Greetings to all!

Remember the Magic Pagoda at Magic Mountain? I am trying to locate any links to pictures for this closed attraction. Also, if anyone knows when and why it was closed, I would appreciate the info.

Thanks :D

I am not sure, but I believe they were having trouble with security, as it is very hard to control teenagers running through dark rooms.

I remember the Magic Pagoda well, particularly the strobe room with the paper dragon snaking along a track overhead - very cool.

The building is still there, although part of the entrance queue had to be removed to make room for the Ninja lift.

Visit http://members.tripod.com/heylownine/sfmm.htm for the best sfmm site I have found, created by a guy named Kevin (some of my pics are there, and some have the Magic Pagoda lighted tower in them.)

Originally posted by horizons1
Visit http://members.tripod.com/heylownine/sfmm.htm for the best sfmm site I have found, created by a guy named Kevin (some of my pics are there, and some have the Magic Pagoda lighted tower in them.)

Well, I just wasted a good hour of my life on that site. I loved the ride graveyard pics, and the whole history of the park. Couldn't see any Magic Pagoda pics anywhere, though.

If you ever liked Magic Mountain (perhaps before Premiere Parks or even before Six Flags), visit this site.

i HATE that website. Some of the pictures are cool but the layout is terrible. I looked for pics online too for you but i found nothing.

I... Went in there a while ago.. Cool but messy :o

Thanks for the responses. The web-site is a lot of fun!:)

It's a very interesting site, and it sure brings back great memories. I'd have to say it's been at least 10 years if not more since I've been to Magic Mountain.

The last time I was there, I was really "uncomfortable" with the crowd. It just felt like there were rude families everywhere, especially kids shoving into you in line with their parents/guardians ignoring what was happening.

How is it there now? I'd be interested in hearing comparisons of being at MM vs. DL.

I too have been searching for info on The Magic Pagoda. I contacted Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiats http://www.dafe.org/ and Laff in the Dark http://laffinthedark.com/ but so far have turned up nothing. Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiats said to try to contact Six Flags directly and see what they say (I may get lucky, but not likely)
I have also been trying to find out the name of the funhouse that was at Busch Gardens Van Nuys long ago, but no luck there either.:crying:

Originally posted by madamemortem
I have also been trying to find out the name of the funhouse that was at Busch Gardens Van Nuys long ago, but no luck there either.:crying:

Good question. I remember the funhouse but don't remember it having a name. Hmm.

RE: Kevin's website. Sorry, I thought I remember seeing the MP in some of the pics. I think I have an old postcard with it in the background. You can see it on the 1977 park map thouygh.

Oh, and lighten up, Ralph. It's a fan site - not a pro site!

After rereading these messages I thought you might like to see some of the pics I have collected for the So Cal parks being discussed here. I created a little website to share my theme park memories.

Check it out:

http://snow.prohosting.com/themepk/index.htm

I hope you like it and that Ralph Wiggum doesn't bag on it! LOL!

Greetings to all!

Remember the Magic Pagoda at Magic Mountain? I am trying to locate any links to pictures for this closed attraction. Also, if anyone knows when and why it was closed, I would appreciate the info.

Thanks :D

Time to inject new life into this. I worked there for many years in the late 80's and 90's. I have been in the building after it closed in its ran-sacked state (all the neon and mirrors broken out) and of course now it has been redecorated and is used during halloween as Willowby's Mansion (sp?). Has anyone been able to come up with any kind of pitures?

Also, if anyone knows when and why it was closed, I would appreciate the info.
:D

In the late 80's I mailed a letter to SFMM asking several questions about rides and why they were closed or changed. One of them was asking why the Pagoda was gone. Surprisingly, as opposed to most of Disney's canned correspondence, I got specific, albeit short, answers to each of my questions. I'll scan the letter in and show it as a jpg or pdf if anyone wants to see it. From what I remember, it said that the maintenance costs were too high and it attracted too little attention to make it worth keeping open.
Having never seen the inside personally, I can't attest to how much maintenance it took, but I do remember looking up on the hill and seeing the cool neon-outlined sculpture. This was before Ninja too, so I could almost buy the thing about there not being enough traffic on the hill to warrant it. But I still would have kept it intact for later generations - now that Ninja and Superman are up there, no doubt it would have seen increased numbers. Yes, it would have needed updating but still, considering MM's roster of attractions these days, it would have been awfully unique :(

it said that the maintenance costs were too high and it attracted too little attention to make it worth keeping open.
:(
I could buy that. Back then there really wasn't anything to do up there. In fact I can't even remember going up there until ninja was open. I don't think maintenance cost would be too bad, there was no ride, just lights and water pumps. Maybe it required to many employees to staff it. I do remember hearing that sommeone was stabbed in there (changing the park name to "Six Stabs Tragic Mountain") Anybody else hear of that?

http://members.tripod.com/heylownine/mm_his.htm

I almost forgot about this, the movie is on soooo rarely. "Kiss Meets the Phantom" does have some shots of the Pagoda.

I kicked this question around a while back and from what I could remember with generous help from others:

The front had a buddha statue sort of in a alcove, the statues face would talk to you ala the leota projection effect. Saying confuscious style things about the attraction.

There was a tunnel of sort of broken up mirrors it looked like a tunnel of ice that was somewhat disorienting.

The dragon room had a dragon going around on wires over your head, while (at least while I visited) a strobe light went on and off causing this really weird trippy effect thats hard to describe.

There was a part somewhere that had a miniature of a chinese village in the distance.

My memory, and probably not right because I was fairly young... but I swear at some point in the attraction that you climbed up inside of that weird glass pagoda tower, I dimly remember these really weird steep funky steps that led up to the top, where you could look around, then go back down another set of weird steps. Nobody seems to recall this at all, but I SWEAR I remember going up in that thing and ROASTING.

I asked around why it closed too.. all of the above they stated, plus the maintenace was because during graduattion times towards the demise of the attraction it was very highly abused. I guess some grad night kids just whaled the heck out of the mirror tunnel for one thing, and destroyed a lot of the little chinese village.

I still think they could build a better version up in the pizza place they never use (dragon pizza?) even if it only took up half the pizza space it would be a nice alternitive to all the coasters.

I kicked this question around a while back and from what I could remember with generous help from others:

The front had a buddha statue sort of in a alcove, the statues face would talk to you ala the leota projection effect. Saying confuscious style things about the attraction.
.you can still see the buddha. when magic mountain added ninja, and revamped the top of the hill, they took the the buddha out of the pagoda and put it in the oriental garden. for a while you used to be able to put in a quarter and he would tell you fortune. it, always started with "Confuscious say..."