Ride Review: X
Best. First. Drop. Ever.
Xtreme is an understatement

I remember back to late in 2000 when this ride was first announced. I saw the animation they had and I thought to myself, "They've finally done it. They have built the ultimate coaster and one that I have to ride before I die".

Unfortunately, I would not get to ride it until about 4 years later. Was it worth the wait? Did it live up to the hype and my X-pectations?

And then some.

I cannot really put into words what an awesome coaster this is. Even though there are things about the way it was engineered that could be improved on, it is a brilliant piece of work as it is. I cannot think of another ride that looks this terrifying yet is so much pure fun that you will be too impressed by what the ride does to have time to be afraid of it. It's X-hilarating and X-citing, but this is one of the few that does not set off my fear sensors in the process. The only way I can explain it isa that it is just too much fun to be frightening. But like Xcelerator at Knott's, once you've ridden this, you know you have had quite an X-perience.

I followed the construction of this coaster back in 2001 and was very anxious to ride it as soon as I could. I wanted to go to the grand opening and be one of the first ones on the ride. However, it was not to be.

In early 2001, I lost my job, my car, and my girlfriend all at once (oh God, sounds like a bad country and western song here!) In any event, by the time X opened, I found myself watching the videos of the ride online and hearing all the rave reviews and wishing I could have been there. Tragically, X closed in 2002 for almost a year due to all kinds of problems with the design and engineering.

Finally, I got the chance to get on X last year. My friend lives off of Magic Mountain Parkway, and he offered to go with me one Saturday. I jumped at the chance, and I told him there were three rides I did not want to miss while there: Scream, Goliath and most of all, X. He had not ridden any coasters in close to ten years, but he said he was an adrenaline junkie. But was he ready for something like this? For that matter, was I ready for this? I didn't care. I had to ride it.

Seeing it from about a mile away was intimidating. But there was no way I would turn back. Best decision I ever made.
From across the freeway, you can see this is one monstrous ride
Viper? I used to think Viper was the huge ride at the entrance?!?

Driving into the park, this thing dominates your view and will set the tone for the entire day: When are you finally going to conquer it?

And it's not just the sheer SIZE of the ride, or the huge drops and curves and loops, but also seeing how the train goes through them and the positions the seats put you in. Yet you hear the cheers of the people coming back to the brakes and the clapping, and you see the huge line of people, and everyone coming off the ride grinning ear to ear. It draws you to it. Answer the call; no matter how scared you are you will not regret this; you will only regret it if you don't ride at least once.

After a spin on Scream! (which quickly made my top five coasters) and classics like Revolution and Viper, we could not hold back anymore. We had to do it; it was getting dark and we wanted to hit this one for sure. We walked across the long bridge to the ride, only to find that the wait was about an hour and a half. Considering how long the line has gotten, we took that as good. We received our boarding pass (depending on the crowd there will be a guard issuing them at the entrance) and waited in the line, catching glimpses of the ride but never the whole thing. Then we reached the place where the line splits.

Try to get the side facing the parking lot (the part that goes to the right and through the building); that was my first ride and it is the best place to sit. Fortunately, that is right where the person running the split and taking the "boarding passes" sent us (and we have only been sent up the ramps to the other side once).

The wait then seems longer than it really is. You make your way through a hallway or two, and then back outside for a trip up a few flights of stairs to the station. Going up, you can see a little more of what you are in for, as you see the train navigate one of the most disorienting parts of the ride, the enter going forwards-flip over-exit going backwards part. You also gain an appreciation for how enormous this ride is.

You pass some lockers as you enter the loading area. I strongly recommend that you either leave all loose articles with a non riding party or use these (even though the extra charge for them is a lame policy, in my opinion). After that, it's a right turn into the aircraft hangar sized loading area.

Best place to sit? I recommend rows 1-4, for the smoothest ride. If it's your first time, and you don't feel like waiting, I recommend row two. Remember, you leave the station going backwards; so to get to the front you will have to go all the way down to the end of the station. That being said, once you have at least one ride under your belt (or if you are very brave the first time) take the time to wait for the very front. This is one coaster where the front is really worth waiting for.

If you want a ride that is a bit more turbulent, but not too intense, get row 3 or 4 and if you want the most forceful ride, do 5, 6 or 7; I ahve not ridden those rows, but I hear they are very extreme and can get rather rough and bumpy at times. If you do ride these, brace yourself on the flips. I have heard it can get intense.
If you think this looks intimidationg enough-the vertical drop and huge loop, wait until you see how you go through it-forwards and backwards
The loooong lift up the hill backwards is just the beginning of the fun

The first time, I recall being a bit shaky.....but nothing like my friend was. I was nowhere near as anxious as I had been waiting in line for Xcelerator, but found I still had a few butterflies. The excitement was a far more intense feeling, though.

For a first ride, we opted for the exact middle of the train; as mentioned, I think that second to fourth rows are usually best for a "first ride". We got fourth row, and we began the wait. We had a fun conversation with some other people who were waiting; one had been on X countless times and the other was a very nervous first time rider. As we waited, we kept hearing that X was "a revoultionary new roller coaster that breaks ALL the rules". Which it definitely is.

Finally, it was our turn. The monstrous train (20 feet wide) pulled in, and the yellow gates opened as the seats rotated. I chose the inside seat and was amazed at how comfortable it was. You thread your arms through the restraint, and pull in, then pull the harness down snug to fit your shoulders; then buckle the seat belt. You have grab bars on the shoulder harnesses, and two lower grab bars on the seat; my first ride I opted for the ones on the shoulder harness, although the lower ones are good for bracing on the flips sometimes.

I have yet to ride the outside seats, as the friend I go with prefers them due to the "close calls" with the supports and the openness they offer.


Once you get used to the seats, you're fine. In fact, they are some of the most comfortable seats and restraints I have ever been in. The thing you have to get used to is being supported and held in at the upper body level, rather than at the waist. I cannot go on enough about how secure I feel on this coaster; it is one of the few I will go hands up all the way on. You are IN THERE. But don't make the error I did my first ride of not pulling the harness down far enough; if you do, you will feel yourself sliding around on the seat quite a bit and it can be a bit unnerving, not to mention a little jarring heading around some of the flips.

I choose to put myself in as tight as I possibly can, my friend prefers to have it just tight enough. As long as you can feel it firm against your shoulders, that should do it. And if you don't feel secure, then rest assured, they will check the restraint three times before you leave the station.

The seats rotate back, letting you look at the ceiling and getting your feet off the floor, and finally you hear the magic words: "Advance To Lift", and you hear the whine of the massive lift flywheel start as you leave the station and make the turn to the lift hill. (The first time I rode, it was fully dark, and we picked up speed quickly heading backwards to the lift. I got a little shaky then, and asked my friend, "What have we gotten ourselves into?") When you reach the lift, you roll back facing the sky and engage and start up the lift. It's long and does an awesome job of building the anticipation for a great payoff.

The first time I rode, about 75 feet up, I let loose a scream and then any anxiety I had disappeared and was replaced by sheer excitement. My friend started singing to ease the tension. Once you get about ten feet above the top of Viper, the train slows down and as you go over, the seats tip backwards. At this point, you hear the people in the cars ahead of you let loose some very loud screams and a few expletives. What happens next is something you will never forget. At the top comes the most incredible and yet strange sensation you will ever have on a coaster. It happens so fast you can barely see it coming.
The seats are some of the most comfortable I have ever ridden in; you feel totally safe yet very open
This moment is about as close to the sensation of being able to fly as you can get; your hands automatically want to go up here.

The cars tilt forward, so that you are staring face down at the ground, 220 feet below, still moving backwards. You go up a few feet and then comes the most incredible first drop I have ever experienced on any coaster: 215 feet, at an 88.5 degree angle, straight down.

As you pick up a lot of speed, about halfway down the seat suddenly flips all the way forward, so the car is fully upside down. The train hits the bottom of the drop, going 76 mph (although it seems much faster at night) and suddenly you are on your back, going backwards, then up....up....up into the giant raven turn, about 190 feet up, and now heading forwards down another very steep, massive drop.

The seats tilt up so you are nearly upside down, pointed headfirst towards the ground; then you dive. It feels all the world like flying at this point, and these days I cannot resist putting hands in the air at this point. You fly very close to the ground below, as your seat turns a little so you are sitting upright again, and the on ride camera goes off, blinding you in a haze of lights as you fly past the on ride cameras. Those, along with the great lighting job on this coaster, makes it even more fun at nighttime.

My first ride, at this point, I was still mentally on the first drop, still processing what was going on.


As you rise at an incredible rate of speed past the supports that seem way too close for comfort, you head up an incline to a "bunny hop". At the top you get a little surprise with a full backwards somersault that turns you upside down, but still keeps you facing forward.

Then comes one of the parts you can see from the line, the "luge turn", where you are on your back, feet facing forward, and do a turn into the rowdy second half of the ride. And after that is the part that has actually folled people into thinking that the train has derailed if you don't know it's coming.

You plunge down a drop, coming very close to some supports; you go up a hill and the cars do another somersault as the track twists. I cannot exactly explain what happens here, other than the train goes up and twists while your seat twists. The first ride it felt like I was being yanked up in the air and turned around and pulled backwards. It is very disorienting, but in a very good way.


The back flip at the peak of the third hill
This part can be rough at times; just hold on and brace yourself

Whatever happens here, the end result is that you are then on the opposite side of the track that you had been a few seconds before, and now you are going BACKWARDS at 76 mph. You go down another hill and then rapidly rise up backwards, then you find yourself at the top of the second raven turn, once again looking vertically down at the ground, and seeing it come at you very quickly.

At the bottom, you level out so you are once again sitting upright, and flying at a frigthening speed through a maze of supports, the ground VERY close below, and you rise up. At this point the train twists yet again, and your seat does another backwards somersault. Now you are going backwards once again, and you are back on the other side of the track than the one you just were. (My first ride at this point
I was practically cheering) and then......you hit the brakes. All too soon, it's over. At the end of my first ride, my mouth had gone totally dry, although I was not scared at all; I was too impressed to be scared.

You proceed into the "unloading" station; as you hear everyone on the train usually cheering and clapping at this point. The train stops and the seats rotate back to sitting position; and the ride ops will release the car restraints. Push in and pull out on the shoulder harnesses, undo your seat belt and (if you can stand), exit to the side of the train you're on. You have just "Xperienced The Xtreme". After one ride, I had found a coaster that really was better than anything I have ever ridden and right up there with Xcelerator as one of my all time favorites.

You may hear reviews where people say this coaster is "rough" or "overrated" but I don't see it; whenever I go to SFMM I constantly hear people coming off the ride saying how awesome it was; I usually see nothing but smiles and I always immediately want to get around and go again. I constantly see little kids and even older people riding it, as it is very extreme but not too "scary". I would go so far as to say this is the ultimate rush as far as coasters go. It really is that good.

And it is, at least to me, very re-rideable and well engineered in that it does what it does without inspiring nausea. I have only seen one person get sick on this ride, I could stay on it all day the same way I can Silver Bullet and Scream; I am grateful to have built up that kind of tolerance. Front row is the best ride on any coaster I have ever had.

Advice; you will enjoy the first ride, but in my experience you really need a few rides to really appreciate this one so ride it early in the day; first ride is ideal to aovid crowds, but if you feel nervous, do a few coasters first and then jump on. You will not regret it.

In two words? Absolutely incredible. In one word? X-cellent.
The back flip into the brake run; over all too soon
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