Presented by: Kathryn MiddlebrookProject 16: Roller Coaster Thrills January 13, 2012

The Thrills and Chills of Roller Coasters

• Roller Coasters have been a source of thrill and entertainment for years. The feeling of plummeting down the tracks at a fast speed is just crazy. Some people enjoy them, some people don’t, but for young and old alike, the butterflies that you get in your stomach is a wild feeling!

The History of the Roller Coaster

The First roller coaster was built in 1817 in France. It was built too provide thrills for the upper class of Russia and France. Catherine the Great was thought to love these coasters. The ride was built by using the idea of tracks from mining companies.

The History of the Roller Coaster Cont.

• The first Coaster in the United States was built in Coney Island, New York, in June, 1884. In 1912, John Miller introduced the first under friction roller coaster

Did You Know?...1. The fastest roller coaster in the world title goes to the newly

opened Formula Rossa ride which has a top speed of 149 miles per hour.

2. The Six Flags Great Adventure Park is home to the Kingda Ka roller coaster, a whopping height of 465 feet.

3. The longest roller coaster in the world can be found at Japan's Nagashima Spa Land that covers 8133 feet.

4. The Colossus roller coaster in Thorpe Park, England, has an incredible 10 inversions.

5. The oldest recorded roller coaster was built in Coney Island, New York, in June, 1884

Did You Know?...Cont. 6. Cedar Point theme park has the highest number of roller

coasters, with 17 different rides to choose from.

7. In 2010, 102 roller coaster enthusiasts set a new world record at Adventure Island in Essex, for the most amount of people riding a roller coaster after eating a chinese buffet.

8. Richard Rodriguez holds the world record for the longest time spent on a roller coaster, a total of 401 hours.

9. Most conventional roller coasters do not have engines, instead they work by converting potential energy into kinetic energy.

10. In 1959, the first ever tubular steel roller coaster was created.

Fastest Roller Coasters in the

WORLDRank Speed Roller Coaster

Amusement Park

Location Year Opened

1 149 mph Formula Rossa

Ferrari World

Yas Island in Abu Dhabi

2010

2 128 mph Kingda Ka Six Flags Great Adventure

Jackson, New Jersey

2008

3 120 mph Top Thrill Dragster

Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio

2003

4 107 mph Dodonpa Fuji-Q Highland

Yamanashi, Japan

2011

5 100 mph Tower of Terror

Dreamworld Queensland, Australia

2008

Fastest Roller Coasters in the

WORLD Cont.Rank Speed Roller

CoasterAmusement Park

Location Year Opened

6 95 mph Steel Dragon 2000

Nagashima Spa Land

Nagashima, Japan

2009

7 94 mph Intimidator Kings Dominion

Doswell, Virginia

2010

8 93 mph Millennium Force

Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio

2007

9 92 mph Leviathan Canada’s Wonderland

Maple, Ontario

2012

10 85 mph Titan Six Flags Arlington, Texas

2007

Fastest Roller Coasters in the United States

Rank Speed Roller Coaster

Amusement Park

Location

Year Opened

1 128 mph Kingda Ka

Six Flags Great Adventure

Jackson, New Jersey

2010

2 120 mph Top Thrill Dragster

Cedar Point

Sandusky, Ohio

2003

3 100 mph Superman: The Escape

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Valencia, California

2006

4 93 mph Millennium Force

Cedar Point

Sandusky, Ohio

2000

5 85 mph Titan Six Flags Over Texas

Arlington, Texas

2005

Fastest Roller Coasters in the United States

Cont.Rank Speed Roller Coaster

Amusement Park

Location Year Opened

6 85 mph Goliath Six Flags Magic Mountain

Valencia, California

2003

7 82 mph Phantom’s Revenge

Kennywood

West Mifflin, Pennsylvania

2001

8 78.4 mph

Son of Beast

Kings Island

Mason, Ohio

2000

9 70 mph El Toro Six Flags Great Adventure

Jackson Township, New Jersey

2000

10 67.4 mph

The Voyage

Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari

Santa Claus, IN

2002

Roller Coasters in Action

• I have been on many roller coasters, probably about 11! I have been on Kingda Ka, Batman, Twister in Six Flags and many more! The first roller coaster I went on I was very scared, but after the experience I loved it! The jittery feeling before the ride and the butterflies in your stomach make it so exciting and fun!