Superman: Escape from Krypton permanently closed

[davidm]

More Six Flags joy - Superman (SFMM) is dead;

Six Flags Magic Mountain has permanently closed the Superman: Escape from Krypton shuttle coaster, according to Magic Mountain President Jeff Harris.

“Just like other roller coasters within the theme park industry, there’s a life cycle with these coasters,” Harris said in a video conference call. “It’s just reached a point in time where we need to make a wise decision on where we really should reinvest funds that improve the guest experience the most. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense from a business perspective to put it back into Superman.”

source : https://www.ocregister.com/2025/03/28/six-flags-magic-mountain-permanently-closes-superman-coaster/

 

[ECG]

Before anyone asks, Lex Luther: Drop of Doom will remain in operation.
No biggie to me since Lex is still operational. I've skipped riding the coaster on all my visits after I rode it when it changed in 2010.

 

[bratcurry]

It was already closed during the last season so it's not that surprising but still sad.

 

[roomraider]

It's been neutered for so long its not been particularly relevant or interesting since they killed the launch.

Even when I went which must be something like 15 years ago now it was rubbish and only made half way up the tower.

Tower of terror 2 was by far the better ride even at that point and that died years back. It's been living in borrowed time for a while.

 

[cookie]

The upside to this is now they can market that weird 2026 thing as their 20th coaster.

 

[Peet]

It's been neutered for so long its not been particularly relevant or interesting since they killed the launch.

Did the launch get toned down back in 2011 then? I thought they had just turned the cars around?

I rode it in 2017 and have to say it was overall amazingly forceless for such a tall fast coaster. Still the centrepiece of the park though, it could be seen and heard from everywhere.

 

[Projektion]

Actually disappointed about this one.

EFK was one of those rides that had stuck in my mind from the early 00's documentaries that started me to become an enthusiast and I really wanted to ride it some day.

 

[CaliAngel]

I understand why rides need to be closed.

But why the HELL do they keep permanently closing rides without any kind of warning or send off? Such a middle finger to anyone who ever remembers and/or loved the ride, coaster enthusiast or not.

It's so infuriating to me.

 

[Pokemaniac]

I understand why rides need to be closed.

But why the HELL do they keep permanently closing rides without any kind of warning or send off? Such a middle finger to anyone who ever remembers and/or loved the ride, coaster enthusiast or not.

It's so infuriating to me.

I suspect it's because they don't want to call too much attention to what is about to become a torrent of big coaster closures. We are reaching the point where the coasters Six Flags built in the mid–nineties to mid-noughties are reaching the end of their life spans. Every year for a while now, almost every park in the chain will be removing way more and bigger coasters than they are adding. I think the strategy is to let the closures pass in silence, to avoid calling attention to the gutting of their ride lineups. It has only just begun, and it will go on for a while.

 

[CanobieFan]

It has only just begun, and it will go on for a while.

Oh, for sure. The next 2 or 3 years are gonna be rough at SF/CF. But I do think by 28 or so it'll be 'over' for the most part. But I definitely don't see large sprawling rides replacing things that have been removed. I honestly believe the the time of large footprint coasters is behind us, especially when it comes to the corporate parks.

 

[rideguy70]

I understand why rides need to be closed.

But why the HELL do they keep permanently closing rides without any kind of warning or send off? Such a middle finger to anyone who ever remembers and/or loved the ride, coaster enthusiast or not.

It's so infuriating to me.

I'd normally agree that a ride closure should get a send off, but in this particular case, the ride had been down for quite a while already. I can't really argue spending a lot of money to get a ride working only to close it. It seems it was too expensive to re-open in the first place.

It had been down off and on for a least a year. They did get it to work every once in a while for a brief time, but it never seemed to last. So clearly, the ride had issues, and it wasn't from a lack of trying.

I think it's different if an older ride is operational, and they close it without warning.

 

[emoo]

Actually disappointed about this one.

EFK was one of those rides that had stuck in my mind from the early 00's documentaries that started me to become an enthusiast and I really wanted to ride it some day.

I think it was 'Extreme Machines : Roller coasters ' that hooked me onto this ride (and many others) decades before I got to actually ride. So glad I got on this in 2013. I was entirely unaware of any week launch due to the nostalgia payoff & the satisfaction overwhelming me. Sad times even if sensible eyes can clearly see it's a dated limp ride.