Top 50 Most Terrifying Roller Coasters - 47. Riddler's Revenge

47. RIDDLER'S REVENGE

Known for: World's largest standup coaster

Park: Six Flags Magic Mountain

Location: United States

Type: Steel

Opened: 1998

Designer/Manufacturer: Bolliger & Mabillard

Height (ft.): 156

Drop (ft.): 146

Speed (mph): 65

Inversions: 6

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrsvkjhSwEQ‎

When Riddler’s Revenge opened in 1998 it became the world recorder holder in height, drop, speed, length and number of inversions on a standup roller coaster. Instead of sitting in a seated position riders standup while hurling through massive inversions including two back to back dive loops. Riders straddle a small bicycle style seat meaning this coaster may be slightly more terrifying for males rather than females, especially if they have dreams of having children in the future. Even though B&M only built seven standup coasters Riddler’s Revenge remains the cream of the crop.

Top 50 Most Terrifying Roller Coasters - 48. The RATTLER

48. The RATTLER

Known for: World's largest wood coaster when it debuted

Park: Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Location: United States

Type: Wood

Opened: 1992

Closed: 2012

Designer/Manufacturer: John Pierce

Height (ft.): 179.7

Drop (ft.): 124

Speed (mph): 65

Video: http://youtu.be/BPXBkuN-O18

When the Rattler opened at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in 1992 it was the tallest and fastest wooden coaster in the world. The lift hill climbed to an impressive height of 179 feet followed by a gut wrenching drop of 166 feet and a blistering speed of 73 mph. Adding to the ride’s excitement was its incredible location situated on top of, next to, and even carved through a rock quarry wall.Unfortunately, the coaster's original plans never called for such a large first drop. The construction of the 161 foot tall Mean Streak at Cedar Point prompted the park to alter the design at the last minute in order to make it the record holder. The hasty changes negatively affected the layout due to very rough transitions between elements resulting in many riders complaining of rib or back pain. The park was forced to make modifications to the ride and shortenedthe first drop from 166 to 124 feet resulting in a reduction of its top speed from 73 to 65 miles per hour.

There’s a saying about wooden roller coasters: “If it doesn’t shake it’s going to break.” Wooden roller coaster structures are designed to sway a couple of inches as the train goes racing by, especially in tight corners and high g-force locations. Think of it like this — when you jump off of a tall object you land safely by allowing your legs to flex and bend at the knee. Otherwise, if you kept your legs straight, you might shatter your leg bone or bust your knee joint. This same basic principle applies to a wooden roller coaster. The structure must be allowed to give and flex like a shock absorber in order to keep it from internally shaking itself to pieces. The Rattler was notorious for how much the structure would sway as the train raced by. See for yourself in this video: (http://youtu.be/sLfQBW9wnDI)

The Rattler was closed in 2012 to be transformed into the Iron Rattler steel coaster.

Top 50 Most Terrifying Roller Coasters #49 Abyss

The next coaster in our countdown of the 50 most terrifying roller coasters ever built is...

49. Abyss

Known for: Underwear dispensers

Park: Adventure World

Location: Australia

Type: Steel

Opened: 2013

Designer/Manufacturer: Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GmbH

Height (ft.): 98.4

Drop (ft.): 100

Speed (mph): 52.8

Inversions: 3

Australia’s Adventure World opened Abyss in 2013, a custom designed Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter coaster, the first of its kind in the country.Riders of the $12 million coaster board one of four trains seating eight passengers each. The journey begins inside a dark show building where the vehicles navigate a few twists and turns before rolling rider’s upside down through an inline twist in the dark. Then it’s outside and up the 100 foot tall vertical lift hill. The beyond vertical first drop sends the cars zipping along in excess of 52 mph during the ride’s 2,066-foot-long course. A dive loop and Immelman loop complete the inversion count before the vehicles return to the station inside the show building.

In an effort to help promote Abyss as Australia’s most terrifying coaster, the park placed underwear dispensers outside the exit of the ride stocked with packets of fresh clean white underpants. Along with the 'tighty whities', the undies packets contained a fact sheet outlining all of the key statistics and features relating to the ride. The park hasn’t unveiled how many guests have actually needed the packets.

Stay tuned for number 48. See number fifty here.

Top 50 Most Terrifying Roller Coasters - Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

I'm starting a new series examining what I believe to be the top 50 most terrifying roller coasters ever built. We start with number 50:

50. HOLLYWOOD RIP RIDE ROCKIT

Known for: World’s first track elements

Park: Universal Studios Florida

Location: United States

Type: Steel

Opened: 2009

Designer/Manufacturer: Maurer Söhne

Height (ft.): 167

Speed (mph): 65

Video: http://youtu.be/JjI2a8wRe34

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is a radically innovative steel coaster that includes one-of-a-kind track elements, cutting-edge technology, and an interactive audio element. Sprawling across a large section of the park, the skyline of Universal Studios Florida was changed forever when the Rockit began thrilling in August of 2009. Riders board a train consisting of two six passenger cars before ascending the 167 foot tall vertical lift hill. After reaching a speed of 65 miles per hour the ride soars into a mammoth non-inverting loop (a loop that twists at the top so the vehicles never turn upside down). This crazy maneuver is followed by the Treble Clef, where guests burst through a building façade on track shaped like the music symbol; and later followed by the Jump Cut, a spiraling, negative-gravity move. If nothing else, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is surely one of the coolest looking coasters around, especially at night when the lights on the vehicles are lit up.

The most unique aspect of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is the ability to choose your own song to rock out to. That is if you can hear it over your own screaming. The music selection is broken up into 30 songs in five categories; Classic Rock/Heavy Metal, Club/Electronica, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, and Pop Music/Disco. In addition to these 30 songs, Universal has also included a number of “hidden” tracks that are accessible via entering secret codes into the ride’s touchpads before your journey begins. A personalized take-home music video is also available for purchase for those wanting to remember and share their terrifying ordeal with their friends.

Theme Park Android Apps

I recently created and released two Android Apps for roller coaster enthusiasts and Disney theme park fans.

• Guess the Coaster - This app is intended for hard core roller coaster fanatics. Try to guess the identity of each mystery coaster.
• Disney Park Picture Quiz - How well do you know your Disney Theme Parks? Scratch off the picture of a Disney theme park attraction, guess what it is and choose the right answer. The less you reveal, the more points you score! Each quiz is composed of ten randomly selected images. Play multiple times and get different pictures.

You can download both for free from Google Play. Please let me know what you think. Do you like this style of app? Would you like to see more? How could they be improved?

New Universal Orlando Book

There are countless books out there about the history and development of Walt Disney World and Disneyland (such as Project Future and the Disneyland Story just to name a few of the more recent ones I've read) but what about Universal Orlando? You would have been hard pressed to find a book about it until now. Universal Orlando: The Unofficial Story is the only book currently available that covers the complete history and creation of the resort, from the onset to the present day. I was a bit skeptical because it is a self-published book but I was blown away with how good it was. I learned many interesting tidbits I never knew before, like how the Jaws attraction was essentially built twice! The author does a great job of explaining how the park transition from "see how movies are made" to "ride the movies." If you're a Universal fan I highly recommend you check out Universal Orlando: The Unofficial Story.

Holiday Gift Guide for Amusement Park Fans

The 2013 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 fan of amusement parks and roller coasters then you’ve come to the right place! Listed below are my recommended gifts to give or receive this holiday season.

• 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 theme park engineers. Available in Kindle or paperback formats from Amazon.com.
• American Coasters: A Thrilling Photographic Ride is a  relatively new book 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).
• 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. See the making of RCT3 with John Wardley.
• Theme Park Design by Steve Alcorn. Take a peek behind the scenes, with a theme park engineer, and learn about the multitude of roles and skills needed to design a world class theme park attraction – a must read for all aspiring theme park designers!
• 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. My personal favorite of all the RollerCoaster Tycoon games.
• Transport Tycoon for tablets. Chris Sawyer’s Transport Tycoon is now available on tablet devices everywhere. Reviewers say they managed to bring this classic game to mobile devices extremely well.
• K’nex Rippin Rocket Coaster. Loaded with over 500 KNEX pieces including classic parts, this model boasts over 20 feet of twists, turns, and daring loops. A special motorized blaster launches the coaster car into its exciting journey around the track.
• Coaster Dynamix Models. The most realistic working roller coaster models currently available. Choose from Wooden coasters, steel coasters, Tumble Bugs, and Lego coaster sets.
• Cincy Amusement Park Shirts. From the early days of Chester Park to Americana and Kings Island, these vintage shirts will be a nice stroll down memory lane. This shop not only sells The Bat shirts, but also a few other defunct Kings Island coasters, including Son of Beast, Phantom Theater, and King Cobra!

I highly recommend joining Amazon Prime. If you order something off of Amazon on average once per month then it pays for itself, or if you're ordering a bunch of gifts this holiday season it probably will too. The FREE two day shipping is awesome and everything I've ordered really has come in two days or less. You can also stream movies, TV shows, and get a Kindle book every month. Great alternative for Netflix or Hulu and well worth the investment in my opinion. Cheers!

What's on your 2013 holiday gift list? Share in the comments below!