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.
Cedar Point is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point, which is owned and operated by Cedar Fair, is the flagship of the company's amusement park chain. Known as "America's Roller Coast", the park features 16 roller coasters, which ranks third among amusement parks in North America behind Six Flags Magic Mountain (20) and Canada's Wonderland (18). Cedar Point's normal operating season runs from early May until Labor Day in September, which is followed by weekend-only operation through Halloween during an annual event known as HalloWeekends. Other amenities and attractions featured within the park include a one-mile-long (1.6 km) beach, an outdoor water park named Cedar Point Shores, an indoor water park named Castaway Bay, two marinas, and an outdoor sports complex called Cedar Point Sports Center.
A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated wheels, the steel roller coasters can provide a taller, smoother, and faster ride with more inversions than a traditional wooden roller coaster.
Lagoon is a family owned amusement park in Farmington, Utah, located about 18 miles north of Salt Lake City. Lagoon is divided into five main areas: The Midway, containing the majority of the rides; Pioneer Village, which has several exhibits displaying pioneer buildings and artifacts; Lagoon-A-Beach, a water park; Kiddie Land, an area with several rides for small children; and X-Venture Zone, featuring more extreme rides that are upcharge. Lagoon also offers an RV park, a campground, and a walking trail outside the park that stays open all year. Every autumn, the park offers Halloween-themed shows and attractions, collectively known as Frightmares.
Millennium Force is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the park's fourteenth roller coaster when it opened in 2000, dating back to the opening of Blue Streak in 1964. Upon completion, Millennium Force broke five world records and was the world's first giga coaster, a term coined by Intamin and Cedar Point to represent roller coasters that exceed 300 feet (91 m) in height. It was briefly the tallest and fastest in the world until Steel Dragon 2000 opened later the same year. The ride is also the third-longest roller coaster in North America following The Beast at Kings Island and Fury 325 at Carowinds.
Green Lantern, formerly known as Chang, is a stand-up roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Green Lantern stands 155 feet (47 m) tall and features a top speed of 63 miles per hour (101 km/h). The 4,155-foot-long (1,266 m) ride features five inversions and a duration of approximately 21⁄2 minutes. This steel coaster was designed and built by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard.
Kumba is a steel roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened in 1993. It stands 143 feet (44 m) tall and has a top speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Kumba features a total of seven inversions across the 3-minute ride.
Colossus is a steel roller coaster at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England, and the park's first major attraction. It was built by Lichtenstein-based manufacturers Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel as an adaptation of Monte Makaya in Brazil. Colossus was the world's first roller coaster with ten inversions; an exact replica, called the 10 Inversion Roller Coaster, was later built at Chimelong Paradise in Guangzhou, China. It retained its title of having the most inversions on any other roller coaster in the world until The Smiler at Alton Towers took the record in 2013.
The Suspended Looping Coaster is a model of steel inverted roller coaster built by Vekoma. There are at least 39 different installations across the world. The minimum rider height requirement is 130 centimetres. Vekoma is now marketing a Suspended Thrill Coaster as a successor to the Suspended Looping Coaster. The Odyssey is the largest, fastest and tallest SLC ever built at Fantasy Island in the UK.
Shockwave was a roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Standing 170 feet (52 m) tall and reaching speeds of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), it opened in 1988 as the world's tallest and fastest looping roller coaster with a record-breaking seven inversions: three vertical loops, a boomerang, and two regular corkscrews. Shockwave was closed in 2002 and has been dismantled.
Vortex was a steel roller coaster located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio. Designed and manufactured by Arrow Dynamics at a cost of $4 million, the ride officially opened to the public on April 11, 1987. Vortex debuted as the tallest, full-circuit roller coaster in the world with a height of 148 feet (45 m). It was also the first coaster to feature six inversions.
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.
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 Odyssey is a roller coaster at Fantasy Island in Ingoldmells, England. Built by Vekoma of the Netherlands in 2002, it was named to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. It is Vekoma's tallest example of their Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) design in the world. Standing at 167 feet, it is the fourth tallest roller coaster in the UK, after Hyperia the Big One and Stealth. And the joint second tallest full circuit inverted rollercoaster in the world. It has a maximum speed of 63 mph and is capable of forces up to 4.8g.
Millennium is a roller coaster at Fantasy Island in Ingoldmells, United Kingdom. It was built by Vekoma, a Dutch roller coaster manufacturer, to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium but despite its name, was opened in May 1999. It was Fantasy Island's first "Extreme Thrill Ride", and circles the park's signature pyramid structure.
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).
Time Traveler is a spinning roller coaster located at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. The roller coaster was manufactured by Mack Rides in collaboration with the park's in-house team. The original concept for the roller coaster was conceived from a prototype train tested on another roller coaster, Blue Fire, at Europa-Park in Germany. Time Traveler opened in 2018 and is themed to a fictional backstory about time travel involving characters Charles Henry, a clockmaker, and his daughter. The roller coaster reaches a height of 100 feet (30 m) and a maximum speed of 50.3 mph (81.0 km/h).
Yukon Striker is a steel roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario. Designed as a dive coaster from manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened to the general public on 3 May 2019 in place of SkyRider, a roller coaster that was removed from the park in 2014. Featuring a height of 68 metres (223 ft), a length of 1,105 metres (3,625 ft), and a maximum speed of 130 km/h (81 mph), Yukon Striker is the world's tallest, longest, and fastest dive coaster, sharing its height record with Valravn at Cedar Point. Its four inversions and drop length of 75 metres (245 ft) also set world records among dive coaster models.
Mardi Gras Hangover is a fire ball attraction currently in storage at Niagara Amusement Park & Splash World in Grand Island, New York, United States. The attraction was previously located at Six Flags Great America from 2018 to 2023, before being delivered to Niagara Amusement Park in February 2024. Manufactured by Larson International, it is one of the tallest fire ball amusement ride in the world at a height of 100 feet (30 m) tall.
