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Kendall Anderson
Professor Combs
English 1010-06
19 November 2010
Rollercoasters: The Most Popular Ride at the Park
There’s a famous saying, “What goes up, must come down.” This always seems most
significant to me when I am sitting in the front seat of a rollercoaster, held in place by only a lap
bar, as we climb a gigantic hill to the top. Of course, going up is the easy part, as we slowly
climb and the people below just get smaller and smaller. I can’t relax though because that saying
just keeps playing in my head. We round the top and start on the downhill, picking up speed that
makes my eyes water. I’m screaming, I’m laughing, and I’m terrified out of my mind. However,
when the ride finally comes to an end, I jump back in line, to go back up that hill once again.
There’s just something about rollercoasters that keeps me coming back for more. Maybe it’s the
fact they just keep getting taller, faster, and crazier. Whatever it may be, the popularity of the
rollercoaster will never change as they continue to break records, improve in style and
technology, and always keep us screaming for more.
The ever popular rollercoaster has withstood the test of time, becoming the symbol for
guaranteed fun and thrills at the amusement park. The minute I hand my ticket over at the front
entrance, I join the rush and crowd of everyone making a beeline for the rollercoaster. The same
beeline that had people at Coney Island, America’s first amusement park, rushing to try out the
new Switchback Railway rollercoaster. Built in 1884 and converted from an old train, it was
considered one of the first rollercoasters in America, as it rolled up and down bunny hills in a
600 foot circular course, going a mind-boggling six mph. Costing only a nickel to ride, it was an
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instant hit among the thrill seekers, as well as spectators. This was only the beginning for the
rollercoaster’s popularity. In 1895, the first looping coaster, the Flip Flap, was built for Sea Lion
Park (how high). By the late 1920’s, the rage to ride rollercoasters was out of control, with more
than 3000 rollercoasters worldwide (Ruben 2).
Built of wood, with steel rails and a likelihood of whiplash, rollercoasters went to a
whole new level in 1959, when Disneyland built the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the first rollercoaster
made of all steel tubular track. This track was much smoother and allowed for more twisting and
turning (Byko 3). This gave coaster engineers the flexibility to try new designs. Visiting
Southern California in past summers, I have witnessed the engineers’ concepts of twisting and
turning, as I hung on, white knuckled, through the spiral loops on Knott’s Berry Farm’s
Corkscrew and screamed my way through Six Flag’s Revolution with its vertical loops. There’s
hardly a rollercoaster around that doesn’t have some kind of twist or turn with names like the
cobra roll, barrel roll, airborne inverted s-roll, or twisted horseshoe roll. Each loop, twist, and
inversion, which turns the rider upside down, has me screaming even louder. However, the
daring, the adrenaline rush, the sense of being completely out of control is addictive. With
people flooding the amusement parks for the next latest greatest coaster, engineers compete to
bring new innovative designs to their rollercoasters. As Erin McCarthy states, “Taller, faster,
with multiple thrills: This is the next generation of rollercoasters” (40).
With the continual advancement of technology and computers, the next generation of
rollercoasters is already here. This can be attributed to new engineering tools, quicker
computers, and exotic materials that have made coasters all the more desirable, faster, smoother,
and safer. With the use of carbon-fiber composites that weigh less, rollercoaster designs are
more extravagant. Sophisticated computer programs, such as Boeing aircraft software, help
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engineers make computerized models of creative ideas, with detail and accuracy (McCarthy).
Coating wheels with a urethane compound, allows for less friction and higher speeds. A third set
of wheels attached to the underside of the track, keep the car from flying off the track. Also,
lurching stops are becoming a thing of the past, thanks to magnetic braking. By attaching a
copper alloy fin to the bottom of the car, the car is gently slowed down and stopped, when the fin
goes between two parallel rows of high strength magnets on the track. Interestingly, magnets are
also being used as a launch system. With the use of powerful electronic linear induction motors,
a magnetic force can actually shoot the car down the track (Byko 5). Although the technology is
complicated, for most rollercoaster riders like myself, it’s easier to understand when riding Mr.
Freeze, a coaster at Six Flags St. Louis that gets up to 70 mph in a quick four seconds (McCarthy
4).
Although technology and computers play a large part in rollercoaster popularity,
marketing and themes, has also taken it to new heights. Today, rollercoasters are not just a ride,
they’re an adventure. Many coasters have themes that are historical, futuristic or from a popular
movie. Standing in line at Disney’s Space Mountain, I wait to ride the popular rollercoaster that
will make me feel like I’m whizzing through the darkness of outer space. Still on my list of
future rollercoaster rides, is Great America’s, Top Gun. Modeled after the movie, it has a mock
loading deck of an aircraft carrier, and the coaster simulates an F-14 jet fighter. I find I am also
lured by the marketing technique of giving rollercoasters intense names like The Beast, Iron
Dragon, Anaconda, and Raptor. Unlike the early coasters, Wildcat, Jackrabbit, and Zippin
Pippin, these names are meant to lure in the rider, daring them to ride a rollercoaster as scary as
its name. In fact, the rollercoaster is so popular, that many amusement parks will identify
themselves by the latest rollercoaster they have. As Dana Anderson notes, “the coaster is the
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most prominent and publicly acknowledged sign of amusement” and “the key to recognizability
is the distinction of a superlative ride: most often, as historically, the rollercoaster” (6). For this
reason, amusement parks define themselves by their rollercoaster, like King’s Island amusement
park claiming to be the home of The Beast (Anderson 7).
With rollercoasters becoming more daring and advanced in name and technology, its no
wonder the popular rollercoaster has a devoted following. I, for one, had a crazy fourteenth
birthday wish to fly out to Sandusky, Ohio, home of seventeen rollercoasters at Cedar Point.
With the most rollercoasters in the world, I wanted to be one of the 18 million riders that these
coasters carry each year. My parents finally gave in, and I found myself almost hyperventilating
with excitement as I boarded the fastest coaster in the world at that time, Top Thrill Dragster. It
was one of those moments I’ll never forget. There are other rollercoaster fanatics, like the
American Coaster Enthusiasts, (ACE), that also travel to amusement parks, seeking out the
biggest and best rollercoasters. With a membership close to 8,500, this group is not made up of
the typical screaming teenagers that could ride rollercoasters all day. Amazingly, the average
age is around forty years old, two out of three are college graduates, and all of them have ridden
at least sixty rollercoasters (Coasting 3). These fans of the rollercoaster can get extreme, like
Lisa Chaining, who renewed her wedding vows on the loading platform of a rollercoaster, The
subject of the sermon, marriage is like a rollercoaster, seemed perfect for the ceremony. Another
rider, Richard Rodriguez, rode a rollercoaster continually for 2000 straight hours, more than 83
days, to claim the Guinness Book of World Records, for the longest coaster ride ever (Conley 9).
Now that’s the ultimate rollercoaster fan!
Whether an ACE member or just a coaster fan, the popularity of rollercoasters is fueled
by the fierce competition between amusement parks, to build a rollercoaster that can beat all
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previous records. Each time a rollercoaster opens that is taller, faster, or has something new,
thrill seekers, looking for a new adrenaline rush, flock to the park to ride it. With 2,398
rollercoasters in the world, rollercoasters prove they’re still going strong, with sixty three new
coasters opening this year. Two of them, the Ring Racer in Germany and the F1 Coaster in Abu
Dhabi, are competing to be the fastest in the world, with speeds around 135 mph. Kingda Ka, a
coaster in New Jersey, holds the world’s record for the tallest at 456 feet high. In England, the
Mumbo Jumbo has the steepest vertical drop of 112 degrees (Lidsky 1). Those rollercoasters not
competing for tallest and fastest, are always developing new ways to experience a rollercoaster.
At Six Flags Magic Mountain, the rotating seats of the X2 coaster twists and turns, and gives the
rider the sensation of flying, as it rotates forward and backwards 360 degrees (McCarthy 7).
Another coaster like the Alpengiest in Busch Gardens, Virginia, is inverted, with the track above
the chair, leaving the feet dangling in the air. Dragon Kahn in Salon, Spain holds the world’s
record for placing the rider upside down eight times (Rubin 2). Still, other rollercoasters have no
seats at all, like Cedar Point’s Mantis, a stand up rollercoaster that does upside down loops,
figure eights, and goes close to 60 mph (Anderson 7).
Despite the competition for the latest record breaking and crazy new rollercoasters, it’s
amazing how safe rollercoasters actually are. The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s
report shows that there is an average of 4.4 deaths on amusement rides each year in the United
States. When comparing this to the 300 million people who go to the top forty amusement parks
in North America and Europe, this number is quite small (Lidsky 1). Scientists have found that
the speed and force of rollercoasters is not within dangerous limits. Further studies have shown
that most rollercoaster deaths are due to a medical condition that already existed. Engineers are
careful to test rollercoasters thoroughly with water-filled and crash test dummies, usually
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running the coaster over a thousand times, before riders gets on (McCarthy 5). Daniel Keller,
general manager for Cedar Point comments that at some point the rollercoaster competition will
have to end for safety reasons. How much higher and faster can rollercoasters go is still an open
question. Still, there is no real medical evidence that has everyone in a panic of riding the
rollercoaster. With a one in three hundred and fifty million chance of dieing on one, rollercoaster
fans are willing to take their chances (Conley 9).
Regardless of safety concerns, the rollercoaster is still attracting thrill seekers to this most
popular ride in the amusement park. Rollercoasters with themes, and the continual competition
for the tallest, fastest, and craziest rollercoaster, has riders always trying something new.
Computers have allowed engineers to use more creativity and imagination in their designs.
Furthermore, technology has made the ride safer, smoother, and faster. Looking back, as I
boarded the Top Thrill Dragster in Cedar Point, I definitely went faster. Reaching a speed of 120
mph in less than four seconds, I felt the wind flatten my face like melted wax, pushing my skin
back to my ears. With tears streaming horizontally into my hair, my head felt super-glued to the
headrest from the sheer force of the wind. Yes, there really is nothing like the thrill and
adrenaline rush of the mighty rollercoaster. That’s why as soon as I got my wobbly kneeshaking legs out of the coaster car, I did what any loyal rollercoaster fan would do, I went back
and got in line once again.
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Works Cited
Anderson, Dana. “Sign, Space, and Story: Roller Coasters and the Evolution of a Thrill.” Journal
of Popular Culture 33.2 (1999): 1-22. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Oct. 2010.
Byko, Maureen. “Materials Give Roller Coaster Enthusiasts a Reason to Scream.” JOM (2009):
1-7. TMS Publications. Web. 6 Nov. 2010.
Conley, Kevin. "How High Can You Go?." New Yorker 80.24 (2004): 48-55. Academic
Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2010.
“Coasting.” Economist 367.8330 28 June 2003: 30. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27
Oct. 2010.
Lidsky, David. “Wheeeeee!!!.” Fast Company 145 (2010): 112. Business Source Premier.
EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2010.
McCarthy, Erin. “Extreme.” Popular Mechanics 185.7 (2008): 82-85. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2010.
Ruben, Paul L. "Scream machines." Popular Mechanics 175.8 (1998): 80. Academic Search
Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2010.