- Magnum XL-200
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Magnum XL-200 
Riders cresting a hill on Magnum XL-200 Location Cedar Point Coordinates 41°29′7.25″N 82°41′10″W / 41.4853472°N 82.68611°WCoordinates: 41°29′7.25″N 82°41′10″W / 41.4853472°N 82.68611°W Status Operating Opened May 6, 1989 Cost US$ 8,000,000 Type Steel Manufacturer Arrow Dynamics Designer Ron Toomer Model Hyper coaster Track layout Out and Back Lift/launch system Chain lift hill Height 205 ft (62 m) Drop 195 ft (59 m) Length 5,106 ft (1,556 m) Max speed 72 mph (116 km/h) Inversions 0 Duration 2:02 Max vertical angle 60° Capacity 2000 riders per hour Height restriction 4 ft 0 in (122 cm) Magnum XL-200 at RCDB Pictures of Magnum XL-200 at RCDB 
Amusement Parks PortalMagnum XL-200 is an Arrow Dynamics steel hypercoaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Built in 1989, it was the first complete circuit roller coaster to break the 200-foot (61 m) barrier. It is considered to have started the roller coaster wars, in which amusement parks competed to build the highest and fastest roller coasters.[citation needed]
Contents
Ride Experience
Magnum XL-200 is located in the Top Thrill Dragster midway section of the park. The queue line is located in a shaded area, surrounded by shrubs and trees. Wait times for Magnum XL-200 do not typically surpass 20 minutes, which can be attributed to the ride's high capacity. The queue area is filled with signs listing facts about the ride. The area is typically filled with music from the 1980s, staying true to the decade it debuted.
The station has changed very little from its original appearance. Magnum XL-200 operated with an all female crew in its initial season and remained that way until recently. However, the crew currently has both males and females.
Magnum XL-200 is classified a hypercoaster as well as an out and back roller coaster: the first three hills take riders out (away from the station). After a high-speed pretzel turn, the train then races back through a series of tunnels and small airtime hills.
Airtime (the feeling of extreme negative g forces) is considered to be the highlight element of the ride. The 3rd hill of the ride has been reported to give its riders the feeling of weightlessness for almost 5 seconds.
Details
When Magnum XL-200 opened, it did not have up-stop wheels. Instead, it used pads, similar to those used on Gemini (in fact, Gemini still uses the up-stop pads). Shortly after its debut, however, regular, more-traditional up-stop wheels were added to the trains.[1] Cedar Fair, LP CEO Dick Kinzel has been quoted as saying he was one of the few to ride Magnum XL-200's first train, boarding the train after only one test cycle. Over its entire history, Magnum has only been repainted once. The original color was scarlet red. Painting to moly orange started in 2005 and was completed in 2006; hence, for a period of time, Magnum operated with two different colors.[2] The name Magnum stems from the Latin root for large.[3]
Magnum XL-200 has been the target of false rumors claiming that the structure was sinking due to unstable ground and that plans were to disassemble the ride and sell it to either a Japanese theme park, or a Six Flags park. This rumor supposedly started as an April Fools Day joke in an Ohio newspaper, but quickly spread via the Internet. Cedar Point has quickly denounced such rumors.[4]
Accident
On May 26, 2007 one of the coaster's trains collided with another at fewer than 10 miles per hour (16 km/h), causing minor damage to both trains and minor injuries to at least three passengers. Two people were taken to a First Aid Station, and a third person was taken to a local hospital because of an asthma attack. Fifty-nine people were aboard the two trains. The ride reopened the next day, on May 27, and park spokesman Robin Innes said the accident was caused by rain: "We think it was just caused by excessive moisture on the tracks due to the heavy rain storms we had in the morning".[5]
Awards and rankings
Magnum XL-200 is classified as an ACE Coaster Landmark.[6]
Golden Ticket Awards: Top Steel Roller Coasters[7][8][9][10] Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Ranking 1 1 1 3 3 4 3 3 3 5 7 9 8 9[11] Mitch Hawker's Best Roller Coaster Poll: Best Steel-Tracked Roller Coaster Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Ranking 11 n/a[12] 13 19 24 33 44 65 46 78 69 58 NAPHA Survey: Favorite Steel Roller Coaster[13] Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Ranking 2 2 3 3 2 References
- ^ Sandy, Adam (2006). "Roller Coaster History - Late Eighties". Ultimate RollerCoaster. http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/history/1980_1990/late_80s.shtml. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
- ^ "Magnum XL-200 Being Re-Painted!". The Point Online. 2005-03-29. Archived from the original on 2007-12-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20071226172152/http://www.thepointol.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=5674. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
- ^ "Latin: large, big, great". Word Info. http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/1237. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
- ^ "Is Magnum XL-200 sinking?". CedarPoint.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20071113061551/http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/news/faq.cfm?current_root=240#faq_90. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
- ^ Alcorn, Chauncey (2007-05-28). "Rain blamed for Magnum malfunction". Sandusky Register. http://sanduskyregister.com/articles/2007/05/28/front/293269.txt. Retrieved 2007-12-16.[dead link]
- ^ ACE Coaster Landmark Awards
- ^ rec.roller-coaster FAQ - Amusement Today Top Coasters Poll (1999)
- ^ Golden Ticket Awards - Top 25 Steel/Wooden Roller Coasters
- ^ Amusement Today
- ^ "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2010" (PDF). Amusement Today. http://www.goldenticketawards.com/PDF/GTA2010issue.pdf. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ Amusement Today 2011 Park and Ride Winners
- ^ There was no steel poll for 2000.
- ^ Survey - National Amusement Park Historical Association
External links
Preceded by
Dragon MountainWorld's Tallest Complete Circuit Roller Coaster
May 1989–May 1994Succeeded by
DesperadoPreceded by
Great American Scream MachineWorld's Fastest Roller Coaster
May 1989–May 1991Succeeded by
Steel PhantomRoller coasters at Cedar Point Operating: Blue Streak · Cedar Creek Mine Ride · Corkscrew · Disaster Transport · Gemini · Iron Dragon · Jr. Gemini · Magnum XL-200 · Mantis · Maverick · Mean Streak · Millennium Force · Raptor · Top Thrill Dragster · Wicked Twister · WildCat · Woodstock ExpressFormer: Broadway Trip · Cyclone · Dip the Dips Scenic Railway · High Frolics · Jumbo Jet · Kiddieland Roller Coaster · Leap the Dips · Racer · Scamper · Switchback Railway · Three-Way Figure Eight Roller Toboggan · Wild Mouse · WildcatCategories:- Steel roller coasters
- Arrow Dynamics roller coasters
- Megacoasters
- Cedar Point
- Roller coasters introduced in 1989
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