Move over Spider-Man. Move over Forbidden Journey. There’s a new contender for most immersive theme park ride ever built. Shanghai Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure is a new take on the beloved, classic boat ride....
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Roller Coaster Wheel Material Science with Kate Kujawa
The ideal roller coaster experience is super-fast, super smooth and gets the rider’s adrenaline pumping. The roller coaster needs to be aerodynamic, durable, capable of holding a large load and pass all safety regulations. One important factor taken into consideration...
Continue reading...Coasters-101: Why are roller coasters removed?
Roller coasters are multi-million dollar investments that amusement parks spend countless dollars and time in designing, building, and maintaining. But lately it seems like we’ve seen more roller coasters and classic thrill rides closed and dismantled than ever before. Why...
Continue reading...Cedar Point Coaster Tech Videos
Design World has been posting a series of videos showcasing how some of the mega roller coasters and thrill rides at Cedar Point operate. In the first video, Monty Jasper, corporate vice president of safety and engineering for Cedar Fair,...
Continue reading...Coasters-101: Why do roller coasters “sway”?
Every so often you’ll see a video uploaded online of a roller coaster’s track visibly moving or “swaying” as a train races over it. This swaying movement is very startling to those who have never seen it before, especially in...
Continue reading...RoboCoasters-101
In the race to build even more thrilling and unpredictable ride experiences, the RoboCoaster has emerged as one of the most dynamic ride systems out there. From stationary rides to state-of-the-art motion base attractions, RoboCoaster is raising the level of...
Continue reading...Coasters-101: Launch Systems
In the last edition of Coasters-101 we discussed how roller coasters are raised to their highest point via lift hills. Today we’re going to examine a more thrilling alternative to the traditionally slower lift hills: launch systems! Limitations like height...
Continue reading...Coasters-101: Roller Coaster Lift Hills – UPDATED 2022
Welcome to the latest edition of Coasters-101: the definitive guide on roller coaster lift hills. What are lift hills? How do roller coasters reach their highest point? How do lift hills work? What angle are roller coaster lift hills? What...
Continue reading...Coasters-101: Vertical Loops – UPDATED 2022
Welcome to another edition of Coasters-101, the series where we teach you all about roller coaster design. There is something quite remarkable about being able to defy gravity and part of the charm of roller coasters is that they let...
Continue reading...Coasters-101: How does a 4D coaster work?
In this edition of Coasters-101 we’ll answer the question: how does a 4D coaster work. A new 4th dimension roller coaster from S&S Worldwide, called Dinoconda, is opening this year at China Dinosaurs Park in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. This is only...
Continue reading...Coasters-101: Brakes, Blocks, and Sensors
How do you keep multiple trains on a roller coaster from running into each other? In order to have the highest throughput possible, most modern roller coasters operate more than one train at a time. In order to run multiple...
Continue reading...Coasters-101: Track Fabrication
Welcome to the latest edition of Coasters-101 where we’ll answer the question how is roller coaster track made and explain what some of the latest track fabrication techniques. Tubular roller coaster track is typically formed by heating and then permanently...
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