Happy Independence Day from you friends at COASTER-net! We hope everyone has a happy and safe fourth of July.  ..read more

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What began as the Rocket in San Antonio, rose and lived again as the Phoenix at Knoebels Amusement Resort. This truly classic ride has been recognized as the best wooden roller coaster in the world, not bad for a ride that was designed in 1948. For the past 35 years Knoebels has been lovingly caring for this ride and preserving its classic thrills and excitement, not an easy task when competing with newer modern creations. If you have never been this is a must ride, and has the best finale of unrelenting airtime anywhere. If you miss airtime, and are waiting for your park to open, drop this w ..read more

Dear Coaster Friends, Another season down and we have already hit the ground running on season six. While last season had us trying out a lot of family style rides it ended with us at Dorney, last year, where we stepped it up to full on spin and barf rides. I have almost exclusively avoided them since I was much younger, but now I am rediscovering them as my daughter has been enamored by the speed! Sticking with classics like the music express, scrambler, down draft, troikas, wave swings, and scooters has given her the chops to start asking to go on basically everything that looks fast. It ..read more

I know it is Monday, but here you go. Space Mountain with a swirling wormhole wallpaper formatted for your mobile device ..read more

EDITOR'S NOTE:  The author of this article is a community member and not a member of the site staff.  We encourage all members of our community to submit similar op-ed pieces by e-mailing them to blogs@coaster-net.com for review by our editorial staff. ​ The 2022 coaster season will be here very soon. If we are truly blessed, this season will be back to normal, and I am incredibly excited for it.  But maybe not for the reasons you may think. Yes, I know it should be an incredible year for coasters. But to be fair Iron Gwazi, Pantheon, and Emperor were supposed to open in 2020 ..read more

Dear Coaster Friends,  I am going to start this one out with some excuses, because this is late, and I skipped last year. Guess why? I ment for this to be an annual series with my first entry when my daughter was two on Fathers Day. So this season has started but I missed my self imposed Father’s Day deadline. But, if you are still with me let’s go. This is my fifth season as a coaster dad and I have been racking up the kiddy credits! Just kidding, but my daughter has moved from the very tame kid rides into family style flat rides and coasters. This has been a really rewarding experien ..read more

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EDITOR'S NOTE:  The author of this article is a community member and not a member of the site staff.  We encourage all members of our community to submit similar op-ed pieces by e-mailing them to blogs@coaster-net.com for review by our editorial staff. We have to go back, and I mean way back to August 1977 at Kings Island. That was when I rode my first roller coaster and the day I fell in love with them. Being an enthusiast in the '70s, '80s, and '90s was so different than it is now. Back then, my whole coaster world was Cedar Point, Kings Island, Six Flags Great America, Michigan ..read more

While wooden coasters defined their place as the classic coaster experience, the only constant to this experience has been change. They have gotten bigger, faster, with more forceful elements. Just like other industries once they got rolling the pace of change accelerated. The wooden coaster is constantly changing to push new boundaries, but the latest development seems to be steel. This has led to simpler maintenance, launches, and even inversions. Does this shift just make wooden coasters, steel coasters?  There are currently three active firms who design and build wooden coasters ..read more