How to Keep Track of Your Roller Coaster Credits

by John · Aug 2, 2017

With nearly 4,400 roller coasters operating across the globe (according to RCDB), counting the ones you’ve ridden can become tedious, especially when that number of coaster credits reaches the hundreds.

Some enthusiasts don’t care about the number, others — myself included — keep close “track” of the number of coasters they’ve conquered. And as I’ve learned, there are many different ways to log all of the “coaster credits” you’ve amassed.

So what are the most popular ways to count coaster credits? The most unique? I scoured the internet to find out:

1. Websites and Apps

It’s no surprise that many of us look to technology to assist us in our counts. When I polled our social media channels, the following apps and websites were named numerous times.

Coaster-Count

I wasn’t familiar with Coaster-Count prior to researching for this story. But it’s something that I’ve wanted for years but had no idea existed: a ride-counting system that pulls data from RCDB.

That means for those of you on the hunt for new, obscure credits, you won’t have to worry about your coaster-counting platform or tool to be out of date.

Coaster-Count also gives users the option to count traveling roller coasters and alpine coasters — for those of us who like to make the most of our tallies. But the platform’s advanced filtering options allow you to modify your list as needed.

Registration is fast and free, and the overall process is very intuitive. And the Coaster-Count iOS app ($2.99 as of this posting) makes counting on the go incredibly easy.

Coaster Counter

Coaster Counter has been my go-to website for tracking coasters for many years.

However, the website is not mobile friendly, so tracking via this method can be tricky when on the road. And the website has been known to go down from time to time, so keep that in mind. But for the most part, it’s a thorough way to keep track of your coaster credits.

Auto Ride Count

Auto Ride Count will track the coasters you’ve ridden at over 74 major parks across the globe. For those with more obscure credits on the list, you may have to supplement Auto Ride Count with another app.

The Auto Ride Count app is available for Android devices.

Ride Count

Ride Count (ridecount) offers a more all-encompassing counting method. Along with coasters, it also allows you to track flat rides, water rides and seasonal rides.

For those of you who want to keep a log of all the rides you’ve been on, as well as the number of times you’ve ridden each, Ride Count is your best bet.

LogRide

The LogRide app is another great way to keep count of all the rides you’ve ridden. The app has more than 12,000 rides waiting to be logged and is updated LogRide users.

LogRide is available for iOS on the App Store and for Android on Google Play.

2. Digital Spreadsheets and Documents

If you prefer to have more control over the counts and the information attached to each credit, look no further than digital spreadsheets and other online documents.

I keep a Google sheet with all of my credits listed as a backup in case Coaster Counter ever vanishes (the site was offline for a brief time not long ago).

Last year, we shared an advanced, interactive coaster count template that is incredibly useful for both beginners and expert Excel spreadsheet users.

The template is very easy to set up and streamlines your counting. I highly recommend giving it a test run.

And if you include specs for each coaster on your list, you’ll be able to see stats such as:

Percentage of wood versus steel coasters
Total length of coaster track you’ve ridden
The average height, speed, number of inversions, etc. of the coasters you’ve ridden
The 10 tallest, fastest, longest, and loopiest coasters you’ve been on

I found that many of us use custom-made spreadsheets:

I use my own spreadsheet on google drive. That way I keep track not only of the numbers but of the specific coasters as well.

— Bobscoasterblog (@bobscoasterblog) July 20, 2017

While others opt for the more traditional route:

I have mine all in a Word document, organized by Park. Parks are listed alphabetically with the exception of my home park (Kings Island).

— Matt Higgins (@MDMC01) July 20, 2017

Regardless, technology makes counting the roller coasters you’ve ridden incredibly easy.

3. Maps, Paper and Art

The inspiration for this article came from several posts on the /r/rollercoasters subreddit.

Redditor Gabe (username gabeh2000) keeps a journal with sketches of every roller coaster he’s ridden…

…as well as a map with pins signifying where he’s been and what’s still on the list:

I asked how long it took for him to place all those pins on the map:

“Placing the pins took about a week because I only did it for an hour or two at a time.”

Despite his incredible drawings, the high school junior said he has no formal art schooling.

I also asked if he spent more time drawing the coasters he liked the most:

“I didn’t spend more or less time on a drawing based on how I liked the ride. I spent more time on drawings later on, as I drew them all in chronological order and I decided to put a bit more effort into each drawing as time went on.”

His favorite drawing?

“I think my favorite drawing is either Jr. Gemini, based on how simple it is while still managing to keep the main characteristics of the ride, or Thunderbolt, because of how much detail I put into that page.”

But he does rely on a Google spreadsheet as a backup — you can never be too careful.

So what happens when he fills the notebook or travels abroad?

“I’ll start another book when I fill this one up, and if I ever do an international trip to another continent I’ll definitely start another map.”

See more of Gabe’s coaster drawings here.

Not long after Gabe shared his elaborate coaster-counting method, another Redditor, Jake, shared the below photo of his own map:

But for those without a physical map, satellite images can be just as effective, as Redditor “JamminJay1986” demonstrated with his Google Earth counting method:

When someone asked him what the different colors signified, he responded:

“Red are places I’ve been, blue is a major chain park, green is a major non-chain park, yellow is a small park with a wooden coaster, purple is a small park with a “significant” steel coaster, light blue is a Zyklon or wild mouse, and white are kiddie credits. The orange ones are actually credits I have from a former location, but not in the current location.”

I was very impressed by the complexity and scale of some of these more unique ways to count credits. But some of us opt for a simpler method:

4. Good Ole Memory

I was surprised to learn that a few people rely solely only on their memory:

I group them in my head by park, and remember all the ones I rode at each park. Got another cred coming up soon!

— Stephanie N Keyes (@bowskeyes) July 20, 2017

Kudos to their memory banks!

I don’t think I have the mental capacity for this method. But whatever works for you is what counts when it comes to counting your credits.

5. No Counting (It’s only a number.)

Finally, some of us just don’t think a number

(Tony) I stopped. It's easy to remember which ones I haven't been on at any given park and it's great to just enjoy the ride not the number.

— Zendorphin (@Zendorphin) July 22, 2017

How do you keep track of your roller coaster credits? Do you count the number of times you’ve ridden each? Share your methods in the comments section below.

How to Keep Track of Your Roller Coaster Credits