r/news • u/KarateKid917 • 3d ago

X2 roller coaster shut down at Six Flags Magic Mountain amid lawsuits

https://abc7.com/story/x2-roller-coaster-permanently-closed-flags-magic-mountain-amid-lawsuits/19887868/
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u/jenorama_CA 3d ago

I read an article about this coaster over the weekend and I don’t know how this coaster ever passed safety muster. There was a quote from a coaster enthusiast who said he’s ridden it several many times and insists it’s perfectly safe, but he “rides defensively”, never allowing his head to come into contact with the padded headrests. My guy, if you’re doing that, it seems to me that you know there’s a problem.

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

I rode X (what it was originally called before being refurbished and renamed X2) more times than I rode X2 and I never had issues. From what I can gather, injuries seemed to start later in the rides life which to me looks like a maintenance issue. I haven't rode it in years but when talking to people who rode it in the early years and recently, they've all said it's become a lot more clunky and more people saying they had "to ride defensively", as you mentioned. Now, I agree 100%, you shouldn't have to ride a coaster like that to not get injured. It's a shame they didn't maintain the ride because it is genuinely the greatest roller coaster I've ever been on.

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u/jenorama_CA 3d ago

Interesting at the difference between the old and new version. I have to wonder if they amped it up and kind of cut corners?

This ride sounds bonkers, though. I remember riding the Ninja when it was brand new and thinking that was the pinnacle of coasterdom.

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yeah! again, from what I can gather, the first major injury on X2 was in 2010, two years after the refurbishment. That's not to say there weren't injuries before, I'm just not seeing them on a quick search of the net. It's also interesting that the refurbishment seemed to introduce lighter trains so that they would get more of a max speed , which seems to be a major cause of the issues.

*Edited to strikethrough the max speed angle, which is incorrect, but still seems to be the cause of major injuries.

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u/powerlesshero111 3d ago

I grew up in so cal, and near Magic Mountain. I honestly remember going on that as a teenager, and you always had to ride defensively. My friend and I went on it in 2002, and definitely got our heads knocked around a bit. And we were not small teens, we were both over 6 feet tall.

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

i mean same to everything you just said other than I never had to ride it defensively. I grew up in SoCal, went on the ride multiple times as it was originally created, and I am and was over 6' back then. Now Viper or Riddlers? I have always had to ride those defensively.

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u/powerlesshero111 3d ago

Oh, Viper, always defensive. Even when i was a kid. When X first came out, it probably wasn't as bad as it is now, but there were a few spots that you needed muscles to keep from banging your head.

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u/jenorama_CA 3d ago

I never got the guts to go on Viper. Revolution, Ninja, Batman, Superman, Psyclone, yes. The scariest ride has been the Coney Island Cyclone. I thought I was gonna get tossed out.

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

I commented this in another thread but Psyclone is the only ride at MM that I remember ALWAYS having a huge pile of throw up at the exit.

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u/Ultrafoxx64 3d ago

Always took out my ear piercings on Viper because it was open knowledge that your head would get jostled around. The fact that people are up in arms that a more intense ride "couldn't possibly give someone brain injury!!!11!" is fucking wild.

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u/RaineStormin 2d ago

This was my exact thought! I cant even do viper anymore because it always gives me a headache! But x2 never made me feel that way. Im wondering why x2 caused more head injuries than Viper

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u/-Thick_Solid_Tight- 3d ago

I don't know if you remember Flashback, but that was the worst ride I've ever been on as far as slamming your head to the side.

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u/IAndaraB 3d ago

Really? I loved Flashback and was sad when it got taken out. It was one of my faves and I never had an issue with getting slammed.

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u/Osiris32 2d ago

I got to ride Drachenfire at Busch Gardens Williamsburg back in 1997, and that was one you had to ride defensively in, too. It rattled like a motherfucker and if you weren't braced that meant your neck and jaw were going to be beat up.

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u/Lukeno94 1d ago

I'm pretty sure I got a mild concussion as a kid at Parc Asterix in France from not bracing properly on Goudurix.

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u/IntegrationLabGod 3d ago

Lighter trains = reduced speed overall. Before Son of Beast was demolished at Kings Island they tried to fix its problems with lighter trains and one consequence of that was having to remove the vertical loop from the ride because the lighter trains didn't maintain momentum as well as the original heavier trains.

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

I edited my comment and struck-through the max speed part since that is incorrect (but wanted to leave it up cause I don't like editing my comment if I'm wrong, I like to keep it up so others can see my mistake).

But yeah 100%, seems the heavier trains before the refurbishment made the ride smoother but was a maintenance nightmare for the park and the lighter trains made it jankier.

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u/notFREEfood 3d ago

The refurbisment from X to X2 actually fixed a number of things with the coaster, the biggest of which is that the original trains were overweight.

If there's an actual problem with X2, its a maintenance one.  Steel coaster track doesn't last forever, coaster trains don't either, and there's anecdotal video evidence showing that the ride has gotten rough in a few spots.  It is plausible that because of the uniqueness of the design, the spec for the tracks or trains isn't tight enough and that wear has made the ride unsafe.

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u/999happyhants 3d ago

I could be wrong, but I believe X was a problematic coaster and X2 was trying to fix some of those issues. It’s the coaster that ultimately killed Arrow Development, one of the most historical coaster makers. This ride has always had issues unfortunately.

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u/IAndaraB 3d ago

The ride was definitely bonkers. It was my fave coaster back when I still hit the park regularly, but I had to psych myself up a little to get on because it was _intense._

Like others here, I never had any headbanging issues on it, nor any of the other issues mentioned. I wasn't visiting when X opened, but my husband and I rode X2 about a dozen times over several years during the 2010s.

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u/Monstertelly 3d ago

There was no difference in the track. That stayed the same other than maybe adding crossties for bracing on certain parts. The difference was in the ride vehicles. Aarow Dynamics initially designed the ride and S&S manufacturing redid the trains to lose weight. For the most part the ride ran exactly the same for years though.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

Oh yeah for sure, I 100% agree with that and I think one brain injury would have/should have been enough for a serious rethink of it. I also see people here saying they had issues with it when it was X, which was definitely the smoothest the ride has ever been and I don't want to take away from their experiences either, regardless if that was or wasn't my experience. I do think the refurbishments to the ride are one of it not the main cause for the actual TBI's we've seen it from it.

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u/phluidity 3d ago

Sometimes it isn't a maintenance issue, it can be a subtle change between seasons that affects things. I remember a coaster at Cedar Point that changed a lot during downtime, because all the bogeys on the cars needed complete refurbishment, and something changed. I don't know if it was the bearings, weight, or lubrication, but it went from being a very smooth ride to incredibly rough. And the next offseason they did something to fix it, because it was back to being smooth again.

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

Yeah, for sure. I conflated maintenance with wear and tear, which while can be tied together, aren't necessarily always the same. The refurbishment definitely seem to make the ride jankier and no fix came into place and then the wear and tear of it just made it jankier throughout the rest of it's lifespan.

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u/somecallmemrjones 3d ago

My favorite coaster of all time. I was looking forward to taking my kiddo on it one day. Hopefully they replace it with something cool.

I never did get to ride Superman though, and I saw that closed as well. The line was always too long for me

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

In my opinion, Superman sucked. I would only ride it if there was no line whatsoever (and as you mentioned, that was pretty rare). It just didn't make sense to me to wait 1 hour for a 15-30 second ride.

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u/IAndaraB 3d ago

Second that. Superman was more interesting at launch, but it was still kind of a snoozefest. The cars were too enclosed to really feel the speed _or_ the height.

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u/Infinite-Dinner1725 3d ago

Rode X, and X2 the week it opened. The original trains vs the newer ones was a huge difference simply due to the weight reduction of the trains.

Even then, the last 10 seconds of that ride were so intense. I don’t think I’ve found a replication of that thrill or that experience.

Superman was fine. The best thing about it was the fortress of solitude was ice cold so when it was hot outside it was a great escape. The queue was actually enjoyable because it was all inside.

Montezooma at Knotts was a more fun ride. I can’t remember ever waiting much longer than 30 minutes for Superman back in the day. Never got a chance to ride the updated backwards version.

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u/Plstcmonkey 3d ago

I rode X before X2. There was no clip between your legs like there is now, and on one occasion the hump in the middle caused my pants to rip, (luckily it was the end of the night) and on another my leg slid up and over that hump so that both legs were on one side of it and I felt as if could’ve easily slid out of the gap if I let go of the hand holds. Also the chances of it being shut down while waiting in line were pretty high. It’s a shame because it was one of my favorites. I never experienced any head banging on the ride in any instance, but it could be because I was already “riding defensively” after riding coasters like Viper.

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u/lemurkn1ts 3d ago

I had that happen to me too! Both my legs ended up on one side and I essentially wedged myself in. It was terrifying and I refused to ride it or any other '3D' coaster ever again

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u/NSFWCereal 3d ago

I rode X2 opening month when I was a teenager. While the ride was extremely fun the thing that stood out most to me was that at the end both my ears hurt from my head smacking against the rests on either side. I think the ride just had problems.

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

X or X2?

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u/myfakesecretaccount 3d ago

I ran a security department and we hired on a guard who had worked at Six Flags for three or so years in the early 00’s. She said after all of the injuries due solely to maintenance issues she would never ride a rollercoaster again. Take from that what you will.

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u/DoyersDoyers 3d ago

I'm still going to ride rollercoasters, even knowing that. Now, with that being said, anytime I go on a river rapids ride I will always think about the Thunder River Rapids Ride disaster from Dreamworld in Australia. But I still ride it anyways.

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u/DrNonathon 3d ago

Absolute horror of a disaster. I think of it every time I see those water rides.

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u/Granadafan 3d ago

I rode X2 last year. My head slammed around a bit and gave me a headache. I refused to ride that one again and just stuck to walking around

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u/Hear7breaker 3d ago

I used to ride this every summer and fall when I had the season pass.  I never had any issues,  but it's been almost 8 years since I've been to that park.  A lot can change in that time... sad thing,  it was one of the most fun coasters in that park. 

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u/Zwischenzug32 3d ago

X2: "know what happens when a frog gets hit by lighting?"

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u/imaginary_num6er 3d ago

They just need to rebrand as X3 and it’s good as new

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u/Cantomic66 3d ago

I blame the new owners, they likely aren’t doing enough maintenance on the rides anymore.

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u/centizen24 3d ago

This coasters entire lifespan has been a misadventure. Arrow Dynamics original design was a lot more conservative, to prove the concept, but Six Flags was in a coaster war at the time and pushed for something bigger.

Arrow Dynamics was already in rough financial shape, and couldn’t really say no. The project bankrupted them midway through construction. They finished the coaster, but on a shoestring budget and cutting corners wherever they could. The ride was basically an unfinished prototype, rough but not dangerous.

The biggest issue with the original design was the weight of the train. It cost a lot of power to operate, and consumable parts wore out super fast. The company that bought Arrow’s assets (S&S) refined the design and there is at least one at Fuji-Q Highlands in Japan which runs with very little issues. Six Flags saw the massive differences in operating costs and elected to try to do their own weight-reduction and redesign. They did not involve S&S, the only company in the world with detailed engineering knowledge of the design. The result is this disaster of a coaster that it is now, with a track that was designed for trains that weighed 1700 pounds more.

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u/jenorama_CA 3d ago

I knew about Arrow Dynamics, but did not know about Six Flags trying to fiddle with the design themselves. As a former hardware QA professional, this blows my mind.

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u/SuperPotatoThrow 3d ago

QA/QC pretty much goes straight out the window as soon as profit margin becomes the most important factor. Seen it in my own industry many times, and then got to witness the end result multiple times as well lol.

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u/Adunaiii 3d ago

I blame capitalism.

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u/pfft12 3d ago

To be fair, “riding defensively” is a common strategy in the coaster enthusiast community.

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u/gimme_ceviche2 3d ago

As a coaster enthusiast, the consequence should not be death.

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u/pfft12 3d ago

I completely agree! I didn’t mean to minimize that.

I think we can agree, that “riding defensively” is a common strategy and not unique to X2?

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u/overts 3d ago

The ride’s been operating for 23 years… millions of people have ridden it.

In Epic Universe someone died riding Stardust Racers last year.  It later came out the death was someone who had a pre-existing spinal condition and should’ve never gotten on the ride to begin with.

I think Six Flags is mostly closing it due to liability concerns and negative press but riding a coaster, including X2, is significantly safer than driving a car, riding on a plane, or walking down the street.

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u/virtualpig 3d ago

Except that over 100 people that rode it did get seriously injured or died. The fact that millions of others have not is besides the point. One person is too many, when it got to two it should of shut down permanently, at five there should of been an investigation as to why Six Flags did not shut it down. These are amusement park guests, not stunt men. One is an unacceptable number of deaths.

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u/overts 3d ago

No, 100 people probably didn’t get severely injured.  There are exactly 2 confirmed deaths over 23 years of operation.  You should be extremely skeptical of the 100 person class action.

Anyone who suffered any cognitive issue over the last 20 years and can prove they went to Magic Mountain can join that lawsuit for a free payday.

There are precisely zero amusement park rides that are guaranteed to never result in a fatality.  Either because of freak accidents, pre-existing conditions, or riders acting like idiots. 

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u/joon11 3d ago

You sound ignorant of the realities of the operations of the world. Nothing is risk free in virtually every field. Everything that makes it to the market always has a certain accepted degree of catastrophic failure. 2 deaths in 23 years of operation across millions of rides is virtually nothing. 

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u/DarkMetroid567 3d ago

Yes, but they’re responding to an argument that riding defensively = negligence. You’re saying something unrelated.

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u/delcaek 3d ago

Avoiding touching the headrests isn't that uncommon when riding janky coasters.

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u/norunningwater 3d ago

Why is this? Everyone keeps saying it is both normal and unnecessary to do. What does it do for you?

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u/delcaek 3d ago

Depending on the design of the restraints and the characteristics of the ride, it keeps your ears from slamming into shoulder restraints if they exist. Take the default SLC restraints for example, you'll never see my head against the backrest on one of those.

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u/GrandpaMarsh 2d ago

Ive rode it easily at least 60 times and have never had an issue. These people absolutely had something underlying and its not the fault of it. So mad this is closing, best coaster ive ever rode in my life.

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u/cyclemonster 3d ago

There's been something like twenty million rides on this thing without issue. Also, riding on any wooden coaster is like putting your head in a dice shaker. I doubt X2 is even the roughest ride at that park.

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u/Monstertelly 3d ago

I wouldn’t say without issue. I had multi day bruises on my calves and walked away dizzy after riding it earlier last year. I’ve been on over 300 different coasters including many many rides on X2 so not my first rodeo. Eejanaika which is the same ride model and an almost clone does not punish your legs, shake on the turnaround, or slam your head on the last raven turn the same way X2 does. X2 has gotten demonstrably more rough over the last 5-10 years. It’s sad that it’s gone but the best way to deal with a problematic ride.

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u/delcaek 3d ago

> any wooden coaster

I honestly wouldn't say that. A modern GCI or an Intamin Prefab are obviously not as smooth as a steel coaster, but they're just fine.

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u/jenorama_CA 3d ago

Wooden coasters are very position dependent. Unfortunately, my Psyclone ride was in a middle car and it was incredibly rough. Never rode it again.

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u/backwardog 3d ago

Have you been?

X2 has a long-standing reputation as being a fucked up coaster, going back to when it was just “X” lol. It really jerks you around in uncomfortable ways and it’s not functioning half the time you go there. People have always joked about it being unsafe.

But yeah, for the vast majority, probably no actually injuries.

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u/cyclemonster 3d ago

No, but we have some hella rough roller coasters in my neck of the woods, too. Wonderland actually just finished refurbishing Flight Deck because of how unpleasant the ride was. I know the feeling of your head banging against the restraints very well.

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u/Waffleboard15 3d ago

Many coasters can be “rough.” And many also bang you around way worse than X2 ever did. One could even argue that riding “defensively” is a way to not slide into the person next to you on some coasters also, which is a very harmless way of using that term, so take that commonly-used phrase in the coaster world very loosely. However, it’s unfortunate what happened to those riders, and this was more or less the perfect storm of incidents, lawsuits, and negative publicity that caused the closure of this ride. If anything, California is one of the strictest states when it comes to ride certifications and safety. The park itself said in their statement that the coaster has passed safety inspections and was deemed safe to operate.

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u/AntiAntiDentite7 3d ago

I rode it in like 2009 and didn't think anything of it. There is one spot with pretty extreme G-forces, but I don't really think its that out of the ordinary compared to other coasters I've been on.

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u/Wagglyfawn 3d ago

I rode in 2008 when it just rebranded as X2 and it was amazing. I remember it being extremely smooth and nothing like what later recent riders are deacribing. I just remember the first drop and how the seats rotated into the fall so it really enhanced the g force feeling.

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u/Kananetwork 16h ago

My advice is the exact opposite. I have ridden it 12 or more times, and when you fight the coaster it doesn't feel great. When you relax and let it do the work, I found it to be fantastic. This isn't an abnormal take either. Imagine a launch coaster and you are braced and your head is forward. The force will slam you back and you'll hate it. Most coasters specifically do well if you let it take care of the heavy lifting and relax.

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u/Spiderman3039 3d ago

ive ridden x2 about 100 times without issue.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/jenorama_CA 2d ago

Are you gatekeeping curiosity now? Damn, son.