Valencia, California: Magic Pagoda (Gone)

I actually worked a full summer in the Magic Pagoda at Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA. The big Buddha at the entrance was really a plastic statue with a moving face projected on it that appeared to be speaking. We'd close the black velvet curtains, and whip them open very quickly to make the waiting crowd scream before then entered. It was complete with a mirror maze (which we complicated by letting ourselves be seen in the mirror waving folks forward) only to find it was just another reflection! Cool. The disappearing chambers were pretty neat too. Four folks disappeared every three minutes! Strobe light room at the end always had something to offer. What? Did those kids think nobody could SEE THEM? Sadly, it was a great big fire hazard, and the amusement park retired the attraction in the 90s. It was great fun.

The Magic Pagoda was a silly attraction. It began with a monologue from a talking Buddha statue. Visitors then walked through a surreal environment of mirrored mazes, dragons, neon bridges, etc. Finally, select visitors would be dragged into small rooms and dematerialized in front of your eyes, while air jets in the floor blew skirts skyward. Cool. If memory serves, the place didn't have enough fire escapes when the attraction caught fire. There may have been some deaths. It was immediately closed down and eventually removed.

Response to earlier tip: Yes,I remember visiting the "Magic Pagoda" at Magic Mountain in the early '70s. It was like a cross between an Oriental culture museum and Lidsville. A portion of the structure still remains and is now a snack bar, located just above the loading area for the Ninja roller coaster on Samurai Summit.

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting: Does anyone else remember the attraction "The Magic Pagoda" at the pre-Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia? This was in the early to mid 70's. The attraction was up on the back side of the circle pathway that went around the park. It was a pagoda type building that you walked through. Inside, you seemed to walk through an oriental city. It was dark and oriental figures moved in and out of windows, fighting. What was this about? At the end of the path, you entered a black room that had a fluorescent Chinese dragon going around the room at ceiling height. There were strobe lights, and you could run around and bump into your friends. I know I wasn't dreaming. Someone else must remember this?