Magic Flyer

Magic Flyer also known as Percy's Railway, is a small, oval-circuit steel roller coaster made by Bradley and Kaye that opened in 1971. The coaster is located in the Whistlestop Park area of Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. It was an unknown-named coaster at the former Beverly Park prior to operating at Magic Mountain.

Magic flyer

Magic Flyer
Previously known as Little Dipper (1941-1971) Clown Coaster (1971-1984) Wile E. Coyote Coaster (1985-1998) Goliath Jr. (2001-2007) Percy's Railway (2008-2010)
Magic Flyer, when it was known as Percy's Railway.
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Park section	Whistlestop Park
Coordinates	34.424861°N 118.595918°W / 34.424861; -118.595918
Status	Operating
Opening date	May 29, 1971
Beverly Park
Coordinates	34°07′18″N 118°25′05″W
Status	Removed
Opening date	1946 or later
Closing date	1970
General statistics
Type	Steel – Kiddie
Manufacturer	Bradley and Kaye
Designer	Chance Rides
Model	Little Dipper
Track layout	Oval
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	10 ft (3.0 m)
Length	350 ft (110 m)
Speed	10 mph (16 km/h)
Inversions	0
Duration	0:30
Max vertical angle	1°
Capacity	360 riders per hour
G-force	2.1
Trains	Single train with 3 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 12 riders per train.
Height Restriction	54 in (140 cm) or shorter to ride
Magic Flyer at RCDB

History

Magic Flyer was originally located at Beverly Park in the 1940s, known as the Little Dipper.^[1] It was relocated to Six Flags Magic Mountain in 1971 where it began operation as Clown Coaster. In the 1984-1985 off-season the ride was renamed and rethemed to Wile E. Coyote Coaster to suit the theme of the nearby Bugs Bunny World.^[2][3]

In 1998, the roller coaster closed and was disassembled. In 2000, the coaster was redesigned to look like the larger Goliath roller coaster, located in the same park, and relocated near to it. The old supports were replaced with supports that resembled those found on the Goliath and the trains were rebuilt from the chassis up. It was repainted with Goliath's color scheme and given the name Goliath Jr. (Goliath Junior) to reopen in 2001.^[2][3]

In the 2007-2008 off-season Goliath Jr. was rethemed to Percy's Railway to match Six Flags Magic Mountain's new kids zone, Thomas Town. Similarly to the Goliath Jr. makeover, the cars were rebuilt to resemble Percy the Small Engine (the leading car) and his Troublesome Trucks (the two following cars), all from the television series Thomas & Friends.^[2][3][4]

In late 2010, Six Flags began the process of removing licensed theming from attractions. They terminated several licenses including that for Thomas the Tank Engine. The Thomas Town at Six Flags Magic Mountain has been renamed and rethemed to Whistlestop Park which reopened on March 19, 2011.^[5] Percy's Railway was now again rethemed and renamed to Magic Flyer. The coaster saw very little change aside from Percy's face being removed and the red stripes painted over.^[6][7]

Ride

The train exits out of the station and directly ascends the 10-foot-tall (3.0 m) lift hill. The track then makes a small dip before navigating a 180° turn to the left. A second small dip is followed by another ascent before making a second 180° turn to the left and returning to the station.