After a one year hiatus, the TPEG Alumni Community Design Competition will return in 2023. When the COVID-19 global pandemic hit in early 2020, hundreds of college students with lifelong dreams of working in the themed entertainment industry saw summer...
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Coasters-101: Roller Coaster Terminology
Most of you who read our website are “coaster enthusiasts,” but in case you happen to be a member of the “GP” who stumbles upon us by mistake, you may need a crash course in some coaster enthusiast lingo. We...
Continue reading...How Dan Fritsche Designed and Built a 3D Printed Launch Coaster
When I was a kid growing up, I always wanted to design and build my own model roller coaster from scratch. To date myself, this was in the early days of the internet, before CoasterDynamix or LEGO roller coaster kits...
Continue reading...Talking With Zamperla’s Jay Crisler, Roller Coaster Engineer Extraordinare
During the IAAPA Expo, I met Zamperla’s Head of Engineering and Service, Jay Crisler. It wasn’t a scheduled meeting, we just happened to share a charter bus seat on the way to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. During the 40 minute ride,...
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...Dan Guy Interview: Part One
Many aspiring engineers dream of designing roller coasters and thrill rides one day. Dan Guy is an engineer pursuing a career in the amusement park industry and, despite the fact that he’s still in school, he has had a number of...
Continue reading...Book Review: Theme Park Design
[Note: actual quotes from the book are in italics] I just finished reading Theme Park Design: Behind the Scenes with an Engineer by Steve Alcorn, a very smart book about designing theme park attractions. Have you ever looked at a...
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