Magnum XL-200

Magnum XL-200 is still one of my favorite roller coasters.  I love the airtime, and the view of the beach and Lake Erie is simply breathtaking!  The first tunnel can be seen here, and the tunnels make the ride even more fun.

Magnum marked a dramatic change in coaster designs.  In the 1980s, most steel coasters were of the looping variety.  There seemed to be a battle to build coasters with more and more loops.  Even Arrow was building most of their rides with five, six, and seven loops.  When Magnum opened in 1989, it was somewhat shocking that it did not have inversions.  However, it was a huge success.  Many of the steel coasters built in the next ten years followed Magnum's "hyper-coaster" formula: Over 200 feet tall, lots of airtime, and no loops.

©2014 by Joel A, Rogers.