Magic Mountain to thrill year-round

“By operating 365 days a year, that is the entry point to go after the tour and travel trade,” Weber said.

The park, which runs more roller coasters — 19 — than any other U.S. theme park, now operates 250 days a year, primarily in the summer months, during school holiday breaks and on select weekends. The Disneyland Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park operate year-round.

Industry experts say the move is unusual for a regional theme park but makes sense for Six Flags Magic Mountain, which already has an extra-long season, after extending operations during the Christmas holiday in 2014.

The park has long staged a hugely popular Halloween event that runs for several weeks, starting in September and running until the end of October.

“Any time you can add additional revenue to your fixed costs, you are adding profit,” said Martin Lewison, a theme park expert and business management professor at Farmingdale State College in New York.

Attendance has surged at Six Flags Magic Mountain over the last few years as its parent company, Six Flags Entertainment Corp., has invested heavily in new attractions.

From 2014 to 2016, attendance grew 17 percent to 3.3 million, according to an estimate by Aecom, the Los Angeles engineering and consulting firm that produces an annual theme park attendance report.

Among Southern California theme parks, Six Flags Magic Mountain ranked sixth in 2016 attendance, behind Disneyland (17.9 million visitors), California Adventure (9.3 million), Universal Studios Hollywood (8.1 million), Knott’s Berry Farm (4 million) and SeaWorld San Diego (3.5 million).

Although Six Flags Magic Mountain does not operate a hotel in the theme park, Weber hinted that such a project could be in the works. “We are looking at all our options,” she said.

A hotel could be a profitable addition to the park because guests would be willing to pay higher nightly rates to stay in an on-property hotel that is designed with superhero or roller-coaster themes, Lewison said.

“If you are going to have your park open all year, it makes sense to have accommodations all year-round as well,” he said.

The park has already invested in new attractions to help boost attendance as travel spending has increased nationwide, thanks to lower airfares and high consumer confidence.

In July, the park opened its first “dark ride,” an indoor, 3-D interactive attraction starring DC superheroes and villains, called Justice League: Battle for Metropolis.

Last spring, the park teamed up with electronics giant Samsung to strap virtual reality goggles onto riders of the park’s Revolution roller coaster so they can feel the twists, drops and climbs of the coaster track while watching images of a midair battle with space aliens.