SCARE-A-MINUTE RIDES LURE THE ADVENTUROUS.Byline: Jack Severson Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire This is the year for people who will go to great lengths and pay good money to scare themselves silly for a few minutes. 1996 has been proclaimed the International Year of the Roller Coaster by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) [www.IAAPA.org] Founded in 1918, IAAPA is the largest international trade association for permanently situated amusement facilities worldwide. (IAAPA IAAPA International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions ), an industry trade group, and the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE), an organization of 5,000 rabid coaster fans who promote the preservation of roller coasters While there have been hundreds of different roller coasters built, there have been just a few that were notable for specific reasons. Some reasons include:
True coaster fans will travel hundreds and thousands of miles to experience the latest (or maybe most venerable) version of what Robert Cartmell, a professor at the State University of New York (body) State University of New York - (SUNY) The public university system of New York State, USA, with campuses throughout the state. at Albany, called ``the incredible scream machine'' in his book by that title on roller coasters. Who are the fans of zipping and dipping and whooshing? In a survey of its members a couple of years ago, ACE found that 73 percent were male and 27 percent female, and their average age was 37. Forty-seven percent said they were married, 41 percent said they were single, and 12 percent checked the ``Other'' box. Sixty-two percent are college grads, 14 percent said they were attending college, and 21 percent held high school diplomas. The average number of coasters ridden by ACE members is 60 (31 made of steel, 29 of wood). Members average 11 amusement park amusement park, a commercially operated park offering various forms of entertainment, such as arcade games, carousels, roller coasters, and performers, as well as food, drink, and souvenirs. trips a year and spread those visits over an average of five parks. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the IAAPA, there are more than 50 new coasters opening to the public around the world this year, adding to the approximately 500 coasters in operation worldwide. But this, says the organization, is nowhere near the numbers that were operating about 70 years ago. The group says coaster numbers peaked in 1929, when there were more than 1,500 roller coasters around the world. Using a rather liberal interpretation of the term ``roller coaster,'' the IAAPA traces the attraction's history back to 15th-century Russia, when the locals built ice slides - some as high as 70 feet - near their towns, hollowed out a block of ice to make a passenger compartment, and sent the thing roaring down the ice-covered chute. The first wheeled coaster in recorded history Recorded history can be defined as history that has been written down or recorded by the use of language, whereas history is a more general term referring simply to information about the past.[1] It starts in the 4th millennium BC, with the invention of writing. was also built in Russia, in St. Petersburg in 1784. The French opened a wheeled coaster in Paris in 1804. But according to IAAPA, they didn't get it quite right: The wheels kept falling off and the ride didn't always end when the cars came to the end of the track. Undaunted, the French tried another version, this one with a track made of rollers and the cars made like sleds, complete with runners. It was this contraption that gave birth to the term ``roller coaster.'' According to the IAAPA, the first ``roller coaster'' on this side of the Atlantic went into operation not far from Philadelphia, in the coal country north of Reading, where a gravity-powered rail line, the Mauch Chunk Railway, hauled coal. When the mines shut down in the late 1700s, the railway became an attraction. For a nickel, you could climb into a car and ride downhill at 6 mph. Mules were used to pull the cars back up the hill, and they joined the passengers for the ride down. The first roller coaster, as we have come to know it, was built at Brooklyn's Coney Island Coney Island (kō`nē), beach resort, amusement center, and neighborhood of S Brooklyn borough of New York City, SE N.Y., on the Atlantic Ocean. in 1884; it whizzed along at 6 mph. Over the years, coaster technology made quantum leaps forward, raising the tracks to new heights such as the 161-foot-high Mean Streak Mean Streak is a wooden roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It is a wooden roller coaster and was the tallest and fastest one of its kind when it debuted in 1991. It was constructed using 1. at Cedar Point Cedar Point is a 364 acre (1.5 km²) amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, U.S. on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. It is one of the world's largest amusement parks (by ride count) with 69 rides and currently holds the world record for most roller coasters with 17, one Amusement Park/Resort on the shore of Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio, and boosting speeds to the 100-mph range. The oldest operating roller coaster in the U.S. can be found at Clementon Lake Park in Clementon. Built in 1919, the ``Jack Rabbit'' is still faithfully serving crowds of coaster fans. If you're a real coaster-head, you may want to jump a jet for England, where Blackpool Pleasure Beach amusement park is celebrating its 100th season and welcoming riders to its 11 - that's right, 11 - roller coasters On location ?7 Here are some facts about those rides that leave your heart pumping a mile a minute, provided by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions: Record setters (for wooden roller coasters): steepest, Cyclone (58.6 degrees) at Astroland/Coney Island, Brooklyn, N.Y.; highest, Rattler (179 feet, 6 inches) at Fiesta Texas in San Antonio; longest drop and fastest, Mean Streak (155 feet, 65 mph) at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio; longest circuit, The Beast (7,400 feet) at King Island in Kings Mills, Ohio Kings Mills is an unincorporated community in the northeastern corner of Deerfield Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States, on the western shore of the Little Miami River. . Record setters (for steel roller coasters):steepest, Ultra Twister (90 degrees) at Six Flags Astroworld AstroWorld was a seasonally operated theme park located on approximately 57 acres of land (later expanded to over 75 acres) between Kirby Drive and Fannin Avenue, directly south of Loop 610 in Houston, Texas. The theme park opened on June 1, 1968. in Houston; highest, Desperado (209 feet) at Buffalo Bill's in Jean, Nev.; longest drop and fastest, Steel Phantom (225 feet, 80 mph) at Kennywood in West Mifflin, Pa.; longest circuit, The Ultimate (7,450 feet) in Lighwater Valley, United Kingdom; tallest looping coaster, Viper (188 feet) at Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain is an amusement park located just west of the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 29, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company,[1] , Valencia, Calif. American Coaster Enthusiasts publishes a quarterly magazine, a newsletter and a guidebook to the coasters of North America. For information, call the organization's president, Janet Kiser, at (913) 782-1350. CAPTION(S): Photo, box PHOTO The Pepsi Max Big One The Pepsi Max Big One is a steel roller coaster located at Pleasure Beach, Blackpool in England. When it opened on May 28,1994, it was the tallest, fastest and steepest roller coaster in the world. The ride lost its height records to Fujiyama in 1996. , one of 11 roller coasters at England's Blackpool Pleasure Beach park, delivers a white-knuckle ride. Box: On location (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion