Theme Parks with the Most Roller Coasters (Updated)
Theme Parks with the Most Roller Coasters – 2018 Update If you’re wondering which theme parks have the most roller coasters, I’ve updated a list that includes all of the amusement parks in the World. I used the Roller Coaster Database counts and if you click on the park name it will take you to a full list of the rides. Counts that include 2018 roller coasters are marked with an ...[Read More]
Coasters 101 by Nick Weisenberger | Book Review
While I’ve been a fan of roller coasters for close to twenty years, I wouldn’t claim to be an expert on how they work and how they’re designed. I’ve studied construction photos and viewed roller coaster documentaries like the next coaster fan, but that doesn’t begin to really get into how these modern thrill machines are born. Thankfully, Nick Weisenberger’s new...[Read More]
American Coasters by Thomas Crymes | Book Review
My last roller coaster photography book is more than a decade old now, so I was excited to check out Thomas Crymes new book: American Coasters: A Thrilling Photographic Ride. I was provided a copy of the book for this review. American Coasters covers roller coasters at 12 major American theme parks. They are: Cedar Point, Knoebels, Six Flags New England, Carowinds, Six Flags America, Kennywood, Bu...[Read More]
Great GateKeeper Documentary – 3 Things I Learned
From Dreams to Screams: GateKeeper at Cedar Point Documentary Devin Olson (creator of Coaster-Net) is back with another impressive roller coaster documentary. This time he gives us a great look at Cedar Point’s $25 million dollar wing roller coaster GateKeeper. Cedar Point Wanted to Open Up the Park’s Shore Line At 1:37 – GateKeeper’s preferred location on the beach was a s...[Read More]
Backyard Roller Coasters – What Would You Build?
It’s been a while since I’ve written about backyard roller coasters. There are tons of videos of short, incomplete home-made rides on YouTube, but I’m most impressed by the few rides that complete a full circuit and come pretty darn close to looking like a legit roller coaster you’d find at an amusement park. The Best Backyard Roller Coasters Since it’s been a few yea...[Read More]
Top 10 Steel Roller Coasters of 2012 – Coaster Poll Results
Mitch Hawker has released the results of his annual Internet Coaster Poll. This year’s results were pretty interesting with a number of new additions to the top ten: 1 Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park – Hassloch, Germany – Intamin Mega Coaster (2nd) 2 Bizarro at Six Flags New England Springfield, Mass. – Intamin Mega Coaster (1st) 3 New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas...[Read More]
Top 10 Wooden Coasters of 2012 – Coaster Poll Results
World’s Best Wooden Roller Coasters of 2012 | Coaster Poll Here’s the top ten wooden roller coasters in Mitch Hawker’s annual Internet Coaster Poll along with their places in the last poll: 2012 Top Ten Best Wooden Roller Coasters 1 El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) Intamin (1st) 2 T Express at Everland(Korea) Intamin (2nd) 3 The Voyage at Holiday World (Indiana) Gravit...[Read More]
Mitch Hawker’s 2012 Wooden Roller Coaster Poll
Mitch Hawker’s Internet Coaster Poll is back. For years, enthusiasts have looked to this poll as a gauge of the best steel and wooden roller coasters on the planet. No ranking system is perfect, but there’s always interest in these types of rankings. It’s easier than ever to create your ballot thanks to this great drag and drop ballot generator that was created by Jordan Hatch. Y...[Read More]
What Are Your Favorite Theme Park Websites?
For this addition of Coaster Questions, I thought I’d ask which theme park websites are your favorite. Below, I’ll list the sites that I frequent most often (in no particular order). There are a lot of good sites out there that I really like, but again, these are just the ones that I visit most often. Roller Coaster Database This one should be a no-brainer. But in case you’re new...[Read More]
2012 Golden Ticket Awards: Wooden Coasters – Did They Get It Right?
Every year Amusement Today celebrates the best of the amusement industry with the Golden Ticket Awards. And, every year hordes of enthusiasts bash the results. I’m going to take a different angle this year. I’m going to present them as always, but try to view the top wooden and top steel roller coasters through a different lens. Do GTA Winners Represent Some of the Best Coasters in the...[Read More]
What Roller Coaster Would You Ride in a Coaster Marathon?
While I make it a goal to try to ride new roller coasters as much as possible, there are other enthusiasts that pride themselves in having 100 or even 1,000 rides on a single roller coaster. Last month, Kings Island celebrated a 70-year old man’s 7,000th ride on Diamondback. Could there be a better testament to B&M’s smooth rides? Roller Coaster Marathons – A Test of Coaster ...[Read More]
The Coaster Doodler
Recently, I came across the Coaster Doodler. Brody Rose sketches roller coasters onto images in issues of the local DC newspaper, The Express. During his 40 minute subway commute, he finds an image that catches his attention and he integrates a roller coaster in a variety of ways. Sometimes he puts the people in the images on coasters trains and other times he has coaster track weaving in and out ...[Read More]