Category: Main Collections

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TOP THRILL DRAGSTER: The Inside Track on Cedar Point’s “Coaster Wars” Icon from High Octane Origins to Relaunch

According to Roller Coaster Database, there are over 5,500 operating roller coasters on Earth today. Of those 5,500, any thrill-seeker worth their salt – most of whom come equipped with a “Coaster Count” spreadsheet – has a “best;” a “classic;” a “bucket list;” a “personal favorite.” But between them, very, very few rides can agreeably and unanimously be described as “landmarks.”

Those are the roller coasters recognized across the globe; known by their silhouette alone; forever emblazoned in the record books; renowned by generations, and even living on as legends beyond their time… From The Beast to Millennium Force; the Incredible Hulk to Nemesis; X2 to El Toro; Steel Vengeance to VelociCoaster… These are rides so renowned, the mere mention of them conjures images in the minds of coaster enthusiasts the world over.

Standing among the pantheon of the most recognizable coasters in the world was one of the planet’s most extraordinary rides: Top Thrill Dragster. Opened in 2003, the world’s first “stratacoaster” shattered expectations and pierced through the 400-foot coaster height record like it was tought tissue paper. A big, hairy, audacious engineering marvel, Dragster was a ride beloved by adrenaline junkies and detested by those who green-lit its construction. A story of extremes, Dragster’s life was a miracle and a mess… until a pivotal pitstop changed the ride’s (literal) trajectory forever…

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EL TORO: The Wild Life of Six Flags’ Buckin’ Bull and How Intamin Rewrote the Rules of the Wooden Coaster Wars

The smell of wood – decades-old, cut, stacked, and bolted, bathed in and baked by summer sun; the aroma of grease, clinging to the lift chain as humming motors drag bug-splattered wooden trains upward, anti-rollback wedges clacking into place in their wake; the roaring, rumbling wave of sound as riders snake along a superstructure of swaying wood beams, shuddering and shaking as up-stop wheels ricochet…

For more than a century, the wooden roller coaster has been a staple of amusement parks the world over. And even once it wooden roller coasters were joined by altogether sleeker, smoother steel sisters throughout the 1960s and ’70s, the wooden roller coasters remained landmarks; classics; essentials.

Image: Six Flags, by Kristin Fitzgerald

But in the early 2000s, roller coaster enthusiasts encountered a question they’d never had to ask before: what makes a wooden roller coaster a wooden roller coaster? What if the wood wasn’t aged and hand-sawed, but brand new and laser-cut? What if there were no clack-clack-clack of a classic chain lift? And what if the ride itself were smooth as glass, arcing and slaloming and diving as effortlessly as only a steel coaster once could?

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CURSE OF DARKASTLE: The Chilling Tale of Busch Gardens’ Legendary Lost Dark Ride and the Rise of DarKoaster

“Long ago, in the deepest heart of the Black Forest, a young prince lived – unloved – in a dark castle…”

Once upon a time, Curse of DarKastle was an almost-unbelievable technological showcase – well ahead of what guests would expect from a seasonal, regional theme park. This 21st century haunted house infused with a custom-created story of a Mad King hellbent on trapping guests in his icy palace did the unthinkable in attempting to repurpose Universal’s greatest ride system with Disney’s signature storytelling. It was a Modern Marvel; a testament to the newfound power and accessibility that technology afforded even to “in-between” parks… But of course, it was doomed.

Though DarKastle brilliantly headlined Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s park of myths, legends, and adventures from “The Old Country,” it ended up a ghost story itself… at least until a spirited return to DarKastle thawed the castle’s gates once more, creating a spiritual sequel few saw coming… Do dare cross the threshold into Mad King Ludwig’s Black Forest fortress, forever frozen in time…?

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Disney’s California Adventure – Part III: The Unusual Undoing of Imagineering’s Billion Dollar Californian Reimagining

June 15, 2012. It’s a date engrained in the minds of so many Imagineering fans because on that otherwise-ordinary Friday, something happened that had never before occurred in the history of Disney Parks. At 9:00 AM, the gates to Disneyland’s sister theme park re-opened after a single, symbolic day of closure. When they did, guests were ushered into a park reimagined.

The story really began with our Disney’s California Adventure: Part I feature, exploring the initial opening of Disneyland’s second gate back in 2001. In that entry, we walked through not just the development of a theme park centered on California, but on the experience guests found within – an under-built, undmarer-funded park that was infamously short on rides, had practically nothing for families to do, and – worse – went out of its way to differentiate itself from Disneyland by throwing out the rule book.

Image: Disney

Then, as we saw in Disney’s California Adventure: Part II, a wave of reinvention swept the park – first via a series of “Band-aid” fixes meant to bolster its lineup, then as a $1.2 billion, master-planned, five year redesign. Between 2007 and 2012, the renamed Disney California Adventure was stripped of its modern ornamentation and redrawn as a park celebrating California through historic, idealized “lands” and lots of Disney and Pixar characters.

When it re-opened on June 15, 2012, the reborn California Adventure was nothing short of an Imagineering triumph; a park “righted” and placed on a new track; honoring its Californian roots but embracing Disney “magic.” But then things started to change… Today, in the final chapter – Part III – of our California Adventure story, we’ll trace what’s happened to the park after its 2012 relaunch for better and worse… Settle in…

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VOLKANU: The Quest for the Golden Idol – Behind the Legend of Lost Island’s Mythic Adventure Dark Ride

Long ago, the realms of Lost Island lived in harmony – the floating air kingdom of Udara; the water nomads of Awa; the wise earth protectors of Yuta, the fierce fiery warriors of Mura... All was at peace.

…Until Volkanu emerged. A molten demon forged in the fiery depths, Volkanu’s roiling rage threatned to shatter the realms and destory Lost Island forever. Only one hope remained. Guided by the Tamariki spirit guardians, the realms united to forge a golden idol imbued with the strength of all four elements: the Ora-Tika. Placed on the altar of the Fire Temple, the Ora-Tika sealed Volkanu away…

And so long as the Ora-Tika remains, Volkanu awaits… his rage growing stronger with each passing day…

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MILLENNIUM FORCE: The Record-Shattering Story of Cedar Point’s Gigacoaster Icon and How It Won the Coaster Wars

Right at the intersection of art and science resides the roller coaster…

And though we’ve devoted in-depth features to many – from Son of Beast to the Big Bad Wolf; Expedition Everest to Top Thrill Dragster; Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune to Volcano: The Blast Coaster – in the opinion of many of the industry’s most devoted fans, the ride that most magnificently combines art and science in one is Millennium Force, the landmark gigacoaster at Cedar Point.

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River Country: The Hoot ‘n Holler History of Walt Disney World’s Original, Ole Time Swimmin’ Hole

Believe it or not, there was a Disney World before Lightning Lane. Before Genie+. Before FastPass, or Advanced Dining Reservations, or Park Hopping, or Animal Kingdom, or the Disney-MGM Studios, or EPCOT. Disney World existed without apps, or Wifi, or Mobile Orders, or Boarding Groups. In an era of increasing connectively and complexity, it’s almost difficult to imagine…

But long, long ago, Walt Disney World was a leisure resort; a destination defined not by pre-planning, waiting & reserving, and connecting with The Walt Disney Company’s stories, characters, and franchises, but by sunbathing! Sailing! Biking! Picnicking! Golfing! Year after year, glimpses of that simpler time are harder and harder to find… Like dreamy visions, original remnants of the Disney World of the 1970s fade out of existence, unremembered.

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Countdown to Extinction: Inside the Evolution of Animal Kingdom’s Time-Traveling DINOSAUR Dark Ride

“Exploration – Excavation – Exultation!” Take it from the Dino Institute team: there’s an art to digging deep. Uncovering the past isn’t always easy, and making sense of what was only begins at finding evidence of it. Maybe you could say that the same is true of exploring, excavating, and exulting Disney Parks past, too… and that’s where Park Lore comes in.

Our mission is to explore the stories behind the rides, adding context to the legends and lore around the world’s most beloved (and sometimes, denigrated) attractions. Together, we’ve dug deep into the tales of Lost Legends, explored the making of industry-changing Modern Marvels, reflected on the lessons learned from Declassified Disasters, and walked through unbuilt Possibilitylands across the site.

Image: Disney

But through all the stories we’ve told on Park Lore, few hold a candle to one of the boldest, darkest, and downright weirdest rides ever developed by Walt Disney Imagineering. When Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened in 1998, Countdown to Extinction was its only dark ride, sending guests on a wild, off-roading journey through a steaming primeval jungle, pursued by some of the biggest, loudest, meanest, and hungriest creatures ever to walk the Earth.

Countdown to Extinction was a technological marvel, filled with incredible Audio-Animatronics and brought to life by one of the most talked-about ride systems ever developed by Imagineers. Yet Animal Kingdom’s only dark ride was also… a loveable mess, driven by a comical plot and blacklight jump scares meant to leave riders laughing, screaming, crying, or all-of-the-above.

Today, we’ll explore the development of Disney’s Countdown to Extinction and its subsequent transformation into DINOSAUR, detailing the differences and what makes the ride such an unusual, uneven oddity in Disney’s portfolio today. Unsurprisingly, the story begins in the past… So “let’s get in, grab the Iguanodon, and get out before that asteroid hits!” Hang on!

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Once Upon a Bear-y Tale: The Story of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Californian Classic and Its Return to the Fair

“Welcome one and all! Y’all come have a ball! Things are very fine, riding on the ole’ Knott’s Bear-y line!” It’s not every day that an attraction manages to truly capture a generation. It’s even rarer that one of those good, old-fashioned family attractions becomes so legendary, its story outlives its lifetime. Yet today, we’re inducting just such a classic into Park Lore’s library of Lost Legends.

Original characters created by one of Disney’s most legendary designers? Check. A memorable and melodic singalong musical score? You bet. Iconic environments plucked right from a storybook? Uh huh. Enough nostalgic wallop to enchant millions of Southern Californians over a decade-long life? Yes indeed.

Image: Knott’s

While those ingredients may sound like the making of the kind of fairytale dark ride you’d expected to find in Fantasyland, Knott’s Bear-y Tales wasn’t a Disney attraction at all. Instead, it could only be found at Knott’s Berry Farm – just a few blocks north of Disneyland in Buena Park, California. How did one of Disney’s most esteemed Imagineers create an attraction that became a Southern Californian treasure? And how has the concept made a miraculous return? Well, let’s just say… it’s kind of a cute story…

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Rediscovering Noah’s Ark: Inside Kennywood’s Classic, Last-of-its-Kind Walkthrough Treasure

“In the beginning…!”

Though it may not be the prologue you’d expect from a trip down an amusement park’s memory lane, there’s no better (nor more biblical) a way to begin an exploration into one of the most unique and under-recognized attractions on Earth – a last-of-its-kind, historic whale of a walkthrough found only at Kennywood Park just outside of Pittsburgh…

A classic attraction that’s survived the Great Depression, a World War, fifteen Presidents, countless redesigns, and (imagine this) a real flood, Noah’s Ark at Kennywood has been shared between nearly 90 years of Yinzers. Like a story passed from generation to generation, this heart-warming walkthrough still floats on today, forever stranded atop a rocky plinth smack dab in the heart of “America’s Finest Traditional Amusement Park.”

There’s something hypnotic about Noah’s Ark, gently rocking to and fro, its bow and stern rising and falling in sequence, its whistle sounding across the midway – “Heeeeeeee… Hoooooooo….”

To step aboard this 1936 attraction is to travel through time and emerge in a simpler era when funhouses dominated midways and trolley parks were the talk of the town. Instantly charming, retro-cool, and delightfully disorienting, the single, remaining Ark may seem an oddly aged attraction to stand among our Modern Marvels collection, but like all the rides we chronicled there, it’s secret to success can only be told by setting sail through its story…

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