Results tagged “magicmountain”

Looks like the roller coaster riders at the many theme parks operated by Six Flags, including our Magic Mountain, aren't the only ones experiencing some topsy-turvy twists and turns; "Six Flags is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it needs to reorganize and shed $1.8 billion of debt," reports the Huffington Post. Despite what reps hail as a "great" 2008, with "25 million visitors" and "record revenues," the $2.4 billion in debt is signaling a load too great to carry. But the company's CEO "says the move won't affect the operation of its 20 theme parks in the U.S., Mexico and Canada." So for now, it's all systems go for thrill junkies boarding Colossus, the Riddler's Revenge, Viper, or the Terminator Salvation ride.

Santa Clarita, the city off the 5 freeway that claims home to Magic Mountain, is a family-oriented community with a mile-wide red streak in a decidedly blue state. And there’s definitely another divide between race and class in the area -- and it turns unseemly every once in awhile. Here’s one of those occasions.

Residents of the SCV might have felt a teeny tiny trembler this morning, as a 3.0 magnitude quake rumbled three miles deep in the area at 9:17. Residents of nearby Piru and Stevenson Ranch are either really deep sleepers or just shrug off small shakers like this one, since, according to abc7.com, "the sheriff's office in nearby Santa Clarita reported it got no calls" and "a check with several businesses in Castaic Junction and Val Verde found no one who felt it."

A federal bill seeking to protect hundreds of thousands acres of California wildland will possibly be voted on in a House of Representatives committee tomorrow. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands will hear about the Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act, which will protect 800,000 acres of California land, including 42,133 acres within Los Angeles County.

There are two identical bills floating around the U.S Senate and House this month that would protect federally owned land from any development, vehicles, permanent structures, mining or basically anything else that would alter the environment. The land would go under The Wilderness Act, signed into law by President Johnson and says defines land as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." Hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, hunting and fishing are allowed, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Tomorrow is the finish up the AMGEN Tour of California in Pasadena. But before hitting the old money city, they're headed towards Santa Clarita this afternoon (where Six Flags Magic Mountain has decided to stay put). From 4 to 10 p.m. tonight “Rock the Bike,” a free outdoor cycling expo and music festival, will bring together an array of people following the stage 6 finish. Various bands will be playing and headlining act, the Gin Blossoms, will be on stage around 8 p.m. (of course, if it rains, who knows what will happen, this is an outdoor event). The tour itself is aired on the cable channel, VERSUS, at 2 p.m. today and tomorrow. For more check our TV weekend listings.

Remember when there was that big freak out in the Santa Clarita Valley? Six Flags Magic Mountain was going to close and quite possibly become torn down for more housing. Not good. The "extreme" roller coaster theme park is the single largest employer in the area, it fills up the hotels with tourists, adding green to the local economy and hey, it's an institution of the little Valley that could (do a lot better than Simi).

Anyone who travels north via The 5 during holidays knows once you start hitting the northern part of the Santa Clarita Valley (a few minutes past Magic Mountain), traffic backs up, making it a slow hump over the Grapevine. Caltrans warns of why traffic will be additionally heavy these next thirteen holiday days:

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) advises motorists planning to travel on the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5) in north Los Angeles County to plan ahead, leave early to avoid holiday-related heavy traffic -- due to an ongoing lane closure on northbound I-5 at Templin Highway, (approximately five miles north of Castaic). The lane closure is due to ongoing storm-related slope stabilization and roadway repairs.

Continue reading "The Usual Holiday Grapevine Traffic"

As soon as we arrived at the Obey sale on Saturday in Santa Ana I told my friend, "fuck this, I'm out." The line was longer than anything I'd seen outside Magic Mountain. All you could see were high school and college-aged kids in hoodies and tapered jeans messaging their friends and they were probably saying the same thing I was saying, "fuck this." But my friend was determined. She had Christmas shopping to...

What would you save out of your home if you had 15 minutes to get out? I can guarantee that it won’t be what you’re thinking right now. Yesterday, as a resident of the SCV -- that’s the Santa Clarita Valley/Valencia/Magic Mountain area to you city folk – I had the opportunity to play the “What Would You Take to a Deserted Island – Wildfire Edition” game. Some of the items I “saved” make...

My high school drama club participated in our local haunted house, and we were merciless. One woman had to be taken away in an ambulance after an actor concealed in a hole in the ground grabbed her foot. So these things really freak me out. I don't believe in zombies and monsters, but I do believe in unpredictable aspiring actors. THE BIG ONES: Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights looked so intense I turned down an...

Architect geeks and other assorted party-goers descended on the A+D Architecture and Design Museum last weekend for the opening reception of Crosswired, a performance and installation series featuring design, motion visual art and experimental electronic music. We didn’t really hear anything too experimental, unless it was the deafening “rave” music that was possibly experimenting to see how much pressure our eardrums could take. We did elbow our way through a maze of Skyy 90...

- When the Instapundit is tired of spinning he puts up pictures, when O'Reilly slips in the ratings he increases his volume but Geraldo sticks right in there - O-Dub - If Dick Cheney is such a tough guy, why does he always seem to be getting interviewed by the likes of Rush Limbaugh? - HuffPo - CNN desperately trying to prove that they're not part of the Liberal Elite. Don't worry CNN, we...

Disneyland's Submarines Set Sail Once Again

- The map (pictured above -- "Geles County" is Los Angeles County) that hit the scenes a couple of years ago now has a plan behind it - MetroRiderLA - Six Flags Magic Mountain is staying put, sans two rides: Flashback and Cyclone - SFVBJ - At least the promise of a new LATimes.com is going to be better than LA Weekly's most recent weberration - LAO - LACityNerd joins Council District 13, kinda...

Brrrrrrrrr... did you enjoy cuddling under your blankets last night during that blast of cold weather? Don't forget that it snowed in Los Angeles less than a year ago (and will SCV be so lucky?). Maybe this is Los Angeles' way of saying hello to Beckham with a little frosty cold treat. We're enjoying it. After all, some of us are transplants. Besides the top stories that you probably already know by now, A.M....

- Oxnard onion farmers must be shedding tears of joy. Taco Bell sez the green onions grown at Boskovich Farms did not cause the E.Coli. Then they re-opened some stores - AP - Find Saul Jaime Vaca Arceo (who threatened his ex-wife and tried to burn his two children alive in his car) and get $10,000 stuffed in your stocking - CBS2 - Despite a 25% drop in attendance, Magic Mountain wont be leveled...

Halloween in Isla Vista sounds like something we might wanna do this weekend. You know. There's also that rock concert festival in Vegas. And Halloween Horror Nights, and Magic Mountain is always a little scary at night.

While the rest of Hollywood scratches its head at the recent news that Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner's production company has found financial backing from the owner of the Six Flags theme parks, we believe we've found a connection between ol' Maverick and his new sugar daddy Daniel Snyder: Scientology's Super Power program. According to an article in the St. Petersburg Times (found via metafilter), dedicated Scientologists can enhance their perceptions of rhythm, moisture,...

The word is Six Flags Magic Mountain is for sale and although they're trying to sell the place as one huge lot, they're willing to break it up into smaller lots. With all the wealth and riches in this town, you'd think that thered be someone up in this piece who has all his rides pimped, all his cribs crunked, and all of his bitches sweet-sixteened and seriously wants to have an amusement park...

Someone has been hacking their way into MySpace user accounts and posting bulletins for them (bulletins are a way of communicating with all your MySpace friends without e-mailing them all individually). Sneaky thing is, the bulletin is about Six Flags Magic Mountain and the targets are a good number of residents in the Santa Clarita Valley, which is home to Six Flags in its Valencia neighborhood setting. hey guys, just heard from a friend...

LAist thinks the kids have it too easy. What with their PSPs, and their PS2s attatched to their flat screens in the back seats in the SUV. LAist remembers having to collect change from couches and skateboarding down to Santa Monica Pier to play decent video games. LAist remembers getting kicked out of the 7-11 on Wilshire near Lincoln for beating the hell out of 10 Yard Fight. LAist remembers the tiny little closets known as "arcades" in movie theatres.

Rose Bowl's 80th Anniversary of Fireworks starring the Pasadena Pops - 6pm

That sound you hear is a disturbance in the Force. It's the sound of developers revving up their bulldozers as the chatter whispers new ownership of Six Flags / Magic Mountain and that ownership might turn the historic theme park into condos, ranch homes, McMansions and more sprawl.

We know that it was friggin cold last night, but what's up with the snap continuing today? It's been like four days of cold weather. Enough already. Though our East Coast brethren scoff and call us weather wimps, this is LA -- home of the Beach Boys and Baywatch. Hello...wasn't it 80 degrees last week? This weather, especially rain, is not good for Angelenos' perfectly coiffed hair -- and the cold, dry stuff is not good for our skin (says our dermatologist).

So, the next time you're at Magic Mountain and that creepy old guy in a suit is dancing around or taking pictures with excited kids and old ladies, you can scream out to him, "Imposter! I know the truth!" LAist's own Paul Davidson, who has been known to solve a mystery or two here in the past, has uncovered the real story about the Six Flags mascot, Mr. Six. Many had often surmised that the dancing senior citizen (made famous in aol icons and bad myspace profiles all across the internet) was in fact a woman but the real man behind the mask is, in fact, a man.

Thanks to the crack-team of reporters over at NBC4, the big news has finally reached the masses.