A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements usually designed to produce a thrilling experience. Trains consist of open cars connected in a single line, and the rides are often found in theme parks around the world. Roller coasters first appeared in the 17th century, and LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, based on the Switchback Railway which opened a year earlier at Coney Island.
A flying roller coaster is a type of roller coaster meant to simulate the sensations of flight by harnessing riders in a prone position during the duration of the ride. The roller coaster cars are suspended below the track, with riders secured such that their backs are parallel to the track.
Incredicoaster is a steel launched roller coaster located at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, the ride was originally opened to the public as California Screamin' in early 2001. It is the only roller coaster with an inversion at the Disneyland Resort and it is the fastest, reaching a maximum speed of 55 mph (89 km/h). With a track length of 6,072 feet (1,851 m), Incredicoaster is the sixth-longest steel roller coaster in the world.
A shuttle roller coaster is any roller coaster that ultimately does not make a complete circuit, but rather reverses at some point throughout its course and traverses the same track backwards. These are sometimes referred to as boomerang roller coasters, due to the ubiquity of Vekoma's Boomerang coaster model.
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power, along a launch track. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest roller coasters in the world.
A spinning roller coaster is a roller coaster with cars that rotate on a vertical axis.
The Grand National is a wooden roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach Resort in Blackpool, Lancashire in the United Kingdom. It was designed and constructed by American engineer Charles Paige in 1935 and is now one of two surviving wooden Möbius Loop roller coasters in the world. Grand National is the only surviving twin-track roller coaster in Britain in which two cars race against one another. This ride has an individual lap bar and seatbelts as the restraints.
Demon is a multi-looping roller coaster at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois and California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. Both coasters opened in 1976 as Turn of the Century, when both Great America parks were owned by Marriott Corporation. Following the 1979 season, they were slightly modified and renamed Demon, which introduced a new theme.
Disaster Transport was an enclosed steel bobsled roller coaster built by Intamin at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It was notable as being the only indoor roller coaster at Cedar Point, the only bobsled roller coaster in the Midwestern United States, and the only enclosed bobsled roller coaster in the world at its debut. The name of the ride stems from a rearrangement of the letters "Dispatch MasterTransport", which could still be seen in the ride's logo in its later years. Before the ride was enclosed, the supports and outer sides of the track were painted blue.
Blue Hawk is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Georgia. Designed by Vekoma, Blue Hawk was originally built for Conko's Party Pier in New Jersey, where it was known as Kamikaze. It was relocated to Six Flags Over Georgia in 1992 as Ninja, and was the tallest roller coaster in the park at that time. In 2016, Six Flags announced that the ride would be renovated and renamed, with members of the public voting on the ride's new name.
Hollywood Dream – The Ride is a steel roller coaster located at Universal Studios Japan. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, it features inbuilt sound systems allowing riders to choose their ride music.
Space Mountain is an outer space-themed, indoor roller coaster in Tomorrowland located at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. The dark ride, which opened on January 15, 1975, is the original version of the iconic attraction that has since been replicated at other Disney theme park locations worldwide, with the exception of Shanghai Disneyland Resort. Space Mountain is one of the first computer operated roller coasters and is also the oldest operating roller coaster in the state of Florida.
Space Mountain is an indoor, space-themed roller coaster in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Opened on May 27, 1977, it was the second roller coaster built at Disneyland, and was the second of the five versions of Space Mountain built by The Walt Disney Company. Its exterior façade is one of Disneyland's three "mountain" structures that serve as park landmarks.
A mine train roller coaster is a steel roller coaster whose trains often depict a set of mine carts, with the forward-most car or portions of it sometimes resembling a small steam locomotive. Most mine train roller coasters are themed in the style of a mine, a Western scene, or simply a mountain range.
Winja's Fear & Force is the generic term for two spinning roller coasters, Winja's Fear and Winja's Force, at Phantasialand in Germany. They are located in Wuze Town, an indoor area of the park.
The Oath of Kärnan is a steel roller coaster at Hansa-Park, located in Sierksdorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Manufactured by Gerstlauer, the roller coaster is one of three full-circuit hypercoasters with inversions in Europe. The 1,235-metre (4,052 ft) long roller coaster, which has a track height of 73 metres (240 ft), a drop height of 67 metres (220 ft) and a speed of up to 127 kilometres per hour (79 mph) is with Silver Star the fourth highest roller coaster in Europe after Shambhala, Hyperion and Red Force.
The Flying Dinosaur is a steel flying roller coaster at Universal Studios Japan. Designed by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard, Flying Dinosaur restrains riders in the prone position. This attraction opened on March 18, 2016, and is currently the world's second longest flying roller coaster, as the track length has been surpassed by F.L.Y. in Phantasialand, which opened in September 17, 2020.
Hyperion is a steel roller coaster located at Energylandia in Zator, Poland. The ride was manufactured by Swiss manufacturer Intamin and opened on 14 July 2018. It is themed to a fictional mission to Saturn's moon Hyperion and reaches a height of 77 metres (253 ft), has a maximum speed of 142 kilometres per hour (88 mph), and features several hills and banked turns. As of 2021, Hyperion is the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in Poland as well as the tallest roller coaster with an inversion.
F.L.Y. is a flying launched roller coaster at Phantasialand in Brühl, Germany. The coaster is the sole attraction of the Rookburgh area, a highly themed immersive Steampunk city, which was soft opened in September 2020 following several years of development and construction. During the ride, passengers sit in a prone position - facing the ground - while traversing two launches and navigating a heavily themed environment.
