Top products from r/rollercoasters

My first websites were www.danimation.com and http://thrillride.com/. Danimation was primarily forums for RCT, but had other forums for "real" coasters among other things, and had a really great tight knit community. Thrillride had excellent ride reviews from Robert Coker (who later published a book) but also included regular news pieces and the craziest and most entertaining rumors I've ever read.

www.screamscape.com has always been a great place for news and rumors as well, and I don't think the site design has changed since the early 2000's.

At some point in time Thrillride started forums of their own, but it was always a shitshow. I don't quite remember the timeline, but that eventually became www.thrillnetwork.com (which was also a shitshow) and Thrillride reverted to it's original purpose.

Coasterbuzz was always a great place for news and forums as well, even if the community was a tad cliquey.

And as usual there was likely hundreds of personal pages that have fallen by the wayside. I remember there used to be a a few pages just simply dedicated to all the links, and it used to be fun to browse them all, but it's all gone now.

rec. roller-coaster on Usenet predated everything, but I never browsed much on there (because I had no idea how to use it lol). I always wonder if I was missing out.

I always enjoy these trips down memory lane, but the older I get and the more consolidated the internet gets on these big social media sites (like Reddit) I start to wonder if the old stuff ever existed at all.

I'm sure this has come up before, but I'm curious about coaster media that got you into the hobby like books, video games, movies, and tv specials. I know I and a few others were drawn in via Roller Coaster Tycoon (and this book too, in my case), but I'd like to know what other media's been particularly influential. I imagine RCT as being a huge breakthrough to the masses, but I have no idea if that's my nostalgia speaking or a statistically significant difference between the impact of that game and something like Planet Coaster.

My friend has this book on the Haunted Mansion. I haven't read it thoroughly, but it was pretty detailed and I liked it a lot. I wish they would have these kinds of books on other attractions.

This one is extremely dated (published in 1998 I believe) but it provides a great history of the roller coaster industry and is a bit of a time capsule in it's own right. Rides like Steel Force, Raptor, and Mantis are written as state of the art.

https://www.amazon.com/Roller-Coaster-Coasters-Twisters-Corkscrews/dp/078580885X

The one I really love is the Imagineering book. Not strictly coasters, but I still love reading it from time to time: https://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-Imagineering-Behind-Dreams/dp/0786883723

"Roller Coasters, Flumes and Flying Saucers" is my all-time favorite book about the amusement industry. The author gives a detailed account of the birth of Arrow Dynamics through the memories and anecdotes of Ed Morgan and Karl Bacon. Many of the stories in this book deal with the development of the original rides at Disney Land. I read it myself back in 1999, and recently read it again with my son.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0965735354/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CIlJxb7JJDHGT

The former GM of cedar point, John Hildebrandt, wrote a book about his time working at CP from the mid 70's up to his retirement. It's a really good read and gives a point of view not many people see to the park. He describes some of the events they have done in the past, failed attractions, and Cedar Point's success while he was there. It is cool to read about how some of the park came to be how it is today and how much the park was shaped within the last 40ish years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/Always-Cedar-Point-Memoir-Midway/dp/099675041X/ref=asc_df_099675041X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=266029226073&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1085671781061896269&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9060094&hvtargid=pla-572405282133&psc=1

The American Roller Coaster is a fantastic read. It's 12 years old, with a ton of old coasters that don't actually exist anymore (for instance, Batman & Robin the Chiller spent several years in storage) and has a rather in-depth history of roller coasters in America, as you'd expect, loads of pictures, even a chapter on the history of roller coaster technology. I'm proud to still own a copy, even if the spine is a bit faded.

Haven't finished yet but really enjoying Always Cedar Point A Memoir of the Midway.

Shows a different perspective of Cedar Point then what I see.

I saw John Wardleys book at Alton Towers. Talks about his approach to designing coasters, and info about his life and other achievements.

That's more from a designers point of view, but a damn good designer, made many iconic coasters such as Nemesis, Oblivion, The Smiler, The Saw Ride, Swarm, and many more!

My Own Nemesis

I really enjoyed this book.

It's a bit dated now, but Scott Rutherford's The American Roller Coaster is very well-written, informational and has plenty of interesting historical pictures.

Sounds like White Knuckle Ride by Mark Wyatt.

http://www.amazon.com/White-Knuckle-Ride-Illustrated-Biggest/dp/0517159457

The Incredible Scream Machine: A History of the Roller Coaster

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0879723416/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pzeGybAWWX7BY

Great resource on older woodies.

Totally jealous of anyone who gets to do this. I live 8 hours away otherwise I would be ON IT. I did get a little excited though because when I first read the title I thought it was implying that you actually get to walk the track. Now THAT would be incredible but obviously they couldn't allow that for liability reasons.

>Nothing compares with a night ride on the Beast.”

Ain't that the truth. I would place that experience at #3 out of my 118 coasters, right behind El Toro and Top Thrill Dragster.

I'm also not ashamed to admit I've read this.

Always thought they were cool as a kid, but then I checked out Roller Coaster by David Bennett from the elementary school library, and that was it for me.

For the US enthusiasts, I recommend reading Dick Kinzels autobiography.

https://www.amazon.com/Dick-Kinzel-Coaster-Amusement-Legacies/dp/0974332461

Coasters 101: An Engineer's Guide to Roller Coaster Design by Nick Weisenberger is a solid read.

John Wardley's autobiography (Designer of Nemesis, Air, Oblivion)

https://www.amazon.com/Creating-own-Nemesis-autobiography-designed/dp/1484049144

Just rock this sexy-as-hell portable neck fan.

He wrote two! https://www.amazon.com/Beast-No-2-R-L-Stine/dp/067152951X

My dad has a book on the history of Kennywood. I think this is it (Kennywood...: Roller Coaster Capital of the World https://www.amazon.com/dp/0961439254/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_tErVCbXC1Z87Y)

Here is the desktop version of your link

The dust jacket of Scream Machines was red, and the book was a history of coasters with B&W pics.

I think this is it but it's not red, yet when I look inside it looks very similar

My parents bought me this back in 2000, and it was formative in getting me into the hobby. Obviously, it's now 20 years old, but.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Roller-Coaster-Scott-Rutherford/dp/0760306893

>The Beast. I read all about it, including the fictional books based on it

You must mean this and this.

Mine would be a book titled, “Are You Chicken? A Coward’s Guide to Roller Coasters” by Robert Reynolds. Coasters have never scared me, but 10 year old me was obsessed with the pictures and text of this little book.

https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Cowards-Guide-Roller-Coasters/dp/0965735338