Life’s just too short to do things half-hearted and not give them your all. The best creative works, movies, music, and yes, blogs, are created by those who are fully committed.
Last month, news had come out about a new roller coaster so I went to YouTube to find some animated ride footage. I came across a video that had a detailed analysis of the ride and all of the park’s upcoming plans. The creator did such a good job breaking down the ride and covering all of the park’s updates that there was really nothing for me to add.
I realized that I used to deliver this level of quality, but my interest had severely waned. If I wasn’t going to devote real quality time to the blog in order to make good on its mission: providing detailed roller coaster reviews and my take on theme park news stories, then I knew it was time to retire.
I’ve known for a while that I didn’t want to run The Coaster Critic’s Blog forever. I’ve been contemplating how I’d transition from the blog to another site full-time. Until recently, I thought I might do this “sometime in the future”, but given my lack of passion and also my interest in a new project, I feel that now’s the time. I’ve decided that it’s time to move on and I’ll be retiring from the site in April 2014.
Readers, Don’t Delete Your Bookmarks Yet
Announcing the end of the site four months in advance gives me the opportunity to finish well. While the passion’s gone, there’s nothing like a countdown to get you in gear. I’m hoping to spend the next few months reminiscing with you while writing about my all-time favorite moments and posts from the last 8 years. So, don’t delete your bookmarks yet. I’d like to leave it all out on the field as they say in football.
Theme Park Site Owners, Pick My Brain & Guest Post
Over the years I’ve had fun creating side projects like: ThemeParker, Theme Park Hype, Theme Park Syndicate, Theme Park Geekly, & Coaster Portal. Right now, I’m an open book. If you want to pick my brain, you can have my ideas and how-to’s for creating cool theme park websites that don’t yet exist. Or, if you just want feedback on your site, let’s talk.
As always, well, maybe even more than usual, guest posts are welcome. If you want to contribute to the site, contact me, bring your “A” game and you’ll get published. It’s a good opportunity to promote your site and your work. I want to focus on helping others before I close the site.
[notice noticeType=”info” ]April 16, 2014 will mark the 8th year anniversary of the site. After April, I will no longer update it with new posts, but I’ll make sure that it’s still available for those who are researching opinions on roller coasters and theme parks.[/notice]
It’s been a blast, but as with anything there comes a time when you’re ready for a new challenge. A new mountain to climb. The particular new mountain I’m facing is massive and I’m going to really need to give it my all. I’ll have more details in the coming months, but I will say that it’s outside of the theme park world.
Thanks to my readers and colleagues for joining me on this awesome adventure. Let’s have some fun over the next four months.
Do you have any roller coaster showdowns you’d like me to do (for rides I’ve ridden), any questions about building a site, or theme park travel advice? You’ve got about 120 days. Ask away!
Coaster Critic 
42 responses to “The Coaster Critic Comes to An End”
No! This is a joke right? An early april fools joke right? If not, than it’s really sad to see this website come to a stop. I just recently discovered the site this fall and I love reading about coasters on here.
Thanks so much for the years of awesome content, it’s been a blast to read and keep up with everything you post about. I will miss it!
Say it ain’t so, Joel! While I understand your reasoning for moving on, and can’t say I disagree, it’ll still be a blow to the roller coaster community. You and your site were one of my inspirations for getting involved in this community over here on the west coast. We’ll miss you. I wish you all the success you deserve in your next endeavor! -Kurt
Thanks for everything Joel, We will miss you!
DRU
I’m also a newish reader and a big fan. Despite the recent dearth of updates, this is my favorite coaster site by far. Can anyone suggest some other similar blogs I might enjoy?
I’ve never been a constant poster but I’ve always enjoyed your updates. I certainly understand losing the passion for something.
Whatever you do in the future I wish you nothing but success.
Gregg
I’m like ‘OH NO!!’ about this!!:( I really really like checking and reading posts and things on here. I’ll miss this site! (And I already lost one of my other favorite sites {well, forum} back in November due to the owner shutting it down because it was too expensive….it wasn’t a theme park one, but anyways, I won’t go into detail about that.)
I’m just sad about Coaster Critic shutting down, but I understand why you’re getting rid of it.:)
I sure can. Here are a few theme park blogs that are somewhat similar: NewsPlusNotes, Coaster 101, The Coaster Guy, Theme Park Rides, and TheCoasterBlog.
UPDATED – I also noticed that Domain of Death has been writing more roller coaster reviews recently. I’ve been following his site for years. Check them out here.
You can also discover more sites at my aggregator site, Theme Park Syndicate. I’ll also be highlighting sites in the coming weeks.
Thanks for your comments and kind words. As I said in the comment above, there are some other great sites to check out and I’ll be highlighting even more on the site between now and April. I’ll also be leaving the site up so that it’ll remain available as a resource.
Stay tuned for new content over the next four months.
I’m really sad to see you go. You essentially put together my dream while being and inspiring. That said, I can’t wait to see what’s next for you. Thank you.
I noticed this site a few months ago, so I’m pretty new to it, but what I saw was really good and enjoyable. I hope you enjoyed roller coastering and have fun with your next journey.
Really sad to hear this, although im not surprised. This blog was always my first call for coaster news but the updates havent been as regular lately. Can I ask Joel is it coasters you have lost interest in or just writing about them?
Ive been banging on about the UK getting a woodie on this blog for years and was waiting for the day I could come on here and celebrate it finally happening , guess it wasnt too be.
Good luck in whatever you do and I hope the next 4 and 1/2 months are some good reading.
Good question and I should have addressed this in my post. I definitely have not lost my love for roller coasters. I’ve just lost my interest in writing about them. I haven’t written a coaster review in quite some time. It takes a lot of time and energy to warp myself back to the moments when I was experiencing the ride and then describe everything in detail. And then with theme park news and even the opinionated editorials, my interest has just waned.
I still love roller coasters and I definitely love writing. I just don’t have an interest in combining them anymore. At least not enough to sustain the site.
And we can still celebrate UK’s new woodie (one day). I’ll definitely be easy to find online, creating something somewhere. I’ll have a link to my next endeavor on this site for sure.
I’ll miss this web-site after April 16, 2014. I understand this wasn’t an easy decision. We still have other theme park/coaster web-sites… I do like The Coaster Guy, Coaster101, Screamscape, and Coaster Of The Day… and do like YouTube user TheCoasterguy14… Theme Park Review and CoasterForce are said to be good too. God bless you Joel.
I’m sorry to hear this, but I can certainly understand how these things come to an end: running a site like this can be a major commitment of time and effort.
One of the things I always liked the most was the relaxed, pleasant atmosphere in the comment threads: there are a lot of sites out there where people shoot the breeze about amusement parks, but many of them either have a snarky, flame-filled, newbie-hostile atmosphere, or are weirdly arbitrarily policed by the proprietors. Somehow, The Coaster Critic’s comment threads walked the tightrope.
This was really the only blog I’ve ever heard of where new, interesting conversations would actually happen in the comments for stale posts from three years ago! That has to involve a certain amount of active gardening.
Thank you Coaster Critic for the review. Before you retire, Please consider riding Cyclone again! 😉 It’s been retracked! You definetely got me into the coaster business and you were an inspiration. Have a Merry Christmas! 🙂
this sucks to see you go i’ve always loved coming here for coaster news but you have a life too but will you still use your tumblr page
I’ve actually made it a priority and tried to monitor comments as best as I could removing spam and deleting comments that were inappropriate. I’m glad that I’ve been able (at least in some small way) show that conversations on the web don’t have to degrade to personal attacks and anything goes language. I’ll be doing the same with all of my future sites.
I really appreciate the comment Matt. It’s nice to know that the work hasn’t gone unnoticed!
Well, this sucks.
I’ve always enjoyed reading your wonderful blogs and videos and stuff. It was one of the only things that i could look forward to every week.
You were kind of like a role model to me.
My family is not really in to roller coaster riding. Nobody would ride them with me. I always got on the rides because of you.
My favorite ride Superman Krypton Coaster was a big push for me. But i did it anyways. Because of your review.
Im really sad to see you go but, I still hope you enjoy your retierment. Hang in their.
Grizzlybear152
Thanks Grizzlybear. I was glad that I could inspire you to ride coasters and that you enjoy them. Make sure you check out the sites in the sidebar under “Favorite Theme Park Sites”. That’s a good collection of sites and I’m sure there are more out there as well.
Thanks for reading.
Tumblr’s neat as it’s a much quicker, more streamlined way to publish content. I’m not sure about the tumblr page. As you can see, I haven’t updated it much.
Thanks Shane. I might find myself in New York on business at some point next year. If I do, I’ll definitely make it over to Coney Island for the newer rides and the re-tracked Cyclone. I can’t guarantee I’ll write about it or update my posts though. Thanks for the recommendation and Merry Christmas!
Thanks for reading and for understanding Eric. It was a hard decision in a way, but in a way it wasn’t. It’s kind of sad, but I’ll never see the next chapter come to be unless I let this one go.
Thanks Marcia. Please check out the sites in the sidebar. Lots of good sites out there with similar content.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks. It’s been good connecting with you over the years. It’s been fun watching it grow.
Good luck on your site!
Thanks DRU. It’s been fun. I’ll will still be around online. Stay tuned for more on that.
If your heart isn’t in it, then you’ve made the right decision, Joel.
Thanks for the many years of great content, and good luck with your new venture.
I will.
Thanks for everything!!
Grizzlybear152
Man, Im really shocked.
But, I mean, like Nick said, If your heart isn’t in it, maybe its time to stop.
But i do have one last favor to ask.
My friends and I are going on Iron Rattler next week and i’m still a bit scared. Okay really scared. My friends say the drop is not that bad. But, I still am seeing if their telling the truth or just trying to get me on the ride.
So, Is this the truth or are they tricking me again…
Just let me know by next week please.
But, Life is a roller coaster and sometimes is time to start to Arrival at the boarding platform.
So I hope you enjoy your retirment and please drop me that quick comment soon!!!!
Julia
Sad to hear the news Joel! As a fellow webmaster, I know how you feel. I kind of go through cycles with my site where writing feels like a chore. I started incorporating my other hobby of photography into the site which really helped make it fun again.
Let me say, it’s been a pleasure reading your blog through the years. it is/was, hands down, one of the best coaster blogs out there!
Hope you have a happy holiday!
I was talking about the one at six flags! Lol. Happy holidays!
I completely understand where you are coming from. I also used to toy around with creating theme park related websites, but have had to let it slide for similar reasons caused by my career. Despite the evolution and improvement of the way the industry is working with the internet, I still think there is a huge demand for quality content as has always been found here. So much of the online representation of this interest is dominated by kids and immature people. I wish there were more level-headed writers and actual industry/engineering analysis.
Thanks for the site recommendations Joel. Some are pretty good, but none top the Coaster Critic.
Aww that’s too bad, but understandable. Your site is a blast and I wish you the best.
*Salutes*
Please don’t end it on the 16th. I love this site, and the 16th is my birthday. It’ll be a kinda sad day if you do. I love this site. I’ve been using it during boring classes to help, and it’ll be weird without it. Please wait to end it. This is an awesome site.
Thanks for reading this if you did Joel. You’re awesome! If you didn’t, you’re still awesome.
Been visiting this site for years. It’s too bad that you’re ending it but I understand. You’ve provided me with plenty of entertainment and information over the years so thank you for that! Good luck in the future!
Thanks for reading all these years Alex. Hopefully, my next project will provide you some entertainment as well. 🙂
Thanks for reading Andrew. I’m sorry that the last day falls on a bad day for you. Maybe you could just not read the last post until the 17th.
That’s not a bad idea. I think I’ll do that now. Thanks. It’s still sad for me that this awesome sites leaving. :,(
Joel, It sounds like you have made the right decision. I’m newer to this site (4-5 months) but I’ve really enjoyed reading your detailed and almost scholarly writeups about rides. You take pride in your work and it shows.
Just curious, is this next phase in your life a child??
Steve
Thanks for the kind words Steve. I’ve already got two gre
at kids. The next phase of my ‘web life’ will focus on an entirely different industry. I’ll give more details in the coming weeks.
There’s more to come. While today’s the 8th anniversary of the site, I won’t be retiring until the end of the month now. Stay tuned…