- [Narrator] X at Six Flags Magic Mountain,
this ambitious roller coaster
was set to revolutionize the thrill ride industry.
With a mind-bending seating system
that allowed riders to flip head over heels,
it promised an unparalleled experience.
However, the ambition of such a groundbreaking technology
proved too much for its manufacturer, Arrow Dynamics,
to handle.
Despite the initial excitement,
X faced numerous challenges and flaws
that led to its re-imagining as X2.
But why exactly was the original X a failure?
Let's find out today right here on Theme Park Crazy.
(upbeat music)
Our story begins in 1946
with the founding of American manufacturer,
Arrow Development.
After a few years of selling used tools and repairing cars,
the company got into the amusement industry
by building Merry-go-rounds and miniature car rides.
Later on in 1953, the company contacted Walt Disney
and offered their services
for the upcoming Disneyland theme park in California.
Arrow would work on the ride systems
for several opening day attractions,
including Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Mad Tea Party,
and Casey Jr. Circus Train.
Shortly after the park's opening in 1955,
Arrow went on to design
another major attraction for Disneyland.
But this one was much bigger in scale.
In collaboration with Disney's Imagineers,
Arrow designed a revolutionary roller coaster.
This attraction featured an innovative track design
which consisted of tubular steel rails.
These rails allowed for more efficient manufacturing,
In 1959, the new coaster named Matterhorn Bobsleds
With that, Arrow Development became the hottest name
in the amusement industry.
They went on to design several more attractions
for amusement parks, including an antique cars ride
for Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
and the slow moving Danny the Dragon ride
at San Jose's Happy Hollow.
Unfortunately, Arrow struggled financially
as the ambitious projects for Disneyland
took a toll on their resources.
Fortunately, Walt Disney was eager to help the company
because of all they did for his park.
Walt personally paid off their debt
and purchased a one-third stake in the company,
helping keep them afloat.
The next few decades would see Arrow
skyrocket in popularity.
After building the world's first log flume, El Aserradero,
at Six Flags over Texas,
the company introduced their second roller coaster
named Runaway Mine Train at the same park.
Then in 1975, the company premiered
the world's first modern looping steel coaster,
Corkscrew at Knott's Berry Farm.
This ride, known as a corkscrew model,
was initially quite successful.
However, just a decade after its installation,
Arrow found themselves in a tight spot.
In addition to a costly participation
in the 1984 World's Fair,
the company, then known as Arrow Huss,
had spread themselves too thin.
Simply put, they took on more ride projects
than they could afford to build.
Fortunately, the company bounced back from the abyss,
rebranding themselves as Arrow Dynamics.
Soon afterwards, they took up several high profile projects.
They would end up building several record-breaking coasters,
including Vortex at Kings Island,
Shockwave at Six Flags Great America,
and Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point.
These coasters were on a far grander scale
than their usual affairs,
but many of their later creations
faced severe technical issues.
Many of them had used the same track profiling
and train designs as Arrow's older, smaller coasters.
This meant that their old design methods
were unsuitable for larger scale attractions.
Coasters like Shockwave and Steel Phantom at Kennywood
were infamous for giving rough and uncomfortable rides.
As the '90s approached, Arrow faced stiff competition
from Swiss manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard,
or B&M for short.
This company introduced a new track design
that was better suited to handle large, intense elements.
Coasters like Batman: The Ride at six Flags Great America
and Kumba at Bush Gardens Tampa
were highly praised for their smoothness
and revolutionary design.
It seemed like Arrow's outdated methods
would sink the company's business,
but one man would soon turn its reputation around
for the better.
Allow me to introduce you to Alan Schilke,
one of the most influential
and important coaster designers of the modern era.
After several years of working for Arrow Dynamics,
Schilke eventually ascended to the rank of head engineer.
In the late '90s, he showcased his talents
the latter of which was considered to be a huge step up
from the company's past coasters
thanks to a newer track profiling.
But Schilke's imagination and creativity didn't stop there.
In fact, he wanted to take the concept
of the roller coaster to the next level,
or rather the next dimension.
At the age of 12, Schilke was riding
the famous Zipper carnival ride
when he was struck by inspiration.
Intrigued by the Zipper's front and back flipping gondolas,
he set out to incorporate this element
into the world of roller coasters.
This ambition led him to conceive the brand new concept
of a fourth-dimension roller coaster.
This balls to the wall design has rider seated
not above the track but on the sides of it.
The most insane thing about this ride
is the ability of the seats to flip forwards
and backwards a full 360 degrees.
Through the use of a rack and pinion gear system,
a special quadruple rail design allows the ride
to coast along the inside rails
while the outside ones raise and lower
to control the seat's rotation.
This means that the rotation is completely controlled
by the ride designer, guaranteeing the same number
of insane flips and dips for each ride.
To present his idea in a tangible form,
Schilke created a rendering of the imagined prototype
as a computer animation on a CD-ROM.
Remember those?
God, I'm old.
While the concept of a fourth-dimension roller coaster
was groundbreaking on paper,
Schilke's colleagues at Arrow Dynamics
were extremely skeptical.
In addition to nausea concerns,
many believed that such a complex and unique ride
was impossible to engineer successfully.
Nothing like this had ever been done before
and there was no guaranteeing it would be functional,
let alone possible to construct.
However, Schilke remained undeterred,
confident in the potential of his idea.
He kept his CD-ROM on standby,
hoping for a future buyer
who would recognize the value of his concept.
Little did he know that his perseverance would soon pay off,
as the idea of a fourth dimension roller coaster
would soon find its way
to the Six Flags chain of theme parks.
In May of 2000, former Six Flags President Gary Story
attended a meeting with Arrow Dynamics officials.
Story was shopping for a new thrilling attraction
to outdo the park's other Arrow coaster, Viper,
which was around a decade old at that point.
During the visit, Schilke simply whipped out
his top secret CD-ROM which had been hidden away
for five years.
With the CD, Schilke was able to show Story his concept
for a ride named Fourth Dimension.
Story immediately saw potential in this concept
and decided to give it the green light.
However, he did make one additional request.
Instead of the relatively small layout in the CG rendering,
he wanted the coaster to be much larger.
After all, this was Six Flags Magic Mountain,
not a Weenie Hut restaurant.
For Story, a park with such a thrilling reputation
deserved the biggest and baddest creation.
Plus, the coaster would be built
right next to the parking lot entrance,
so Story wanted to stand out even more to first time guests.
As for the ride's name, Story had another request.
Though Schilke had originally named it Fourth Dimension,
Story decided to rename it X,
making him the first high level official
to rename a property that, as far as I know.
Soon afterwards, Schilke, along with a team of engineers,
dedicated over 20,000 hours of combined work
to develop the coaster.
Part of the ride's development involved the construction
of a scaled test model of the train,
which engineers and officials gave a test run.
As a whole, the project generated
a lot of excitement and buzz in the amusement industry,
but behind the scenes,
X was metaphorically eating Arrow Dynamics alive.
The construction and development of X
put an enormous strain on Arrow's resources.
The company greatly misjudged the cost of construction,
and it would end up costing a whopping $45 million to build.
To put it bluntly, this coaster was way too ambitious
for Arrow's own good.
Even worse, while the coaster was scheduled to open
in the summer of 2001, unspecified design flaws
caused significant delays.
In fact, it wouldn't be until 2002 that the ride opened.
But shortly before it did,
Arrow Dynamics would fall into bankruptcy
for the second and last time.
The company cited debts of over $3.8 million
to unsecured creditors.
Much of X's cost went into research and development.
All in all, the monetary turmoil X presented
helped kill off perhaps the most influential manufacturer
in roller coaster history.
It is worth noting though that another major factor
in the company's closure
was their canceled Fish Hook coaster in Las Vegas.
But that story is worthy of its own video.
While the proposed coaster could have saved Arrow
from going under if it was successful,
the project falling apart,
combined with a financial strain of X,
both played significant roles in the company's demise.
But the story doesn't end there,
because not only did X help kill Arrow,
it would also be a continuous headache for Six Flags.
Officials at Six Flags filed claims against Arrow,
demanding over $5.8 million
due to X's delays and difficulties.
Nevertheless, they were determined
to finish their newest major attraction
and persevered with the coasters construction.
After months of delays and dealing with Arrow's bankruptcy,
Six Flags managed to get the ride open to the public
on January 12th, 2002.
The ride experience went as followed.
After departing the station,
the train ascends the lift hill
with a top height of 175 feet.
After reaching the peak, the train briefly dips down
before approaching the main drop.
This nearly vertical drop is 215 feet,
classifying X as a hypercoaster.
At the descent, the seats turn
so the riders face the ground.
This makes the phrase, don't look down,
as pointless as trying to dodge rain in a deluge.
After the drop is what's known as an inside raven turn,
where the cars rotate halfway through,
going from face up to face down.
Passengers then navigate an airtime hill
and a back flip before a large sweeping turnaround.
This is followed by a half twist element
and yet another wild rotation.
First time riders may expect
to navigate this twist normally,
but the way the seats rotate during this element
gives the illusion that the train has left the track.
After another quick dip is a smaller raven turn
packed with G-forces.
This ends the ride with a bang before the final break run.
Upon its debut, X was hugely praised among thrill-seekers.
Coaster enthusiasts flocked to this ride,
excited to check out its unmatched forces
and surreal movements.
Indeed, it seemed that despite all of the headaches
with Arrow, Six flags would be able to add
yet another incredible coaster to its resume.
However, the coaster itself had other plans.
Almost immediately, X faced extended downtime,
opening either later in the afternoon
or not at all on some days.
Even worse, the park would often operate
only one train at a time,
causing wait times of up to five hours.
Along with unspecified technical issues,
the biggest problem with the coaster
was the weight of the trains.
Each train weighed a whopping 25 tons.
That's over four adult African elephants.
The trains were so heavy that two 300 horsepower engines
were needed to lift them uphill.
Because they weighed so much,
the trains put much more stress on the track
and support structure than anticipated,
causing a lot of downtime.
Another problem with the coaster was the restraint system.
While the design was ergonomic and comfortable,
the mechanical system would jam easily.
The system relied on cables, levers,
foot pedals, and actuators,
basically making it a less efficient Minecraft creation.
This hampered throughput and led to longer waits
and lower guest satisfaction.
Speaking of wait times, it didn't help
that the station was divided
into loading and unloading sections.
After one group of passengers disembarked,
the train had to be moved forward to the boarding station,
wasting valuable seconds that could have been used
to load a new set of passengers.
Also worth noting was the vast amount of power
needed to run the coaster.
According to Forbes Magazine, 1.1 million volt amps
were needed to run X.
That's twice the amount of an average roller coaster
and enough to power the Empire State Building.
It's unknown if the excessive power demands
played a role in its downtime, but it's certainly possible.
By June of 2002, Six Flags made the decision
to close the coaster due to, quote, unquote, design issues.
At this point, park officials were likely livid
behind the scenes.
Their newest attraction,
which was supposed to be a crown jewel in their lineup,
had failed to deliver a problem-free performance.
Due to the ride's problems,
Six Flags started to get cold feet
about investing in large, ambitious prototypes.
According to Theme Park Insider, Six Flags officials said
they would be slashing their capital investments
the same month that X went down.
Many feared that X's failure
would turn parks off of adding major, unique roller coasters
and hamper innovation in the industry.
Fortunately, while Arrow's story ended tragically,
the coaster itself did see its fortunes turn around.
After almost six years of operation as X,
Six Flags made the decision
to give this problematic coaster a major makeover.
In 2007, the ride closed
for an extensive $10 million refurbishment.
While the track layout remained the same,
substantial changes were still made to the attraction.
Gone was the old X, and in was the new and improved X2.
First, the pink and yellow paint scheme
was changed to a more fitting red, gray,
and black color palette.
Secondly, new special effects were added,
including fog and a timed fire effect.
Most importantly, a new set of trains was introduced.
These trains were built by American manufacturer,
S&S Worldwide, now known as S&S-Sansei.
This company purchased Arrow's assets
shortly after they went bankrupt
and had the right to build fourth-dimension coasters.
S&S's engineers had meticulously scrutinized
every aspect of the original design
to greatly improve the trains.
Weight reduction emerged as a primary goal.
And this objective drove major changes
to the train's structure.
Assessed were areas where additional strength was needed,
all while identifying opportunities for lightning the load.
One thing that was replaced were the original rods
that held the seats, known as pickle forks.
The new chassis was much simpler,
designed to have less parts, and be remarkably lighter.
Unnecessary weight was removed
from the suspended cantilever assembly,
which promised much less wear and tear on the track.
In total, engineers managed to take 20,000 pounds
off the trains.
Moreover, S&S aimed to improve the restraints.
They did this by removing the old complex mechanical system
and replacing it with a pneumatic one.
This could be controlled by the ride operator
at the simple push of a button.
Not only did these restraints allow for swift
and easy adjustments of the harnesses,
but they also significantly increased the ride's capacity
and throughput.
And speaking of throughput, the loading and unloading system
was changed as well,
being done on only one station instead of two.
Funnily enough, while the weight was reduced in many ways,
an onboard audio system was added to the trains
which would play an audio track
timed with the ride's layout.
All of these changes,
along with a newly designed set of wheels,
promised to help the coaster fulfill its potential.
In May, 2008, X2 made its debut to the public.
Many agreed that the ride was better than ever,
being more functional, as well as better looking
and more exciting with the new effects.
Today, X2 is not only considered
one of the park's best coasters
but among the best roller coasters of all time.
Overall, it's true that the original X
was a failure in some ways.
Not only did it fail to bring success
to Arrow Development, but its initial opening
was a complete nightmare for Six Flags.
But while it is sad that it contributed
to Arrow's demise, you'd be hard pressed
to call the coaster itself a complete failure.
Alan Schilke gave the coaster world a true gem,
persevering to get a ride built
that many considered to be impossible.
Though some had predicted X would cause the industry
to pull back on innovation,
the coaster market is continuing to create new
and exciting attractions to this day.
S&S would even go on to build
two more of these attractions in Asia.
As roller coasters continue to evolve,
X2 stands as a testament to the magic of engineering,
and it will continue to delight thrill seekers
for generations to come.
Now it's time for the comment shoutout program.
This is where I take five random comments
from my previous video and read them out.
These comments are from my video
on the top 30 intense thrill rides.
Lukas 42 says, thanks for this great video.
For me, flat rides, especially the thrilling ones,
are equally as interesting as roller coasters,
and I always appreciate it
when these attractions get some love.
Thanks for the compliment, Lukas.
Claudia Maschio says, the top spin at number 10
used to have an even cooler variation at Movieland
called Tomb Raider.
As the two arms of the gondola spun independently
of one another so the gondola was tilting,
twisting, and spinning on itself.
Silverx721 says, my Nana and Pop love telling the story
of their experience on the Zipper, especially my Pop.
He always tells me about how they went on it
while on a date, and the door flew open mid-ride.
He managed to stop my Nana from falling out
and boasts about how he saved her.
I don't know how, LOL, but it's an interesting
yet terrifying story.
My parents wouldn't let me on the ride
when I was younger either.
They told me I could ride it when I turned 18,
leading me to believe it was an adult ride, LMAO,
and now I have an irrational fear of it.
Kloe.com.au5 says, as an Australian
who has been to very few fairs,
I was surprised to see any rides I'd ridden.
Power surge was definitely more intense than the Round up.
The Roundup wasn't intense at all.
I've always wanted to go on Speed XXL,
but it's either been very busy or out of order.
Gravitron wasn't intense at all.
It's very common in Australian fairs.
I know there is a Rotor at Sydney Luna Park,
but I haven't ridden it.
And finally, the Zipper is also fairly common in Australia,
but I am yet to ride it.
And Allie Kuma says, I definitely used to turn myself
upside down in the Gravitron.
LOL, my stomach couldn't handle these rides now,
but all of them look insanely fun.
The Zipper was the only ride to make me cry.
I was 11, LOL.
If you wanna see your words in my next video,
leave a comment down below and it may be selected.
Please note though that inflammatory
or spam comments will not be read.
Thank you all so much.
And if you wanna support me on Patreon,
you can do so, once again, at the link in the description.
Thanks for watching, everyone.
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This is Theme Park Crazy,
and I'll see you all next time.
(upbeat music)