Well now that I have gone on my long awaited trip to California, I have now been to both Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain, the two parks that constantly vie for the title of “Roller Coaster Capital of the World.” I’ll start off by saying that I am going to attempt to keep this very unbiased and non-coaster nerdish. I realize that that will be nearly impossible to do, but I will try my best. I am also going to avoid comparing similar rides and simply giving “points” or “tallies” for which is better, and rather compare the entire parks and their rides as whole entities instead of simply counting who has more coasters that I liked better.

With all of that being said, let’s start by comparing some similar rides without formally “grading” them or awarding anything to either park. Each park has two wooden roller coasters (technically Magic Mountain has three if you count both tracks of Colossus). Cedar Point has Mean Streak, a coaster that many people hate, and Blue Streak, a smaller out-and-back ride that provides some decent airtime. Magic Mountain has Apocalypse, a nearly brand new GCI wooden coaster that is one of the better rides at the park, and Colossus, a dual-track racing coaster that ironically almost never races.

Here is where the first issue arises with comparing these. Colossus is best compared to Gemini at Cedar Point, their racing steel coaster that is extremely similar to Colossus, although races on a much more frequent basis. This right out of the bat leaves Cedar Point with two wooden coasters to look at and Magic Mountain one, with none of the three having anything in common whatsoever, so right there we can forget about trying to do that.

In my list of coasters, these four appear in the following order: Apocalypse, Blue Streak, Colossus, Mean Streak. So of these four, Magic Mountain boasts my first and third favorites, while Cedar Point boasts my second and fourth favorites. So going with that logic, Magic Mountain would be slightly more favorable for me. Now if you were to ask me “Which park do you prefer for wooden coasters?” I would probably answer with Magic Mountain just because Apocalypse out performs the other three coasters incredibly, and if I was given four chances to ride, I would probably ride Apocalypse three times and take one ride on Blue Streak, completely neglecting the other two just because they are nowhere near what they used to be and nowadays have more enemies than fans.

Now that we have to some extent talked about wooden coasters, let us all realize that a tiny percentage of these parks rides is made up of wooden roller coasters, and likewise a small part of this discussion should focus on them. Let’s go on to talking about some steel coasters that share similar characteristics and styles. I’ll start with one of the more obvious choices, and that is Riddler’s Revenge and Mantis. Both rides are B&M stand-up coasters from the 1990’s and each set a new record for tallest, fastest, and most inversions on a stand-up when they opened in 1998 and 1996 respectively. I personally found Mantis a bit rough and shaky, with a few spots where it banged your head around a little. Riddler is by far my favorite stand-up coaster, with no roughness at all when I rode and rather than straining your legs with excessive positive forces, it was almost relaxing and very enjoyable.

Another easy comparison to be made is talking about Raptor and Batman: The Ride. Once again, both are B&M rides built around the same time. When Batman opened, it was the third ride with the now famous layout. Raptor boasts a much more unique layout with a bit more variety and in my opinion, a better overall ride experience. The intensity of both rides is awesome, yet they both give smooth rides with minimal head banging. Raptor features an extra inversion, and has a cobra roll that Batman lacks, giving it the nod in a head-to-head battle in my book.

If we look at the smaller coasters, Gold Rusher and Cedar Creek Mine Ride are the same style rides, built by the same manufacturer, Arrow. Both rides give about the same experience, and in the grand scheme of things, are rides that people often forget about when traveling to one of these parks, so while I would give Gold Rusher a slight edge, this will weigh in very minimally on which park I decide is better.

The last two rides that we can look at and really talk about major similarities are Ninja and Iron Dragon, two suspended coaster offerings also from Arrow. Iron Dragon offers a ride through the woods during the first half, followed by a finale over the mist-filled lagoon. Ninja makes its way through trees and down the mountain before being lifted back to the station. With these two rides, both are classic examples of a dying breed that is still really fun. I think the sense of speed and swinging is a bit better on Ninja, even though Iron Dragon’s lagoon offers something few other coasters experience. I would pick Ninja between the two, but it is almost a tie in my book.

So there we have some of the most obvious comparisons often made when this debate comes up. Some others we end up seeing are Top Thrill Dragster and Superman: Escape From Krypton. I did not ride Superman, so this is a bad argument for me to even start, but they are two totally different rides with the launch and height being the basis of most comparisons. By that logic, we could compare rides like Blue Fire and Powder Keg, which certainly are totally different rides.

We also often see rides like Corkscrew and Viper get compared because they are both looping coaster from Arrow. Corkscrew was built over a decade earlier and was a big name coaster for the park at the time. When Viper was built, it took the title of tallest looping coaster, and for many years had the world’s tallest inversion. One ride had three inversions and one has seven, making these rides too different to fairly compare in my opinion.

I could continue, but I think most people who are going to get my point have gotten it by now. All things considered, at Magic Mountain, we see rides like Scream!, Tatsu, and of course, X2, none of which have remotely similar rides at Cedar Point. At Cedar Point we have rides like Maverick, Millennium Force, Disaster Transport, and Wicked Twister, once again, rides that the other park has nothing really of the sorts. That is one thing that makes BOTH of these parks great, the fact that they have rides that are different and you can go to both parks and essentially ride over thirty coasters that are totally different from every other one.

Another thing I hear talked about is how unique each park is, or how many rides have coasters with unique designs. I will examine that point briefly as well. Let’s first look at Cedar Point, who at this time has sixteen coasters. Of those sixteen, Blue Streak, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Corkscrew, Disaster Transport, Gemini, Iron Dragon, Magnum, Mantis, Maverick, Mean Streak, Millennium Force, Raptor, Top Thrill Dragster, Wicked Twister, and Jr. Gemini all have “unique” layouts. When I say “unique,” I mean a ride that is not a clone or copied ride. The next argument is usually that Raptor is a clone, but because it was the first one built, I will count this as a “unique” ride, much like the original Batman at Six Flags Great America.

So with that, I count fifteen of the sixteen Cedar Point coasters having “unique” layouts, with Woodstock’s Express being a clone. At Six Flags Magic Mountain, we have Apocalypse, Colossus, Gold Rusher, Goliath, Magic Flyer, Ninja, Revolution, Riddler, Tatsu, and X2 are without a doubt unique. I will also count Superman as unique because even though an identical ride opened in Australia the same year, and they both now launch backwards, it was not cloned from another ride already in existence. Also along those lines, while Viper is not an exact clone of any ride, it is nearly identical to two now defunct rides built before it. Before these rides were closed, I would not give it the “unique” credit, I will because it is the last remaining of those three rides. With that, of Magic Mountain’s seventeen coasters, I will call twelve of them “unique.” Batman, Canyon Blaster, Road Runner Express, Green Lantern: First Flight, and Scream! are all clones (or in the case of Scream!, a mirror clone).

So if we look at it that way, then Cedar Point would slightly edge out Magic Mountain, even though most of the comparisons I have done already have shown me preferring the Magic Mountain rides over the Cedar Point rides. So then what will properly settle the debate as to which park is better? The correct answer here of course, is that there is no way to determine it. Just like the Golden Ticket Awards, voting on a best coaster or a best park is not an exact science. Rather, it is much based on personal opinion, therefore nobody is really right is this type of situation, and there is no correct answer.

Now that we have settled that, I will explain which park I personally like better, and which one I prefer and think is the better park. When I went to Cedar Point in 2007, it was my first big trip to an amusement park outside of my area of Pennsylvania. I was a first time Cedar Fair Maxx Pass holder, and after years, I was finally going to the place I always wanted to go. As a young enthusiast, you hear stories of Cedar Point and the record-breaking coasters that have operated there over the years and still stand there today, such as Gemini, Mantis, Magnum XL-200, Millennium Force, and Top Thrill Dragster.

Cedar Point has gained an iconic name and reputation because of it being not just an amusement park, but also a destination resort that theme park fans across the world travel to year after year. When we went there in 2007, we stayed at Hotel Breakers just across the parking lot from Magnum and Corkscrew, and gained early entry on each day of our visit. Cedar Point employees realize that most of their guests are there for the first time and may never return, and are determined to make it a special visit, making each ride its own event. The atmosphere is second to none, and the first time you see the peninsula sitting out in the middle of Lake Erie with coaster after coaster jutting into the sky it is simply awe inspiring.

Six Flags Magic Mountain offers much of the same first impression. As you round the mountain (which we did at night), you simply see the park appear directly in front of you and you see nothing but coasters. Ride after ride after ride reach skyward and create a visual image that only Cedar Point can compare to. In the operations department, Magic Mountain is better than most Six Flags parks that I have been to, and Cedar Point does a great job of trying to pump as many people through the lines as possible, knowing that the popular rides will have wait times in the hours rather than minutes.

In the coaster department, I still feel it is somewhat unfair to compare these two parks. By the methods I explained earlier, it would seem that Cedar Point has the more unique rides, while many of the “similar” rides at each park are better at Magic Mountain in my opinion. But on that note, how can the extreme uniqueness of X2 not count as a little extra? This discussion is just too involved and too deep to make sense out of it, and rather it simply comes down to personal opinion.

With all of the above things in mind, I have to say that I prefer Cedar Point by the slimmest of margins. My experience of staying on-site, getting early entry, the water park and Challenge Park comes together as a trip I will never forget, and one I soon hope to duplicate. A trip to Cedar Point is an event all its own, and while Six Flags Magic Mountain is a great park, and was the highlight of my California trip, it was not a special trip JUST for Magic Mountain, it was a California trip.

As I said, ranking coasters and parks is in no way, shape, or form an exact science, which is why there is really not right answer to this question. The beauty of this kind of debate is that no one is right or wrong, and nobody will ever be right or wrong. Both parks are always changing and evolving, adding and removing rides to adapt to what the guests want and ask for. Cedar Point may just be jumping on the B&M Wingrider bandwagon next season with more and more information coming out on that. Likewise, Magic Mountain seems they may have a multi-launched thriller up their sleeves based on some leaked information we have heard.

So as time goes on and these parks change little by little, might I suggest we admire these parks for what they both truly are, great amusement parks, rather than get caught up in a coaster battle or which park is “better,” because to be perfectly honest, there never will be a truly right answer. Ride on my friends…ride on.