Magnum XL-200

By the mid-1980s, Cedar Point had grown into a successful collection of roller coasters and other smaller rides on the shores of Lake Erie. In 1986, Dick Kinzel took over as president and CEO of Cedar Fair, the company that operated the park at the time. Kinzel saw a report on CNN in 1988 about the opening of a new coaster in Japan called Bandit at Yomiuriland that emphasized height and speed but had no inversions. Kinzel wanted to introduce a similar coaster that emphasized steep drops and negative g-forces over inversions and spins, which were common at the time. It had been 10 years since the last major addition, Gemini, was introduced. Cedar Point asked for proposals from TOGO, Dinn Corporation, Intamin and Arrow Dynamics to build a roller coaster without inversions or over-the-shoulder restraints. They chose Arrow, due to the weakness of the dollar at the time, which eliminated overseas production. Arrow was also working on the new Iron Dragon at the time. Arrow and Ron Toomer proposed a -tall coaster, to best the then-largest roller coaster drop on Shockwave at Six Flags Great America. That got Cedar Point's management interested in breaking the barrier, partly because of the publicity to be gained from building the first roller coaster to do so. The name Magnum XL-200 was chosen because Magnum, P.I. was popular at the time. "XL" and "200" were added for "extra-long" and standing at least tall, respectively. Funds from Cedar Fair going public on the New York Stock Exchange in April 1987 were used to fund the ride. Following its completion in 1989, Kinzel was one of the first people to ride the coaster, boarding the train after one test cycle. Cedar Point set a record attendance in 1989, due in part to the introduction of Magnum. To date, Magnum has been repainted once; the original track color was scarlet red, and later repainted Molly orange in late 2005 which was completed in 2006. Cedar Point celebrated Magnum's 20th anniversary on opening day in 2009 with a ceremony and an appearance by Ron Toomer, its designer. A new entrance sign was also introduced. Magnum XL-200 has been the target of false rumors since 1998 claiming the structure was sinking due to unstable ground. The rumors supposedly started as an April Fools' Day joke in an Ohio newspaper, but quickly spread via the Internet. Cedar Point quickly denounced such rumors. In 2019, Magnum XL-200 celebrated its 30th anniversary. The ride was repainted and new special effects were installed in the third tunnel. ==Ride experience==

Layout After the train departs the station, it travels over the resort gate walkway, down a slight decline into a 90-degree turn to the right and engages the chain, which operates at a speed of , to begin the climb to the top of the lift hill. The train descends at a 60-degree angle, reaching a top speed of . The train then ascends a camelback hill, curving to the left into the first tunnel. Coming out of the tunnel, the train ascends a third, -tall hill. After the third hill, it enters a set of trim brakes and a pretzel-shaped turnaround where it curves to the left toward the beach and then left again into another tunnel. The train then traverses over seven airtime hills and a third tunnel into a mid-course brake run. The train turns left and goes back over the walkway to Cedar Point Shores. It then turns right and enters the brake run, followed by a 90-degree right turn back into the station. One cycle of the ride lasts about 2 minutes. Each train has six cars; riders are arranged two-across in three rows for a total of 36 riders per train. Track Magnum XL-200's steel track is in length, and its main hill is approximately high. Like other Arrow coasters at the time, sections of Magnum's track were hand-welded together in place without the assistance of computer-aided design, leading to bumpy, non-smooth transitions throughout the course of the ride. Each track section's measurement ranges from , and 157 structural columns are used for support. ==Incidents==

On May 26, 2007, one of the coaster's trains collided with another at less than , causing minor damage to both trains and minor injuries to at least three passengers. Two people were taken to a first aid station, and a third person was taken to a local hospital because of an asthma attack. The ride reopened the next day and park spokesman Robin Innes said the accident was caused by rain: "We think it was just caused by excessive moisture on the tracks due to the heavy rain storms we had in the morning." ==Awards and rankings==

Magnum XL-200 was designated an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark on June 21, 2004, at the 27th Annual Convention of the American Coaster Enthusiasts. It received the designation for inspiring more than a dozen similar rides on three continents and for being the first hypercoaster. {{GTA table ==Records==