Magnum XL200 2.0

Pete said:
It is by no stretch of the imagination "rough", it is forceful which made it a number 1 ride back in 1989 when it was built. The ride has not changed, it is not rougher or more painful than it was from day one and it is still one of the very best rides anywhere IMHO.....The classic Arrow trains are beautiful and help make Magnum what it is. The ride has not gotten rough, people maybe aren't as tough.

Exactly. These young enthusiasts today never would have made it back then.

I'll have to drive 7 hours from Southeast Wisconsin, so I'll arrive at about 10 AM on Sunday the 3rd, so early entry won't be an option. I absolutely do want to ride TTD that day, and with the downtime and lines it will be best to hit it first thing and then Magnum if there is a short line. Then the focus of my day until 4 or 5 pm will be hopefully multiple rides on each of Maverick, MF, Rougarou, Maverick again, Skyhawk, and then Gemini and Magnum before seeing All Wheels Extreme at 6, or possibly at 4 if the lines aren't as long as I'm expecting.

There have been slight modifications to Magnum's trains, particularly right off. Nothing life changing. On my very first ride opening day, I remember cracking my elbow really hard on the armrest, then lo and behold a little padded cushion turned up the next season. It wasn't at my suggestion, maybe they heard me crying.

But I also remember the ride being lauded as a smooth steel ride. Everyone loved it. In the meantime rides like MF, GK, Maverick, and Valravn came along and Magnum suddenly went from nice guy to meanie. Bully, really.
Technology and design have come along to spoil everyone since. The experience hasn't changed.

Magnum remains to this day my favorite ride at the park.

Poor guy. This was his first post and he got run the hell outta here.

Pete said:

The ride has not changed, it is not rougher or more painful than it was from day one ...

Thank you. I never understood people on Pointbuzz talking about how Magnum is getting rough. It still feels the same to me as it did 20+ years ago. Now what has changed is my body type since I started riding the ride around age 12. Longer legs have meant that I get banged up but thats all me, not the ride being too rough. What RMAC said also drives home the reason people think Magnum is rough.

I'll sit in any seat on Maggie, give myself about 2 inches of gap between the lap bar and my lap, tighten my seat belt, and enjoy every damn second of ejector air I get. Those bunny hops are the best but I used to get beat on by the lap bar through that stretch, until I stopped stapling myself in and left that 2 inch gap. The key is how tight the lap bar is.

One of my favorite things to do on Friday nights during Halloweekends is marathon Magnum. :)

Wisco Woody said:

I absolutely do want to ride TTD that day, and with the downtime and lines it will be best to hit it first thing and then Magnum if there is a short line.

Here's my snarky suggestion. :-)

Head to Dragster when you get there. When you see that it is not running, ride Magnum several times. Then check it again and when it is running only empty trains, head to Maverick and other rides. Then, later in the day, when you see it running with people, try to ride it before it breaks down or the wind starts blowing harder.

Or maybe it will open on schedule at 10am and run all day. You just never know. TTD = Temperamental Thrill Dragster. Good luck!

Giving your self space between you and the lap bar is fine until the ride op comes and pushes it down as far as it will go lol

Magnum does have some "rough" spots, but its a rather mild vibration. I think the sense of "roughness" you get from it is more of the violent and sudden transitions, which are a characteristic of almost all Arrow coasters. The transitions don't flow together, causing sudden airtime with no "lead-in" and some awkward laterals (the end of the turnaround is the biggest example of this.)

That said, the primitive track shaping works quite well for Magnum on its airtime hills. It generates some quality ejector airtime.

Interestingly, Magnum, like Gemini, is basically an oversized mine train (just using spined track instead of non-spine track and wood supports like Gemini.) In fact, Magnum originally used up-stop pads instead of up-stop wheels, which were changed soon after to the up-stop wheels today. (I have no clue whose idea up-stop pads were on a coaster designed with multiple high-speed airtime hills.)

If you want to see what an up-stop pad looks like, Gemini and CCMR still use them, and you can get an up-close look at them if you look at the wheel assembly on the Gemini car in the Town Hall Museum.

The only thing I wish was different with Magnum is the trim in the pretzel. I know it will never happen but I wish it wasn't there. Have had a few rides when it wasn't used and I much prefer it. Gotta leave some room with the lapbar and tighten the seat belt as others have said. Do that and its fine.

I will say that I like both Steel Force and Phantom's Revenge better. The SF helix is great and I like the first drop better. PR is just awesome.

I think what it really comes down to is that what some of us call rough others (like me) call wild and crazy. I like wild and crazy. Wild and crazy is awesome. The biggest change I see in Magnum since it was new is that I don't have to wait 3 hours in line anymore when I want to ride it.

Magnum can still give great rides with the trim. But it'd be nice to see it off more often. I haven't had many (if any) trimless rides this season. Maybe when it gets cold and windy during Haunt they might? (But then it'll be running slow anyways.)

Isn't it supposed to be speed sensitive anyways? Like it's only on if the speed is high enough? Other than slowing into the turn, it doesn't seem to have too much affect on the hills.

It's not speed sensitive, it's controlled by the operator in the booth. And trust me, you can definately tell when they're off on those hills.

I would say that if you're gonna do anything to magnum, get new trains. leave the track though. Those classic ejector hills need to stay!

Just curious, to the people who want new trains, what is wrong with the current trains? I think they are fine and should not be touched.

The restraints are awful. The majority of the general public seem to agree on that.

Magnum has been my favorite ride since it opened, I enjoy the airtime hills, but I could see the restraints getting an upgrade.

Magnum is my baby. Worked the ride three of my five years at the park. No ride at Cedar Point has more character or charm. It's a treasure and the park knows it - it'll never go anywhere. As far as new trains, I wish something could be done to just tweak the existing ones - lapbars that actually stayed up and off your thighs would alleviate almost all the complaints about comfort. Every time I go to Kings Island I marvel at the trains on Adventure Express and how the lapbars pop up once the train parks and don't fall down onto your lap during the ride. I would never want the aesthetics of the trains to change, as the retro space theme gives the ride a lot of its character.