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 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.
Kings Island is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park was built by Taft Broadcasting and opened in 1972. It was part of a larger effort to move and expand Coney Island, a popular resort destination along the banks of the Ohio River that was prone to frequent flooding. After more than $300 million in capital investments over the years, the park has grown to feature over a hundred attractions including fourteen roller coasters and a 33-acre (13 ha) water park.
Paramount Parks was the operator of Paramount's Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Dominion, Paramount's Great America, Paramount's Carowinds, and Paramount Canada's Wonderland, which annually attracted about 13 million patrons. National Amusements-owned Viacom assumed control of the company as part of its acquisition of Paramount Pictures in 1994.
Kings Dominion is an amusement park in the eastern United States, located in Doswell, Virginia, twenty miles (30 km) north of Richmond and 75 miles (120 km) south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the 280-acre (1.1 km2) park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and attractions including 13 roller coasters and a 20-acre (8.1 ha) water park. Its name is derived from the name of its sister park, Kings Island near Cincinnati, and the nickname for the state of Virginia, "Old Dominion."
Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (1946–1981) and Arrow Huss (1981–1986), which were responsible for several influential advancements in the amusement and theme park industries. Among the most significant was tubular steel track, which provided a smoother ride than the railroad style rails commonly used prior to the 1960s on wooden roller coasters. The Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland, built in 1959, was Arrow's first roller coaster project.
The Crypt was an indoor Giant Top Spin ride located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Former park owner Paramount Parks collaborated with HUSS Park Attractions to design and manufacture the ride, which opened as Tomb Raider: The Ride on April 5, 2002. The flat ride featured a variety of special effects that correlated with the theme of the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider from Paramount Pictures. Under new ownership by Cedar Fair, Kings Island removed all references to the film from both the ride and its indoor queue line following the 2007 season. It reopened as The Crypt in 2008. An outdoor, smaller version of the ride opened at sister park Kings Dominion in 2005 as Tomb Raider: FireFall and closed in 2019.
Luna Park Melbourne is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. It opened on 13 December 1912, with a formal opening a week later, and has been operating almost continuously ever since.
A crypt is a stone chamber.
Hypersonic XLC was a roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Hypersonic was built by S&S Worldwide, a company specializing in air-powered rides, and was the first compressed air launch coaster in the world. Hypersonic was S&S Worldwide's actual prototype for an air-launched coaster, called Thrust Air 2000.
Dominator is a floorless roller coaster located at Kings Dominion amusement park in Doswell, Virginia. Built by Bolliger & Mabillard, it originally opened in 2000 as Batman: Knight Flight at Six Flags Ohio, in Aurora, Ohio. It was given its current name when Cedar Fair purchased the Ohio park in 2004. However, following Six Flags Ohio ’s eventual permanent closure in 2007, the coaster was relocated to Kings Dominion, where it reopened on May 24, 2008. Dominator is located fairly close to the park’s main entry plaza, in the area known as International Street.
Volcano: The Blast Coaster, or simply Volcano, was an inverted roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, United States. Designed by Werner Stengel, it was the first launched roller coaster manufactured by Intamin and the first of its kind in the world to be inverted. Its launch mechanism utilized linear induction motor (LIM) technology. After a series of delays, Volcano opened to the public on August 3, 1998. A portion of the ride was enclosed inside an artificial mountain, constructed in 1979, which previously housed other attractions. Following nearly two decades of operation, Volcano abruptly closed a few weeks into the 2018 season, and the closure became permanent during the following offseason.
Poltergeist is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, Texas. Designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Premier Rides, the roller coaster opened to the public on May 28, 1999. Its track was fabricated by Dynamic Structures and Intermountain Lift, Inc.
Fantasy Island is a Resort Theme Park located in Ingoldmells on the East Coast of Lincolnshire.
Since the 1990s, Nickelodeon, a worldwide children's television network and franchise, owned by Paramount Global, has had an involvement in the creation and theming of amusement parks rides.
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is a 135-acre (55 ha) animal theme park located in Vallejo, California, off of Interstate 80 between San Francisco and Sacramento. The park includes a variety of roller coasters and other amusement rides. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has been part of the Six Flags chain of amusement parks since 1999.
Grizzly is a wooden roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. The grounds of the ride are densely forested, with the intended thrills heightened from the illusion of inadequate clearance between the track and trees. The attraction opened in 1982, and the double-figure-eight layout is based closely on the defunct Coney Island Wildcat. A similar version of this ride operates at Canada's Wonderland as Wilde Beast.
Firefall was a Top Spin located at California's Great America. Manufactured by HUSS Park Attractions, the ride was originally located at Geauga Lake under the name Texas Twister. It was the first of its kind in North America. Upon the park's closing in 2007, the ride was relocated to its sister park, California's Great America, where it reopened in 2008. When it was moved, its original ride program was slightly modified. The ride operated at California's Great America until 2016, when it was closed, and later replaced by Liberty Twirler.
Time Warp is a flying roller coaster operating at Canada's Wonderland. It opened on May 2, 2004. It is the only rollercoaster in the world that was themed after the Tomb Raider franchise. After the removal of Tomb Raider themed rides at Kings Island and Kings Dominion it is now the only ride left in existence to be themed after the Tomb Raider franchise.
Delirium is the name of three Frisbee rides located at three Cedar Fair parks – California's Great America, Kings Island, and Kings Dominion. The installation at California's Great America, the smallest of the three, was designed by Chance Rides and opened in 2002. The installation at Kings Island was designed by HUSS Park Attractions and opened on April 12, 2003, as the largest Frisbee ride of its kind in the world. The record-setting ride is able to swing 50 passengers up to 76 mph (122 km/h) reaching a height of 137 feet (42 m). Mondial manufactured the version of Delirium at Kings Dominion, which opened in 2016. It accommodates up to 40 passengers, reaches a top speed of 60 mph (97 km/h), and swings to a maximum height of 115 feet (35 m).
Tumbili is a steel roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, United States. Announced in August 2021, the 4D Free Spin model is manufactured by S&S – Sansei Technologies and opened on March 12, 2022. It is located within Jungle X-Pedition, a newly-themed section of the park formerly known as Safari Village. The ride takes its name from the Swahili word for "monkey."
