Do you like roller coasters?

March 14, 2002 4:12 PM

Do you like roller coasters? I have a favorite myself.
Would you be confident enough to build your own roller coaster? (mirrors 1 ,2)
(via /.)
posted by patrickje (16 comments total)

Also anyone who is in the Vincennes Indiana are is welcome to come for a ride

this is just asking for a wrongful death lawsuit
posted by chrisroberts at 4:43 PM on March 14, 2002

more confident than riding in one some carny with DT's put together.
posted by quonsar at 5:06 PM on March 14, 2002

I thought I saw God on the Incredible Hulk rollercoaster at Universal Studios in Orlando.
posted by brittney at 5:12 PM on March 14, 2002

I thought I saw God on the Incredible Hulk rollercoaster at Universal Studios in Orlando.

I didn't see God...my eyes were closed, but I almost saw my lunch again!!
posted by CJB at 5:22 PM on March 14, 2002

There are not any really good amusement parks close to Seattle, which is the one of the few downsides to living here.
posted by kindall at 5:25 PM on March 14, 2002

kindall:

Six Flags has bought Wild Waves, and plans to convert it eventually to a 'regional destination' type amusement park.

This is good/bad news for me, I live within two miles of Wild Waves (Federal Way), so I will have easy access, but it might disrupt traffic.
posted by patrickje at 5:46 PM on March 14, 2002

Parc Asterix in France has a couple of great coasters and video of the ride (click le parc virtuel on the upper right).

Also, I live near Magic Mountain, which is frankly getting a little out of hand with their coasters. They have some famous ones, like the Vortex, Colossus etc. Now they are making one on which the cars rotate around the axis of the track as you go hurtling deathward.

Fun!
posted by Kafkaesque at 6:32 PM on March 14, 2002

RollerCoaster Tycoon is a good addictive game. It's challenging to try and create scary roller coasters but yet have them make a profit.
posted by riffola at 7:06 PM on March 14, 2002

From Seattle? Six hours east of here is Silverwood Theme Park, with the best wooden roller coaster, Tremors.
posted by grefo at 7:32 PM on March 14, 2002

Roller Coasters may cause bain dramage...but really, who cares? Never seen a homemade coaster but the 1st waterslide I ever saw was a homemade formica slide that was a couple hundred yards long at a place called Wallys Dam. It was dangerous but addictive, and 50% of the time it would peel swiming suits right off.
posted by Mack Twain at 8:21 PM on March 14, 2002

Cedar Point gives Ohio a reason to exist.

One thing that's cool, is old wooden roller coasters. They have one of those at Cedar Point. When my father worked there, and got to ride the rides all he wanted, that was the one they ended up riding all the time. Can't say why, they just have a certain inimatable appeal.
posted by dagnyscott at 8:37 PM on March 14, 2002

Loaded the wife and kids in the minivan in '93 for a rollercoaster trip across America. Well, we were heading for a wedding in Connecticut, but the coaster tour was a necessary diversion. As far as wooden rollercoasters go, I'd have to nominate the Texas Giant, in Arlington. That baby'll snap your neck if you're not gritting your teeth and bearing down (arms up, of course). Hard to beat the Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz, CA, as well. In Jersey, the Batman coaster is my favorite of the modern steel coasters.
posted by gnz2001 at 9:29 PM on March 14, 2002

There is no site more holy for coaster fans than Coney Island, home of the legendary Cyclone. There is simply none better (and before the parks began adding new rides every year it used to get the highest marks from fanatics). It's a classic wooden twister-format coaster. Wooden is better because it clacks and you feel it. And although I can have fun riding a cutting-edge steel coaster that does nutty things like, I dunno, bind your four limbs to a St. Andrew's cross, it's not the same. I must have my classic coaster. Fortunately, Six Flags has seen fit to imitate the Cyclone experience with, for example, the Viper. It's bigger, it's probably a lot safer, but there's something about the Cyclone's confined quarters and tighter curves...
posted by dhartung at 10:20 PM on March 14, 2002

If I were a coaster rider, I would be in the perfect place: a city with one of America's oldest and most acclaimed amusement parks, with a plethora of exciting coasters to choose from. Unfortunately, people with bad knees are routinely excluded from thrill rides, so I end up being the person who holds everyone else's jackets, sunglasses and hats while they have a blast. Alas.
posted by Dreama at 11:16 PM on March 14, 2002

The Beast at King's Island (near Cincinnati) is a good old-fashioned wooden roller coaster too. Looks like they've also added a new wooden coaster, Son of Beast, that has a loop. Vortex there is not bad, either, though it's been eclipsed by some of the newer coasters at Cedar Point. (There's another Vortex, which I believe is identical, at Canada's Wonderland. Both are owned by Paramount; there's also a Top Gun in both parks.)

Ahh, those were the days. Growing up in Columbus with two big amusement parks within a couple hours' drive. Collapsing exhausted in the car for the trip back...

Glad to hear they're planning to upgrade Wild Waves/Enchanted Village. Six hours to Silverwood is a little long for a day trip.
posted by kindall at 12:23 AM on March 15, 2002

Here are some cool photos of abandoned, overgrown rollercoasters (scroll down).
posted by milov at 2:21 AM on March 15, 2002 [1 favorite]