Six Flags Magic Mountain to Offer 365 Days of Fun Per Year

Six Flags Magic Mountain has announced that starting January 1, 2018, the popular Southern California theme park will operate 365 days a year.

The change was brought on by the park's desire to enter the "destination travel market," similar to many other of their neighboring theme parks, including Disney, Universal and Knott's.  The Southern California area is already registering 47 million annual visitors, so daily operation will help Six Flags Magic Mountain pick up more of them.

Part of being open year round will be marketing toward group events more than ever before, such as school groups, "convention business, extended stays, and business travel" among others.

© Six Flags Magic Mountain

The park's series of special events, from Halloween to Christmas and more, will also help round out times that were formerly the 'off season.'  It's also a huge benefit to locals who have a season pass, an area which Six Flags has been pushing for the past few years and has registered significant growth for them.

“With the best collection of thrills in the world and the Six Flags brand expanding globally, this is the perfect time for one of our flagship properties to make the business transition to a 365-day operating schedule in order to maximize travel industry opportunities. Six Flags will now provide a thrilling vacation option to both international and domestic visitors coming to enjoy Southern California,” stated Jim Reid-Anderson, Chairman, President and CEO of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation.

This story from USA Today has a few more details about the park's plans now that they're open all year long.  There's the aforementioned focus on special events, but also the creation of additional "wow zone" themed sections, a focus on stories and attention to detail.  There's even some talk of a possible hotel via a partnership with a third party operator.