This time of year is all about holiday traditions. It’s all about making those special memories to hold in your heart and give you that special warm feeling of contentment and joy. For us here in the Theme Park Duo family, one of those Southern California traditions is always a visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain for their can’t miss Holiday in the Park festivities!

Wether roller coasters are your thing or not, this event has so much to offer and will be fun for the whole family. We didn’t go on a single “big kid” coaster during our visit and still had a fun filled night of holiday goodness. We specified “big kid” rides, because we did start off our evening in the Bugs Bunny World section of the park. Having not spent much time in this area previously, we were both blown away by just how many rides and attractions are packed in that little area! All three of us had a great time waiting for the sun to set and the magical holiday lights to turn on!

Our first stop of the night after the kiddo had her fill of kiddie coasters was the North Pole! We paid a visit to Santa’s Workshop where we met Santa and Mrs. Claus! We just love the time and attention that each child receives as they await their turn to meet the man himself! Especially since Mrs. Claus greets families outside as they enter the line. She took the time to get down to eye level with the shorter children and held their hands as they excitedly walk to Santa. It truly makes for a memorable experience.

Though closed the night we went due to windy conditions, there is also a great little craft area right outside Santa’s Workshop where elves will assist your little ones as they make holiday crafts! We have loved this area in the past!

We spent the rest of the night just simply taking everything in. We went from fantastical area to fantastical area and met so many wonderful walk around characters along the way! Right outside the North Pole area, you can find two giant gingerbread people, Ginger and Snap, who were just a delight! We also encountered 4 more original characters in Holly Rock and one of our favorites of the night was the bubbly disco yeti over in Jingle Bell Way! The talent of Holiday in the Park (and throughout the year) is always one of the stand out features of any SFMM event. You can tell that they all put their heart and soul into making these characters come to life in order to create special memories for the guests. Additionally, you won’t find many holiday events that create unique and original characters on the level that SFMM does for the holidays.

We heard a lot of guests commenting during our visit that they had come to the park that night to just take in the lights. And that is pretty much what we did as well! There is so much to see and experience that you can spend an entire evening just strolling around and taking it all in. We first made our way up past Revolution and delighted in looking at all of the “snow sculptures“ lining the pathway towards Viper, which was called Artic Alley.

Our daughter always has a great time looking at these and shouting out what animals she sees. From the giant owl to the mama and baby polar bear; this is definitely a favorite for us. As you venture up farther you get to Peppermint Path and probably our favorite parts of the park. Everywhere you look you see red and white striped trees. It’s really a winter wonderland, especially on colder nights. Once we reached the top of the hill, we took a break at Katy’s Kettle. We refilled our hot chocolate and enjoyed some live music. I think the added touch this year of having a live band playing your favorite Christmas tunes really made that whole area come to life. Something about the massive trees, lights, music, and overall ambience was just perfection.

After our break at the top of the hill, we went down the other side to enjoy the festivities over by West Coast racers in the Holly Rock area. We love this area because it’s so fun and vibrant. I do remember there being a few more lights last year and we definitely missed the light tunnel that really brought the area to life. We would love to see the light tunnel return in the future! We were feeling hungry, so we also stopped here to get some holiday grub. We got the Chicken Tortilla Soup and the Pupusa’s. The Pupusas were honestly excellent and definitely something that we would get again! The soup on the other hand didn’t meet our expectations. It wasn’t hot and more luke warm. Additionally, Twin Charged Tacos (the location in which we purchased these holiday treats) seemed to be understaffed so our wait for two items was far too high.

Make sure to use your digital map to check out all the locations that serve the special holiday offerings! This is the best and most efficient way to see what the park is offering. We would love the park to add some signs outside each location so people can view speciality items without having to look on their phone during thier visits. It also would help with more “spontaneous” holiday food purchases.

Speaking of food, there are plenty of places stop to indulge in some holiday treats. As you make your way down the pathway back towards DC Universe. You can stop at any of the several treat booths in Holiday Village (located in the Metropolis area).

Additionally, scattered throughout the park, you’ll find fire pits where guests can purchase s’mores kits and roast their very own marshmallows. We personally love these small interactive elements that can help create some fantastic holiday memories. But it was also nice to just warm your hands by the fire on a chilly night. We did have some s’mores kits, but our crazy trio decided to just eat the ingredients separately and not actually build a s’more! still delicious none the less!

Just around the corner is another of our favorite spots, The Gleampunk District! I dare you to go over to this area and try to find one spot that is not COVERD in lights! the whole vibe of this area is magnificent. the quirky steampunk Christmas decorations and the predominantly blue and green lights make this area come to life in the quirkiest of ways.

One thing that all three of us loved about the event this year was the abundance of falling “snow”! Most events have magical show moments with lights and music and falling snope, and that’s great! The thing that we really appreciated during our visit to Holiday in the Park is the randomness of the falling snow. We came upon a magical little snow storm no less than three times! It really made for spur of the moment fun and many priceless magical moments.

After traversing the whole park and taking in all of the sights and sounds and treats, our little family was ready to head home. With a quick stop to Snowy Nights (by Fully Throttle) dance party on our way out, we said our farewells to SFMM Holiday in the Park for 2023.

OVERALL

This event has quickly become a can’t miss holiday tradition in our family, and something we look forward to every year. The overall ambiance and vibe of this event is just so relaxed and effortless; and that is something that we have really grown to appreciate. For a park primarily focused on majorly big thrill rides, we were so impressed for all of the small quaint offerings scattered around. We will be taking all of the memories we made this year and holding them close until we can make even more in 2024! Till then, have a happy holidays!