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Magnum XL-200, colloquially known as simply Magnum, is a
steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated whee ...
built by
Arrow Dynamics Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (194 ...
at
Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and op ...
in
Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...
. When it opened in 1989, it was the tallest, fastest, and steepest complete-circuit roller coaster in the world as well as the first
hypercoaster A hypercoaster can mean one of two things: *Any continuous-circuit roller coaster with a height or drop measuring greater than 200 feet Or, more narrowly: *Any complete-circuit roller coaster with a height or drop between 200 and 299 feet ...
– a roller coaster that exceeds in height. Some have credited Magnum with starting a period in the industry known as the ''roller coaster wars'', in which amusement parks competed with one another at a rapid pace to build the next tallest and fastest roller coaster. More than 40 million people had ridden Magnum as of 2009. Magnum XL-200 held the title of tallest roller coaster in the world until 1994 when The Big One opened at
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replacin ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, as well as the title of longest drop and fastest speed until surpassed two years later by Steel Phantom at
Kennywood Park Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased in 1 ...
outside of Pittsburgh. The ride was ranked by ''
Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...
''
Golden Ticket Awards ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arli ...
as the best steel roller coaster for three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000. Magnum XL-200 continues to rank among the top 50 steel roller coasters; , it was ranked 25th in the world.


History

By the mid-1980s, Cedar Point had grown into a successful collection of roller coasters and other smaller rides on the shores of
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
.
Dick Kinzel Richard L. Kinzel (born July 25, 1940) is the former CEO of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. He served as president and CEO of Cedar Fair until January 2, 2012, when his successor, Matt Ouimet, took over as president and CEO. He was involved in ...
took over as president and CEO of
Cedar Fair Cedar Fair, L.P., formally Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The company owns and operates eleven amusement parks, nine included-w ...
, the company that operates the park, in 1986. In 1988, Kinzel saw a report on
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
about the opening of a new coaster in Japan called
Bandit Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...
at
Yomiuriland Yomiuriland (よみうりランド, ''Yomiurirando'') is an amusement park in Inagi, Tokyo, Japan that first opened in 1964. It is situated on hillsides, and features rides such as roller coasters and water flumes. It is home to Yomiuri Giants ...
that emphasized height and speed but had no inversions. Kinzel wanted to introduce a similar coaster that emphasized steep drops and negative g-forces over inversions and spins, which were common at the time. It had been 10 years since the last major addition,
Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...
, was introduced. Cedar Point asked for proposals from
TOGO Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
,
Dinn Corporation Dinn Corporation was a roller coaster designing and manufacturing company established in West Chester, Ohio, in 1983 by Charles Dinn. The company is noted for moving and rebuilding several existing wooden coasters and building ten new wooden rol ...
,
Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement ins ...
and
Arrow Dynamics Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (194 ...
to build a roller coaster without inversions or over-the-shoulder restraints. They chose Arrow, due to the weakness of the dollar at the time, which eliminated overseas production. Arrow was also working on the new Iron Dragon at the time. Arrow and
Ron Toomer Ronald Valentine Toomer (May 31, 1930 – September 26, 2011) was an American roller coaster designer credited for designing 93 roller coasters around the world. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1961 with a degree in mechani ...
proposed a -tall coaster, to best the then-largest roller coaster drop on
Shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...
at
Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great America is a amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built by the Ma ...
. That got Cedar Point's management interested in breaking the barrier, partly because of the publicity to be gained from building the first roller coaster to do so. The name ''Magnum XL-200'' was chosen because
Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...
was popular at the time. "XL" and "200" were added for "extra-long" and standing at least tall, respectively. The original proposal was to cost $7.5 million, but was raised to $8 million after the height was extended to . Funds from Cedar Fair going public on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
in April 1987 were used to fund the ride.


Construction and opening

Magnum XL-200 was announced on August 16, 1988, and construction began shortly thereafter. Following its completion in 1989, Kinzel was one of the first people to ride the coaster, boarding the train after one test cycle. It officially opened to the public on May 6, 1989 as the world's tallest, fastest and steepest complete-circuit roller coaster. It was measured for the
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
on June 2. Cedar Point set a record attendance in 1989, due in part to the introduction of the Magnum. Magnum is often credited as shifting the focus of Cedar Point, as noted by then-park Vice President, John Hildebrandt: "We all were smart enough to know we had something. Big steel made a big difference and with Magnum we started branding ourselves as a big time roller coaster park". Magnum was awarded the ACE Roller Coaster Landmark award on June 21, 2004. To date, Magnum has been repainted once; the original track color was scarlet red, and later repainted
Molly orange Molly, Mollie or mollies may refer to: Animals * ''Poecilia'', a genus of fishes ** ''Poecilia sphenops'', a fish species * A female mule (horse–donkey hybrid) People * Molly (name) or Mollie, a female given name, including a list of persons ...
in late 2005 which was completed in 2006. Cedar Point celebrated Magnum's 20th anniversary on opening day in 2009 with a ceremony and an appearance by Ron Toomer, its designer. A new entrance sign was also introduced. Magnum XL-200 has been the target of false rumors since 1998 claiming the structure was sinking due to unstable ground. The rumors supposedly started as an
April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...
joke in an Ohio newspaper, but quickly spread via the Internet. Cedar Point quickly denounced such rumors. In 2019, Magnum XL-200 celebrated its 30th anniversary. The ride was repainted and new special effects were installed in the third tunnel.


Ride experience


Layout

After the train departs the station, it travels over the resort gate walkway, down a slight decline into a 90-degree turn to the right and engages the chain, which operates at a speed of , to begin the climb to the top of the
lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from th ...
. The train descends at a 60-degree angle, reaching a top speed of . The train then ascends a
camelback Camelback may refer to: * riding atop a camel * Camelback, a variation of shotgun house with a second floor in the rear of the house. * Camelback (roller coaster element), a hump-shaped hill element found on roller coasters * CamelBackCapitalizatio ...
hill, curving to the left into the first tunnel. Coming out of the tunnel, the train ascends a third, -tall hill. After the third hill, it enters a set of trim brakes and a pretzel-shaped turnaround where it curves to the left toward the beach and then left again into another tunnel. The train then traverses over seven airtime hills and a third tunnel into a mid-course brake run. The train turns left and goes back over the walkway to Cedar Point Shores. It then turns right and enters the
brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...
, followed by a 90 degree right turn back into the station. One cycle of the ride lasts about 2 minutes.


Trains

Magnum XL-200 has three white-and-black trains. Each train has red, black or blue striping at the front. Each train has six cars; riders are arranged two-across in three rows for a total of 36 riders per train. Riders are secured by an individual ratcheting lap bar and a seat belt. When Magnum XL-200 opened, it used up-stop pads similar to those still in use on
Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...
, as well as
Cedar Creek Mine Ride Cedar Creek Mine Ride is a mine train roller coaster at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Built by Arrow Development, the roller coaster opened in 1969 in the Frontiertown section of the park. It is the second oldest roller coaster ...
. Shortly after its debut, however, these up-stop plates were replaced with more traditional up-stop wheels that stops excess wear and tear.


Track

Magnum XL-200's steel track is in length, and its main hill is approximately high. The track consists of a tubular steel spine connected by struts to tubular steel running rails. Like other Arrow coasters at the time, sections of Magnum's track were hand-welded together in place without the assistance of
computer-aided design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
, leading to bumpy, non-smooth transitions throughout the course of the ride. Each track section's measurement ranges from , and 157 structural columns are used for support.


Incident

On May 26, 2007, one of the coaster's trains collided with another at less than , 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 Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
. The ride reopened the next day 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."


Awards and rankings

Magnum XL-200 was designated an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark on June 21, 2004, at the 27th Annual Convention of the
American Coaster Enthusiasts American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) is a non-profit organization focusing on the enjoyment, knowledge, and preservation of roller coasters as well as recognition of some as architectural and engineering landmarks. Dues-paying members receive the ...
. It received the designation for inspiring more than a dozen similar rides on three continents and for being the first
hypercoaster A hypercoaster can mean one of two things: *Any continuous-circuit roller coaster with a height or drop measuring greater than 200 feet Or, more narrowly: *Any complete-circuit roller coaster with a height or drop between 200 and 299 feet ...
.


Records


References


External links


Cedarpoint.com - ''Magnum XL-200's'' official page

Magnum XL-200 1987 News Broadcasts

Magnum XL-200
at Coaster-Net
Magnum XL-200
at The Point Online {{ACE Coaster Landmarks Cedar Point Roller coasters introduced in 1989 Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair Roller coasters in Ohio