X² is a steel roller coaster operating at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. It is the world's first 4th Dimension roller coaster and was the final roller coaster conceived and installed by ride manufacturer Arrow Dynamics. The ride is unique in that the trains' seats pitch 360 degrees forwards and in reverse independent of the main chassis. The coaster initially opened to the public on January 12, 2002; numerous malfunctions delayed it from debuting in 2001 as was originally anticipated. On December 2, 2007, the ride closed for its transformation into X². It was completely repainted, received new third generation trains and featured new special effects including a sound system and a pair of flame throwers. The ride reopened on May 24, 2008, following the upgrades.
History
Although the ride has received mostly rave reviews from enthusiasts and is a huge hit among the general public, X had problems. Due to design flaws, particularly with the trains, the ride's opening was delayed from Summer 2001 until January 2002. In June 2002, the ride closed to modify the trains. In August 2002, the ride reopened and has been running smoothly ever since, except for a trainin the summer of 2005. 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, Six Flags Magic Mountain announced a redesign. X closed on December 2, 2007, to be redesigned including new trains with a pneumatic restraint system, a new color scheme of red track and black supports, and an all-new, innovative state-of-the-art visual, audio and sensory effects. In a projected $10 million investment, X reopened on May 24, 2008, as X². Six Flags Magic Mountain hired S&S Arrow to build new trains for X². The new trains are lighter to reduce the amount of wear and downtime. X² also took on a new load/unload method and third train to increase the ride capacity by 50%. Testing of the trains began on March 6, 2008.
Ride experience
The 3,610-foot long layout features two inversions including a skydive, two "raven turns", one back flip, and a twisting front flip. Each car on the train spins on its own independent axis 360 degrees forward or backward, which is being controlled by the outer rails of the track. Unlike traditional roller coasters, 4th Dimension roller coasters like X² have four rails.
Layout
After departing from the loading station, the ride makes a 180-degree turn traveling over the queue and onto the lift hill. After ascending, the train enters a short drop and then ascends an additional to a maximum height of. During this lift, riders are facing backwards. The first drop is 215 feet and is sloped at 88.5 degrees, causing the train to reach a maximum speed of 76 mph . During the main drop, the cars are rotated 180 degrees so that riders are facing toward the ground. The train then enters an inside raven loop, where the cars are rotated again halfway through the loop to create a "lie-to-fly" maneuver; riders transition from laying on their backs facing backward to a flying prone position facing forward. After exiting the loop, the cars rotate backwards 360 degrees simulating a backflip. This is followed by a sweeping fan turn and a half twist "fly-to-lie" maneuver, in which riders flip forward 180 degrees to return to the original position of laying on their backs. Flame throwing special effects can be seen overhead as the train enters an outside raven loop immediately followed by another half twist. The track levels out and the train enters the final brake run before returning to the station.
Trains
X² is a unique prototype design in which the seats can rotate forward or backward 360 degrees in a controlled spin. This is achieved by having four rails on the track. The two rails that control the spin of the seats move up and down relative to the main track and spin the seats using a rack and piniongear mechanism. These "rotation" rails don't support the train. The other two rails are for the weight-bearing wheels, capable of supporting these heavy trains. Weighing 5 tons, each vehicle has a wing-shaped design that spans. Riders sit on the outside of the coaster track in pairs. Four, tall rack gears move up and down following the profile of the seat rotation rails below the vehicle. This gear rotates the seats forwards and backwards throughout the ride. The ride also has an on-board audio soundtrack that features five songs heard throughout the ride:
S&S Arrow opened the second roller coaster of this type, Eejanaika at Fuji-Q Highland in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan. Eejanaika has several meanings, but "Ain't it great" is believed to be the relevant meaning in this situation. This second 4th Dimension coaster is very similar to X², but differs in height, and some elements are altered, such as the first 'half-half' element, in which the trains rotate on the track one half turn as the seats also rotate one half turn, has now been replaced with a 'full-full' element, in which the train rotates on the track for one full turn as the seats rotate one full turn. The turn back towards the lift hill on Eejanaika is a true overbanked turn, while on X² this turn was not. Dinoconda, a third 4th Dimension coaster, opened at Dinosaur Valley in Shanghai, China in May 2012.
