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I was pretty surprised there wasn't a thread about roller coasters yet (or at least I haven,t found any). I am really enthusiast about doing roller coasters, but due to financial situation, can't travel too far to really try the biggest ones out there. So I'm gonna talk a bit about some of the most famous roller coasters I heard about and also the ones I've tried and really liked, and we can discuss quite a few things:
- What do you think makes a roller coaster "exciting"? Is it purely speed, or height, or loops and inversions, etc?
- What is the best roller coaster you've ever rode?
- What was your first "big" roller coaster ever, and how old were you?
- Besides roller coasters, which thrill rides do you think are the most awesome/scary?
- Which type is your favorite, and why? Would you rather have a very high and fast steel roller coaster, a suspended one full of twists and inversions, or a traditional wooden one?
Let's start by the world's tallest Roller Coaster: Kingda Ka, getting the world record with a height of 456 feet.
![[image loading]](https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSA6MD95BuQVHtx-W8zA83mlKGa_Sgt_BVOcewERcBBw1Gy7lCoHQ)
Speed tops at 128 miles per hour, but what is the most exciting about it is... the rollbacks.
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Kingda_Ka_rollback_sign.jpg/180px-Kingda_Ka_rollback_sign.jpg)
Yup, you read that right. According to wikipedia, the train will occasionally fail to get on top of the first "hill" and roll backwards.
But speed and height isn't everything about a good roller coaster. Some of them include a lot of special features that make them worth a try, like X2.
![[image loading]](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRf6Spk3mYsNscv8PNezPf3AmQEiDegOL7xV2SOyxRkhOxSYzoc)
As you can see in the image, trains of this ride are located BESIDE the tracks, which allows them to simply turn on themselves. You don't need a loop anymore to get inverted, and it is impossible to predict when it will.
I don't know about you, but my favorite roller coasters are the wooden ones. Here is the Monstre, not one of the most famous,but still the tenth tallest wooden roller coaster of the world according to this list, and one that I tried and can talk about on a personal level.
![[image loading]](http://img.over-blog.com/300x225/3/94/41/40/Fond-blog/le-monstre.jpg)
What I think is really exciting in wooden roller coasters - or at least the ones that I tried - is how you don't feel safe on them. You can almost feel the structure crack under your feet, and everywhere you go, you feel like you are heading right toward a part of the structure and you're gonna die simply by hitting it. I also think a lot of them are impressive to watch. This one also has two different tracks which both offer basically the same experience while not being identical, dividing the queue by two. (Having done both tracks more than once, I have to say my favorite would be the "second" one.)
While being not particularly high or fast (topping 53 mph), the smiler also gets to be a pretty interesting roller coaster, being the one that has the most inversions - and I know a lot of roller coaster fans do indeed love inversions.
![[image loading]](https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSTZLFwg26Chfr4MYxigWbjR6URKHW1H8BtGa7hRktd6vIIIrCG)
To be quite honest, I really don't know much about this ride as I learnt about it a few minutes ago only, besides of the 14 inversions it includes. From watching this video on youtube, I assume the scenery and the visual effects add a lot to the experience.
Feel free to tell me if you feel like any roller coaster at all deserves its place in the OP, and feel free to discuss anything you want about roller coasters (or thrill rides in general!) without limiting to the few ideas I previously suggested!
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Don't mean to plug other websites...but...
roller coaster tycoon enthusiasts go to ------> nedesigns.com
roller coaster enthusiasts go to -----> themeparkreview.com
Ironic you post X2, heading to Six Flags Magic Mountain tomorrow.
Yes, I am a hardcore enthusiast. I have personally talked to some designers from Intamin AG (Millennium Force, Kingda Ka, iSpeed, El Toro, etc) and GCI (Wooden coaster experts)
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On June 17 2013 04:48 TimENT wrote:Yes, I am a hardcore enthusiast. I have personally talked to some designers from Intamin AG (Millennium Force, Kingda Ka, iSpeed, El Toro, etc) and GCI (Wooden coaster experts)
That's interesting. Designing a working AND exciting roller coaster must be quite a challenge! By curiosity, did one of them tell you how much time it usually takes for a roller coaster from the first "plan" or "design" or simply "idea" until it is ready to be constructed?
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On June 17 2013 04:55 JeanBob wrote:Show nested quote +On June 17 2013 04:48 TimENT wrote:Yes, I am a hardcore enthusiast. I have personally talked to some designers from Intamin AG (Millennium Force, Kingda Ka, iSpeed, El Toro, etc) and GCI (Wooden coaster experts) That's interesting. Designing a working AND exciting roller coaster must be quite a challenge! By curiosity, did one of them tell you how much time it usually takes for a roller coaster from the first "plan" or "design" or simply "idea" until it is ready to be constructed?
Years.
I didn't get into specifics about the designing process because I was asking them about the process of schooling -> roller coaster designing.
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i once drove with the Colossos, the biggest wooden roller coaster.
it was nice.
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dude I fucking LOVE X2. If you guys are ever in Southern California go check out Six Flags: Magic Mountain, it's such a great park.
Some other gems from Magic Mountain include:
Riddler's Revenge:
![[image loading]](http://www.joyrides.com/sfmm/photos/riddlers_revenge6.jpg)
Goliath:
![[image loading]](http://www.joyrides.com/sfmm/photos/goliath1.jpg)
As well as others like: Scream, Viper, Tatsu, Superman the Escape, and tons more.
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I absolutely love roller coasters. Too bad I get extreme motion sickness. The elevators at work can make me nauseous if I have to stop at a lot of floors >_<
My favorite roller coaster was the rockin' roller coaster at Disney World. It's badass because you start on a level slope and it shoots you forward rather than slowly climbing up a hill.
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I'm not sure why, but to me loops and inversions aren't really exciting, they feel almost like filler material (in most rides). Going upside down may be fun the first time, but the next few times it gets boring.
I think rollercoasters should continue to try to break the boundaries, but besides that, I think fundamentally what makes a good roller coaster is speed and huge hills. I particularly love (and fear) the climbing part of each roller coaster ride, sometimes I wish the designers would give us a little more time at the top just to enjoy the view (especially at night).
I hope they increase the angle of descent to get as close to 90 degrees as possible (I think they did that at Six Flags), make the coaster go as fast as possible and if they do have any loops, to make them as big as possible.
I also enjoy the water rides, because getting soaked is fun for everyone  . I think the ultimate ride will come one day when materials get so strong that you can ride into the clouds! That is my dream coaster, even though it sound silly.
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On June 17 2013 05:16 SnipedSoul wrote:
I absolutely love roller coasters. Too bad I get extreme motion sickness. The elevators at work can make me nauseous if I have to stop at a lot of floors >_<
Dude that sucks. That's like being allergic to a favorite food, I feel bad for you man.
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As an Ohio boy, it is my duty to celebrate the awesomeness in roller coasters that is Cedar Point, located in Sandusky, Ohio. The park has a number of unique qualities, two of which are having the most coasters over 200 ft tall (4) and being the only park in the world with coasters belonging to all 4 major height categories. Millennium Force, The Raptor, Top Thrill Dragster, The Mantis, and Maverick are all some of the best rides I've ever been on, and I've been on many a coaster
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![[image loading]](http://onarail.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/rendering_aerial_isolated.jpg)
wonderland canada has some great roller coasters been on them all behemoth is definitely my favourite
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On June 17 2013 05:17 radscorpion9 wrote:I'm not sure why, but to me loops and inversions aren't really exciting, they feel almost like filler material (in most rides). Going upside down may be fun the first time, but the next few times it gets boring. I think rollercoasters should continue to try to break the boundaries, but besides that, I think fundamentally what makes a good roller coaster is speed and huge hills. I particularly love (and fear) the climbing part of each roller coaster ride, sometimes I wish the designers would give us a little more time at the top just to enjoy the view (especially at night). I hope they increase the angle of descent to get as close to 90 degrees as possible (I think they did that at Six Flags), make the coaster go as fast as possible and if they do have any loops, to make them as big as possible. I also enjoy the water rides, because getting soaked is fun for everyone . I think the ultimate ride will come one day when materials get so strong that you can ride into the clouds! That is my dream coaster, even though it sound silly.
I feel the same about inversions, I much rather getting really high up in the air and then falling down. Just gives me more adrenaline, I guess.
Also, 90 degrees is actually possible. Griffon from Busch Gardens does it, at least. (And it stops you right before you fall just to let you see you're going down 90 degrees.)
On June 17 2013 05:20 DOMINOSC wrote:wonderland canada has some great roller coasters been on them all behemoth is definitely my favourite
I've been to Canada's Wonderland and I totally fell in lvoe with this ride too. Exactly what i was talking about: height and speed
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Hmm, I've only been to a few theme parks
I've been to Cedar Point and King's Island in Ohio numerous times.
I definitely prefer Cedar Point more and my favorite coaster that I rode is definitely Millennium Force by far
Maverick was also really fun too
Dragster was ok, but was over hyped imo
Coasters aside, I love tower drop things as well haha
edit: wow looks like Cedar Point is really famous
Guess I took Ohio for granted!
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Zurich15325 Posts
Funny this thread was just made, just came back from Europapark: http://www.europapark.de/lang-en/Park-attractions/Attractions/Rollercoasters/c292.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europapark
Haven't been in there in 11 years so lots of new stuff for me. The main rides are:
Silverstar: classic high and fast roller coaster with hills. I love the long dragging up with a nice view over the country side, and the first drop.
Eurosat: Old ride inside of a giant bowl in complete darkness. Turns take you by surprise, made worse by the really rough jerky movements the old ride does.
Euro-MIR: Not very high or fast, has one specialty. Individual cars rotate for a while and then lock in either forward or backward, so getting in you don't know what direction you'll be going.
Blue Fire: Catapult start, shoots you from 0 to 100km/h in 2.5 seconds. Many inversions and really fast. Love it.
Wodan: Decent wooden roller coaster.
+ Show Spoiler [enjoying the drop] +
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In high school my friend was a huge enthusiast. I went with him to a few parks. I remember The Voyage at Holiday World in Indiana. Wooden coaster with tons and tons of air time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_(roller_coaster) Air time is my favorite part of coasters. Loops are pretty meaningless. I remember my first coaster with loops I didn't even notice when I went through the loops. It's not super special, but it's got a pretty sick inversion and it's a flying coaster which is fun, but I liked Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags: Great America. Raging Bull at Great America was my first coaster, my asshole friends told me it was a pretty mild one but it is actually the fastest one with the steepest drop at the park.
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Last friday I went to Walibi Belgium. Even though they are not really that advanced into the RollerCoaster genre there are a few nice little rides to check out there! Including these.
The Vampire
And the Werewolf
(bad pictures but here is a FPOV
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Kingda Ka is alright... I personally preferred El Toro (Wooden rollercoaster at the same park) and Nitro. Kingda Ka is such a short ride it almost isn't even worth the line wait.
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I love roller coasters Kingda Ka was a bit of a letdown imo because it was so short (up and down and you're done). I'll go on any coaster, although I prefer the ones with lots of loops and twists, because I find them more interesting than just long drops, and I'm not a huge fan of how rickety wooden coasters are (I feel like I'm going to fall out of my seat, but that's exactly why other people love them lol).
Some parks I've been to that have some good coasters imo:
Six Flags: Great Adventure
Dorney Park
Busch Gardens (VA, FL)
Disneyworld
Disneyland
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Kingdaka is awesome to do at least once, Ive never been on it when the rollback occurs 
El toro is probably one of the fastest wooden coaster out there like seriously you fly on that thing.
Superman is cool too if youre looking for something different
These are all at the Jackson NJ park
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2QbQkQz.jpg)
