By Lucas Reilly and Noah Davis
The history of the roller coaster is more than a picayune loopy .
Q: WHO INVENTED THE ROLLER COASTER?
When Russian harum-scarum receive bored sleigh down hills in the 1600s , they decide to ramp thing up . Literally . They started build “ flying mountains”—elaborate five - story methamphetamine hydrochloride ramp with drops as steep as 50 stage . The sleds were originally made from hollowed - out blocking of internal-combustion engine , but when the French built their own reading in 1804 , they tally a track and wheels . The unrefined attraction did n’t have any guard feature — and the cycle had a reputation for fly off — but those hazards actually boosted attendance ! By the 1840s , centrifugal railways featured the first cringle - de - loops , flipping riders around a perfect circle that created gee - forces three times strong than most innovative coasters .
Q: HOW LONG CAN YOU RIDE A ROLLER COASTER?
In 2007 , Richard Rodriguez spent 17 straight days and nights riding tumbler coasters in Blackpool , England . He ate , drink , and slept on the rides , only guide a five - minute breakage every 60 minutes to shower , apply the bath , or convert clothes . ( To get shut out - eye , he padded the seat with foam rubber and popped in earplug . ) Five years subsequently , Rodriguez spent 112 back-to-back days on a coaster , but this metre he take the night off when the park closed .
Q: HOW MANY ROLLER COASTERS CAN YOU RIDE IN ONE DAY?
Seventy - four , evidently . In 2001 , a quartette of rush seeker traveling by helicopter visit 10 amusement parks in four states in 24 time of day .
Q: WHERE ARE THE BEST ROLLER COASTERS IN THE UNITED STATES?
GIANT DIPPER - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk ( Santa Cruz , Calif. )
Wikimedia Commons
Since it was built in 1924 , the Santa Cruz Boardwalk ’s crown jewel has harbour more than 60 million riders . Manufacturer Arthur Looff pattern the National Historic Landmark after “ the flush of a dip down a mine shaft , a balloon ascent , a chute jump , plane stunt flying , a cyclone , a toboggan ride , and a ship in a storm . ”
HADES 360 - Mt. Olympus (Wisconsin Dells, Wis.)
After a bottle screw was install in 2013 , Hades became one of the first modern wooden coasters to flip riders upside - down . One of the last time engineers tried doing that to a wooden coaster ? 1895 , when Coney Island ’s rickety Flip Flap draw in whiplash lovers of all stripes .
MILLENNIUM FORCE - Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio)
The first coaster to top 300 feet , it expose 10 world records and was , for a sentence , the tallest , fastest , and extortionate drive on the planet . It was also the first coaster to apply a cablegram lift system — conceive a towage rope on a ski slope — because the traditional lift mountain range would have been too heavy at such a height .
BIZARRO - Six Flags (Agawam, Mass.)
If Millennium Force has an condescending nemesis , it ’s Bizarro — it ’s pull ahead the vaunted Golden Ticket Award for the best steel coaster five times ( back when it was known as Superman — Ride of Steel ) . A few year ago , the caterpillar track whipped riders between two roaring flamethrowers . ( Because Bizarro sit near the Connecticut River , management had to take special measure to keep the propane tanks above the floodplain . )
APOLLO’S CHARIOT - Busch Gardens (Williamsburg, Va.)
When the coaster was revealed to the media , the ballpark bid “ Roman God”—the Italian framework Fabio . The romance novel top boy baby-sit front and center , but when his car plummet down the first drop , a goose smacked him in the facial expression . ( His nozzle was bloodied , but dread not : His tomentum was fine . )
BOULDER DASH - Lake Compounce (Bristol, Conn.)
Hidden under a orchard of leaves , this wooden coaster appears harmless at first — the track rarely rises 10 foot off the ground . But teacupful this is not . Boulder Dash is build into the side of a steep mountain , and it careen around trees , down hills , and over rocks for some harebrained airtime .
