An operating Valencia theme park where the Revolution roller coaster carries a documented 1996 workplace fatality — and the ghost of the employee reportedly seen near the station and tunnel after closing.
26101 Magic Mountain Pkwy, Valencia, CA 91355
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Standard theme-park admission; check Six Flags Magic Mountain for current ticket pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved theme-park midways with hilly sections
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1976 · World's first modern roller coaster with a vertical loop (Revolution, 1976) · Major Southern California theme park since 1971
Six Flags Magic Mountain opened in 1971 in Valencia, in the Santa Clarita Valley north of Los Angeles. Over the following decades it became one of the most roller-coaster-dense theme parks in the world.
The ride at the center of this entry, the Revolution, opened in 1976 as the Great American Revolution. It is historically significant as the world's first modern roller coaster to feature a 360-degree vertical loop, a milestone in coaster engineering. Over the years the ride has been refurbished and rebranded, including as 'The New Revolution.'
On May 30, 1996, Cherie A. LeMotte, a 25-year-old ride attendant working the Revolution station, slipped while crossing the tracks and was struck and killed by an incoming train in front of a platform of waiting riders. Cal-OSHA investigated and found the park had inadequate safety standards and failed to enforce safety policies with employees. The death was ruled an industrial accident. This is the documented incident underlying the ghost tradition attached to the Revolution.
The park remains fully operational, with the Revolution among its longest-running attractions.
Sources
The ghost story attached to the Revolution coaster has a documented foundation. On May 30, 1996, Cherie A. LeMotte, a 25-year-old ride attendant, slipped while crossing the Revolution's tracks and was struck and killed by an incoming train in front of a platform of waiting riders (UPI Archives, May 31, 1996). Cal-OSHA investigated and found inadequate safety standards and failed policy enforcement. The incident was ruled an industrial accident. LeMotte is the person at the center of the ghost tradition.
Following her death, employees began reporting her apparition near the Revolution's loading station and in the tunnel area after the loop — accounts described in the Shadowlands Haunted Places Index and HauntedPlaces.org. Screams are said to be heard around 1 a.m. after the park closes. Whether these reports are rooted in genuine experience or in the psychological weight of a known workplace death is impossible to determine; the folklore is consistent in its details across independent sources.
HauntBound presents the legend respectfully and grounded in the documented 1996 fatality. LeMotte was a young worker who died in a preventable accident; the ghost tradition is framed as atmosphere tied to a real loss, not sensationalism.
Notable Entities
Visit Six Flags Magic Mountain and ride The New Revolution, opened in 1976 as the world's first modern looping roller coaster. The ghost story is theme-park folklore among staff, not a documented event.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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