California's Iconic Six Flags Amusement Park Permanently Closed One Of Its Fan-Favorite Rides

Empires rise and empires fall, and the same goes for beloved theme park attractions. Theme park rides are always changing, from tweaking outdated concepts like the auction scene on Pirates of the Caribbean, to ride rethemings like Tiana's Bayou Adventure (formerly Splash Mountain), both at the U.S. Disney Parks, to complete ride teardowns like the recently-retired Kingda Ka in New Jersey's Six Flags Great Adventure. The newest subject of this trend is Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California.

The nearly 3-decades-old ride shut down for maintenance in September, 2024, and park officials announced in March 2025 that the ride will close for good. "Some of the parts are obsolete," Magic Mountain President Jeff Harris told the Orange County Register, explaining the difficulty in sourcing replacement parts. The decision to close the ride came down to what was best for guest experience and what made sense from a business perspective.

The ride debuted as Superman: The Escape in 1997 and was, at the time, the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. It featured two side-by-side, L-shaped tracks that were 1,315 feet long. The ride shot guests into the sky, like the iconic DC superhero, reaching a top speed of 100 mph in seven seconds. Riders experienced 6.5 seconds of weightless suspension before being brought back down on a near-vertical fall of 415 feet. In 2011, the ride was revamped with the name we know it as today and a backward launch, easily making it one of the scariest roller coasters in America.

This news was met with disappointment by coaster enthusiasts, many of whom took to Reddit to eulogize the soon-to-be-defunct ride. "This decade has been the era of goodbyes for major coasters and the emergence of new rides to fill their shoes," noted @blueberry977. Some expressed regret at not being able to ride it before it retired, while others reminisced about how loud it was. But as sad as this closure is, many admitted it was inevitable. "Coasters are naturally reaching the end of their shelf-lives, so in the coming years more and more classics are going to die," letmechatgptthat4you said. And while new and exciting experiences are always in the works across multiple theme parks — like Universal's upcoming Epic Universe theme park in Orlando – it is always bittersweet to lose a ride you love.

Officials have not yet disclosed what comes next for the remaining parts of the ride, such as the ride track, vehicles, queue line, and the building structure. But fans of Lex Luther: Drop of Doom, the drop ride attached to Superman, should not despair, for it will remain undisturbed when it reopens in April, 2025. And despite the loss of this iconic coaster, Six Flags Magic Mountain is still the best amusement park in the world for roller coaster thrills. In fact, the park will be getting a brand new, first-of-its-kind suspended motorbike coaster in 2026, bringing the total number of coasters back to 20, the most in any theme park across the globe. And Superman himself will continue to be a presence in the park, particularly on the dark ride, Justice League: Battle for Metropolis.