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Closed stamp over riders on the X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain
It’s been close to 25 years since the world’s first 4-D roller coaster opened for business at Six Flags Magic Mountain. However, it won’t welcome any more riders after being linked to a slew of brain injuries that have sparked a series of lawsuits.
A major part of the appeal of modern roller coasters is the borderline death-defying experience you’re treated to while strapped into rides that can rise hundreds of feet in the air and subject you to speeds most people will never have the chance to endure.
Thrill junkies who ride them do so knowing they’re designed to give you an adrenaline rush in a controlled and heavily engineered environment designed to ensure you won’t actually be subjected to any harm, and the amusement parks that rely on them to lure in visitors obviously have plenty of incentive to make sure that’s the case.
However, one roller coaster at a Six Flags in California has recently been thrust into the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons, and it’s being taken out of commission in the wake of what was positioned as a temporary closure over the summer.
The X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain is shutting down for good after being linked to serious brain trauma
I don’t really consider myself a roller coaster aficionado, so I wasn’t super familiar with the X2 until I came across a story about a lawsuit that was filed by the family of someone who died after riding it in 2022.
The attraction was simply known as the “X” when it debuted in 2002. It was marketed as the first 4-D coaster, one where the seats rotate as the cars make their way around the track, and it was rebranded as the X2 in 2008 after undergoing a $10 million renovation.
That tragic incident initially appeared to be an isolated one until CNN published a report concerning two different women who underwent emergency surgery less than two weeks apart earlier this year to treat brain hemorrhages they suffered after riding X2.
The coaster has been dormant at Magic Mountain since July 12th, and this month, Six Flags was hit with three lawsuits filed on behalf of more than 100 people who claim they also endured a traumatic brain injury induced by the ride.
On Tuesday, we learned X2 will be shut down for good, as Brian Oerding, who serves as the president of Magic Mountain, released a statement in which he announced the decision to “permanently retire” the attraction.
Oerding asserted X2 “consistently passed a multitude of safety tests” but nonetheless acknowledged the park is shutting it down for good because “we believe it’s the right thing to do” while citing “guest confidence” as a motivating factor.
People who head to Magic Mountain won’t be hurting for alternatives, as there are 16 other roller coasters to pick from at the park.