Goliath

Goliath opened in February 2000 as Magic Mountain's entry into the hyper-coaster arms race that Cedar Point and other parks had kicked off a few years earlier. Rather than build up and over the terrain, Swiss manufacturer Giovanola dug a tunnel into the hillside so the ride's first drop could plunge past 255 feet before leveling out — a design choice that let the coaster claim one of the steepest hyper drops in the world without needing an even taller lift hill.

The layout that follows is almost entirely about sustained speed: a long second hill, a sweeping high-speed helix, and a finishing spiral that keeps lateral forces building well after most hyper coasters have already slowed into their brakes. Because Goliath has no inversions, its intensity comes purely from drop angle and turn radius rather than looping elements, which distinguishes it from B&M and Intamin hypers built around the same era.

More than two decades later, Goliath remains one of the tallest and fastest non-inverting coasters on the West Coast, and its tunnel entrance is still one of the most photographed moments in the Screampunk District. It has aged well precisely because its design leaned on terrain and geometry rather than gimmicks that could feel dated today.