California Trip 2021: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and Six Flags Magic Mountain

In mid-August we took a road trip to California. Our 6 Flags and Sea World passes from our February 2020 southern California trip were still valid, so we figured we'd hit up 6 Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, 6 Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, and Sea World San Diego all in one big road trip. We also spent a day at Universal Studios. One of Oscar's work benefits is one free day at any Universal theme park for him and up to 3 other guests once every calendar year, which works out perfectly for our family of 4. 

We left on August 11th. The kids spent most of the day at camp while Oscar worked a half day and he and I packed, cleaned, and got the car ready to go. That took longer than we expected (as usual), so we didn't pick them up until around 4:45pm. We drove as far as we could before needing to stop for the night at a hotel in Salem, OR.  

The next day we finished up the drove from Salem down to Fairfield, CA where we'd booked a hotel. Usually on a road trip we would stop to let the kids play at playgrounds, but the vast majority of the drive was super smokey and around 105 degrees. We had no desire to be outside in that sort of weather. The smoke really didn't improve noticeably until about an hour away from our hotel, so we decided to just go straight there. Fortunately the air quality of our destination was much better than what we'd just spent around 8 hours driving through. 

The next morning Oscar had a little work to do (remote work can follow you anywhere), so I took the kids to the hotel pool. It was freezing cold, but at least they had a hot tub. Around 11 Oscar had finished up and we drove down to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. I appreciated that the parking lot had solar panels that also provided shade for our car. More big outdoor parking lots should do that. 

I'd been to this theme park once with my sister and had really enjoyed it, but that was around 20 years ago, so I barely remembered much about it. The only specific thing I remembered was that they had a butterfly habitat. When you look Discovery Kingdom up online it seems like it'd be an amazing park, comparable to their other Zoo/Theme park - Six Flags Great Adventure and Safari (which we'd loved). Unfortunately around half of their rides were closed due to staffing shortages, so it wasn't nearly as fun as we were hoping it would be. 

When we first walked in we went over to the "Drench" Dolphin Show. It's always fun to watch dolphins play, but it paled in comparison to what Sea World does. Oscar then got in a long line to get us lunch while the kids and I went on the White Water Safari ride. He was still waiting when we were done, so we walked over to the Tava's Jungleland area to see the Wildlife Experience show. There was an alligator in the water underneath "The Ark" ride. Too bad that ride was closed. It would have been neat to see a live alligator from the ride.

We arrived at the show about 8 minutes late since we stopped to ride the Scrambler on our way there. I was worried there'd only be a few minutes left, but we still got to see quite a bit. The birds were the stars.

After the show we went on the Congo Queen spinning ride. Oscar still wasn't through the insanely long line, but he was getting close, so we walked around and saw a few more animals.

We got some nice up close views of a Giraffe chewing on a branch.

We saw the lions and tigers, which is where Oscar met up with us to hand off the food he'd purchased. After eating he and the kids went off to the children's rides. I stopped to use the bathroom then saw a gila monster on my way to meet them near the penguins.

There was a super fun 48+ inch coaster called the Joker. We swapped off doing that with Tyler while the other took Allison on the kids' rides. 

Then we went over to the main thrill ride area, where unfortunately, many of the thrill rides were closed. Even the ones that were open often had mechanical problems. We waited about 30 minutes for the giant swings, got strapped in and loaded up, then were told we all had to unload for a mechanical issue and they didn't know when it would reopen. That's the kind of thing they ought to give you a flash pass voucher for so you can ride it again another time without a line. We tried to do the swings again the next day, but Saturday lines were enormous, so we ended up leaving the line after waiting 10 minutes in it and barely moving. 

Both kids could go on the Cobra Coaster, so they rode that several times while Oscar and I swapped off going on the 54+ inch Medusa ride, which was great. The rides that were working were really good rides, and it would definitely be a super fun theme park if it were fully operational. 

The next day was Saturday, so the theme park was pretty slammed. We focused on kids' rides, shows, and animals in the hopes that we'd have less crowds, but even the kids' rides built up pretty long lines. It's because they had so few rides operating at any given time that the crowds in that area were all in line for the same rides instead of being distributed among several different ones. 

Shark escalator aquariums are always fun. I love seeing them swimming over my head. 

After that we let the kids pet some sting rays then took them to the Seals, Otters, and Sea Lion Show. Again, it paled in comparison to Sea World, but it was still entertaining.

Here are the kids on the M&M stairs.

Odin's Temple of the Tiger, though, absolutely made it worth coming to the park on a busy Saturday. I've never seen anything like it. When you go to a zoo it's often difficult to see the tigers because they're solitary creatures who are good at hiding. Even if they're awake and visible, they're often just sitting around. Here you get to see them do tricks, jump, stand up tall on their hind legs, and swim. According to the show announcer, Discovery Kingdom is the only place you can see tigers swimming on command. They said they observed this natural swimming ability years ago when mother tigers would bathe their cubs in the water and swim around with them to cool off. They started training them to do it by tossing meat cubes onto the glass at the edge of the water. I once saw a white tiger swimming in a pond within it's habitat at a zoo in Hawaii, which was pretty neat. But being able to see a tiger dive underwater through the transparent glass was even better. 

At the end of the show they told us the tigers would still do work with their trainers, but that the show was over. Several of us in the audience didn't move from our seats because where else do you get to see tigers this close and this active. Even here they only do the tiger show once a day on weekends. They ended up having to specifically tell us to leave since we didn't want to stop watching the tigers.

After the tiger show the kids went on the bouncing Frog Hopper, which had been closed the previous day. Oscar and I watched others doing the giraffe feeding while they were on the ride.

The feeding was still happening after the kids finished their ride so we let the kids feed them too. It was so much fun, and totally worth the extra $5 per kid. 

Both kids really enjoyed it. Allison was super excited and would jump up and run around whenever the giraffe's tongue would touch her hand.

We hit up the Wildlife show again since Oscar hadn't seen it and we'd missed part of it the previous day. Oscar had picked up food again, which we tried to eat during the show, but bees kept flying around us and our food. They seemed particularly attracted to Tyler. I had to move him up to the back where we could walk away if we needed to since one bee had even landed on Tyler's lips and was trying to drink the tasty milkshake mustache he was sporting. I think the combination of his red hair, which shines brightly in the sunlight, along with the milkshake on his face made him look like a beautiful, nectar filled flower to them. 

We were starting to get a bit tired of the heat and crowds, but I remembered the Butterfly habitat from my previous visit. I'd seen it listed on the 6 Flags app, so I knew it had to be around somewhere. I walked around the park for a few minutes and found it while Oscar took the kids on the Nairobi balloons. Allison ran off the ride immediately after sitting down saying it was too hot to touch. Tyler went on the ride alone and Allison looked at the snakes and reptiles instead. After they were done I took them back to where I'd found the habitat. They really liked the butterflies and koi fish, and it was in an enclosed area so we had a nice break from the bees. Tyler kept putting his hands out to get butterflies to land on him, but they never did. 

The kids posed  with some of the animal sculptures then we got some ice cream before heading back to the hotel. The lines were just too long at that point to be worth sticking around for, and we didn't want to stand around unmoving while bees kept surrounding us and our bright orange Six Flags refillable soda bottles. While we were eating a funnel cake just before heading out of the park a little girl gave Allison this yellow spiky ball she'd won at one of the carnival games. Kids like giving Allison toys at theme parks! That evening Tyler build a structure with the ball and some of our disposable bowls. 

The next day we drove down to Santa Clarita, stopping off to attend church and grab some lunch. We arrived in Santa Clarita shortly after 6, and Six Flags Magic Mountain was open until 8, so we figured we'd go into the park and grab some dinner. We've more than made our Six Flags meal plans worth the money! 

The kids were excited to see that their favorite play area from out last visit was open, but unfortunately, they'd removed all the little foam balls that you shoot around in the cannons.  Even the climbing areas were closed off, leaving only a couple of slides. They came out of it disappointed, but they did get to ride the Speedy Gonzales ride, which was closed for repairs on our last visit.

They then went on the Tweety's birdcage ride, which had also been closed our entire previous visit. Other than that we picked up dinner, then Oscar and Tyler went off to ride a few 48 inch coasters while I stayed with Allison. I took her on the Carousel, the lift that takes you to the top of the hill, and then rode Ninja with her twice. At the end of our first ride we waved to Tyler and Oscar who were walking over to ride Superman. 

That night Tyler got sick. He'd seemed fine all day and fell asleep just fine, but he woke up after a couple hours throwing up. Luckily I had some pepto bismol pills in my purse, so we gave him one and gave him a bath and clean clothes. I hadn't realized they were only supposed to be for kids 12+ since kids' dosages aren't supposed to be that high, but at least it did the trick. He slept the rest of the night without a problem. I picked him up some children's bismuth pills the next morning and gave them to him periodically for the next couple of days to try to prevent any future issues. Either they worked or he just naturally healed quickly since he didn't show any signs of nausea the rest of our trip. 

The next day we checked out the Hurricane Harbor water park, which ended up being pretty disappointing. This was a surprise since we'd been to three Hurricane Harbors in Missouri, Maryland, and New Jersey, and all of them were great. On the app it seems like a fun water park, but so many slides were closed. Even the family ride that was open had these grates on the slide to slow you down, which made it noticeably less fun. The 48 inch orange slide I went on with Tyler was super gentle, and the pool it let out into was only 3 feet deep. I couldn't understand why it needed such a high height requirement. Several of the slides Allison was tall enough for were closed. The wave pool was boring with small waves. 

The kids play areas were open but had several parts of them that were closed too. We quickly realized Hurricane Harbor would just be a place to come cool down in when we got too hot at the theme park. 

We went back into the theme park to do some rides and pick up lunch. Masks were required inside, but we'd left them in the bag with our swim stuff back at Hurricane Harbor. I ended up turning my hat into a mask. The next day someone was asking some employees for a spare mask in order to enter that same dining area. They didn't have any for him, so I gave him one of mine from my bag. 

While I grabbed my food the kids went on the trucks and a few other rides. After I ate I took Tyler with me on Goliath.

While we were on Goliath Allison did more kids' rides and made a new friend to ride with.

At that point we were struggling to stand in lines in the heat so we hit up the water park again. We went around the lazy river several times. These pillars were pretty cool. The park closed at 6 so we played for awhile, changed, and then went back into the theme park for dinner. 

This is also when we picked up our Six Flags gift card and bought us some neat swag in the gift shops. Because Magic Mountain was our home park (where we'd first bought our memberships), they offered to give us a $400 in park gift card in exchange for all the months we'd paid for while the park was closed during the pandemic. I thought this was a great way to reward us for continuing to pay our dues, especially because we'd also been able to use our passes at other Six Flags theme parks in states that were allowed to reopen much earlier. While our home park was closed we spent 3 days at Six Flags St Louis and Hurricane Harbor, 5 days at Six Flags America and Hurricane Harbor, 3 days at Six Flags Great Adventure, drive thru Safari, and Hurricane Harbor, 4 days at Six Flags Over Texas, and 3 days at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, not to mention all the food and drink we got at all those places with our Six Flags meal plans. We cancelled our memberships after this visit since I don't see us going to another Six Flags for at least a year (I'd rather wait until Tyler is at least 54 inches and Allison is at least 48 inches so we don't have to swap around as much or go on thrill rides alone). We still have plenty of cash left on the card, but it's valid until 2030 and can be used at any Six Flags in the USA. I'm sure we'll make it back to a Six Flags park before then!

The next day I took the kids on water rides earlier in the day after first dropping our towels and such off at Hurricane Harbor. We'd tried to go on the river rapids ride the day before and had barely moved in 20 minutes of waiting with bees surrounding us and our refillable soda bottles. On Tuesday it was our first ride, and we got to the front of the line with zero wait. We then went on the log flume without any wait, and they let us ride it again since there still wasn't any wait after our first ride. 

While we were busy Oscar enjoyed some 54+ inch rides. I then took the kids on the Scrambler, the bumper cars, and Wonder Woman. At Magic Mountain it's only a 42+ inch requirement, so Allison can ride it. At other theme parks, including other Six Flags, similar rides are 48+. I do love how easy going she is about it all. If she's too short for a ride she wants to do, she just says "okay. I can go on it when I'm 7 years old." At her age I would have been throwing a tantrum about the injustice of being able to do a ride at one park and not being tall enough for the exact same ride at another park. 

I then let the kids go on "The Flash." I'd done this in 2020, and it's way too fast for me. Tyler liked it in February 2020 but said it was too fast this time. Allison loved it both times. 

Oscar met back up with us after this ride and took the kids to get lunch while I went on some 54+ inch rides. Allison socialized with teenagers while they ate.

I had the gift card on me, so after I'd done a few coasters I picked up summer hats for the kids. I like the hats, but I don't like that they don't have chin clips on them to prevent them from falling off.

I then took Allison into the water park while Oscar and Tyler rode some 48+ inch coasters.

They later met up with us at the wave pool while I went out to shop and do the dueling coasters that had been shut down when I'd passed them the first time. When I first arrived the line moved a whole bunch, then I waited 22 minutes in the same spot before we moved again. I think they let too many people in the flash pass line and forgot about the stand by line for awhile.

Bees continued to be attracted to our cups, so we emptied them out and washed them as well as we could before sticking them in the backpack. Tyler got hurt on one of the water slide stairs, but an employee with band aids passed by and helped him out. After that we grabbed dinner and ice cream with our remaining food credits and checked out some Halloween decorations they had up to preview their upcoming Fright Fest season. We left shortly before they closed with plenty of time to pack up and get a good sleep before checking out the next morning.