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» Editorials & Rants
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Gravity Group’s Timberliner Trains Could Be a Game Changer
I’ll start by admitting that this is not a breaking story, but it does deserve a post. The Gravity Group is a wooden roller coaster design company. They’re a fairly young company, but they’ve churned out some amazing coasters in the past five years including Hades, Ravine Flyer II, Fireball (China’s first wooden coaster, and the top rated wooden roller coaster in the World,...
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Nara Dreamland | Abandoned Amusement Parks
Nara Dreamland: Former Disneyland Knock-Off, Now Creepy Abandoned Amusement Park As I was doing research for The Final Project! (insert Europe’s “Final Countdown” music here), I came across the enigma that was Nara Dreamland. It was a Disneyland clone in Japan that closed a few years ago. From looking at a photo trip report from Theme Park Review, I’m not surprised that it ...
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Top Ten List-O-Rama!
It seems like coaster enthusiasts stay sane in the off-season by doing polls, top tens, awards, and coaster/ride tournaments. Even I’m starting to get a little tired of them at this point. But, Brady over at the LA Time Funland Blog has done something a little different. He created his top tens based on a panel of coaster ‘experts’ (including me!). The panel includes such lumin...
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Roller Coasters on the Move in 2010
Everyone does a ‘New Roller Coasters List’ (my official Top 10 of 2010 is coming up), but what about the new-ish roller coasters. Quite often there’s a shell game happening behind the scenes with rides and roller coasters being swapped, recycled, re-themed, and given a new life at a different park. Just like used cars, or should I say ‘pre-owned’, they’re new to...
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A Coaster Enthusiast’s Resolutions
As represented by the sudden increase in attendance at my gym, January is the month to start New Year’s resolutions. It’s the chosen time to turn over a new leaf, start better habits, and end bad habits. I thought of a few ways that I could be a better roller coaster enthusiast in 2010. Learn About Coasters & Theme Parks of the World Of course many of us know and love our local par...
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Most Overrated Roller Coasters
Most Overrated Roller Coasters: Which Roller Coasters Can’t Live Up to the Hype? There are roller coasters that are very highly regarded. Some of these rides deserve their status, while others are way over hyped or overrated in my opinion. “Overrated” lists will always be controversial as everyone has their own take on which rides are good and even which rides are as good as adve...
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SeaWorld Parks & Google Team Up for Street View Virtual Tours
The Best Theme Park Virtual Tours Ever? The Busch theme parks (now known collectively as SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment) have teamed up with Google to provide virtual walk-through tours using Google Maps Street View. In case you’ve been living under a rock, or still use MapQuest , Street View allows you to get an on-the-ground view of streets in Google Maps. Until now, these views have ...
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The Tallest Steel Coaster in South Central Montana!
A Look at Silly Roller Coaster Records and Weak Distinctions To wrap up “Record Breaking Roller Coasters Week”, I wanted to discuss marketing hype with regards to records. Theme Parks looking to make a splash with a new attraction love to tout that their new ride has a distinction tied to some record. For example, over the past few years we’ve had: The Steepest Roller Coaster in ...
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Arrow’s 700 Foot Tall Fish-Hook Roller Coaster
Arrow’s 700 Foot Tall Fish-Hook Roller Coaster I was recently contacted by a television production company doing research on roller coasters. They wanted to know if there were any strata coasters currently being built. Strata coasters are over 400′ tall and currently there are only two in the World in that lofty category. Kingda Ka & Top Thrill Dragster. I told the producer that th...
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The End of the Record Breaking Roller Coaster Era
Have We Seen the Last of the True Record Breaking Roller Coasters? The recent announcement that Ferrari Experience’s F1 Coaster will be capable of 150 mph had me thinking. While this would be a record setting roller coaster, officials from the park said that they might actually operate it at lower speeds. This begs the question: Are we reaching the limits of roller coaster thrills? As part o...
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Theme Parks with the Most Roller Coasters
Theme Parks with the Most Roller Coasters RollerCoasterDude asked for a list of the theme parks with the most roller coasters. I figured this would pretty easy to do and interesting so I threw together my first stab at a list based on RCDB’s numbers. This includes roller coasters that are set to open in 2010, like in the case of Six Flags Magic Mountain. If I’m missing any parks, pleas... -
Rip Ride Rockit vs Time Machine | Roller Coaster Showdown
Who Wins in a Battle of the Rocking-est Roller Coasters? Roller coasters have been incorporating music and on-board speakers for some time now. But two roller coasters that opened this year have taken the riding and rocking theme to new heights. The Time Machine (formerly Led Zeppelin – The Ride) was revamped by the new owners of Freestyle Music Park. The B&M looping roller coaster feat...
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The Best Roller Coasters Near Charlotte NC
Theme Parks within Driving Distance of Charlotte NC (Click to Enlarge) Queen City Coasters: A List of the Best Roller Coasters within Driving Distance of Charlotte, NC Charlotteans are lucky to have not only Carowinds here in town, but also several other parks within a 5 or 6 hour drive. To coincide with my interview tonight on Fox Charlotte, here is a list of my favorite roller coasters at the pa...
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FOX Charlotte News Interview
I’m going to be interviewed on FOX Charlotte News tomorrow. I’ll be talking about the best roller coasters within driving distance of Charlotte. It’s going to be taped at Carowinds so there may be some great background shots of Carolina Cobra, Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun), or Nighthawk (formerly BORG Assimilator). If you live in the area, check it out. It will be airing on the ... -
Advertising on a Roller Coaster?
While I was at Six Flags Over Georgia last summer I saw a pretty unusual sight. As I boarded the popular Mind Bender I noticed that the train was plastered with ‘NASCAR on TNT’ ads. Mind Bender is a classic Anton Schwarzkopf steel looper. It’s over 30 years old, but still had a pretty busy and enthusiastic station. Among coaster enthusiasts, Schwarzkopf loopers are praised for th... -
Top 9 New Roller Coasters for 2009
A List of the World’s Best New Roller Coasters Opening in 2009 With the arrival of Spring and theme parks around the country opening for the season, it’s time to look at the new roller coasters opening in 2009. With the recession and the decrease in major new roller coasters, I wasn’t able to pull together a strong Top 10 list. So this year, a Top 9 will have to do. From sta... -
Adventureland Movie Stars Kennywood
The new comedy Adventureland opens this Friday. The movie’s cast includes Ryan Reynolds (much to my wife’s excitement), Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, as well as Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig from SNL. The movie also stars one of the best amusement parks in the country, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania’s very own Kennywood. Phantom’s Revenge can be seen in several shots from t... -
Carolina Cobra Review & Media Day at Carowinds
It was a rainy day, but the Carolina Cobra media day had a positive feel and pointed to a bright future for Carowinds. The event was attended by the local media, park officials, live snakes, and some Nick characters. A local cover band played a few crowd-pleasers while Dora, Diego, and the Rugrats entertained guests. Next, the park addressed the media. Then, an official ribbon cutting was followed... -
AirCoaster 3D iPhone App Review
If you’re a roller coaster fan and an iPhone/iPod Touch user then your app has finally arrived. AirCoaster 3D, formerly known as SkyCoaster 3D, is a 99 cent roller coaster ride simulator. Upon entering the application you are presented with a settings screen. Here you can control various aspects of your roller coaster including track height and length and the frequency of loop-the-loop... -
Your First Roller Coaster Ride
Tomorrow it will be March, the month when theme parks across the country kick off their seasons. In honor of the start of the season I thought it’d be fun for everyone to share their first roller coaster ride. Believe it or not, I’m not 100% sure what my first roller coaster was. Growing up in Virginia, I went to Kings Dominion often and I’m pretty sure that the Scooby Doo coaste...
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- Six Flags & Cedar Fair Merger Rumors
- Thirteen’s Creepy Blipvert TV Ads
- First Look at the GT Coaster at Ferrari World
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