So, what got you to liking roller coasters?
Ricky Summersett
article on A.C.E. and roller coasters (which I still have). I thought
"WOW, a roller coaster club? Now THAT'S for me!" Unfortunately, Life
Magazine didn't publish any info on the A.C.E. addy and it wasn't
possible to do a Google search then.
The next year while visiting Playland Park, San Antonio one day in
1980, someone told me it was gonna close that year, which it did.
This was unheard of to me. Especially with this weird interest in
coasters developing from the Life article.
Somehow, this strange fascination with the Rocket suddenly boiled up
in me and I rode it many times that year. As I rode it, I found myself
enjoying it way beyond what I thought was normal for an average park
patron.
I met a guy at Playland selling Rocket T-shirts that year (Nick ____?)
and I got to talking to him. I bought a shirt (which I still have!)
and he told me he didn't know ACE's addy but he did have the address
for the first coaster club, Roller Coaster Buffs International.
R.C.B.I. was a really fun, loose, close group of super people which I
joined in 1980. RCBI cons were incredible! I then found ACE's addy &
joined the same year. It was all uphill, and downhill, from there!
In 1981 and 1982 I went on two seperate coast to coast trips,
including RCBI and ACE Cons and was fortunate to ride many long-lost
greats those years, though the folks I travelled with wished they
hadn't invited me (I was the rebellious pre-teen).
I really don't know how or why it happened, but the combination of the
Life A.C.E. article, the closing of Playland, and my brother dragging
me, crying, onto Shock Wave & Big Bend gave me this obsession with
roller coasters that only seems to grow as I get older.
How about you?
Ricky
P.S. Are there any ex-RCBI people here?
steelforce
I suspect that it was my grand mother, long before I saw a roller
coaster. every summer my parents would drop us off at grandma's house
for a week so they could have a vacation from us ;^) down the road
from her house on a road that had farms on each side was a dip in the
road. This dip as I saw it was possibly 2 to 3 feet deep. Even though
it sounds funny today, we called this "going weeeeee" not sure how
fast ole grandma was going, but we definately hit the ceiling of the
car. So my first airtime was in my grandmas car. In 4th grade we had a
bus route to school that travelled a road that had a rise in it not a
speed bump but bigger and less violent. we would bounce up and down in
the back seats of the bus hoping to hit the seat at the right time so
that we would be catapulted skyward. Again, we would make contact with
the ceiling. those are extremely fond memories. I believe they were
instrumental in my fondness of roller coasters.
SAM
canob...@gmail.com
were not big into rides (My dad didn't even start to ride coasters for
the most part until 2001-2002) But we'd still go to Canobie every
summer and Whalom too. Parks like Santa's Village and Storyland also
were visited almost yearly. Riverside was a "big to do" trip.
I found a "journal" from my kindergarten where I drew the local
fair... it had the "egg wheel" (Rock-O-Plane) and "Salt and Pepper
shaker" (Roll-O).. And this was all 1990ish... I also came across some
really awful drawings of "roller coasters" I made back around 92-93..
Where its like.. crazy lines everywhere... but one I made of Canobie
Corkscrew pretty much nailed the layout. It even had the little dip
off the lifthill!.
I guess 98 and 99 were my first real big coaster years. 98 doing trips
to Disney, Seaworld, Riverside (not really considered a "local" park
for me at the time.), and some other stuff..... 99 visiting Busch
Gardens for Apollo and also "finding" Darien Lake by accident.
After that it wasn't summer if I didn't go to 9 or 10
parks...........Now it seems like I'm doing 40 or 50 different parks a
year and counting revisits up in the 80s Although I find myself not
really interested in many coasters (I still ride any and all)...
still enjoy being in parks and well-run flat rides.
And for what its worth.. I've done about 550 coasters and 120 parks
across 26 states//14 countries and in the process picked up some
'rarer' rides without even knowing it. I didn't even start counting
until 2003 because I didn't know other people even did.. So it never
crossed my mind. I started using the interwebs in 98 with JOYRIDES and
the old, good THRILLRIDE being the first coaster sites I ever visited
(and RRC was found off the Joyrides link page.. And I lurked here
forever ever... But being a newsgroup n00b I didn't realllly get how
it worked (posting) so I just read) 2003 I found some topic on
CoasterForums (lol) about "coaster counts" and I made a post along
the lines of "I really don't know.. but at least 100". Someone later
in that topic linked the old coastercount.com site so I joined and
just went to all the states I'd visited and checked off parks/
coasters I know I rode and came up with 139... And it was all over
after that :-/
Yeah.. So that's my story, I guess.
Rob Vaccaro
(my first rollercoaster, AFAIK) during a friend's birthday party in
1995-96,
I believe. I rode in the backseat.. and held onto some 5th grade girl
for
dear life. I was terrified and didn't ride another rollercoaster that
night.
A few summers later oddly enough, I found myself working at the park.
After that first winter (1997-98) I discovered the internets.. Tim
Melago's
links website, Thrillride, URC, Jim Westland's American Midway site,
Joel Styler's Ridezone, and several darkride / funhouse websites (my
first love) and finally, RRC. I remember being a little punk that
first winter..
but somehow turned a new leaf and ended up meeting many RRC'ers
that following spring at the park.
Not long after, I had joined ACE and before I knew it, I was at the
ACE
Preservation Con meeting a ton of RRC'ers and riding my 200th coaster.
I rode the world's oldest (Leap the Dips) and newest (Knoebels
Twister)
rollercoasters in one day and I will never forget it.
At first my father was just a chauffeur, but eventually, after a ride
on
Steel Force at Dorney Park, become an enthusiast in his own right..
eventually riding over 300 rollercoasters. I remember waiting in line
for Top Thrill Dragster for almost 5 hours.. making it my 420th
coaster.
I moved to Florida for four years and in the time that TTD opened and
ever since, I struggled with addiction.. though I was never an angel.
I
hurt a lot of my pals in the process and was never man enough (or
sober enough) to admit my mistakes, missteps and apologize. If
you're reading this, and I lost touch with you, or hurt you in any
manner.. I'm sincerely sorry. My father raised me better than that.
I saw rollercoasters as an escape, and it was.. a great one at that.
Unfortunately, you can't ride 24/7 and my demons got the better of
me as my father got diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away
in November 2005. I moved home, checked into and out of rehab,
and eventually I got worse before I got better. I moved to Pittsburgh
the summer of 2006 to get a fresh start and return to school. Getting
a fresh start in a new city was just what I needed and being so close
to Kennywood -- one of my favorite parks, I rediscovered my sobriety
and my passion for parks and coasters.
It's been a long couple years since 2006 -- ups and downs, oddly
enough, a lot like a rollercoaster. But I have several trips plans for
this summer and I remembered why I started riding in the first
place. There's nothing like a good rollercoaster ride for me, and..
for now, that's the only high I need.
I rode my 566th rollercoaster this halloween, The Dark Knight
at SFGAd. I hope to hit 600 this summer and reconnect with
some old friends.
It's good to be back.
surfd...@aol.com
Space Mountain and braved Big Thunder but did not take too well to it.
We did love the parks in general, especially 20,000 Leagues Under the
Sea, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Haunted mansion, and the WEDway People
Mover. I also remmeber a trip to Adventureland (New York) in the late
1980s, but I also skipped out on the Galaxy coaster that they had. We
loved the 1313 Cemetary Way, the gas-powered Antique Car Ride, and the
Train. I also remember riding the Scorpion, and the then-forward AND
backwards Music Express.
Then in 1991, a family trip to Hersheypark got me on the Trailblazer,
which was okay. We had some good fun in that park, and also to Dutch
Wonderland, which was a "surprise" park. We loved the flume rides at
both.
Heading back to the Florida parks, my need to experience the Back To
the Future ride (huge fan of the movies) at the newly opened Universal
Studios, this is when my love for parks and coasters really began.
Absolutely loved both Space Mountain and Big Thunder. Loved all theee
Disney parks and went nuts for Universal.
1993- A few visits to Adventureland with friends, got me into the
Hurricane coaster, and also to finally turn upside down on the Looping
Star (Huss Ranger). This is when I was also first introduced to the
Surf Dance, as it was the new ride at the time. Another trip back to
Hersheypark got me on the Comet, my first wooden coaster. Now, it was
really getting good.
But my first trip to Six Flags Great Adventure in May 1994 is when I
was first introduced to the still new Batman the Ride. It was amazing.
I remember the experience vividly. At this point I was hooked. I still
consider it my #1 roller coaster to this day.
After that, trips to Dorney Park, Hershey, Riverside, Coney Island,
Rye Playland, became almost annual trips. We always made a special
trip to visit something different though- BGW and PKD one year.
Kennywood another. Kings Island, Americana, Cedar Point, and Geauga
Lake another. Adventure World another. All really great times.
I first heard about ACE while talking to a member in line for the
Wildcat at Hersheypark, I think it was in 1995. I didn't actually join
until over a year later. I found RRC in late 1998, when I first got
internet access.
A lot of my all-time favorite attractions are long gone now. Its sad.
20,000 Leagues.
Surf Dance.
Flip "N" Out.
Back To the Future.
But Batman still remains my favorite coaster of all time.
-"Surf Dance" Chris,
#1 Back To the Future: The Ride fan (2647 times in Florida, 44 in
California, 6 in Japan!)
BTTF The Ride R.I.P. 5/02/1991-3/30/2007: FL
BTTF The Ride R.I.P. 6/04/1993-9/03/2007: CA
BTTF The Ride 3/31/2001-present: Japan
ston...@aol.com
>
> But Batman still remains my favorite coaster of all time.
>
Since you are the BTR layout expert, how do you rank them? Does one
or a few ride better (at least on days of your visits) then others?
I've always found SFMM's SFoG's, and Great White at SWSA to seem more
intense/frantic than the others.
Conversely, SFGAd's and SFoT's always seemed "clunkier" than the rest.
-m
ri...@aol.com
When my family moved to SoCal in 1969 we would go to an annual private
party at Disneyland. I remember going a few times before getting the
courage to ride Matterhorn (at 7 or 8) and was instantly hooked. I
then was able to ride all the new SoCal rides throughout the 70s in
their opening years - 1975: Knott's Corkscrew, 1976: Revolution, 1977:
Space Mountain, 1978: Colossus and Montezooma's Revenge, 1979: Big
Thunder Mtn. Railroad. Talk about coaster wars! 6 major rides in 5
years (not to mention Matterhorn's refurb around then). Looking back
it's lucky that I was tall enough when the new wave of coasters hit.
Rik
surfd...@aol.com
Of the ones I've ridden:
SFGAdv (why ride Nitro when you have Batman?)
SFMM (great rides at night during the 2002 Con)
SFStl (mirror image)
SFGAm
SFOG (easily the worst and "most stiff of the ones I've ridden, also
had the worst set up queue)
With the ACE Con being held in TX in 2011, I will hopefully add 3 more
to the list.
Even though it's smaller than other inverteds, it's by far the most
fun, intense, nonstop action of them all.
-"Surf Dance" Chris
ace
crap out of me, that was until 2006. When Holiday World announced
Voyage, I liked the park jsut for the water park (well lazy river and
wave pool). I watched the animation over and over again and read the
contruction updates at -g. I went to HW once in June and chickened
out because I was alone. Then went back on labor day with some of the
-g crew. They got me on Legend and that was the end. Then onto
Voyage and it was over, I was hooked. In 2007 I actually took a trip
to Florida just to ride coasters and went to HWN. This last year was
a down year, gas prices kept me home and not going much of anywhere
which also opened up my mind to know coasters should not be every
weekend. I plan to spend more time with family and friends and trying
to get more excercise this summer. I do plan on HWN this year and
hopefully coaster mania and the winter soar at KI.
Rollermonkey
a wee one, but my family could never get me on the Yankee Cannonball.
I was petrified of coasters for quite a while. (I still don't like
heights and climbing lifthills while working at 6FGAm is a terror for
me every time.)
I moved to San Diego in 1992, and either that year or the next I went
on a date to the Mission Beach boardwalk. The gal I was there with
wanted to ride the Giant Dipper, and she was pretty durn attractive,
so I caved.
Yeah, I loved it and hit all the SoCal parks over the next few years.
It took me until 2001 to finally get on the 'ole Yankee Cannonball,
and I couldn't believe I'd been so afraid of it as a kid. I've been on
over 800 by even the most conservative counting standards, so I guess
the bug bit me pretty hard when it finally did.
Chris
BaSSiStiSt
Rusher, to a lesser extent) Bigger stuff like Colossus and Revolution kinda
scared me, but I would ride these two over and over, given the chance. Thank
you, Anton.
Phase 2: My real coastermania was ignited by Ghostrider in 1999. I had been
getting out of the habit, I think it had been three years since I'd been to
a park other than Disneyland (I had a 5-year old and a 3-year old at this
point, lol!). Ghostrider (when new) had that kick I hadn't felt since
Colossus had been neutered. That, combined with hearing about all these
other great parks around the country on good old RRC, really set me off. :-)
Coastin Steve
too little to ride the adult ride, the "roller coaster" w/ my dad
(my mom wanted no part of them, afraid of heights )
Then when I was about 10 we went to the local park, the long gone
Willow Grove Park and I was tall enough to ride.
The main coaster there, the Thunderbolt was legendary. It seemed
that every year or so another death or serious injury had happened on
this wooden monster.
My dad wanted me to go on it with him, my mom didn't, fearing
the ride might kill her oldest son.
So I was torn between the ideas of my 2 parents
Finally after the "chick, chick, chicken" calls of my father, I
agreed and got in line for the Thunderbolt, to my mother's dismay
The loud noises from the ride as well as the screams from the riders
made me wonder if I had made the right decision.
Getting into the car and climbing the lift hill I expressed to my
dad that I had made the wrong decision and wanted off. He laughed and
said it was too late
The first drop of that 1930's Ed Vettel was visually terrifying.
Crawling thru the cupola the track seemed to go straight down before
twisting into wooden structure that made it impossible to see where it
went . Hanging on to my dad for dear life I screamed as I was lifted
off my seat as we plunged back to earth... it was horrifying. Up and
down, side to side, the rest of the ride went by at an insane pace,
with more close calls to "death" <g> around every corner.
By the time we got back to the loading barn...
I was hooked, saying the classic words
"let's do that again"
...and I've been riding ever since
Coastin Steve
trk record 304 (not as many as some, but still a serious, fun,
effort )
http://community.webtv.net/Coastin_Steve/FlyingTurnsFotosbyCS
David Sandborg
<ec7b5f54-6d6e-456b...@j35g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>,
surfd...@aol.com wrote:
> On Jan 23, 7:58 pm, stoneo...@aol.com wrote:
> > On Jan 23, 6:33 pm, surfdan...@aol.com wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > > But Batman still remains my favorite coaster of all time.
> >
> > Since you are the BTR layout expert, how do you rank them? Does one
> > or a few ride better (at least on days of your visits) then others?
> > I've always found SFMM's SFoG's, and Great White at SWSA to seem more
> > intense/frantic than the others.
> >
> > Conversely, SFGAd's and SFoT's always seemed "clunkier" than the rest.
> >
> > -m
>
> Of the ones I've ridden:
> SFGAdv (why ride Nitro when you have Batman?)
> SFMM (great rides at night during the 2002 Con)
> SFStl (mirror image)
> SFGAm
> SFOG (easily the worst and "most stiff of the ones I've ridden, also
> had the worst set up queue)
Huh, I know a lot of people who think the SFoG installation is
particularly intense. (For what it's worth, I think SWoT's is also
regarded as one of the best.) I personally can't say for sure. It's
very hard for me to compare rides that I take months or years apart from
each other, but in my experience at least the conventional wisdom is
plausible.
--
Dave Sandborg
Remove Spam-away to respond via e-mail.
Andrew Brawley
"David Sandborg" <sand...@Spam-away.ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:sanddave-1B91FC...@earthlink.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net...
> In article
>> Of the ones I've ridden:
>> SFGAdv (why ride Nitro when you have Batman?)
>> SFMM (great rides at night during the 2002 Con)
>> SFStl (mirror image)
>> SFGAm
>> SFOG (easily the worst and "most stiff of the ones I've ridden, also
>> had the worst set up queue)
>
> Huh, I know a lot of people who think the SFoG installation is
> particularly intense. (For what it's worth, I think SWoT's is also
> regarded as one of the best.) I personally can't say for sure. It's
> very hard for me to compare rides that I take months or years apart from
> each other, but in my experience at least the conventional wisdom is
> plausible.
That's what makes it hard for me to rank them. The various experiences are
simply scattered across too long a time line.
I can say that SFGAm is my favorite. Not because it rides that much better
or is more intense that any others (*that* is the part that is so hard to
judge over time). Rather, I think that one interacts with its themeing in a
much more concise way. Perhaps it's because it's the oldest and the
landscaping has had the most time to mature, but it just seems more intimate
and immersive than any others that I have experienced.
I do like the one at SFStL with its mirror image aspect, and (though again
it's hard to judge) think it gives a more fluid ride than the relocated
Gauntlet at SFNO (R.I.P.)
The worst for me has to be SFoT. It just feels like the tolerances between
train and track are sloppy. Not "hang 'n' bang" by any means, but still
just not as tight as the others. (And most B&Ms for that matter).
-Drew
David Sandborg
myself. Probably nobody remembers anyway!
When I was a kid I was scared of just about anything more extreme than a
carousel. I think what I was really scared of was that I'd throw up.
It wasn't that I feared for my life or anything, it was almost more that
I didn't want to look bad. I think my parents tried several times to
convince me to ride various rides, particularly at Silver Beach in
Michigan, but I refused. Silver Beach closed before I discovered I
actually liked riding, to my great regret.
Things turned around in 1976, the year Great America (then Marriott's)
opened. We went somewhat early in the year. As before I wasn't
inclined to ride anything particularly thrilling, but when my sister
decided she wanted to ride (the Fiddler's Fling) I couldn't be shown up.
My dad was going to wait with me while my mother and sister rode, but I
left him behind, a bit surprised, and joined them. To my own surprise,
I really liked it. I didn't ride everything that day--the steep first
drop of the Turn of the Century still intimidated me--but that was a
turning point. Over the next couple of years I rode anything I could,
though I was limited in how far I could travel.
For several years even if I couldn't ride that much, I kept up with the
"coaster wars". I remember clipping newspaper and magazine stories
about some of the latest big coasters being built at the time,
particularly the wood ones. At the time I was fascinated, though most
of those woodies turned out to be busts in retrospect. All this
culminated with my local entry into the coaster wars, American Eagle.
Once I went to college my interest waned. It revived in grad school.
College gave me access to no new parks, but with grad school I moved to
a different part of the country and thus got to visit some new parks,
including Kennywood. I also found RRC (the very first day it came
online, in fact). That pointed me to ACE, which I joined sometime
around 1991.
In general things took an upward trend in my roller coaster hobby
through the 90's. Some of the highlights were my first trip to Cedar
Point in 1993, riding the Skyliner 100 times in a day (I think that was
1995), and the Blue Streak Bash in 1997, where I met many RRCers for the
first time...Adam had arranged a bit of a road trip around that event,
so I spent some time with those folks and traveled with Todd.
I'm not quite doing the same frequency of coaster trips as I did back
then, but I still try to get some high quality coaster travels (both in
terms of the coasters I ride as well as the travel itself) every year.
ACE's ECO in 2002 spurred my interest in international travel. I've
taken 3 other trips since then with smaller groups (thanks to Tim for
the arrangements!).
So all in all, I've been a coaster enthusiast for much of my life now.
It doesn't dominate my life quite as much as it once did, but it is
still a very enjoyable hobby that I indulge gladly every summer.
Andrew Brawley
"Andrew Brawley" <dj_...@coasterboys.com> wrote in message
news:497bc14a$0$19855$a926...@news.buzzardnews.com...
> I do like the one at SFStL with its mirror image aspect, and (though again
> it's hard to judge) think it gives a more fluid ride than the relocated
> Gauntlet at SFNO (R.I.P.)
Errr... I meant Gambit. Gauntlet *is* a hang 'n' bang, though I actually
thought that one wasn't so bad.
kirk_ri...@yahoo.com
My first coaster experience was SFoT Mini Mine Train with my family. I
almost threw up. It took some time to brave enough to ride another
coaster even though I took an annual trip to SFoT. I eventually rode
the Runaway Mine Train, Big Bend, etc. The first park I ever visited
outside of SFoT was Opryland in the late 70's early 80's where I rode
the mine train and the double corkscrew (which scared me and I hated
the inversions). By the time I finished High School I had fallen in
love with Judge Roy Scream and had learned to like Shockwave.
My first exposure to the potential of being passionate about coasters
was when I flew to California the day after High School Graduation. On
day two of that trip I stood on Mission Beach and marveled at the idea
of a wooden coaster on a beach...even though it was SBNO operating at
the time. That same week...I experienced the coasters of Disney
(1987).
One year later I had my first experience of living in a college dorm.
My roommate (Ricky) was an ACE member and he had really cool photos,
coaster magazines, etc. including old signs from Ponchetrain and a
great photo of the Phoenix. I was intrigued. I remember Ricky leaving
one day that fall to skip classes and to go say farewell to the Texas
State Fair Comet. I was amazed by such passion for coasters. Months
later I stood at the top of the lift hill of the Scenic Railway at
Luna Park, Melbourne, Australia and I was hooked. The rest is history.
My list is not super long as I probably only have a count of less than
300, but I have been on coasters in Australia, Mexico, Argentina,
Uruguay, and Peru. I have walked my share of SBNO including Eldridge
and Fairyland and I loved my experience on some of those that are Gone
but not Forgotten including Elitch, Joyland, Williams Grove, etc. Some
of my favorites are those within reach that many have not ridden
including Mindbender in Edmonton, Playland Vancouver (both the mouse
and the woodie), and Chapultepec. As an ACE member off and on since
1988...this has been a great hobbie. - Kirk
michae...@sbcglobal.net
"BaSSiStiSt" <dreadpi...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:v6Eel.16008$c45....@nlpi065.nbdc.sbc.com...
ken...@gmail.com
> Life A.C.E. article, the closing of Playland, and my brother dragging
> me, crying, onto Shock Wave & Big Bend gave me this obsession with
> roller coasters that only seems to grow as I get older.
>
> How about you?
>
> Ricky
I think my real fascination with coasters in general was after riding
the Dahlonega Mine Train at SFoG opening year 1967. I was 6 years old
and just loved the tunnels and the track winding through the trees. It
was the BEST! So, being the industrious kid I was, I started
collecting photos and information about Coney Island, NY (my mother
had me sold on that place although she had never been, LOL). My new
ultimate goal at age 9 was to ride the Cyclone!! Before I knew it, I
was riding my first big wooden coaster in 1970, the Swamp Fox,
followed by GASM (SFoG) opening year and Thunder Road opening year.
It took nearly 24 years but I finally got to Coney Island in 1992. I
was on a mission to conquer coasters wherever I could.
All the fun and great times but it doesn't seem nearly as important or
necessary today as it did 10-20 years ago. I still like coasters but
my obsession with it has somewhat diminished in my later years.
kAr
mamoosh
> So Ghostie is responsible for dragging you into this 'hobby' too?
That and becoming friends with someone who is a cre-ho.
(that would be me)
mOOSH
Bill Steele
Coasti...@webtv.net (Coastin Steve) wrote:
> By the time we got back to the loading barn...
> I was hooked, saying the classic words
> "let's do that again"
> ...and I've been riding ever since
It only seems to take one ride. I can't remember a time when I didn't
like coasters, but I remember going to Kennywood with a girl who didn't
want to ride one. I said, "How about a small one." The one we picked
(long time ago, I don't remember names) was down in a sort of valley,
and it turned out that it looked a lot smaller than it was. But after
the ride we went on every coaster, and the next thing I heard was that
she was dragging other people out to the park.
Only downside was that she hated the fun house: "Too many
ankle-twisitng things." Moral: if you take a girl in a funhouse, make
sure she's an ice skater.