What is Magnum XL-200:
Magnum XL-200 is a steel roller coaster, located at Cedar Point, in Sandusky, Ohio, USA.
The ride opened to guests as the world’s tallest roller coaster, measuring 62.5m 205ft high.
It also became the world’s first roller coaster to break the 200ft, 61m height barrier.
However, Magnum is more than just a record breaking roller coaster.
It officially kick started the coaster wars, brought a change in how roller coasters were
designed, and put Cedar Point on the theme park map.
But don’t take my word for it, say hello to Scott from Pleasure Beach Experience, a
man who knows perhaps a little too much about this very ride…
Thank you Harry, it’s an honour to collab with you on a video featuring my all time
favourite roller coaster.
Little did they know at the time, Cedar Point hadn’t just built a roller coaster that
would have a positive impact on their park for a few years, but a roller coaster that
would become an icon in the attractions industry.
Let’s take a step back, where did the idea for Magnum even come from?
Interest in roller coasters began to soar in the 1970s as theme parks were becoming
more popular.
Naturally, with more amusement parks, and roller coasters, popping up around the world,
parks had to work harder to stand out.
Fortunately for them, the world’s first modern day inverting roller coaster opened
in 1975.
This caused many parks to invest in these brand new, and increasingly popular, looping rides.
Naturally, it quickly became a competition.
2 inversions became 3, 3 became 4 and so on.
Theme parks were obsessed with building roller coasters with an ever increasing number of
loops and inversions.
To ensure the trains had enough energy to make it through the endless loops, ride designers
had to make roller coasters taller and faster.
As a result, throughout the 1980s, theme parks began to construct rides that were a few feet
or metres taller than the last.
Kings Island’s now defunct roller coaster, Vortex, is a fantastic example of this.
It became the world’s tallest roller coaster in 1987, measuring 45m 148ft high; and featured
the most inversions on any roller coaster around the globe, 6 in total.
Theme parks had gone loopy for looping roller coasters...
Throughout all this development, Cedar Point was one of those parks determined to stand out.
They’re often planning ahead to their next project, before their current project has
even opened to the public.
As a result, the 1980’s at Cedar Point was a busy era.
The park was booming with new attraction after new attraction opening - the park was on the up.
In 1981 Cedar Point added a pirate ship attraction to their line up called Ocean Motion.
In 1982 White Water Landing, a classic Arrow Dynamics Log Flume attraction opened at the
park, which was followed in 1983 by Demon Drop, a 40m 131 foot tall Intamin free-fall
tower ride.
In 1986 Cedar Point appointed a new CEO, Dick Kinzel, and debuted Thunder Canyon, a river rapids ride.
In 1987, the first roller coaster of the Kinzel era opened, that coaster was Iron Dragon,
an Arrow Dynamics suspended roller coaster.
During the construction of Iron Dragon, Dick Kinzel began to look for Cedar Point’s next big thing.
He found his inspiration in Japan.
In March of 1988, Kinzel saw a news story about a new roller coaster, Bandit, being
built at Yomiuriland, by the Japanese company Togo.
The ride opened as the world’s tallest roller coaster, standing 51m 167ft high, but that
wasn’t the most interesting part.
Unlike many of the other roller coasters being built at the time, Bandit had no inversions.
Instead, the ride relied on its sheer height and speed to thrill guests.
The news story also included an interview from a member of ACE, American Coaster Enthusiasts,
who exclaimed that Bandit was one of the best coasters they’d ridden so far.
Also unlike most large rides at the time, it featured only a lap bar restraint, not
the conventional over-the-shoulder-restraint.
Kinzel was intrigued.
He contacted the president of ACE to gauge whether he believed the public would enjoy
such a ride.
As you might guess, he believed they would; so Harry where did things go from there?
Following their discovery, Cedar Point sent out proposal requests to four different roller
coaster manufacturers: Intamin, Togo, Arrow, and the Dinn Corporation.
The park asked the companies whether they’d be able to design such a ride and roughly
how much it would cost.
Due to the weaker US Dollar at the time, overseas manufacturers Togo and Intamin, were less
attractive financially.
On top of this, Cedar Point wanted a steel roller coaster, whilst the Dinn Corporation
suggested they construct a wooden one instead.
As a result, Arrow became the only choice.
During the designing phase, the park specified their requirements.
The new roller coaster should not feature any inversions, to avoid it needing shoulder
harnesses, and it needed a minimum capacity of roughly 1500 to 2000 riders per hour.
At this point, Ron Toomer, the designer of Magnum, began to adopt the idea of building
a wooden style coaster, but instead with tubular steel track.
Originally, Arrow drafted plans for a ride measuring 57m 187ft tall, which surpassed
the height record at the time by 5m 17ft.
These were then discussed by the park’s Board of Directors, who questioned how much
more it would cost to exceed 200ft 61m - thus improving the ride’s marketability.
After evaluating the cost, Cedar Point requested for Arrow to increase the height further.
They settled on a roller coaster measuring 201ft 61m high.
However, when the time came to verify that it was in fact the world’s tallest roller
coaster, Cedar Point and Arrow Dynamics discovered that they’d actually built a ride measuring
205ft 62.5m tall - they forgot to include the height of the footers in their calculations.
Once they’d settled on the manufacturer and layout for their soon-to-be record breaking
roller coaster, the next step was to determine where the coaster was going to be built.
Naturally, due to the scale of the proposed ride, it wasn’t an easy decision.
Previously, roller coasters built at Cedar Point had their stations positioned along
the park’s midway.
However, in the case of Magnum, the park was unsure how they’d fit the attraction in
if it were to be positioned along the midway.
To resolve the problem, they decided to have the coaster cross over the midway, exit the
park and run along the coast of Lake Erie.
At the time they probably wouldn’t have guessed how much the stunning views of Lake
Erie would add to the overall experience.
However, the new ride still didn’t have a name...
At the time, it was determined that ‘Magnum’ would be the best name for the new roller coaster.
Not only did Magnum mean great and large, but the word was common in popular culture
during that era, due to the television show Magnum Pi and the Magnum Force movie.
That was not all; XL-200 was also added to the name by Kinzel because he wanted to include
the term extra long, XL, as well as the ride’s height.
Thus, Magnum XL-200 was born!
Cedar Point’s new attraction was officially announced on the 16th of August 1988.
Construction began in winter of the same year, and carried through until the spring of the
following year.
Despite its sheer scale, Magnum XL-200 was a difficult coaster to observe being built
because of its location.
However a member of ACE was able to continually get construction photos by flying over the
site and taking pictures from the skies.
Just like with every new roller coaster during construction, questions were asked about how
good it would actually be.
Many queried whether a bigger, longer roller coaster would guarantee a better ride experience
than roller coasters that had been built before.
Kinzel responded by stating that the trains would drop from a height no other coaster
had reached before, which would make the investment worthwhile.
Cedar Point also had one final marketing trick to attract more guests to the debut of their
new roller coaster.
The park claimed Magnum as the world’s first hyper coaster.
At the time, this meant that it became the world’s first full circuit roller coaster
to break the 200ft 61m height barrier, and as a result, gained the hyper coaster classification.
Today, as taller rides have been built, hyper coasters are rides measuring between 200 and
300ft, 61m and 91m tall.
After months of construction, questions, and anticipation, Magnum XL-200 officially opened
on the 6th May 1989.
Although, it had its first riders on the 5th of May, as part of the preview event.
During this, 150 members of the ACE, and members of the media, were able to experience the
new ride for the first time.
Many reported the unbelievable nature and scale of the roller coaster - fortunately,
overall feedback was positive!
During the preview day, a camera was also bolted onto the front of the roller coaster’s
train to allow media outlets to show the experiences of first time riders.
On the following day, Magnum opened to the public, and was an instant success.
The ride received fantastic reviews and maintained a massive line despite having high throughputs.
Throughout its first season of operation, Magnum thrilled 1.8 million riders, a record
for Cedar Point at the time.
It was so popular with enthusiasts that Cedar Point hosted Magnum Mania, an event which
would evolve into Coastermania.
During this event, held on the first Friday of June every year, Cedar Point hosts exclusive
ride sessions available for only those on the event.
In 2019, CoasterMania ran from 7am to midnight, with a Magnum ERT taking place at 10pm for one hour.
Despite the love and admiration for Magnum, it did come with some problems, didn’t it Harry?
Like any innovative attraction, Magnum suffered from its issues - quite a few of them in fact.
Just a month after opening, the roller coasters 6 tonne chain broke with a loaded train on the lift hill.
That was just the start however.
Like many roller coasters constructed during the 80s, Magnum was designed and built by hand.
Nowadays, roller coaster designers use complex pieces of computer software to model how the
train will navigate the track.
Arrow Dynamics didn’t have that at the time, which often led to parts of the ride being
tweaked after it had been built and tested.
Cedar Point initially had trouble managing the speed of the train.
A few months after it opened, trim brakes were installed at the crest of the 3rd hill
to slow the trains down.
These trims were then moved to their current location just before the ride’s main turn-around
section, for the 1990 season.
To accommodate the new trims, the entry into the turn-around was reprofiled.
Although, several years later, the entire turnaround was reprofiled too.
This saw new track be fabricated to replace the old section, so it could better support
the weight of the trains.
Talking of trains, they had issues too.
Many non-looping roller coasters built by Arrow Dynamics at the time didn’t have upstop
wheels, but used upstop pads.
Today roller coasters have wheels on top, to the side, and below the track; to ensure
the train correctly follows the path of the layout.
Arrow sometimes used pads instead of wheels, which would contact the bottom of the track.
However, due to the excessive amounts of negative g-forces experienced on the ride, Magnum’s
upstop pads contacted the bottom of the track a lot.
To reduce the amount of wear, the pads were replaced with upstop wheels after the ride’s
debut season.
Further modifications were made to the trains to enhance their safety too.
Originally, each rider was secured by an uncomfortable, and unpadded, lap bar restraint.
To make the ride more comfortable, seat belts were added part way through the 1989 season.
Mangum also opened with no airgates.
Today, rides have gates which open and close at specific moments to load or unload passengers.
These were added to Magnum’ station before the mid-2000s, meaning that for over a decade
anyone could cross over the track at any point in time.
So, between the fact it went too quickly, didn’t have proper upstop wheels, didn’t
have seatbelts, and didn’t have airgates, Magnum was absolutely fine.
Fortunately, those who ride it now get to experience a roller coaster without all those problems.
So, what is a ride on Magnum like today?
Well, first, after entering the station building, guests wait behind a set of air gates.
Once these open, visitors then board one of the rides’ three trains.
Each train is made up of 6 cars, which seat guests in 3 rows of 2.
This leads to a total of 36 riders per train, and a capacity of roughly 2000 riders per hour.
Once they’re ready, visitors leave the station building, and cross over the midway.
They then traverse a small dip, complete a right hand turn, and begin to climb the lift hill.
The trains slowly ascend to the maximum height of 62.5m 205ft, giving riders fantastic views
of Lake Erie.
At the top, guests look down the 59m 195ft drop.
They then dive down the first hill, which features a maximum vertical angle of 60 degrees,
and quickly reach their top speed of 116kmh 72mph.
The trains then begin to climb the attractions 2nd hill.
Guests bank right at the crest of the hill, before plummeting down another drop, into
a short tunnel.
The trains then climb into the ride’s third hill, which leads directly into the turn-around.
Visitors complete the pretzel shaped element, before climbing another hill, into a 2nd tunnel.
A similar hill later sees the trains complete a banked hill to the right, directing them
back towards the station building.
Here, guests complete not 1, not 2, but four more hills, one of which is enclosed by a tunnel.
The ride mostly comes to an end with one final ascent, leading guests into the penultimate brake run.
To finish their journey back towards the station, guests cross over the midway once more, and
complete another turn, which leads them into the final brake run.
During their airtime focussed journey, guests navigate 1556m 5106ft of track.
Most of this takes place during 64 seconds of actual ride time, measured from the first
drop, to the penultimate brake run.
Upon its debut, Magnum didn’t just become the world’s tallest full circuit roller
coaster, but also the world’s fastest roller coaster.
In fact, it took the record from the ride in which it was inspired from - Bandit at Yomiuriland!
Unfortunately though, the world’s first hyper coaster would not stay as the world’s
only hyper coaster for long.
Magnum is credited as being the roller coaster that started the coaster wars.
This may sound like a poll you’d see on a roller coaster fan forum where two coasters
are put against each other, but actually, it’s much more than that.
Cedar Point’s bold move to break the 200ft 61m height barrier, and the general popularity
of Magnum XL-200, provoked a new wave of record breaking roller coasters.
Theme park’s wanted to go higher, faster and longer than any coaster had ever gone before.
Magnum would remain the world’s tallest roller coaster for a few more years though.
The record was eventually taken by Blackpool Pleasure Beach with the debut of the Pepsi
Max Big One in May 1994.
The record breaking roller coaster wars had only just begun though.
Park’s continued to build taller.
Less than a decade later, the giga coaster was born, a ride measuring over 300ft 91m tall.
Cedar Point, Arrow Dynamics and Magnum, helped make building rides without inversions the norm.
The invention and initial success of the hyper coaster led to a whole new genre of roller
coasters, ones that focussed specifically on height, speed and airtime.
Though, this success didn’t directly translate into the success of Arrow Dynamics.
What happened to their hyper coaster model - did it catch on?
Following the debut of Magnum, the Arrow Dynamics’ Hyper Coaster concept initially attracted
interest from all over the world, but unfortunately not enough interest to make it their signature
product throughout the 1990’s.
To find out about the rise and fall of the legendary Arrow Hypercoaster concept, head
over to Pleasure Beach Experience where our collaboration continues as we dig into the
history of the Arrow Hyper Coaster concept.
It’s definitely worth a watch - simply click the video box on screen, or visit the link
in the description.
A huge thanks to Scott from Pleasure Beach Experience for joining me in this video.
If you’ve ridden Magnum let us know your thoughts about it in the comments down below!
Thank you for watching, and, we’ll see you all next time.