Has Six Flags' X2 made its final run?
The future of an historic but long-troubled Six Flags Magic Mountain roller coaster again lies in doubt, with an ongoing state investigation and now a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit.
X2 opened in 2002 as X, the first Fourth Dimension roller coaster from Arrow Dynamics. But the ride suffered problems from the start, which contributed to Arrow's demise. [See X's Failure Threatens Many in Theme Park Industry - that's one of the oldest articles on Theme Park Insider, by the way.] Six Flags revamped the coaster and its seat design, reopening it in 2008 as X2.
But X2 remained a rough ride, with its rotating seats mounted at the side of the track. The ride went beyond simply uncomfortable for some riders. X2 has sparked multiple complaints of injuries and even death over the years, with some of those ending up in court.
One of those was set to go to a jury next month. But today, Magic Mountain and S&S Worldwide, which supplied X2's trains, settled a lawsuit filed by the family of Christopher Hawley, a 22-year-old who died after what medical examiners called blunt force head trauma from the ride.
Meanwhile, X2 has been closed since July 12 while the State of California investigates yet another incident with reported injury on the ride. X2's record is drawing national media attention now, with CNN publishing a report today.
In the years following X's debut, wing coasters and multi-dimensional coasters have become popular, with many such models opening around the world. But those are evolutionary refinements of X's concept, rather than copies. With legal expenses mounting and an investigation ongoing, is it worth Six Flags' money to try to keep X2 running?
Or are Magic Mountain and its fans better served by closing this chapter?
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Replies (4)
I feel fortunate to have ridden this back in June. X2 is still a marvel of engineering, and it's frankly shocking to me that no one has attempted to mimic its controlled spinning design, particularly given the advances in CAD and precision metalworking. However, having a couple of rides on the coaster relatively fresh in my mind, there is no doubt that there are some flaws in the design that created a lot of roughness on what is still an exhilarating experience. The real shame is that the second train had just returned shortly before the recent suspension of operations. Frankly, I'm always skeptical of injury claims from roller coaster riders, and unfortunately there is an extremely high bar that needs to be achieved for attraction operators to secure the safety of riders, which creates situations like we're seeing here and with other theme park attractions - even shiny new ones like Stardust Racers.
I first rode X2 ten years ago and last rode it in May. It used to be the first thing I'd do in the park to avoid the lines, but in 2026 it was the very last thing I'd do because it would produce such a bad headache that you just can't come back from, especially in the heat. To me, it even rivaled Viper for pain.
Post-merger when SF was beginning to target their expensive, maintenance nightmares, I knew it was only a matter of time for X2. It has always been such a draw though that I think the park thought they'd get another five years out of it (they probably spent too much money renovating that second train) while they replaced more dire rides in the park (too expensive to operate like Superman and Goliath to unpopular ones like Ninja, Scream, Goldrusher, Viper).
I also think Viper's future has always been tied to X2, particularly when they decided to lightly renovate Roaring Rapids rather than close it. That combined area really seems to be the target for their next big coaster after whatever they are planning on top of the mountain (which would be after the thrill glider of course). But I think this really messes up whatever plan they had. Superman and X2 were actually popular draws.
They are in a tough position. They still have a long list of highlights relative to most parks in the country, but they have so many rides that just don't hold up today. I'm glad the merged Six Flags is still committed to this park, but I think it is going to be a rough decade ahead while they finally do the work to stop upkeeping duds and invest in things people want to ride. But for a park that has a lot of development to do to round out their lineup which is too lopsided for extreme thrills, they have a LOT of work to do and probably barely any of the money to do it.
I think a lot of this is going to come down to the findings from the investigation. X2, despite its flaws, remains the most popular coaster at the park with a lot of the public, and for that reason I don't see them giving up on the ride solely due to poor publicity. However, if it is found that a problem with the coaster caused this most recent incident, or if either the state or insurers mandate expensive modifications to the coaster prior to it reopening, I could see Six Flags cutting their losses and giving the ride an early retirement.
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I just can't see this ride ever operating again, nor can I imagine anyone is up to the challenge of trying to revitalize it again. X2, when it first reopened, was one of the best roller coasters on Earth. It was terrifying, unique and thrilling. It was also merely intense, rather than unbearably rough. Over the years it was okay if you sat in an inside seat rather than an outside seat.
I last rode it two years ago and I decided before the final brake run that I was never doing that again. I have really fond memories of X2 when it first opened, but this has to be the end.