Review: X2 at Magic Mountain gets my nod for America’s best coaster
X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain is my candidate for the best roller coaster in America — to be spoken of in the same breath as Millennium Force, Kingda Ka and Superman: Ride of Steel.
The question was never if the old X was a great ride. It was. The issue was always reliability. X constantly broke down.
During my preview test-ride today, Magic Mountain officials insisted the $10 million upgrade to the notoriously temperamental prototype coaster will put the reliability issue to rest. But X2 faces its true litmus test 100 days from now — after a summer of riders pass judgment and tally their scorecard in ride time versus downtime.
And still other questions linger.
Is X2 any better than X?
Certainly. X2 is a sensory overload of special effects — including sound, fire and fog — that promises to enhance the experience with angst and attitude.
Is X2 any smoother than X?
Somewhat. But X was never friendly. X2 grabs you by the anatomy and squeezes you until your heart pops out of your throat. The meek need not apply.
And the final question…
Am I qualified to pick the greatest coaster in the United States?
Probably not. I certainly haven’t ridden every ride, but I’ll make the boast nonetheless. I’ll put my favorite up against yours anytime. X2 will rip your ride to shreds.
Complete coverage:
> Magic Mountain to unveil X2 coaster
> Last chance to ride X coaster
> Sneak peek: 3D computer renderings of X2
> First look: X2 trains arrive at Magic Mountain
> Magic Mountain adding special effects tunnels to X2
> Magic Mountain drops X2 tunnels, keeps special effects
> X2 gets flamethrowers + other effects
Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the
Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
[Image: Six Flags Magic Mountain]
18 Comments on “Review: X2 at Magic Mountain gets my nod for America’s best coaster”
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May 22nd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Theme Park Review offers a photo gallery and video from the X2 media event.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer + Theme Park Blogger
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:49 am
Lets just see how long X2 takes to break down.Maverick would kill X2 in a better coaster competition and it don’t need fire or fog to do it.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Amen, Joe. The X2 hype is much ado about nothing.
May 24th, 2008 at 11:21 am
X had the potiential to be the greatest ride in the world. The design was just too far ahead of it’s time. X2 is just a patch to this…a patch that still falls short. The only thing changed are a couple effects, half of which didn’t even work on media day. How about after a busy summer?
And wow! Look at these fanboys promoting Maverick like it’s something awesome. How about you boys leave the Ohio state? ;-)
May 24th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
If X2 breaks down all summer long (as Joe expects), then the $10 million rehab will be “much ado about nothing” (to quote Spokker & Shakespeare).
But if X2 avoids any significant downtime during the coming peak season, then “the greatest ride in the world” (as Ryan put it) could finally live up to its potential.
— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer + theme park blogger
May 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
My problem with X2 is just how painful it was to ride. I prefer the much smoother and graceful Tatsu than the abomination that is X.
May 25th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Looking forward to checking out “X2″ next Sunday as part of a special Coaster Event prior to the park opening to the public…..
May 26th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
just rode x2 today (memorial day). Rode x last year and i’m all about the upgrades. all the effects were working and they were great (keeping in mind that my going in impression was all gimmick).
the ride did go down early for hours but once we came back later in the day it s was consistent and we got on in 2 hrs.
I’m from MI originally so I’m very familiar with Cedar Point. The bottom line is that CP can’t touch this ride. In my opinion, nothing around matches the innovation and intensity that X offered. X2 ups the ante with a slightly smoother (not to be confused with milder) ride, better reliability (but time will tell for the long run), and fog and fire that take you from warm to cold within seconds of each other.
On a side note, Tatsu is great but can be pretty uncomfortable in certain rows. I like em rough (aggressive), but I thought I’d bring that up.
May 31st, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I went to Magic mountain today and x broke down 3 times in about an hours time
June 4th, 2008 at 8:47 am
I rode X2 several times on media day and after. The reliability issue is still yet to be seen. The wind constraints are something that was not solved with the upgrade and that was the biggest factor in the delays I experienced.
The smoke and fire are barely noticeable from the riders perspective, but the audio system on this coaster should not be overlooked. There are less than a dozen coasters in the world with on-board audio and this system is world class. The stereo imaging is fantastic and the frequency response is impressive. The overall sound quality even surpasses that of many less mobile, more media centered rides.
The gimmicks are fine and the audio system is impressive. I was very impressed overall.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I found X2 to be a very stressful ride because after waiting for 1 or 2 hours, you don’t know if you’ll get to ride! It was down for 2 hours on June 8 (and the ride operators didn’t make an announcement - we had to ask the worker who was standing nearby), and it was down for about 45 minutes on June 9. You feel relieved once you’re on board *and* moving.
Also, on June 8, X2 felt smooth, but it was really bumpy on the 9th; I banged my heard pretty hard.
I hope these are early glitches that will be worked out because otherwise I’ll think twice about potentially wasting 2 hours in line if the ride goes down.
It’s a great ride, but the reliability isn’t there yet.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
i’ve ridden X and every other ride at magic mountain and i can wait till tomorrow when i take my yearly trip and hopefully ride X2 if it’s not broken down. personally i like scream, tatsu, golith, X, and colossus the best
oh ps. superman at magic mountain is my #1 favorite
June 29th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I rode X2 and it sucked literally I started playing my nintendo ds during the ride since it was so weak… I then got my picture taken playing my DS and then stood in front of the line showing my picture to everyone that entered the ride. People were looking at me funny, but it goes to show that if you scream on the ride you are the ultimate WEAK. weaknesssssssesssss.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I’m sorry, X2 was NOT that great of a ride. The idea is brilliant, I loved the addition of video and sound, lighting, fog, etc., but after waiting in line for an hour and a half in the hot sun, I was sadly disappointed. The ride simply is NOT long enough.
Also, I would have liked to hear Wake Up by Rage Against The Machine DURING the ride, not as we were pulling in…
July 10th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
forgot to add….Goliath was a million times better. Had to buy the shirt from that one.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
My girlfriend(30), her younger sister(15), and myself (30) all had a fun trip to Magic Mountain yesterday. Since her sis had never been, I gave her the grand tour.
We rode every ride worth mentioning and in the end, she loved Tatsu, Goliath, and X2 the most, followed very closely by Viper.
I do agree that X2 is a very bumpy ride and I have to say the fire deal was actually very impressive to me. But if you ride it during the day (I rode at night) I can see how its appeal is greatly diminished.
FOr the people who thought it was kinda weak, ride it again at night. The fire blazes up the whole ride. I thought it was badass personally.
And for the record, at the end of the ride, we weer stuck for 10 minutes unable to get off LOL. Reliability is still an issue it seems.
My opinion is ride this ride LAST
August 25th, 2008 at 12:37 am
I just rode X2 yesterday. I will -NEVER- ride that again. Ever. Here’s why…
1- It broke down. So we were waiting in line for only 30 minutes extra (not so bad) but in 102 degree heat (that’s bad). The reason they closed it for forever and a half was to kick out the bugs and make it cooler right? If only….
2- I noticed they changed the harnesses a lil’ bit. When X premiered with its Butterfly Harness it felt very nicely across my shoulders. Being 6′2″…I thought that was very awesome…they finally designed a coaster to fit the taller people. X2, not so much. I felt that they made the harness a bit wider so it didn’t fit so well on top of my shoulders which made flipping over and such a much more worse experience to add to it all.
3- The music and the woman whispering X2 was annoying and loud. It was crap. The mix of the music sounded like someone on acid crack just downloaded some freebie sound editing program, and then put it together in 5 minutes. The only thing that made sense was the countdown to free fall. The only good thing about the music was at the end where they played the end theme from the Matrix (i think its called Wake Up) so that was a nice break from the annoying mix….but as everything else does…it came to an end followed by the annoying X2 woman.
4- The engineering of this ride fails. Miserably. The concept of it is totally awesome, but the seats rocked back and forth SO much, my head slammed on the back of my head rest at least 3 or 4 times very violently. Not counting the numerous times my head continued to hit the back of my head rest. I’ve ridden on X before and I knew it was a lil’ shaky and I was prepared for it as well…but not this bad. I had a very bad headache after the ride was over and the stupid woman whispering the annoying X2 did NOT help. The people at Arrow Dynamics need to get their team back on this ride and feel what I felt….so they can shut it down again and fix the violent motion that the seats make when you’re on the ride.
5- So being in the 102 degree heat in the middle of the freaking desert….whats the best new thing to add to a ride to make it even more “awesome”? FIRE! Yeah! Lets just randomly blow fire in your face at the end of the ride to make it more “awesome”…not like we need to save gas resources or anything.
Overall…When X first opened it was nice and smooth. The turns and flips were very nice and it was a very awesome experience being on a coaster such as that. With X2 it has gotten MUCH MUCH WORSE. The music is obnoxious. The burst of fire is unneeded in the middle of the desert. And the whole ride experience gave me a much unneeded headache. I will never ride this ride EVER AGAIN and I will warn ANYONE who goes there to NOT RIDE IT. You’re not missing much. Its basically the same ride, only a helluva lot more bumpy (we’re talkin’ shaken baby syndrome here people), painted differently, and with added effects that are beyond pointless.
October 19th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
X2 is absolutely amazing….
The heat is just bad luck. But i always go to magic mountain in the winter and fall, when its cold… and rainy… and a nice hot fire in your face feels really good.
The X2 woman is an odd side effect, but its really not that annoying.
the first X was EXTREMELY bumpy. The next X2 seats almost have little pillows for your head.
The bumping referred to in the above post only happens a few seconds after the ride starts, never during the ride…atleast i never noticed it…
overall, X will kick any other rollercoaster’s behind in any competition…except maybe Eijananika, which is the Japanese counterpart of X, and the only other of its kind in the world.