Where do old roller coasters go when their careers are over? They go on the literal scrap heap, but the people who plan parks and their rides use the basic “track profile” while changing how the ride works, like changing a standing coaster into one where your feet dangle. A.V. Club talked to the VP of planning and design for Cedar Fair Entertainment, owner of some big amusement parks with world-class roller coasters and other popular rides, and learned about coaster-recycling and more. [More]
roller coasters
People Stranded On Multiple Rides After Amusement Park Suffers Power Outages
By 6.10.16
It’s bad enough when one roller coaster or ride malfunctions and strands a bunch of passengers, but the situation at an amusement park went beyond a single incident, with visitors stuck on multiple attractions after a series of power outages. [More]
A Good Way To Ruin A Roller Coaster Ride For Everyone Else? Pull Out A Selfie Stick
By 6.25.15
As if selfie sticks aren’t obnoxious enough when they go waving through the air, threatening to smack unsuspecting bystanders in the face, visitors at Disneyland had their roller coaster fun interrupted when their fellow passenger whipped out one of the extension devices in the middle of the ride. [More]
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82-Year-Old Rides Wooden Roller Coaster 95 Times In One Day To Reach 5,000 Mark
By 5.26.15
It’s always admirable when someone accomplishes a feat that to the average person appears well, a bit dizzying, and an 82-year-old roller coaster devotee’s recent accomplishment is no different: He celebrated his 5,000th ride on a historic wooden roller coaster in Pennsylvania, completing 95 of those trips in one day over the weekend. [More]
Coney Island’s Legendary Cyclone Roller Coaster Strands Riders On Opening Day
By 3.30.15
There’s nothing like that first day at the amusement park, when it feels like spring is maybe, possibly, finally on its way, when you get to climb into that roller coaster for its very first ride of the season… and then you’re stuck high up in the air, wondering how it all went wrong. That’s the tale of yesterday’s Coney Island visitors who scored a free ride on opening day yesterday. [More]
Firefighters Rescue Riders From Clutches Of Universal Orlando’s Incredible Hulk Roller Coaster
By 3.25.15
Although we’d like to think that The Incredible Hulk is the kind of guy who’d save a bunch of people trapped on a roller coaster, the ride bearing his name at Universal Orlando proved to be of a different inclination, after 32 passengers had to be rescued by firefighters when the ride stopped 50 yards short of the landing area. [More]
Walking Down Roller Coaster’s 230-Foot Incline Probably Wasn’t The Thrill Six Flags Visitors Expected
By 8.4.14
While it’s surely preferable to walk down a 230-foot incline than stay stuck at that height, it’s hard to imagine Six Flags visitors riding on the Nitro at Great Adventure in New Jersey weren’t expecting a bit more of a thrill.
Six Flags Roller Coaster Derailed After Riders Hit Tree
By 7.8.14
Of all the things you’d think could go wrong on a roller coaster, hitting a tree isn’t usually high on the list. But it will be for the 22 coaster riders who were left stranded after their cars derailed because of arboreal interference. [More]
16 People Rescued From Roller Coaster Stuck 60 Feet In The Air During A Downpour
By 2.13.14
It’s one thing — albeit a potentially terrifying thing — to be stuck on a roller coaster at any height for any length of time in even the best of weather. But when you’re strapped in at 60 feet during a chilly downpour for more than an hour, well that just sounds like the suckiest of awfully bad experiences. [More]
Six Flags Points To Contractors In Death Of Roller Coaster Rider
By 10.16.13
You probably recall the recent incident at Six Flags Over Texas in which a roller coaster rider fell to her death and the subsequent lawsuit filed against the park by the rider’s family. Now the amusement park is responding to the allegations, and saying it can’t be blamed because it didn’t design or build the coaster. [More]
Family Of Woman Killed On Six Flags Roller Coaster Sues, Coaster To Reopen This Weekend
By 9.11.13
Yesterday, the family of the 52-year-old grandmother killed in the accident filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Later the same day, the park announced that they will reopen the ride this weekend with some safety improvements. The park’s president and his family will be among the passengers on that first trip after the grand re-opening. [More]
Should You Be Worried About The Safety Of Amusement Park Rides?
By 7.23.13
After a woman was thrown from a roller coaster and killed last Friday at Six Flags Over Texas, thrill seekers might be feeling a bit hesitant to indulge in their favorite loop-de-loops. While it’s natural to think about safety in the aftermath of such an unfortunate event, those in the know say injury and death from such rides are rare. [More]
Six Flags Visitor Thrown From Roller Coaster And Killed
By 7.22.13
No one expects a happy family outing to an amusement park to end with a family member dead from one of the rides, but that’s exactly what happened on Friday at Six Flags Over Texas. Authorities from the park and the government are investigating the cause of a tragic accident where a rider was thrown from the Texas Giant Roller coaster and killed. [More]
Six Flags Superman Roller Coaster Apparently Cursed By Kryptonite, Gets Stuck Yet Again
By 8.6.12
After shutting down and stranding passengers for about two hours, it took almost week for Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. to tinker around with its Superman Ultimate Flight roller coaster and get it back in operation. There must not have been enough tinkering going on, however, as the ride stalled again shortly after reopening yesterday. [More]
Nothing Quite Like Being Stuck 150 Feet In The Air For 2 Hours To Put You Off Roller Coasters
By 7.30.12
If anything could turn a die-hard roller coaster rider off the idea of any more trips looping crazily and careening joyfully through the air, it would likely be sitting in a non-moving train car 150 feet up in the air for almost two hours. That’s what happened to a dozen riders the new Superman ride at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. yesterday afternoon. It could be worse, right? At least it wasn’t upside down. [More]
$20 For 30 Seconds Of You Riding A Roller Coaster?
By 5.14.07
Here’s a strange complaint. We don’t usually get too many people griping about getting ripped off in an amusement park, because, well… everyone knows amusement parks are a ripoff. This is not a secret. It takes a pretty egregious fleecing by a theme park before the roller coaster nuts start complaining about it.
