 for one person, and then it may be $100 for the second, $90 for the third, and so on - this is just a guess, I don't know the actual amounts. I'd suggest calling the park to get that information. They also do discounts for season passholders, which they don't advertise anywhere, so that was a pleasant surprise for us.

We purchased regular flash passes at Six Flags Great America (Chicago) during our trip there this past August. We were able to skip the lines on the major rides (Raging Bull, Superman and Whizzer had the longest lines) and that alone allowed us to get on to essentially every ride in the park. Our method was: Set flash pass for major ride, go ride smaller rides until our wait time was up, then go ride. Set for another ride and repeat process. We even watched a show while "waiting" for Raging Bull! Think of the regular flash pass like a FastPass - you don't ride immediately, but you aren't waiting in line and burning up time either.

Overall, the regular flash pass ended up being completely worth it. Sure, it would have been nice to get the platinum, or even a VIP tour, but the regular pass did what we intended and saved a heck of a lot of money. With our season pass discount it ended up being $35 total for the two of us.

Now, if you have the money to do a VIP tour, GO FOR IT!! I've seen them done and I used to work at a Cedar Fair park where they offered the tours. You have a personal escort to the front of the line every time! Though you may check restrictions on that - I know with Cedar Fair tours, you can only jump the line once per ride. To me, that doesn't seem worth it. If Six Flags is unlimited, I'd jump on it. Plus you get VIP parking, and all the extra goodies. We've tossed the idea of doing one on our honeymoon (we're coaster enthusiasts and met at an amusement park), but we'll probably just eyeball the crowd levels when we get there (we have Six Flags chain-wide passes) and purchase the appropriate level of Flash Pass if it's busy.

 

[helenb]

Thanks for your response! We're still tossing the idea around, and there are enough people in our group to make it worthwhile. Apparently VIP also includes ANY food you want ALL day... which is fabulous for 'grazers' like we are. Plus we're going on a Saturday in July when it is certain to be incredibly hot, and we'd be able to get drinks and ice cream all day long.

My understanding is that ride 'jumping' is unlimited, but they won't let you do a ride twice in a row, so you would have to come back. But being able to jump lines at 18 coasters plus other rides... sounds like a good deal, particularly if we're only there for one day and may never go back.

So... still thinking about it. I appreciate your insights!

 

[redrocks]

If SFMM is like the other Six Flags parks I've been to, the Flashpass is a set fee for the first person and then a reduced fee for each additional. So it will be $130 for one person, and then it may be $100 for the second, $90 for the third, and so on - this is just a guess, I don't know the actual amounts. I'd suggest calling the park to get that information. They also do discounts for season passholders, which they don't advertise anywhere, so that was a pleasant surprise for us.

We purchased regular flash passes at Six Flags Great America (Chicago) during our trip there this past August. We were able to skip the lines on the major rides (Raging Bull, Superman and Whizzer had the longest lines) and that alone allowed us to get on to essentially every ride in the park. Our method was: Set flash pass for major ride, go ride smaller rides until our wait time was up, then go ride. Set for another ride and repeat process. We even watched a show while "waiting" for Raging Bull! Think of the regular flash pass like a FastPass - you don't ride immediately, but you aren't waiting in line and burning up time either.

Overall, the regular flash pass ended up being completely worth it. Sure, it would have been nice to get the platinum, or even a VIP tour, but the regular pass did what we intended and saved a heck of a lot of money. With our season pass discount it ended up being $35 total for the two of us.

Now, if you have the money to do a VIP tour, GO FOR IT!! I've seen them done and I used to work at a Cedar Fair park where they offered the tours. You have a personal escort to the front of the line every time! Though you may check restrictions on that - I know with Cedar Fair tours, you can only jump the line once per ride. To me, that doesn't seem worth it. If Six Flags is unlimited, I'd jump on it. Plus you get VIP parking, and all the extra goodies. We've tossed the idea of doing one on our honeymoon (we're coaster enthusiasts and met at an amusement park), but we'll probably just eyeball the crowd levels when we get there (we have Six Flags chain-wide passes) and purchase the appropriate level of Flash Pass if it's busy.

I have a question about the flash pass: How much of a discount do you get if you have a season pass? $35 for two people sounds like a pretty good deal. I assume that if you wanted a flashpass every time you visited a six flags park, you would have to pay for it each time?

 

[helenb]

Okay, I got back from my trip and we did the VIP tour. Given that we went on a packed Saturday in July (which coincidentally happened to be opening day for the new Lex Luthor ride) and it was very hot and crowded, and given that we probably aren't going back again (only had the one day to spend) I think the VIP was awesome!

We drove right up to the entrance gates and had special parking immediately in front, even closer than the handicapped spots! We were met by our tour guide who took us right through. We were able to leave our bag of swimsuits at the Guest Services and she booked a lunch reservation for us at the sit-down restaurant.

After that, we basically walked on all of the rides. Literally. Our guide took us in the exit of each ride and then got us onto the front cars. It was amazing how many rides we were able to get in! We were able to do immediate re-rides if the ride had two different trains/cars. In other words, we couldn't stay in the same seats, but we could get out and board the other car/train immediately if we wanted to.

Our guide was very efficient and pleasant and polite, and every time we got on a ride she smoothed everything over with the people in the standby line. We had no nasty comments, no boos, nothing like that.

We were able to ride every rollercoaster in the park (except the two kiddie ones, which we skipped) multiple times. We also rode a few other rides, such as the Lex Luthor drop ride. We were able to walk around the park in a logical order instead of running back and forth. Our guide told us that in her experience people who were at the park all day might get to ride 5 big name coasters, given the lines. If they had a good flashpass, perhaps 8 rides. We did well over 30.

The 'bungee'/swinging ride was also included, and this is normally $25-$35 per person. We had never done this before because it was extra, and so we were excited to try it out here. Honestly, Tatsu was better, though.

Additionally, all of the food was free. Our guide had magic 'checks' that she could write to any food vendor which were as good as cash. So when we were hot we got frozen lemonade or dippin dots. If we wanted a snack we got popcorn or churros or cotton candy. We had lunch at the sit down restaurant and a mountain of pizza for dinner. We easily ate a couple hundred dollars worth of food. Admittedly we were pigging out, because we knew it was all 'free'.

Another nice feature was that all of our ride photos were included, so at the end of the day our guide picked up the pictures for us.

We were able to go over to Hurricane Harbor in the middle of the day. We had a private cabana, more free food/snacks and we were able to use the flashpass lines for the waterslides. Apparently the Hurricane Harbor part is no longer included with the VIP tour (you have to pay extra) but we got it because it *had* been included back when I had booked.

If anyone has any questions I am happy to answer.

So if I were asked, 'Was it worth it?' I would say yes, for our circumstances. It is NOT worth it if you have multiple days to spend at the park, if you're going on a less crowded day, or if you plan to go back again to the park in the next year or two. Also, you need to have a minimum of four rollercoaster loving people to really get your money's worth, as the minimum charge for the tour includes four people.

HTH someone!

 

[SnowWhite09]

Great info, thanks so much!

 

[CateinPhoenix]

Wow! That is great information! Thanks so much!

 

[helenb]

Glad to help out! It was really frustrating when I was looking at this tour and couldn't find any reviews! I dithered about it for a long time before committing, but now I'm glad I did!

 

[kval8]

hey helenb

did the vip tour include games also. like the carnival games there or like the basketball games?

 

[helenb]

hey helenb

did the vip tour include games also. like the carnival games there or like the basketball games?

No. I found a really old review where they said the games were included. I asked our tour guide and she said that they used to be, but not anymore.

 

[cornhead]

Thanks for the info.

 

[carnival kid]

Thanks so much for the feedback.... very useful.

We have done VIP at Sea World SD and Universal CA so this is something we also see the value in