In honor of National Roller Coaster Day on August 16, 2021, David Ho and his daughter Sarah Anne Ho (age 12) will be attempting to break the record for most consecutive rides on Dutch Wonderland’s Kingdom Coaster. David and Sarah have been taking an annual dad & daughter trip to Dutch Wonderland every year since 2015. After taking a break in 2020 due to the pandemic, the duo is back and ready to attempt to beat their previous record of 50 consecutive rides on the Kingdom Coaster, the most in Dutch Wonderland history! The father daughter duo have a goal of 75 rides done this year.
Having marathoned a coaster myself once before, I wanted to know more about how they prepared for their attempt and what other thoughts and planning went into it.
C101: What made you decide to want to try to break the record for most consecutive rides on Dutch Wonderland’s Kingdom Coaster?
David: It’s our own record, and we’ve been riding more each year since 2016. We rode 50 times in a row in 2019 and then had to take a year off because of the pandemic. In 2020, we had to settle for a virtual reality Kingdom Coaster ride in our basement. So this year, we’re making up for lost time and going for 75.
? On #NationalRollerCoasterDay, a dad & daughter are trying to set a Dutch Wonderland record with 75 consecutive rides on Kingdom Coaster! @69News @FUNatDW pic.twitter.com/6OMBaOe7gz
— Jim Vasil (@JimVasilWFMZ) August 16, 2021
C101: Kingdom Coaster is 2,000 feet long, so after 50 rides you rode 18.9 miles! 75 rides would be 28.4 miles ridden. Why did you pick the Kingdom Coaster versus Merlin’s Mayhem or another roller coaster or ride?
David: My daughter and I first started going together to Dutch Wonderland in 2015. We enjoyed it so much, we decided to come back and gradually began a tradition of an annual father-daughter trip.
In 2016, when Sarah Anne was just 7 years old, we went to ride the Kingdom Coaster, and we heard a story about a man who had just ridden the coaster 15 times. Apparently, it was someone writing a roller coaster review. Sarah said, “We can beat that!” I had a typical skeptical parental response to such a crazy idea, but my daughter was insistent. So we went for it. Sixteen rides later, I was exhausted and asked her in an I’m-too-old-for-this voice: “Okay, can we stop now?” But she wanted to go to 20 – and I love my daughter more than I can say – so we kept going.
Getting off the ride, she said, “Next year, we’re going to ride 30 times!” And that’s what we did. And we rode 40 times the year after that. And 50 times the year after that.
That’s the main reason for this particular coaster. Plus, there’s something special about a classic wooden one, too.
Now, Merlin’s Mayhem wasn’t built yet when all this started for us. However, on one trip we did ride Merlin about 10 or 15 times in a row in addition to the Kingdom Coaster. My daughter has been hinting that we should try to set some records on that one, too.
Fun Fact: Kingdom Coaster was the first coaster built by Custom Coasters International (CCI), opening in 1992.
C101: How do you prepare (mentally, physically, etc.) to ride a roller coaster over and over?
David: My daughter is protected by her youth, but with me in my 40s through all this I need to work at it. The first couple of years, it was a bit rough physically. Then I realized how important it was to have good core body strength when riding roller coasters or doing any kind of rapid movements that need physical stability. So I started focusing on that with ab exercises. It worked! When we rode 40 and 50 rides, it was actually easier for me than the 30 because I’d been working out. It’s hilarious to me, but I’m in better shape now because of riding roller coasters with my daughter.
From the mental perspective, it’s all about having fun so it doesn’t get monotonous. Each year something different happens. My daughter and I used to have contests about which one of us could scream the loudest or stay silent the longest. One year, we spent a lot of time waving and shouting at people we could see down below.
There’s a bit of an exhaustion wall around 30 to 40 rides where you start to get really tired. But if you can push through that, it gets easier on the other side.
Oh, and every 10 rides we also eat fruit snacks. That’s very important.
C101: Do you get to ride without getting out or do you have to wait in line every time (what counts as consecutive)?
David: It’s both. For the first few years when we were doing this all on our own, if the ride wasn’t busy we were able to stay in the same seat and keep riding. But when it was busy we had to get out, walk all the way around and get on line to ride again. Doing it this way quickly became way too time consuming once the ride numbers got larger. By the time we got to 40 rides, the whole thing was taking around four hours and we were reaching the limit of endurance.
So when it came time to do 50 rides, I reached out to Dutch Wonderland, and they were kind enough to allow us to start riding early before the park opened. They also blocked off our row so we could stay in the same seat the whole time. When we did 50 rides in 2019, we did it nonstop in the same seat without getting up at all. It only took 2 hours and 20 minutes.
C101: Wow, 50 rides in less than 2.5 hours is averaging one ride every 2.8 minutes! How do you keep track of how many times you’ve ridden?
David: That has changed each year. The first time when we rode 20, it was all unplanned. So I took selfies of myself holding up fingers to count up to 20. We did this in the station between each ride. Even with my daughter’s help we ran out of fingers! I needed a free hand to hold the phone. We wound up bringing some toes into the mix, too.
A father & daughter duo is back and ready to attempt 75 consecutive rides on the #KingdomCoaster, the most in #DutchWonderland history! @abc27News pic.twitter.com/g2tzldFgiO
— Bryan Munoz (@BryanMunoz) August 16, 2021
In 2017, I had large numbers typed in a digital document on a smartphone. So I scrolled through those while I took selfies with a second phone.
In 2018 and 2019, I used flash cards with numbers on them. I had a whole stack of them in my bag. The flash card approach wound up being cumbersome because I had to pull out and then replace a card for every ride and keep them in the right order.
This year, I have a scorekeeping counter like they use for high school sports. It will be attached to my waist pack with a lanyard so it doesn’t fly off.
Each time we take selfies of the count, we tend to make faces or act silly. That helps pass the time.
C101: Do you sit in the same seat every time? Do you have a favorite seat on the Kingdom Coaster?
Absolutely. Row 7. It’s the first seats of the fourth car. We didn’t have a favorite seat initially, but after so much riding over so many years, we found that this seat has the least jarring vibration. When you’re going on a roller coaster dozens of times in a row, you want a smooth ride.
Update: Yes, they did break their own record for consecutive rides on the Kingdom Coaster.
Thanks to David for taking the time to answer our questions and special thanks to Lynsey Winters for facilitating this interview. One day the duo will have to visit Kings Island to take a ride with legendary consecutive coaster rider Don Helbig.
What’s the most you’ve ever ridden a roller coaster in one day?
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