CP vs Magic Mountain, coaster lineup

I've been going to Cedar Point every year since 1992, but I finally made my first 2 trips to Six Flags Magic Mountain in the last 10 months, and I thought to compare the lineup of the 15 "adult" thrill coasters at the parks since they are so often compared to one another.

Overall, I liked Magic Mountain more than any other Six Flags park I've been to. It's a pretty setting and the park has some character with the elevation changes and different areas. It's not in the same universe as CP overall, but for Six Flags I think it's deserving to be called their "Flagship" park. Their Diamond Elite Member services are excellent and we had a good time overall. If you go out to Southern California, perhaps to hit Knotts, I would recommend Magic Moutain as well. We liked Knotts more, but this park is also a lot of fun.

With West Coast Racers, they now have 15 thrill coasters again, same as Cedar Point. They have 4 kids coasters, but I didn't ride any of those.

Here was my ranking of each coaster, and in comparison to the CP coaster I would consider most similar:

1. X2 - The last Arrow is now my favorite. We had the effects working for our April 2019 trip and it's just such a crazy experience from the first drop to the final raven turn. Compared to Magnum, now my 2nd favorite Arrow, X2 wins. (Winner - Magic Mountain)

2. Tatsu - The pretzel loop is the most intense single element I've ever experienced on a coaster. Amazing setting at the top of the mountain, crazy view on the lift hill as you look down on B&M Flyers. Compared to Gatekeeper though, I'd take GateKeeper as the rest of Tatsu other than the lift and pretzel isn't memorable. (Winner - Cedar Point)

3. Twisted Colossus - Biggest letdown in the park. It's my 5th RMC and stands as my least favorite. We didn't get any true dueling rides over 2 trips and the 2nd lap is weak overall. Not in the same class as Steel Vengeance. (Winner - Cedar Point)

4. Riddler's Revenge - Biggest suprise of the trip. I hated Mantis and was expecting the worst. Instead, Riddler's was awesome and looks great with fresh paint. No leg pain and super intense. Compared to Valravn, I'd much rather ride this stand up. (Winner - Magic Mountain)

5. Viper - The last huge Arrow looper now with Vortex gone. It was awesome, smooth for the most part with fewer painful transitions than Vortex had. I hope they keep it as it's great to see it standing next to X2 as an Arrow tribute. Obviously a huge winner over Corkscrew. (Winner - Magic Mountain)

6. Full Throttle - It's fun, an odd ride that has the really cool huge loop and mid-ride 2nd and 3rd launch. Compared to Maverick, however, it's not even close. (Winner - Cedar Point)

7. West Coast Racers - Brand new, they struggled to keep it open but we got 2 rides on it. The waiting at the "pit stop" for the next train to be ready so you race is nice to have but both of our rides we waited there for several minutes, killing the momentum. Compared to Wicked Twister, WCR has much more to offer. (Winner - Magic Mountain)

8. Ninja - I loved this ride. It's at the top of the park and the 2nd lift hill ends the ride (like Adventure Express at KI) but this suspended coaster is exciting and fast paced, Iron Dragon really can't compete with this, Bat or Vortex. (Winner - Magic Mountain)

9. Apocalypse - A middle of the pack GCI, but I liked it a little more than Blue Streak. Recent track work made it pretty smooth, I didn't ride it before that. (Winner - Magic Mountain)

The rest of the coasters at the park were all either "meh" or really awful. Overall, the top class of coasters are much better at Cedar Point. Their B&M collections are pretty close I'd say, (Scream is the worst of the 8) but Cedar Point has a much better RMC and Intamin collection. The Arrow collection though goes to Magic Mountain with X2, Viper and Ninja being great. Even the mine train isn't awful. Goliath, Screan and Superman are pathetic, if I never ride those 3 again I'd be fine with it.

10. Batman: The Ride - The famous clone layout is fun, but not in the same discussion as Raptor. (Winner - Cedar Point)

11. Goliath - This ride sucks. Full stop at the mid-course brake run to kill the momentum because the helix after it was too intense, apparently. Looks and rides like it's falling apart. Comparing it to Millennium Force is laughable. (Winner - Cedar Point)

12. Revolution - I was cool to ride the coaster I've always seen in Vacation, but it's the least memorable Schwarzkopf I've ridden otherwise. If compared to Gemini for their classic appeal, Gemini wins by a mile. (Winner - Cedar Point)

13. Gold Rusher - It's a mine train. Other than Adventure Express and Thunderation, they all are meh. I like Mine Ride's setting more. (Winner - Cedar Point)

14. Superman: Escape from Krypton - Oh man this was terrible. It's crazy loud, mostly forceless and doesn't go very far up the hill. The restraints are also terrible. Dragster wipes the floor with this comparison. (Winner - Cedar Point)

15. Scream - The ugliest coaster ever, built on top of unused parking spaces. Running with a bad rattle, too. Rougarou is so much better for me. (Winner - Cedar Point)

Of your 15 examples, only 3, 8, 11, 13 and 15 are comparable (and 14 kinda sorta).

Comparing West Coast Racers to Wicked Twister or X2 to Magnum isn’t even practical.

Both parks have awesome, cutting edge coasters, great classics, and a few duds. Where I compare them is the overall guest experience, and despite all of the outrage over the Gold Pass, Cedar Point still wins by more than a mile.

While I haven't been to both parks(only went to CP and Hersheypark) and can't really offer an opinion, are 'vs' topics not allowed on this site?

The direct comparisons were just the closest I could think of, but many aren't that similar as Cartwright said. Overall I've come away from the trips more certain that Cedar Point has the best overall lineup. We talk a lot about the next coaster for CP but the lineup is already so good. I agree with many on here who hope/wish they'd look to improve in other areas before going all in with another coaster. The rumors are strong for 2021, however.

I recently visited Knotts & Magic Mountain for the first time while visiting family and friends. West coast racers opened about 2 weeks after I was there.

My observations about Magic Mountain:

Twisted Colossus-I expected more...It was rougher than expected and if you're not dueling, it looses some excitement I guess

X2-This was way better than anticipated. It's the first time in quite a while that I can say I've had that "oh $h!*" moment on a first drop. Super unique, although the rotation is a little jerky.

Riddler's revenge-I was going to pass this up since it's a stand up. As James said above, this is a FANTASTIC coaster. Smooth, forceful, almost no headbanging.

Tatsu - I'd ride this any day over Gatekeeper. The best flying coaster I've been on.

Scream-worst coaster i rode while there (superman was down all day). I believe this is a mirrored clone of Bizarro from SF Great adventure. Bizarro was fine (and highly themed), this was just..rough. Lack of maintenance shows.

There were other hits and misses, but overall, Magic Mountain is like the Cedar Point of the west coast. I'd still much rather go to Cedar Point though.

Knotts-

Ghost rider was probably my favorite ride there, right behind Hang time. Xcelerator was fine. Silver bullet was pretty good. Pony express was down all day unfortunately.

I rode most of the other obligatory things, including Voyage to the Iron Reef, since it's getting a re-theming soon. Iron reef seemed OK to me, but unless it's hot out and you want to cool down, I'm thinking this would get boring fast after a few re-rides.

I wasn't aware that Montezooma's Revenge was the only flywheel launched Schwarzkopf left , or I would have ridden it too.

Yes, I did have Mrs. Knotts chicken while there. It was good, but nothing to write home about. The full chicken dinner is an absurdly large portion.

All that said, I would rather go to Magic Mountain for the rides.

Visited Magic mountain once about 7 years ago. It had rained overnight. Got to the entrance, park was closed. Moose out front did not tell us. Didn’t get to visit :(

I guess I'll play along. I usually don't compare rides. And reading some of the original comparisons is a bit of a stretch. BUT..

I do enjoy any Batman clone over Raptor. I've ridden 5 or 6 of them now and I just love the layout. I wouldn't say it's my favorite B&M invert, that honor goes to Afterburn. But it's just such a good ride.

I also like Scream over Rougarou, Scream isn't the best floorless but it's better than one that was designed to be a stand-up. And I much prefer Rougarou over Mantis. Dominator is still king of the floorless in my book.

Riddlers Revenge is 100% better than Mantis was. It's the best stand-up I have ever been on. Curious what B&M could do with a stand-up in 2020.

I would take Goliath over Magnum anyday. I wish Giovanola could've produced more rides to see how they could've grown as a company.

However, every other coaster category I would choose what is at Point.

Of all the coasters I rode in my SoCal trips, I found myself wishing for an elite wooden coaster like GhostRider the most for CP. It was soooo good.