Tuesday, November 24, 2015

2015 Gift Guide for Theme Park Lovers

The holiday shopping season is upon us once again and if you’re on the hunt for that special gift for a friend or family member who happens to be a roller coaster enthusiast, you’ve come to the right place! The obvious gift is to buy a season pass to your local amusement park, zoo, or aquarium but if you want to give something a little bit different this time then check out our list below.

Coasters 101: An Engineer’s Guide to Roller Coaster Design. Learn how roller coaster designers spend hundreds of hours creating, tweaking, and re-imagining ride paths to push the exhilaration envelope while carefully maintaining the highest safety standards. Features design example problems real roller coaster engineers face in the field today as well as career advice for any aspiring roller coaster engineers. For 25% off, enter discount code: UY8WJQMM when purchasing directly from: https://www.createspace.com/3737443

Theme Park Design by Steve Alcorn. Take a peek behind the scenes, with a theme park engineer – a must read for all aspiring theme park designers! For more information readour review and interview features with Steve.

Creating My Own Nemesis by John Wardley. The story follows John’s professional career beginning with how he got out of the boring family business and into the crazy world of theme parks. If by any degree you’re into magic, illusions, theater production, theme park design, or roller coasters I highly recommend you read this thoroughly entertaining book.Read our full review here.


RollerCoaster Tycoon Triple Thrill Pack Instant Download.  This compilation of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 and expansion packs Time Twister and Wacky Worlds brings together all the rides, building tools, as well as five real-world Six Flags amusement parks and 25 of their signature coasters.

Want to bring a little piece of Walt Disney World into your home? Looking for an alternative to putting a train around your Christmas tree? Then check out the Walt Disney World Monorail Playset. This working monorail is inspired by the real thing and has sound and light effects.

The carnival is coming to town with this super cool new Fairground Mixer LEGO set. A portable spinning ride and several carnival games can be built with the more than 1,700 pieces.

Google Cardboard - Want to see those virtual reality coaster videos parks are now creating to market and preview their new rides? Get a Google Cardboard. Take a spin on Lightning Rod or Valravn. Google Cardboard is described as Virtual Reality (VR) on a budget. Gives you a taste of the capabilities of the Oculus Rift at a fraction of the cost. Though be warned it may cause motion sickness if the app you’re looking at doesn’t perfectly track your head movement. It’s fun to assemble and play with.

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Lost Stars by Claudia Gray. If you’re a Star Wars fan like I am you’re probably anxiously awaiting The Force Awakens movie on December 18th as well as the additions of Star Wars Land to Hollywood Studios and Disneyland. This book will wet your appetite before the new movie comes out. The story takes place during the original trilogy but offers a new perspective in which the main characters don’t really know anything about The Force, the Jedi, the Dark Side, etc. which I think is a theme that will carry over into The Force Awakens. The story also ends about a year or two after The Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi and does contain the Battle of Jakku and how at least one of those Star Destroyers ends up smashed on the desert planet. If you’re only going to read one Star Wars related book, this is the one.

What gifts are you getting your coaster enthusiast friends? Which coaster gifts are you hoping to find under the tree this year? Discuss in the comments section below.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

The biggest Ferris wheel is…

...revealed in my updated book, The 50 BiggestFerris Wheels Ever Built.

I self-published my first book, Observation Wheels, over two years ago. In that time, the big wheel landscape has change significantly. Projects have been cancelled, other amazing plans announced, and the United States suddenly has two of the top five tallest observation wheels in the world.


To keep up with all the exciting news, I’ve re-launched my book, both as an update and a re-branding. It’s now under the title of The 50 Biggest Ferris Wheels Ever Built.

Besides the obvious, you’ll also learn about:

-Who invented the Ferris wheel
-Ferris wheel history
-The difference between a Ferris wheel and an observation wheel
-Unique and unusual Ferris wheels
-How the fire department may influence the wheel’s design
-Where the biggest Ferris wheels are located

Monday, July 20, 2015

Pirate Island Boat Ride

TheColumbus Zoo have revamped their boat ride into Pirate Island. Check it out by watching the video below:

Thursday, June 18, 2015

A new and interesting look at roller coaster history

50 Groundbreaking Roller Coasters is a comprehensive list of the most influential scream machines that drove the evolution of the modern roller coaster. It's a new and interesting look at roller coaster history. What makes a majority of the roller coasters listed in this book even more impressive is the fact that they were designed using pencil and paper rather than computers.

book about roller coaster history

The groundbreaking scream machines that shaped the evolution of the roller coaster made this list because they were the first of their kind, crossed a threshold that had never been broken before, or have some other historical or cultural significance, such as: 


  • The first floorless coaster. 
  • The first to use lap bar restraints. 
  • The first to use Linear Induction Motors. 
  • The first to have two hills over 100 feet. 
  • The first modern wooden coaster built in China.
  •  The first steel inverting coaster. 
  • The first to break 100mph. 
  • The biggest wooden coaster ever built. 
  • And much more! 


Trace the evolution of white knuckle rides through these 50 Groundbreaking Roller Coasters. If you're looking for a book about roller coaster history, this is for you!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Disney's Polynesian Village Resort Map 2015

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to stay at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. Below are a few pictures and a resort map. Enjoy!







Sunday, March 8, 2015

Most Unique Roller Coasters Ever Built

unique roller coastersTired of the same old, rickety wooden roller coasters? Crave more thrills than the typical vertical loops and camelback hills found at every local amusement park? Fortunately, roller coasters come in a mind-blowing profusion of styles, shapes, and sizes. From innovative track designs to unusual seating configurations, from ridiculous locations to bizarre theming, the experience never gets old.

In The 50 Most Unique Roller Coasters Ever Built you’ll explore a roller coaster… 

  • powered by people. 
  • inspired a popular computer game. 
  • uses a Ferris wheel as a lift. 
  • requires an on-board brakeman. 
  • where the louder you scream the faster you go. 
  • built on top of a skyscraper. 
  • known as the “dog fart” coaster (yes, you read that right!). 


The 50 Most Unique Roller Coasters Ever Built is a list comprised of unusual, rare, and hard to find scream machines.