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| View from the entrance road | |||||||||||
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| Statistics | |||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Arrow Dynamics | ||||||||||
| Product | 4th Dimension Coaster | ||||||||||
| Type | Steel - 4th Dimension - Hyper | ||||||||||
| Hourly capacity | 1,600 | ||||||||||
| Propulsion | Chain lift hill | ||||||||||
| Height | 175 feet | ||||||||||
| Elevation change | 190 feet | ||||||||||
| Drop | 215 feet | ||||||||||
| Top speed | 76 mph | ||||||||||
| Length | 3610 feet | ||||||||||
| Track inversions | 2 | ||||||||||
| Rider inversions | 4 | ||||||||||
| Drop angle | 88.5° | ||||||||||
| G-Force | 4 | ||||||||||
| Rolling stock | |||||||||||
| Manufacturer | S&S-Sansei Technologies (2008-present) Arrow Dynamics (2002-2007) | ||||||||||
| Riders per train | 28 | ||||||||||
| HELP | |||||||||||
X2 is an Arrow Dynamics 4th Dimension roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, USA.[1] It is a prototype 4th Dimension Coaster by Arrow Dynamics. The ride first opened to the public in 2002 as X. In 2007, the ride was closed for upgrades and renamed X2 the next year. The ride has a design in which the seats can rotate forward or backward 360° in a controlled spin. X costed $45 million, and then an additional $10 million when the coaster was renovated into X2 in 2008, bringing the total cost to $55 million, making it one of the most expensive roller coasters on the planet, and also makes it the most expensive Six Flags roller coaster to ever be built.[citation needed] It is the last roller coaster that Arrow Dynamics ever built as the extreme cost caused the company to go bankrupt.
History
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In December 2000, Six Flags Magic Mountain announced that X would be added to the park, along with Déjà Vu. This was a part of a plan to spend up to $30 million on new rides.[2]
X was going to open in the summer of 2001, but the coaster had design flaws, which caused the opening to be delayed to 2002. However, X operated exclusively for season passholders starting on December 24, 2001.[3] Following press previews on January 10, 2002, the ride opened on January 12. It was the first of three 4th Dimension roller coasters in the world.[4] With the opening of X, the park had fifteen roller coasters, the most in one park at the time.[5] The lines would reach up to 5 hours long, though some of this was due to the downtime of the prototype ride. It had pink track and yellow supports.
Arrow Dynamics filed for bankruptcy in December 2001, a month before the opening of X.
In 2006, at Fuji-Q Highland, another fourth dimension coaster opened under the name Eejanaika. It was taller, faster, and longer than X, and solved many of the problems X had.
X was closed from June 4 to August 13, 2002 due to problems with the heavy trains.[6][7] The ride also closed down sometime in mid-August 2006 due to a blown gear box part and reopened on February 3, 2007.
On November 1, 2007, it was announced that X would be remodeled to become X2. The ride was repainted red and gray, similar to the colors of Eejanaika, another 4th Dimension roller coaster. An on-ride soundtrack and fire effects were added as a result.[8] The ride reopened on May 24, 2008.
The attraction was closed in 2013 due to a broken chain lift.[9] It reopened in January 2014 with only a single train.[10]
Mechanics
The rotation of the cars is achieved by having four rails on the track: two of these are running rails while the other two are for spin control. The two rails that control the spin of the seats move up and down relative to the track and spin the seats using a rack and pinion gear mechanism.
Design
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Ride experience
The ride begins by ascending 175 feet while the on-board soundtrack plays, and Harry Connick, Jr.'s 'It Had to Be You' and then Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' can be heard while ascending the lift hill. Riders then ascend a further 15 feet after a short drop. While ascending the lift hill, the cars rotate so riders are looking out over the park, but tilt back 90 degrees to be looking directly upwards during the first short drop. Just prior to the 215-foot main drop, the seats rotate 180 degrees so the riders are facing the ground, and the Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage' plays throughout the ride. The train enters an inside Raven turn, where the cars are rotated halfway to form the Lie to fly element. After exiting the turn, the cars rotate 360 degrees imitating a back flip. The trains then enter a sweeping fan twist which incorporates a 180 degree rotation of the cars, or Fly to lie manoeuvre. As the train enters the outside Raven turn, flamethrower effects are seen overhead. The Raven turn is followed by another half twist and the final brake run. Finally, Rage Against the Machine's 'Wake Up' plays as the train rolls back into the station.
Trains
3 trains with 7 cars per train. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 28 riders per train.
In video games
A very similar roller coaster, Test Pilot, is available as a ride choice for Frontier's Planet Coaster simulation game.
Images
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The original sign for X
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Sign for X2
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Station of X2
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The transfer track
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X2's final raven turn
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X2's turnaround
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The drop off the turnaround
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References
- ↑ Six Flags Magic Mountain website information
- ↑ "Magic Mountain to Add 3 New Rides in Bid to Become Coaster Capital".
- ↑ X Debuts To Passholders at Six Flags Magic Mountain - Ultimate Rollercoaster
- ↑ Six Flags Opens "X" Ride - Coaster Globe (Wayback Archive)
- ↑ Most Anticipated Ride Of The Decade Explodes Into Action - Ultimate Rollercoaster
- ↑ Magic Mountain reopens X - Amusement Today (Wayback archive)
- ↑ "X coaster rolls at Six Flags Magic Mountain". Visalia Times-Delta. August 14, 2002. p. 17. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ↑ "X2 and Thomas & Friends Coming to Six Flags Magic Mountain". Ultimate Rollercoaster.
- ↑ "Six Flags Magic Mountain- X2 is Down". Insanity lurks inside. 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ↑ "Six Flags Magic Mountain update - X2 back open. Bugs Bunny World construction update. Scrambler Refurbishment".
External links
- X2 on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
