Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Roller Coaster

2016’s summer blockbuster Jurassic World was filmed in the parking lot of the abandoned theme park Six Flags New Orleans. In the image below you can see the midway of the fake theme park setup in the parking lot of the former real one (which has since been removed):

A sequel to one of the highest grossing movies of all time is scheduled to be released in summer 2018, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom also has an odd theme park tie-in: they built a real working roller coaster to film a sequence in the movie.

A behind the scenes video posted to Universal Pictures shows the gyro-sphere, the hamster ball “ride” from Jurassic World has been placed onto a car and mounted to a roller coaster track with a green screen stuck on the back. The Jurassic World roller coaster takes one sharp drop before hitting the brakes.

Judging by the newly released trailer, it looks like they used the roller coaster to film the part where the hamster ball flies off the edge of a cliff and into the ocean, surrounded by other falling dinosaurs. It’s cool for them to build something to get real reactions from the actors. It looks like it even has some wicked airtime!

We don’t know who manufactured the track, but our best guess is it was a custom job by the production studio or some other small/unknown of shop outside the amusement industry. On first glance the Jurassic world coaster may look like a B&M job due to the rectangular spine (a shape I don’t think I have ever seen anyone else ever use before), but on closer inspection, the size ratio of the backbone and rails is all off for B&M, as well as the fact the track does not look very smooth and like it was hastily assembled. Would not be surprising. It was probably only needed for a few takes then was probably scrapped. If anyone knows more please fill us in!

And if you’re reading this Universal, please create a real gyrosphere ride for your parks!

2017 Gift Guide for Roller Coaster Fans

The 2016 holiday shopping season is upon us and if you’re on the hunt for that special gift for a friend or family member who happens to be a roller coaster fanatic, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve organized our gift ideas into several sub-categories of books, games, toys, and more.

Roller Coaster Video Games

Roller Coaster Tycoon World — the long-await sequel to 2004's Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 — is now available. The game is touted as the "newest installment in the legendary RCT franchise" with "fan-favorite features as well as incredible new advancements! Buy Roller Coaster Tycoon World online for $19.24 (as of this posting)

Finally, RCT fans can experience all the fun from the original RollerCoaster Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 games with a new incarnation that combines the best elements of both classic titles! RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic theme park sim came out on mobile and tablet devices back in December 2016 and was a massive hit. Now, RCTC is available on desktop PCs as well as MAC computers. No, this is not the terrible, micro-transaction riddled mobile game RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile, nor the poorly reviewed PC game RollerCoaster Tycoon World. This is RollerCoaster Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, aka the fan favorite Chris Sawyer originals, rolled into one masterful game. Get it from Steam for $19.99 – totally worth it.

Or you can get the classic RollerCoaster Tycoon Triple Thrill Pack instant download for just $9.99, my personal favorite!

Planet Coaster has brought the roller coaster and theme park simulator genre roaring back to life. The game has received rave reviews, and was made by the developers of Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. Like RCT3, Planet Coaster allows players to design and manage their dream theme park, as well as ride their roller coaster creations — and share them with other players. Planet Coaster is available for purchase on Steam for $44.99 (as of this posting).

Roller Coaster and Theme Park Books

Coasters 101: An Engineer’s Guide to Roller Coaster Design by Nick Weisenberger will show you 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.

50 Groundbreaking Roller Coasters: The Most Important Scream Machines Ever Built by Nick Weisenberger 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.

Nowhere in the world is there a more bizarre theme park than Happy Fun Land. Nike Farmington’s twelve years of thrill-seeking and roller coaster riding has brought him to exotic locales like Perth, Australia, Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands, and Santa Claus, Indiana. He’s marathoned a roller coaster for ten consecutive hours and conquered the world’s tallest and fastest. Yet nothing has prepared him for the insanity of Happy Fun Land and it’s mind blowing attractions: a drop ride with no brakes and a death simulator, just to name a few. Will Nike survive his hilarious adventure through the world’s craziest theme park? 

Theme Park Design and the Art of Themed Entertainment is the most thorough book on theme park design available. David Younger’s book is literally a textbook on every single aspect of theme parks you could think of, with quotes from real designers with priceless knowledge. Reading Theme Park Design is like taking a college course on the subject, and your professors are Walt Disney Imagineers. I recommend if you want to go from RollerCoaster Tycoon to real life theme park designer!

American Coasters 2 by photographer Thomas Crymes. The pictures are large and crisp. The colors are vivid. The book’s simple design places more emphasis on the photographs. Nothing beats seeing pictures of roller coasters printed on a physical page (sorry, internet). The book is available on Amazon for $30.36 (as of this posting).

Roller Coaster Sets, Toys, and Models

Roller Coaster Challenge Logic and Building Game is 50% logic game, 50% roller coaster building set, and 100% awesome and educational. Select a Challenge Card and set up the Posts and Tracks as shown, then Determine where to add the indicated pieces to the grid. When your Car successfully rides the Track from Start to Finish – You win. Get it for $25.49 on Amazon.

There are several interesting K’NEX roller coaster sets available this Christmas season and none of them use the traditional chain lift. K’NEX Crossfire Chaos Roller Coaster uses a rubber band style launch system ($34.99). The Web Weaver Roller Coaster Building Set uses something I’ve never seen before on a K’nex coaster: an air-powered car. The vehicles have fans on the back so you can build a track that can be set horizontally or turned vertically and the car will still complete the circuit, no chain lift required. ($42). Clock Work Roller Coaster Building Set uses a clock-hand mechanism to lift the car to the top of the 2.6 foot high hill. ($25)

VR is becoming bigger and bigger in the amusement park industry so why not get a Samsung Gear VR headset to play around with at home? Especially since many theme parks are now releasing 360 degree videos for their coasters.

Amazon Prime Membership. If you haven’t joined Amazon Prime yet, why not? I do almost all my shopping online and I get free two-day shipping on nearly everything. You can also borrow books, watch movies, and stream music. Click here to start your 30-day free Amazon Prime trial membership.

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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.

25 Extreme Drop Tower Rides

Besides your roller coasters, carousels, and Ferris wheels, a staple attraction of any major amusement park is the drop tower ride. While common today, these freefall attractions don’t have a long, hundred-year history like the roller coaster or amusement park. The first tower rides didn’t appear until the 1980s and didn’t start catching on until the 1990s when the technology and ride experience improved enough to make them “can’t miss” attractions.

What are the tallest, fastest, and most extreme drop towers ever built? Find out all this and more by reading 25 Extreme Drop Tower Rides. You'll learn about the history of the drop tower as well as all the different seating configurations and where the most terrifying freefall rides can be found.

Download it for FREE to read on Kindle between April 14 through 16, 2017. Follow this link to get it on Amazon.com

Support Mystic Timbers First Rider Auction

I'm super excited to get to ride Mystic Timbers, the new wooden roller coaster at Kings Island and front runner for best new coaster of 2017. I will be participating in the First Rider Auction where Kings Island and Cedar Fair Charities are joining with the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation to give us fans a chance to raise money for a great charity and be some of the first people to ride Mystic Timbers. 

The Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation is "a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing life-changing experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children and their families in the Cincinnati area."  They have created numerous community outreach programs in the past that benefit local hospital and their patients.

If you have a dollar or two to spare, I would appreciate it if you could donate through my fundraising page, in order for me to help reach and surpass my goal:

https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/nick-weisenberger/mystic-timbers-first-official-rides--launch-party

Mystic Timbers features a 109 foot tall lift hill, speeds of 53 miles per hour and 3,265 feet of track in the woods. Kings Island is teasing a mystery finale to the ride: "what's in the shed?" My guess is some kind of media presentation generated by Holovis. Be sure to stay up to date on the ride's progress via the official Mystic Timbers website. And look for my review of Mystic Timbers in April!

Adventures from the World's Craziest Theme Park - Part 1

Never in my life had I visited a more bizarre theme park. Twelve years of blogging about roller coasters and thrill rides had brought me to exotic locales like Perth, Australia, Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands, and Santa Claus, Indiana. I conquered the infamous “dog fart” coaster at BonBon-Land in Denmark. I survived the Abyss at Adventure World that’s so crap-your-pants scary they literally have underwear dispensers waiting for you at the ride’s exit. Yet nothing had prepared me for the craziness that is Happy Fun Land. And no, it wasn’t crazy because I saw kids shitting on the sidewalks like when they opened Shanghai Disneyland. This was a different kind of crazy altogether.

The adventure began when I received an invitation to attend a “sneak peak” preview of Happy Fun Land before it opened to the general public. China’s amusement park industry was booming and the newest themed entertainment mecca was about to come online. In order to ensure a successful launch, they were looking to build world-wide buzz through any and all media outlets. They reached out to reporters, journalists, columnists, podcasters, bloggers, vloggers, and theme park nerds from all over the world, including Thrills and Chills, to come visit their resort. The preview event would occur over the Chinese New Year holiday before the grand opening celebration. The idea of being the crash test dummy for what would surely become a world-renowned vacation destination was quite thrilling while sitting at home in Medium-Sized Town, USA. It didn’t take long for me to begin wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into.

My adventures began when I landed in Shanghai Airport and was greeted by a smiling, twenty-something year old holding a handwritten sign: “Nike Farmington.”

 “Hello!” I waved as I greeted him. “I’m Nick, nice to meet you. By the way, it’s spelled N-I-C-K.”

“I’m sorry for spelling your name wrong. I’m Eric. E-R-I-C,” he said with reasonably good English.

“That’s a very authentic Chinese name you have there.”

“My parents named me after their favorite musician: Eric Clapton.”

Eric would act as my guide and interpreter over the coming days. He was assigned to me as I spoke no Chinese or had any clue where I was going, as this was my first visit to the enormous country. And perhaps to keep an eye on me as well.

The Happy Fun Land resort was located in New Suzhou, which is about an hour-and-a-half east of Shanghai. Unfortunately, our travel situation was fucked up from the start. I wasn’t allowed to drive because foreign and international drivers’ licenses are not recognized in China. I would need a Chinese driver’s license, passport, and a residence permit before being legally allowed to operate a vehicle. Eric didn’t own a car himself so driving ourselves wasn’t an option. Eric informed me the railways would be exceptionally busy due to the holiday. In fact, I’m told the Chinese New Year is the world’s largest human migration as millions of Chinese workers travel home to their families. Apparently, the trains are so overcrowded travelers wear diapers for their multi-hour long journeys home. No thank you to that. It seemed like our best bet was to take a taxi. And thus I got to experience the trip’s first thrill ride - the drive to Suzhou.

“The way I see it, traffic in China is a free-for-all,” my cousin Jim explained to me over a beer the night before I flew out. He had spent three months overseas for his job in the automotive manufacturing world and attempted to give me an idea of what to expect. “There appear to be no road rules at all, and if you survive the day, you’ll do it all again the next day. The stoplights that they do have must only be for decoration. They don’t have traffic circles in China either. Traffic circles only function if people follow the rules, hence they don't work there. A roundabout would only add to the chaos.”

“I’ve been on the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the world, I’m sure I can handle it,” I said.

“Just you wait and see! Taxi drivers drive in the middle of two lanes so they can swing into either one of them as needed. According to my made-up insurance statistics, the most dangerous cars are green and driven by the Chinese.” Jim thought he was hilarious. But I was about to find out if he was right or not.

After navigating us through the sprawling terminal building, Eric flagged down a taxi cab and negotiated the rate with the driver. Jim had also warned me that, “as soon as you climb into a taxi, the very first thing you do is fasten that seat belt, pull it as tight as you possibly can, and grab onto anything that feels or looks sturdy.” Well, to my delight, this particular cab didn’t have a working seat belt. I had barely sat down and closed the door when we suddenly veered out into the street into the chaos of traffic. As we darted in between cars I was left with clutching onto the seat in front of me until my knuckles turned white. Eric must be used to the traffic as he cracked many jokes with our driver in rapid Chinese, most I assumed were at my expense. I thought that was about as funny as ejector seats in a helicopter.

I had to quickly put it out of my mind; however, as we veered across another street and nearly died for the sixteenth time this trip. In America, us coaster nerds are always touting the safety of theme parks by using the same old quote “you’re more likely to be injured on the way to the amusement park than by riding a roller coaster.” I quickly realized this might be even more true in China. Luckily, we arrived at the Happy Fun Land welcome center in one piece. Unfortunately for me, this short trip turned out to be the easiest and most uneventful travel of my wacky, life-changing vacation.

Want to keep reading?

Check out Happy Fun Land now!

2016 GIFT GUIDE FOR ROLLER COASTER FANS

The 2016 holiday shopping season is upon us and if you’re on the hunt for that special gift for a friend or family member who happens to be a roller coaster fanatic, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve organized our gift ideas into several sub-categories of books, games, toys, and more.

ROLLER COASTER COMPUTER GAMES

• Roller Coaster Tycoon World — the long-await sequel to 2004’s Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 — is now available. The game is touted as the “newest installment in the legendary RCT franchise” with “fan-favorite features as well as incredible new advancements! Buy Roller Coaster Tycoon World online for $19.24 (as of this posting).
• Or you can get the classic RollerCoaster Tycoon Triple Thrill Pack instant download for just $9.99, my personal favorite!
• Planet Coaster has brought the roller coaster and theme park simulator genre roaring back to life. The game has received rave reviews, and was made by the developers of Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. Like RCT3, Planet Coaster allows players to design and manage their dream theme park, as well as ride their roller coaster creations — and share them with other players. Planet Coaster isavailable for purchase on Steam for $44.99 (as of this posting).

ROLLER COASTER BOOKS

• 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.
  
• 50 Groundbreaking Roller Coasters: The Most Important Scream Machines Ever Built by Nick Weisenberger 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.
• Theme Park Design and the Art of Themed Entertainment is the most thorough book on theme park design available. David Younger’s book is literally a textbook on every single aspect of theme parks you could think of, with quotes from real designers with priceless knowledge. Reading Theme Park Design is like taking a college course on the subject, and your professors are Walt Disney Imagineers. I recommend if you want to go from RollerCoaster Tycoon to real life theme park designer!
  
• American Coasters 2 by photographer Thomas Crymes. The pictures are large and crisp. The colors are vivid. The book’s simple design places more emphasis on the photographs. Nothing beats seeing pictures of roller coasters printed on a physical page (sorry, internet). The book is available on Amazon for $30.36 (as of this posting).
  

ROLLER COASTER TOYS AND MODELS

• Lego Disney Castle. Launch the fireworks and let the magic begin! The Disney Castle measures over 29” (74cm) high, 18.8” (48cm) wide and 12” (31cm) deep. This set includes over 4,000 LEGO® pieces. Be sure to buy directly from LEGO where the set is only $349 (not $479 like on Amazon).
  
• LEGO Creator Expert 10247 Ferris Wheel Building Kit – Build the iconic Ferris Wheel, featuring 12 colorful suspended gondolas with opening doors, ice cream stall, kiosk, 10 minifigures and more.
• CoasterDynamix Nancoasters – Stainless steel coaster models that are pretty affordable, though non-working. Great gift to display on your desk or in your home.
• K’NEX Space Mountain Roller Coaster. I loved playing with K’Nex as a kid and I’m glad they’re still around with more roller coaster sets to choose from than ever before. Recreate the excitement of the popular Disney Parks attraction. Includes 2 roller coaster cars and 25 ft of track that glows in the dark!

TECH, GADGETS, AND MORE

• 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.
• Catalyst: A Rogue One Story by James Luceno. If you’re a Star Wars fan like I am you’re probably anxiously awaiting Rogue One: A Star Wars Story movie on December 16th. This book will wet your appetite before the new movie comes out. The story takes place during the Clone Wars and the formation of the Empire. Not required reading for the movie, but will give you some additional background information on the characters.
  
• Laptop Privacy Screen Protector. Whenever I visit a customer I always take my privacy screen protector for my Dell laptop. It keeps your personal or confidential information safe from prying eyes as you’ll see the information on your display while people on either side only see a darkened screen. If you’re ever on an airplane or in a coffee shop and feel like your neighbor is constantly looking over your shoulder at your screen then you need to get one of these today!
• Amazon Prime Membership. If you haven’t joined Amazon Prime yet, why not? I do almost all my shopping online and I get free two-day shipping on nearly everything. You can also borrow books, watch movies, and stream music. Click here to start your 30-day free Amazon Prime trial membership.

GET A GIFT AND CONTRIBUTE TO A GOOD CAUSE

The Coaster101 2017 Roller Coaster Calendar is the perfect gift for any thrill seeker. The photographs featured were all taken by members of the Coaster101 team. And best of all, they’re donating 50% of net proceeds to Give Kids The World Village in Florida. Each calendar costs only$15 and includes free shipping in the United States! Purchase your calendar(s) here!

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.

Is there a Six Flags park in Florida?

Despite the consistent rumors, there are currently no Six Flags parks in Florida. This rumor may have been started on April 1st, 2014, when Coaster101.com posted an April Fools Day article containing a fake news release about the announcement of Six Flags Orlando. An excerpt from the fake announcement:

Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter will soon have to make room in Orlando for Bugs Bunny and Batman. The Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced late Monday night that they plan to build the 12th United States park under the “Six Flags” banner, Six Flags Orlando. The park plans to break ground later this year and be completed by mid-late 2016. “It was a logical decision to build our next United States park in Orlando,” said Brett Petit, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Six Flags. “The greater Orlando area entertains more than 50 million worldwide visitors on an annual basis, and we wanted to expose these guests to the excitement and thrills that Six Flags’ guests have experienced for decades at our other parks around North America.” 

Shortly after, on May 24, 2014, the Spring Hill Courier published an article stating Six Flags was expected to break ground in Hernando County in 2014 on a new theme park slated to open in 2018. This article was completely faked, with one of the biggest red flags being that the author names Will Feinstein as the CEO. That might come as a surprise to Jim Reid – Anderson who had been serving as the Six Flags CEO since 2010. Later on, a follow up story on the Spring Hill Six Flags was posted in July 2015 and should prove without a doubt this is a made-up ongoing story. 

Historically, Six Flags has had a presence in Florida, even Orlando, but maybe not exactly what you would expect:

Six Flags Stars Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida was a wax museum was located near SeaWorld Orlando from 1975 to 1984. Like SeaWorld, it was acquired by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, but it was closed almost immediately after the sale.

Six Flags Atlantis was a water park located in Hollywood, Florida. Begun as a private venture originally known as 'Atlantis the Water Kingdom', funding ran out before construction ended. The park sat partially completed for several months before Six Flags opened in 1979 "Six Flags Atlantis." The park included a wave pool, a lake with water ski shows, a seven-story slide tower, picnic area, stores & arcades, shows, and activities for all ages. In 1989 the park was sold. was eventually demolished in 1994. Today most of the area is now occupied by retail shopping.

Six Flags is lending their brand to new parks in Dubai and China but no, there are no Six Flags parks in Florida, but we could always use more theme parks and would welcome Six Flags Florida if they did build one ;)

HOW TO OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF ROLLER COASTERS

Roller coaster enthusiasts get an extreme adrenaline rush from the act of being blasted to 100 miles per hour, four hundred feet in the air. But there are many individuals who deeply fear this activity and the mere thought of climbing aboard a coaster car chills them to the bone. These phobias are often grounded in the irrational belief that one has a possibility of dying or "falling out" of a roller coaster.

The first step to overcoming your fear of roller coasters (or anything for that matter) is to determine the root cause of that fear. Why are you afraid to go on roller coasters? You need to drill down to figure out what’s driving those fears. Roller coaster phobia appears to actually be based in several other phobias, any of which can be enough to trigger a fear of coasters.

The most recognizable treatment for phobias is known as "exposure therapy". During this type of treatment, a client is gradually exposed to whatever is at the root of their anxiety until they come to the realization that these fears were based on irrational thoughts or beliefs. Basically, to get over your fear of roller coasters you need to start riding roller coasters. Do you really want to spend all that money to go to an amusement park if you can’t enjoy all the rides?

My guess is you or someone you know has suffered from the fear of roller coasters, and wants help to overcome it. I’ve been in the same boat. The purpose of my new book is to provide an understanding of what that fear is, where it stems from, and the actions you can take to be able to ride the roller coaster of your dreams.

Have you ever turned down an amazing vacation or day out with your friends because of it? Your fear of coasters could actually be something very specific or a combination of fears rolled into one. The best way to conquer any kind of fear is to face it.

In order to overcome your fear, you need to understand it. In the first half of this book, we’ll examine why people like to ride roller coasters in the first place while others are deathly afraid of them. Then we’ll get into the tips and strategies you can use to overpower that fear and ride that awesome and thrilling roller coaster.

Coaster enthusiasts strap themselves into these scream machines simply because they love being scared in a safe environment. Know that your fear is treatable, manageable, and that you can overcome it.

Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn...

• Examining what about the roller coaster makes you scared
• How roller coasters are safer than your car
• Benefits of riding roller coasters
• How riding a roller coaster could save your life
• Where to sit on a roller coaster
• How to choose the best ride to get over your fear
• Much, much more!

Order Coaster Phobia: How to Overcome Your Fear of Roller Coasters today!

(Kindle version will be free the first week of July 2016)

How Pirates of the Caribbean at Shanghai Disneyland Works

Shanghai Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure is a new take on the beloved, classic boat ride. It uses a combination of physical sets, audio-animatronic (AA) figures, and giant projection screens to help bring the story to life. What makes the technology behind the ride system so incredible is the engineers have complete control over the speed, position, and orientation of the boats.

Learn more about how Pirates of the Caribbean works here.

Valravn Dives into Cedar Point

The world's tallest and longest dive coaster, Valravn, premiered at Cedar Point last weekend and I got to check it out before it opened to the general public. It's a fun ride and the view at the top of the 220 foot tall hill is incredible. The first drop is one of the best around but the rest is forgettable.

Off ride footage of Valravn: Valravn opening ceremony for LeBron James Foundation.
Valravn in slow motion:
Have you been on it? Do you think Valravn is the best dive coaster?

Early contender for best new ride of 2016 is...

The early contender for best new ride of 2016 is Storm Chaser at Kentucky Kingdom, Rocky Mountain Construction’s first all-steel roller coaster. The ride has not been talked about much because it is overshadowed by larger RMC projects like Dollywood's Lightning Rod (still not open). Storm Chaser may not be very tall but it sure does pack a big punch.

In fact, Storm Chaser couldn't be any taller even if they wanted to because the lift hill is nearly aligned to be pointed right in the direction of the flight path of landing airplanes at the Louisville airport. How close do the airplanes get to the roller coaster? See here:



If you know of an airport close to a theme park then this, please let me know!

The camelback hill following the first drop might be one of the best hills on any roller coaster ever. The extreme airtime took me by surprise every time. I think I literally yelled “holy crap!” (or some form of that) all six times we rode it.

Check out our multi-angle off-ride video of Storm Chaser below and be on the look out for extreme “hairtime”:

Read a detailed Storm Chaser review here.

Top 50 Legendary Roller Coasters - Corkscrew

If you could resurrect any deceased roller coaster which one would it be? I'm starting a new series examining what I believe to be the top 50 legendary roller coasters that no longer exist. We start with number 50:

50. CORKSCREW

Known for: First double-inverting roller coaster in Europe

Location: Alton Towers, England

Type/Category: Steel, Sitdown Looping

Opened: 1980 / Closed: 2008 / Dismantled: 2008

Age when closed: 28

Replaced by: Thirteen

Designer/Manufacturer: Arrow Dynamics/Vekoma

Height: 75ft (22.86m) / Drop: 68ft (20.73m)

Speed: 44mph (13.41kph)

Length: 2,400ft (731.52m)

Inversions: 2

Alton Towers, located in Staffordshire, England, is an amusement park with a unique history. It started out as a nobleman’s estate, and then became a garden and tourist attraction. Throughout the 1970’s, the park was built up into a modern theme park, and in 1980, Alton Towers got its first rollercoaster—the Corkscrew. The Corkscrew was exactly what Alton Towers needed to complete the transformation from quiet country estate to thrilling amusement park. A steel rollercoaster, featuring one of the first double-loop inversions in Europe, the Corkscrew reached speeds of 44 mph. There was nothing else like the Corkscrew anywhere in the UK, and it was an instant success. On its opening weekend, guests at the park waited up to nine hours for the chance to ride the Corkscrew, and months later park-goers were still waiting in line for hours to ride this new rollercoaster. Park attendance doubled from 1979 to 1980.

However, as the years passed, the Corkscrew’s appeal faded. While its inversions had once been new, now there were other rollercoasters with similar, or more extreme, elements. And while 44 mph had once seemed incredibly fast, compared to newer rollercoasters, it was tame. By 2008, the Corkscrew was an old rollercoaster with a rough, bumpy ride. Still, on the ride’s last day in November 2008, thousands turned out for one last ride on the Corkscrew. The ride was torn down, but parts of the track were saved and are now on display at the entrance to Alton Towers, reminding guests of the rollercoaster that launched the park into the successful theme park it is today.

50 Legendary Roller Coasters That No Longer Exist is the latest book by Nick Weisenberger and you can download the Kindle version for free between 4/21/16 - 4/25/16.

Play RollerCoaster Tycoon World Now

RCT fans rejoice: Roller Coaster Tycoon World is now available to play! Yes, you can actually purchase, download it, and start building coasters! Note that this isn’t the official final version of the game, but a working preview that will allow those with Early Access to try it while the programmers work to finish up all the bells and whistles as well as fix problems based on Early Access feedback. Currently Windows only.
“The Early Access release of RCTW contains the core features and content of the game,” says developer Nvizzio Creations, “Throughout Early Access and beyond we will be adding further content, including piece-by-piece custom-built structures, scenario editor, mini-rides and dark rides, additional scenarios, transport rides and more.”

There are two versions of the game you can download instantly: Standard, which goes for $49.99, and Deluxe which will set you back $59.99. What does the deluxe edition include? Everything in the standard edition plus:

• Additional Mascot: Wow your guests with the RCT franchise’s classic “Panda” mascot.
• Digital Art Book: A beautifully designed art book illustrates the story of RCTW art and park elements from concept to in-game.
• 2 Additional Maps: Build your dream park on two new exotic map packs.
• Zipper Ride: A brand-new flatride just for our Deluxe Edition users!
• Golden Park Entrance: Delight guests and show off your solid gold style with an exclusive Deluxe-Edition park entrance.

Other features of RCTW Early Access include:

• Freeform Object Placement: Control and place every single in-game object anywhere on the map at any angle. For our more casual users we are also providing ‘snap-to’ and ‘brush’ placement functionality to make this enhancement easy to use.
• Curved Paths: Select your unique type of path from a of widths, styles, and shapes. You can make them straight or, for the first time in the franchise, curve them at almost any angle!
• Innovative 3D Track Editor: Create the coolest and wildest coasters imaginable with our best track editor ever! For the first time, using our spline based editor, tracks can be fully manipulated in 3D allowing you to create any shape you can dream up.
• Fully Deformable Terrain with Water: Build amazing rides and change your park’s landscape in full 3D with completely deformable terrain and water.
• Expansive Selection of In-Game Objects: Entertain your park guests with many different types of coasters and rides, all in eye-popping next generation resolution. Choose from pre-made rides and coasters to scenery and shops

Get RCTW now and start building your dream theme park.

If you’ve already played RCTW, please share your experiences and reviews of the game in the comments below. We’d love to know what you think of it!

How to reset your Disney MagicBand pin number

For every transaction you make with your Disney World MagicBand you have to enter your pin number, so if you lose your band no one can spend your money unless they know the pin. The problem we had on our last trip: our pin numbers were somehow already assigned to our account. Maybe they were set up when we went on a Disney cruise two years ago? One big negative – the pin number could only be reset at the front desk. Why you can’t change it by logging into MyDisneyExperience online or using the app, I don’t know.

Well, you can now save a visit to your hotel front desk by using MyDisneyExperience website or app to reset your MagicBand PIN number. Go to MyDisney Experience then Profile then Payment Methods then Reset PIN.  

Incredible Hulk’s new track not completely new?

The Incredible Hulk coaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park is undergoing an extensive refurbishment this winter. IN fact, all of the the coaster’s track has been removed and sent to the scrap yard.  We can only assume that after 18 years of nearly constant use, it’s reached the end of its service life.

Crews have recently begun installing new track. But now the question has come up: is this track really new? Universal has not released many details about the refurbishment. They have not even confirmed or denied that the Incredible hulks layout would remain exactly the same or be changed.

In the most recent construction images, the block brake is there but there is no evidence that brakes will ever be installed here. If the plan from the beginning was not to include a block brake on Hulk 2,0, why keep a boring, flat piece of track? Why not replace this section with a thrilling air time hill? Perhaps the answer is because the track was already manufactured as straight before the decision to remove the block brake was made. Perhaps the decision was made years ago.

Maybe this isn’t new track at all, but was originally intended be an Incredible Hulk coaster clone themed to Men in Black for Universal Studios Dubailand. I know for a fact that track was manufactured for a fourth Revenge of the Mummy the Ride that was mothballed. Could they have also made track for the B&M coaster?

One question with this theory is, where have the track pieces been sitting all these years? Not at the factory in Ohio. Were they sent to Dubai? Have they been sitting in storage somewhere on Universal Orlando’s property? One way to answer this question is how much new track has come out of the Ohio factory? We know for a fact at least some new track has been made. New track is required for a new, energy efficient launch system. Would they really use a mix of old and new track? And is the track that has been sitting even still good to use?

We may never know the full story. What are your thoughts?

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.

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

Get The 50 Biggest Ferris Wheels Ever Built on Amazon.com today!