Apocalypse at Six Flags Magic Mountain is the GCI’s embodiment of Jekyll and Hyde. Some years,
this coaster runs like a dream. Other years, this ride feels like it’s speeding over a cobblestone
road. So how is it riding as of February 2023? Find out in this review of Apocalypse.
The back left corner of Six Flags Magic Mountain has been home to several roller coasters through
the years. The first two rides were part of the ride rotation program. In 1985 and 1986,
this plot was home to Sarajevo Bobsleds, a bobsled coaster that has since been relocated to Six Flags
Over Texas where it runs as La Vibora. From 1986 to 1988, this plot was home to Shockwave,
an Intamin stand-up coaster that is now defunct. Then from 1991 to 2006, this is where
Psyclone would reside. This was a Coney Island Cyclone clone built by the Dinn Corporation.
The latter was doomed the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. This 6.7 Magnitude Earthquake caused
major structural damage. While the park repaired it to safely run, it never ran smoothly again.
It also didn’t help this was the only wood coaster to operate with heavy B&M
trains. The park added trim brakes to make the experience more comfortable,
but it turned Psyclone into both a dull and rough experience. This led to its removal.
The site sat vacant for a few years until the park announced a replacement coaster:
Terminator Salvation: The Ride. This would be a coaster themed to the fourth Terminator film,
but many thought the ride system was a weird choice. For those unfamiliar, Terminator is a
sci-fi film franchise dealing with time travel and the future. So some sort of steel coaster seems
like it would make sense, no? Well, the park built a wood coaster from Great Coasters International.
Roughly $1 million was spent to theme the ride. This mostly consisted of props in the queue line
and a pre-show video that included some of the film’s actors. The ride’s story was that
guests were being pursued by terminators in an amusement park, so the coaster would
transport them to safety. Simple premise, but the theming was quite good for a Six Flags coaster.
There were also mist, fire, and audio effects. But none lasted very long.
This interestingly was the first wood coaster to ever feature on-board audio,
but it was broken within one year of the ride opening. The audio box used to be located on
the back of the train. This is why this wood coaster has one less row than your typical GCI.
Then in 2011, the ride was renamed Apocalypse. Due to a recent bankruptcy, Six Flags terminated
several IP agreements to save cash, including that of Terminator.
The coaster still had a similar theme about a fight in a post-apocalyptic world,
but the props specifically linked to the film were removed…well
most of them. There’s still a vehicle in the queue today that was used in Terminator Salvation.
Several years later, the ride’s story was changed to that of a pandemic.
So the indoor section of the queue, got some new lights and monitors talking about a virus.
Shortly thereafter, the real covid-19 pandemic occurred and I’ve
noticed this story has been placed on the downlow since the park reopened which is completely
understandable. But you still have that devastated sci-fi aesthetic throughout the queue line.
Even if you have the Flash Pass, you’ll see this part of the queue. The merge point for this
attraction is really far back. I have never been to this park on a busy day when Apocalypse has
been operational, but I suspect there is enough space to hold over an hour’s worth of people.
So if you go on a busy day and end up buying the skip-the-line pass, I would
prioritize Apocalypse early in the day. The line is usually manageable the first 2-3 hours of the
day since it’s so far towards the back. There was talk about this ride getting a
single rider line in 2022, but I don’t believe it ever opened. If I’m wrong,
I’d love to know where this was routed. One rarely talked about downside with
this queue is that you have barely any cell service in the indoor section and station,
so that’s another reason you don’t want to get stuck in a lengthy queue for this ride.
Most days, Apocalypse’s queue is towards the middle-of-the-pack for the park’s coasters.
I also want to touch on the ride’s overall appearance beyond the queue.
There isn’t much to see during the ride section anymore. As for the structure, it looks weird.
Six Flags is famously good at themes where neglect helps their appearance. As the ride has aged in
the harsh California sun, the wood has gotten shockingly light. What started as an entirely
brown structure is getting a yellowish or whitish tinge. So it’s only fitting a ride themed to the
apocalypse would have a dilapidated look to it. When you reach the station, you can pick you row.
Which row you prefer depends on personal taste. I think the best airtime moments occur in the back,
but that gets into this coaster’s biggest Achilles heel. It can ride quite rough. And
this becomes more of an issue further back in the train. This is less of an issue up
front and you get the full sense-of-speed, even if the airtime isn’t quite as good.
Apocalypse has the older generational Millennium Flyer trains. This means you
have the softer cushioned seats, which helps when you have a ride that can be as rough as this.
Pairs of riders are restrained by a shared seatbelt and then each rider gets their own T-bar.
After the latter is checked, I would recommend holding onto it or it can come down further during
the ride. This coaster can be quite uncomfortable if the forces staple you due to the shakiness.
These trains are a tad shorter than usual, as they feature just 11 rows.
If you visit on a quiet day, there’s a good chance this coaster will run just one train. But I have
seen it running two if I visit on a weekend. Once dispatched, you turn out of the station
and ascend a 95 foot or 29 meter tall lift hill. There isn’t too much to see going
up due to the ride’s placement. Conversely, those in the new housing development behind
the park get a really sweet view of this coaster as they look down on the park.
At the top, you navigate a turn high above the ground. And on my most recent rides, this had
one heck of a shuffle to it. That tipped me off the rest of the ride could be similarly rough.
And this roughness sadly did continue through the first half. The valleys had a lot of shaking.
The first drop is still great though. I think it’s my favorite GCI drop in the US. You have some
decent speed going into it. Add in the fact it’s a fairly straight drop, so you get some really good
sustained floater airtime in the back row. This drop plunges beneath the lift through a
sea of supports. The pullout then banks right. Great speed, but expect to be bounced about.
This seamlessly leads into a little speed hill. You fly over this hill and
get nice floater airtime throughout the train. And there’s another headchopper
as you dash beneath the exit path afterwards. Next is a big turnaround. The curve is maintained
the whole way up, so those up front get no airtime on this maneuver. But the exit has a sharp drop
down, so those in back get a good pop of airtime. This is followed by another valley that banks
sideways, so expect some more jackhammering. This flows into a banked speed hill. Everyone
gets solid laterals and those in back even get a pinch of airtime going over it.
You then rise into a tunnel. And this is loud! Apocalypse makes a lot of noise to
begin with and this tunnel reflects all that sound right back at you. What you get on the
inside is a big banked turn. No airtime or laterals unfortunately. Just good speed.
When you emerge into the sunlight, you have another banked speed hill. You’ll get a mild
jolt of laterals plus some more shaking here. You then quickly rise upwards for the fly by.
This climb gives some weak floater airtime up front. Then you get another dose of
good speed rocketing through the station. There is a dip afterwards that looks like
it should give airtime, but it doesn’t really. You charge through a brief tunnel and then shoot
upwards into another turnaround. This maneuver gives a great burst of airtime for those up front.
It’s probably the single strongest spot of airtime on the ride.
Now unfortunately, Apocalypse really fizzles out towards the end.
The drop off this turnaround gives some weak airtime in back if the ride is running fast.
Then the coaster limps to the finish line. You have a low banked turn and another banked
speed hill. Usually the ride is running too slow to give any laterals for me. You then
jump upwards into the ride’s final turnaround. I tend to get some weak floater airtime here towards
the front if any. Then the train crawls around a minimally banked turn and hits the brakes.
You then return to the station, ending the 2877 foot or 877 meter long coaster.
It really is frustrating this ride is rough again so soon. Magic Mountain retracked a good chunk
of the ride while West Coast Racers was being built. When I rode this coaster in 2019 and 2020,
it was quite smooth. Now I’m not sure who did that retrack, but the fact the ride is
already shaky just 3 years later is not a promising development. It’s not running as
rough as it did before it closed in 2018, but it’s trending in that direction at this rate.
So what would I rate Apocalypse? Based on how it’s currently riding, I would give this coaster a 5
out of 10. I really like this coaster’s sense of speed. Few GCIs do better in that area.
I love the first half, as you have a rapid series of turns and airtime pops.
The second half isn’t nearly as strong though, particularly when it comes to the airtime.
If this coaster is running smooth, bare minimum it’s a 7. And it can even be an
8 if I catch it on a fast day. Now it’s near the bottom of my GCI ranks and it
could even claim the bottom spot if the experience continues to degrade. I would
not be surprised if Six Flags invests in some Titan Track for this ride since that may be a
more permanent fix and they’ve been adding it to Darien Lake’s Predator the past two years.