The once-in-a-lifetime Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru at Six Flags Magic Mountain feels like the quintessential Southern California car culture experience during these pandemic times.
This season’s Christmas event at the partially shuttered Valencia amusement park combines holiday lights and music with bumper-to-bumper traffic along a mile-long drive-thru lane — all from the comfort and safety of your car.
The Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru Experience opened this weekend and runs on select dates through Jan. 3 at Magic Mountain.
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The holiday lights drive-thru marks Magic Mountain’s first attempt at partially reopening during the eight-month closure of California amusement parks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The results are at times delightful, depressing, joyous and bittersweet — much like our ever-ebbing and flowing mood during the continuing pandemic. Fortunately, the Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru Experience will mostly lifts your spirits — at least for 30 minutes or so.
Magic Mountain does a marvelous job of turning those pandemic blues into Christmas reds and greens. The Six Flags holiday drive-thru will leave you humming Christmas tunes, longing for candy canes and inspired to start decorating your own home — just with a few million fewer lights.
The Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru Experience takes visitors on a counter-clockwise route through the 125-acre park and past millions of holiday lights choreographed to music.
The Holiday in the Park route passes through eight themed areas: Rockin’ Universe (DC Universe), Merry Lane (Metropolis), The Underground (West Coast Racers coaster), Winter Wonderland (Viper coaster), Holiday Square (Main Entrance), Snowy Night (Full Throttle Plaza), North Pole (Golden Bear Theatre) and Gleampunk District (Steampunk District).
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The novel drive-thru experience lets visitors do something most would have thought impossible before COVID-19 — motor through the amusement park at night in your own car. Only during a pandemic would such an idea even be put on the table as a possibility.
Driving through Magic Mountain was surreal — particularly as you head over the “mountain” along a one-lane “road” that at times was barely wide enough to navigate. But the journey was never treacherous — only fun and surprising. Particularly because you never tackle the trip at more than 3 mph.
Squeezing between support pillars for Jet Stream along the pathway between Tatsu and Roaring Rapids will test your driving ability — but no more than navigating a narrow drive-thru lane at In-N-Out.
At times, the slow bumper-to-bumper crawl through Magic Mountain felt like being at the tail end of the 14-hour drive-thru line for the new In-N-Out in Colorado — only with a lot more to see along the way.
Magic Mountain’s drive-thru displays were at their best when your car was surrounded by lights — particularly at the top of the hill near Katy’s Kettle food stand and in the Steampunk District near Twisted Colossus. Live entertainment by a drumming trio, stilt walking toy soldiers and a sleigh-riding Santa helped bring the event to life.
The few rides that were lit up and operating — like the Crazanity pendulum swing and Grand American Carousel — felt too much like a taunting tease of what was missing from the experience. The riderless rides also seemed a bit creepy — like a cross between the Fright Fest event that didn’t happen this year and a carnival scene from a Ray Bradbury book.
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Who would enjoy the Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru at Six Flags Magic Mountain?
Fans of holiday light displays that take over entire neighborhoods will be wowed by the sheer size of the Six Flags show. Anybody looking for a pandemic escape similar to the drive-in concerts and drive-thru Halloween haunts that have popped up as entertainment alternatives during the lockdown will want add this never-before, never-again experience to their “Truly Strange Things I Did in 2020” scrapbook.
But Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru is mostly for die-hard Magic Mountain fans who know the park inside and out, but have never seen the place through the windshield of their car. From that perspective, Magic Mountain looks entirely different. The decorative lights strung through the canopies of trees and wrapping buildings may appear similar to previous Holiday in the Park events, but there are two key differences from years past: The rides are closed and you can’t get out of your car.
That’s where the emotions come in. The delightful light displays and festive music of Holiday in the Park capture the joy of the holiday season, but being stuck in your car and unable to ride West Coast Racers or X2 while they are so tantalizingly close is a total bummer.
Advance reservations for the Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru Experience are required through the Magic Mountain website and capacity is limited. Tickets are sold by passenger and there is a two-ticket minimum per vehicle. Ticket prices are $20 to $25 per passenger and vary by date. Admission is free for active members and season pass holders, but reservations are still required.
The Holiday in the Park Drive-Thru Experience at Six Flags Magic Mountain runs daily now through Nov. 29 and Dec. 18 to Jan. 3 and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on Dec. 4-6 and Dec. 11-13.
