Bugs Bunny World at Six Flags Magic Mountain is a special place for the youngest park guests, the thrill seekers in training. It’s a collection of rides and entertainment that are age appropriate and slightly secluded from the rest of the park. Rather than profile each ride individually, like I have done for all of the bigger rides, I’ve grouped them all here in a collective profile due to their diminutive size.
When Magic Mountain first opened in 1971, this area dedicated to kids rides was known as Children’s World and the Looney Tunes characters were the park’s official mascots. In 1972, the Looney Tunes characters were replaced by the park’s own mascots, the Wizard and his trolls. To promote the new mascots, Children’s World was expanded with the addition of Wizard’s Village, which contained lots more fun activities for kids. Children’s World continued to expand and evolve over the years.
In 1985, Six Flags Magic Mountain, as it was now known, retired the Wizard and troll mascots and brought back the Looney Tunes characters as the official park mascots. To celebrate their return, Children’s World was transformed into Bugs Bunny World, with virtually everything now being themed after the Looney Tunes characters.
A giant Sequoia tree in the heart of High Sierra Territory marks the official entrance to Bugs Bunny World, which has become one of the park’s signature icons. At 140′ tall, it’s not only visible from many places in the park, but it’s also the world’s tallest fake tree:
I’ve been told and read that it’s called the General Sam Tree, named after Yosemite Sam. However, I can’t find any reference that Yosemite Sam was a general in any of his cartoon appearances. Since I like the name, I’m going to keep using it until proven wrong.
At the base of the tree is where you’ll find the entrance to Bugs Bunny World. There is a path that actually goes through the bottom of the tree, right into Bugs Bunny World:
Merrie Melodies Carousel
All good amusement parks have a classic carousel. Six Flags Magic Mountain is no exception with their Grand Carousel. Since kids love carousels as well, there is a pint-sized carousel called Merrie Melodies Carousel made specifically for the little tykes:
The much smaller horses stand two-by-two, with both standing and jumper types:
Yosemite Sam’s Flight School
For those kids who are into flying, there is Yosemite Sam’s Flight School:
Six planes, seating up to four (little) people each, circle round and round. A yoke in each plane allows the rider to make the plane go up and down as it flies the pattern:
Taz’s Lumber Co.
For those who prefer to remain more grounded, there is Taz’s Lumber Company:
The kids are strapped into their very own 4×4 which automatically navigates a tracked course:
Foghorn Leghorn’s Barnyard Railway
For those who don’t have a driver’s license, or just prefer to have someone else do the driving, there is Foghorn Leghorn’s Barnyard Railway:
Sit back, relax, and take in the scenery as your train circles a small track around the farm:
Daffy’s Adventure Tours
For a guided tour of the local wilderness, I suggest Daffy’s Adventure Tours:
Once the bus is loaded, the giant arms that it’s connected to start to move, causing the bus to rise up and down, forwards and backwards, as the arms slowly spin:
Pepe LePew’s Tea Party
Check out Pepe LePew and the feisty feline he’s infatuated with on Pepe LePew’s Tea Party:
This is a classic tea cup ride. Don’t worry, it doesn’t spin that fast:
Elmer’s Weather Balloons
For a ride that’s lighter than air, there is Elmer’s Weather Balloons:
Once the baskets are loaded, the balloons start to rise as the entire ride starts to spin. The baskets slowly go up and down until settling back down to Earth at the end:
Sylvester’s Pounce & Bounce
For something that doesn’t spin, check out Sylvester’s Pounce & Bounce:
This is a classic frog hopper ride. Once the gondola is loaded, the six passengers are slowly raised upwards, where Sylvester tries to get Tweety Bird. When Tweety smacks Sylvester on the head with the mallet, the gondola starts to fall back down. However, it gently bounces on the way down until reaching the bottom. It isn’t a free fall ride like Lex Luthor:
Tweety’s Escape
You think Tweety has it easy? Find out on Tweety’s Escape:
Each rider is put into one of Tweety’s bird cages. The cages slowly spin in circles as the riders hold on inside the cage. If you’re good, the ride operator will let you out at the end:
Canyon Blaster
For the bravest of the brave in Bugs Bunny World, there is Canyon Blaster:
Canyon Blaster is a small roller coaster. There are six cars, seating two riders each, that resemble wood crates of TNT. It reaches a maximum height of about 10′ and travels in a big oval pattern, with a small 360° helix in the middle:
Canyon Blaster is the second smallest roller coaster in the park, just one step up from Magic Flyer in Whistlestop Park. When a kid is ready to graduate up from Canyon Blaster, their next roller coaster would be Road Runner Express, at the opposite end of Bugs Bunny World.
Besides the rides, there are a few other fun things for kids to do in Bugs Bunny World. For example, here is Bugs Bunny’s burrow:
It’s pretty sparse inside, but he’s usually out taking pictures with people anyways:
There are lots of plywood cutouts of the various Looney Tunes characters scattered around the area. Kids can have their picture taken in this famous Bugs, Daffy, and Elmer scene:
Here’s a wacky fountain to have your family picture taken in front of:
Behind the fountain is the Carrot Club Theater:
Built in 1993, this was originally known as Animal Star Theatre, where different animals performed tricks. During the 2012 season, it was primarily used for kids karaoke. With the recent demise of the Warner Bros. Kids Club stage to make way for a brand new themed area, I expect more kids stage entertainment will be held here once again:
There is a special Birthday Parlor located behind Wascal’s, but I’m not quite sure what it’s used for. The park has a birthday party package that can be purchased, but it is held in the Mooseburger Lodge, not here. This may actually no longer be used:
During October, when the rest of the park has been prepared for Fright Fest, Bugs Bunny World gets transformed into Looney Tunes Harvest Fest. There are special Halloween crafts and activities for kids, the Looney Tunes characters stroll around in their Halloween ooutfits, and kids can show up in their costumes to trick-or-treat around the area:
There is another major attraction in Bugs Bunny World that I didn’t cover here. It’s called the Looney Tunes Lodge and it’s a giant foam ball playhouse for kids. Look for a dedicated profile on this attraction in the very near future.
I believe the General Sam tree made its appearance about 1993, the same year that the now-defunct Yosemite Sam Sierra Falls ride went in. During that year, Magic Mountain began introducing dedicated themed areas, even though there were already loosely themed areas at the time. (For instance, there was the Buccaneer, Swashbuckler, and Jolly Roger in the same general area, though it wasn’t called “Pirates Cove” at the time.)
Bugs Bunny World does have some very good attractions for kids, but at times I think it might be wise for the park to completely rebuild this area from the ground up. To me, it’s sort of a mish-mash of attractions, and it could be a bit easier to navigate the area with better spacing and organization of them. Over the years this area has been expanded and changed, but without any real direction. Just my ‘pinion, though.
Of course now that my daughter is too old for this area (I guess age 22 is too old, huh?), I don’t spend much time here. Occasionally I catch a “just because it’s there” ride on Canyon Blaster or the new Road Runner Express, but that’s about it.
Sad to say that the
Thomas TownWhistlestop Park area really didn’t hit it off with the crowd. Perhaps they could rethink that and expand Bugs Bunny World in that direction at some point.Personally, I’d like to see both Whistlestop Park and Pistachio Park areas used for a couple of killer flat rides. Perhaps something along the lines of the forthcoming Texas SkyScreamer for the Pistachio Park area and a massive Gyro Swing where Whistlestop Park sits. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could even fit a third ride in there once you clear everything else out of the way.
I agree with you—and I would really like a Star Flyer type ride and think it’s a good fit for the park, but as we already know, Magic Mountain doesn’t seem too interested in putting in any flat rides. Oftentimes I wonder why they even keep 40-year-old rides like Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth and The Flash. Aside from what few water rides they have left, as well as the Bugs Bunny World rides, these are the only two true flats left in the park. I do like Pistachio Park simply because it’s a place to sit down and rest your feet if nothing else. You could even get a meal nearby and eat in the park if you want to. But Whistlestop Park? Sorry, that’s a waste of land right now in my opinion. Put a flat or two there.
Considering that their major 2012 investment (LL:DOD) was a flat ride, and a record-breaking, kick-ass one at that, I don’t think it’s fair to say they’ve completely written them off yet. I’m hoping that they see from that ride that if you invest in the proper types of flat rides, people will come. Himalayas, round-ups, slingshots, and carousels are not the types of flat rides I’m talking about.
As far as a place to rest, yes, Pistachio Park is good for that. But you can, and should, stick tables and umbrellas all over the park. There’s no sense in wasting a perfectly good piece of land that’s already housed rides in the past and is currently vacant. Stick a new ride there and move the tables over to the empty concrete slab across from Wascal’s that used to house a food stand. It’s already elevated, shaded, and off the midway. Most people don’t even know it’s there.
I didn’t think of LL:DoD as a flat ride, but it does qualify. What I do find funny is how so many people say that they want more flat rides at the park, but would they actually ride them? Depending on which ride(s) they add, could the park market them successfully? They’ve become known as the roller coaster capital of the world, so with few exceptions (like LL:DoD), unless it’s a coaster, it may not get so much attention.
Nice little profile of the area. I just wanted to bring up a few things for either discussion or exploration in future posts…
1. General Sam was listed as an attraction at the time of it’s debut. Perhaps the fact that it is the world’s tallest man made tree was thought to be a big enough sell for this. Of course there is no ride, but I guess looking at or generally being in the presence of the tree was an “attraction”
2. There used to be a rock maze toward the back of BBW. It was full of misters that made it a little more exciting to find your way through. I want to say it was near Bugs’ burrow, but I cant remember exactly. My last recollection of wondering through it was on a family trip back in May of 1995.
3. Tweety’s Escape has been around for AGES…I believe it was originally themed after the Apollo space program.
4. Flight School’s ride hardware was replaced some time around the introduction of the Wiggles World to other SF parks. That is, originally it used a classic Red Baron hardware found in many other parks. These new sets are made by Zamperla and have a boxy, cartoonish look to them that’s definitely brighter than the old school red and white planes used previously.
5. I am surprised you didn’t talk about the biggest addition to the land in the 1993 makeover…the Looney Tunes Lodge. The interesting about this one is that unlike the similar installation at Universal Studios Hollywood, this one doesnt allow anyone over 54″ unless you are with a child under 54″. I am sure this is due to the large teen demographic the park pulls (wouldnt want the teens picking on the lil kids) BUT there is something to said about having all ages in there. I have had an absolute blast in the Universal version, “fighting” with kids. They like to see older kids and adults get hit as much as they like getting hit.
Thanks, Brandon. I have lots of history on the area and the rides, but it was actually making me drag my feet on writing about it because there was too much. I didn’t know where to start. I figured I’d show what was there now and do historical pieces later.
The rock maze was added in 1993, the same year the tree was built. Tweety’s escape was added in 1972 and was called Lunar Lander. Instead of bird cages, they were miniature space capsules, just like from the Apollo missions. The Looney Tunes Lodge wasn’t actually added until the 1999 make-over. I’m going to write a dedicated post on that later because it’s a bigger attraction and this post was already getting kind of long.
When i was younger, i remember a ball room. My favirote thing to do before i was tall enough for the rides. Anyone know if its still there?
The ball room has been gone for over 20 years. It was in the Wizard’s Village from 1981-1992.
That old ball room was awesome! I forgot all about all of it till now. There was a blue padded pyramid thing to climb up on and slide down into the ball pit? Think it was split in half. Big kids and little kids section. Was there a yellow hole in the pyramid you could climb in or slide down? I forgot. I always wanted to go in. This would never be made again these days thanks to lawsuits.
Then it had to be something else. I was born in 1992 and im pretty sure i didnt go to magic mountain that year. I remember putting balls in to blasters and shooting them. I believe it had 3 floors. Dont remember much and it might of been at six flags st louis. Oh well. I prefer the top notch coasters anyways. Can’t wait for Full Throttle to open up.
It sounds like you’re referring to the Looney Tunes Lodge. It was built in 1999 and is still there. It’s multi-story and kids can shoot foam balls around from a variety of devices.
By the way, really appreciate the posts. I have been to sfmm quite a few times and i love the park. One quick question, what is the reason they don’t run both sides on collousus? Always wondered that
Thanks, Chilton. They do run both sides of Colossus on occasion, but not very often. You’ll usually only see them do it during summer when it’s really, really busy. There typically isn’t enough traffic to warrant running both sides during other times. You have to remember that running both sides means twice the staff and having to service the trains twice as often. There’s no sense in doing that if there isn’t enough people to consistently fill the trains on both sides.
Anyone remember the massive rope/net climbing area in the 80′s? You were enclosed within a heavy duty rope net area you had to climb up to get in. One suspended rope path went over to a pirate ship? Then the other rope path lead to a shaky wooden suspension bridge. Once you crossed over the bridge you were at a castle looking place where you had to take a 2 or 3 story metal twisting slide to get out. Great times. Wish it was still there.
Glad to see some of the other old rides are still there.But I agree with others. Bugs Bunny World needs to be totally redone for kids or just removed.
This was way before my time living in this area, but if anyone has any old photos they’re willing to share for a profile, I’d be very grateful.
Pingback: Profile: Looney Tunes Lodge - The Coaster Guy