Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200 roller coaster freezes mid-ride, forcing guests to evacuate

Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read
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Cedar Point, known worldwide as a destination for roller coaster enthusiasts, is back in the news, and not in a good way.

The latest is a report Thursday in several news outlets, including the Daily Mail, a United Kingdom tabloid. It said the Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster to top 200 feet when it opened in 1989, had a "mechanical issue on Monday that led it to come to a complete stop and forced guests to make the terrifying walk down."

Several Cedar Point guests were forced to walk down a 200-plus-foot roller coaster Monday after the ride experienced a mechanical issue.
Several Cedar Point guests were forced to walk down a 200-plus-foot roller coaster Monday after the ride experienced a mechanical issue.

There did not appear to be injuries. However, the unfavorable news followed other reports that have raised safety questions at the Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park, which bills itself the "roller coaster capital of the world."

On Tuesday, Cedar Point officially revealed Top Thrill 2, a reengineered Top Thrill Dragster, which shut down in 2021 after a Michigan woman, Rachel Hawes, was seriously injured when falling debris hit her in the head. The ride, technically, is set to open next year as a record-holding, triple-launch coaster, but fans took to social media to express disappointment in the ride's unoriginal new name, and that the park did not make it taller (420 feet) or faster (120 mph).

Furthermore, an early leak of Top Thrill 2 that turned out to be real put a damper on the Tuesday announcement.

A look at Cedar Point's Top Thrill 2 coming in 2024.
A look at Cedar Point's Top Thrill 2 coming in 2024.

The latest incident was reportedly caught on video and showed riders walking down the staircase clinging to a metal handrail.

The Free Press sent a message to Cedar Point seeking comment. In the Daily Mail report, the amusement park said it was a "standard ride stoppage."

Still, another incident last month did result in an injury. David Carter, a metro Detroit resident and Cedar Point season-pass holder in his 20s, was hit in the head by a loose iPhone while riding the Maverick roller coaster. The impact, Carter told the Free Press, caused bleeding and a concussion.

And not long before that, Hawes, of Swartz Creek, filed a lawsuit against the park, claiming in an Erie County Common Pleas Court that the accident while waiting in line for the Top Thrill Dragster left her with a traumatic brain injury, skull fracture, and more than $2 million in medical expenses.

The lawsuit said the part that hit her fell because the ride was not properly inspected.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200 stuck mid-ride; no one injured