A roller coaster is a type of Amusement park ride employing a form of elevated track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements 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.
RollerCoaster Tycoon is a series of construction and management simulation games about building and managing an amusement park. Each game in the series challenges players with open-ended amusement park management and development, and allowing players to construct and customize their own unique roller coasters and other thrill rides.
Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a 209-acre (85 ha) amusement park located in Valencia, California, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newhall Land and Farming Company and Sea World Inc. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added "Six Flags" to the park's name.
Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, both of whom had worked for Giovanola.
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.
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is an enclosed, launched roller coaster located at Disney's Hollywood Studios within Walt Disney World. Manufactured by Vekoma, the roller coaster opened to the public on July 29, 1999. It uses linear motor electromagnetic technology for acceleration, which propels riders from 0 to 57 mph (92 km/h) in 2.8 seconds. Riders experience up to 5 Gs and travel through three inversions, which include a sea serpent roll and a corkscrew. The attraction also features recorded music as well as appearances from American rock band Aerosmith.
Batman: The Ride is an inverted roller coaster based on the DC Comics character Batman and found at seven Six Flags theme parks in the United States. Built by consulting engineers Bolliger & Mabillard, it rises to a height of between 100 and 105 feet and reaches top speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h). The original roller coaster at Six Flags Great America was partially devised by the park's general manager Jim Wintrode. Batman: The Ride was the world's first inverted roller coaster when it opened in 1992, and has since been awarded Coaster Landmark status by the American Coaster Enthusiasts. Clones of the ride exist at amusement parks around the world.
Worlds of Fun is an entertainment complex with more than 235 acres located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is the largest amusement park and water park in the Midwest. Founded by American businessmen Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman, the park opened in 1973 under the ownership of Hunt's company, Mid-America Enterprises. Oceans of Fun is a water park that opened in 1982 and is next to the amusement park. Admission to Oceans of Fun is included with the price of admission to Worlds of Fun. Both parks were sold to Cedar Fair in 1995 for $40 million.
RollerCoaster is a children's television show which was broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from between January 2005 and January 2010. Hosted by Elliot Spencer, it was aimed at an older audience than that for ABC For Kids.
Real Wheels, also known as There Goes A..., is a series of children's educational videos for aged 3–8 that features a specified vehicle and the different jobs that it has along with real people who work the job which requires the vehicle. Episodes like There Goes a Garbage Truck, There Goes the Mail and There Goes a Rescue Vehicle, were released as a part of the Dream Big series. Each episode focuses on different modes of transport, though one episode is reserved for Santa Claus and another for roller coasters. Each is live-action, starring Dave Hood who is sometimes accompanied by Becky Borg. Dave Hood does not appear in There Goes a Farm Truck, There Goes a Tractor and There Goes a Dump Truck, in which he is replaced by David Sidoni.
Tatsu is a flying roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park located in Valencia, California, United States. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, it opened as the tallest, fastest, and longest flying coaster in the world on May 13, 2006. It became the park's seventeenth coaster, featuring a height of 170 feet (52 m), a track length of 3,602 feet (1,098 m), and a maximum speed of 62 mph (100 km/h). Tatsu also features the world's tallest pretzel loop and the only zero-gravity roll inversion on a flying coaster model. Nearly a decade later, The Flying Dinosaur opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2016, breaking Tatsu's length record and matching its speed. In its debut season, Tatsu was ranked 40th among steel coasters in the annual Golden Ticket Awards from Amusement Today, peaking with a rank of 28 in 2012.
A Giant Inverted Boomerang is a type of steel shuttle roller coaster manufactured by the Dutch firm Vekoma. The ride is a larger, inverted version of Vekoma's popular Boomerang sit down roller coasters. As of March 2024, four installations of the model are operating, with another one under construction.
The New Revolution is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. Manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf and designed by Werner Stengel, the roller coaster opened to the public on May 8, 1976. The New Revolution is the world's first modern roller coaster to feature a vertical loop and has been recognized for that accomplishment by American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE), who awarded the roller coaster its Coaster Landmark status. However, there were earlier examples of roller coasters with a full vertical loop, such as the steel roller coaster called "Looping the Loop" in Parque Japonés in Buenos Aires, which operated from 1911 to 1930.
James Bondy is a Canadian entertainer who co-hosted Ribert and Robert's Wonderworld, a children's show that aired on public television from 2005 to 2008.
Reverchon Industries is a developer, designer and manufacturer of amusement park attractions that were sold all over the world. Its production unit is still set in the French city of Samois-sur-Seine, near Fontainebleau.
Roller coaster amusement rides have origins back to ice slides constructed in 18th-century Russia. Early technology featured sleds or wheeled carts that were sent down hills of snow reinforced by wooden supports. The technology evolved in the 19th century to feature railroad track using wheeled cars that were securely locked to the track. Newer innovations emerged in the early 20th century with side friction and underfriction technologies to allow for greater speeds and sharper turns. By the mid-to-late 20th century, these elements intensified with the introduction of steel roller coaster designs and the ability to invert riders.
The Wompkees are a children's animated program created by Con Fullam and Maura Clarke, and are owned by Wompkee LLC. As of December 2009, two 54 minute movies have been produced in association with Deos Animation, led by Mike DeVitto, and are being distributed internationally by MarVista Entertainment. The first movie was released in 2003, titled A Very Wompkee Christmas. The feature aired in the US on Starz; has been released in more than 40 countries worldwide; and in Latin America, DVD Distributor Tycoon sold more than 70,000 units. The writers of the first feature, Peter Hunziker and Cynthia Riddle reprise their roles in the second feature titled The Hidden Treasure of Wompkee Wood released in 2009. Voice direction was once again provided by Fred Newman. The Wompkees also have a line of plush toys and finger puppets manufactured by Mary Meyer Corporation. Deos Animation and Con Fullam have also collaborated on another children's program titled Ribert and Robert's Wonderworld. The Wompkees are represented by Red Sky Entertainment in NYC.
"Fears" is the sixteenth episode of the first season of the American family sitcom television series Modern Family and the sixteenth episode of the series overall. It originally aired on ABC on March 3, 2010. The episode was written by co-creator, Steven Levitan and directed by Reginald Hudlin.
"Amish Guy" is the seventh episode of the tenth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 27, 2011. The episode follows the Griffin family after their car breaks down in Amish country on their way back from a vacation. The family must then learn to adjust to the community for the weekend, until they are able to fix their car at a mechanic's. However, when Meg falls in love with an Amish boy named Eli, and his father forbids the two from ever seeing each other again, a Romeo and Juliet conflict arises between the two families. This results in a battle between the families, with the victor determining Meg and Eli's ultimate fate.
West Coast Racers is a dueling steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia, California. Manufactured by Premier Rides, the ride is a collaboration between West Coast Customs and Six Flags that was promoted as the world's first launch version of a racing roller coaster. After multiple delays and missing the 2019 summer season, the ride eventually debuted on December 21, 2019, in a series of preview events spanning several weeks. It officially opened to the public on January 9, 2020. West Coast Racers is located in a newly-themed section of the park named The Underground, which replaced the former Cyclone Bay.
