Coasters-101 – Coaster101 https://www.coaster101.com Roller coasters, theme parks and all things amusement industry Mon, 28 Apr 2025 03:04:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://www.coaster101.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cropped-icon-150x150.png Coasters-101 – Coaster101 https://www.coaster101.com 32 32 Did the Infamous Flip Flap Railway Truly Hit a Neck-Snapping 12 Gs? https://www.coaster101.com/2025/04/28/flip-flap-railway/ https://www.coaster101.com/2025/04/28/flip-flap-railway/#comments Mon, 28 Apr 2025 13:25:24 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=76828

The Flip Flap Railway was the first roller coaster to go upside down in the United States and was notorious for being so extreme it broke rider’s necks. But was it truly that intense or was it an urban legend...

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Surprising Timeline of the World’s Tallest Roller Coasters https://www.coaster101.com/2025/01/26/worlds-tallest-roller-coasters/ https://www.coaster101.com/2025/01/26/worlds-tallest-roller-coasters/#comments Sun, 26 Jan 2025 15:24:07 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=75638

With the recent news of the impending implosion of Kingda Ka and the upcoming record-breaker Falcon’s Flight, we thought it would be fun to take a look at the history of the world’s tallest roller coasters. Using a new visualization tool,...

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Roller Coaster Inspection 101 https://www.coaster101.com/2024/01/31/coasters-101-daily-inspections/ https://www.coaster101.com/2024/01/31/coasters-101-daily-inspections/#comments Wed, 31 Jan 2024 17:57:32 +0000 http://www.coaster101.com/?p=4366

Welcome to Roller Coaster Inspection 101! If you’re a frequent visitor of amusement parks you are probably aware that the roller coasters are inspected on a daily basis in order to ensure the rides run safely. But what does a...

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Why we’re excited for the “epic” Constellation Carousel https://www.coaster101.com/2024/01/31/why-were-excited-for-the-epic-constellation-carousel/ https://www.coaster101.com/2024/01/31/why-were-excited-for-the-epic-constellation-carousel/#respond Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:30:15 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=70918

Universal recently revealed exciting new details about Universal Epic Universe, the company’s new Orlando theme park slated to open in 2025. Epic Universe is made up of five different worlds, all connected through Celestial Park. Not all the attractions have...

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Coasters-101: Roller Coaster Terminology https://www.coaster101.com/2022/07/27/coasters-101-roller-coaster-terminology/ https://www.coaster101.com/2022/07/27/coasters-101-roller-coaster-terminology/#respond Wed, 27 Jul 2022 15:45:44 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=63733

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...

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Engineering a Dark Ride Vehicle with Matthew Musial https://www.coaster101.com/2021/03/17/engineering-a-dark-ride-vehicle-with-matthew-musial/ https://www.coaster101.com/2021/03/17/engineering-a-dark-ride-vehicle-with-matthew-musial/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2021 01:20:57 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=58153

Over the years, we’ve seen some incredible student projects that just seem to keep getting better and better. From Kate Kujawa’s wheel material experiments, to Team 31’s Infinity Gardens, to Carnegie Mellon’s Student Built Dark Ride, I’ve been continually impressed...

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15 to 15: Our 15 Favorite Educational Articles https://www.coaster101.com/2020/06/12/15-to-15-our-15-favorite-educational-articles/ https://www.coaster101.com/2020/06/12/15-to-15-our-15-favorite-educational-articles/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2020 16:30:01 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=53096

We’re continuing our 15 to 15 countdown to Coaster101’s 15th Birthday. Today we’re taking a look at our 15 favorite educational articles we’ve published. According to Wikipedia, the term “101” was first introduced by the University of Buffalo in 1929...

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How Aquaman Power Wave Works https://www.coaster101.com/2019/08/31/how-aquaman-power-wave-works/ https://www.coaster101.com/2019/08/31/how-aquaman-power-wave-works/#comments Sat, 31 Aug 2019 13:10:09 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=48010

Six Flags Over Texas recently announced their 2020 addition will be Aquaman Power Wave, the first Mack Rides Power Splash – a launched shuttle water coaster – to be built in the US. The ride will launch riders backwards, forwards,...

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Good to know: Gravity Max’s safety system works as designed https://www.coaster101.com/2019/02/13/good-to-know-gravity-maxs-safety-system-works-as-designed/ https://www.coaster101.com/2019/02/13/good-to-know-gravity-maxs-safety-system-works-as-designed/#respond Wed, 13 Feb 2019 13:30:37 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=40783

A ride on Gravity Max at Taiwan’s Lihpao Land theme park begins innocently enough with a typical chain lift hill. But upon cresting the apex, you’ll notice the track suddenly ends – the rails stop and you see nothing but...

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What Makes Avatar: Flight of Passage So Immersive https://www.coaster101.com/2018/12/11/what-makes-avatar-flight-of-passage-so-immersive/ https://www.coaster101.com/2018/12/11/what-makes-avatar-flight-of-passage-so-immersive/#comments Tue, 11 Dec 2018 19:29:31 +0000 https://www.coaster101.com/?p=39871

A year in a half after opening, I finally made it on Avatar: Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I immediately asked myself, why did I wait so long? More than four million people have ridden Flight of Passage since...

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