Coasters 101
There are two main types of roller coasters: Wooden (or woodies as they are called) which are constructed primarily of wood and are the original coasters. Many amusement parks still have at least one good woody, and I recommend checking it out as even with its limitations, they still offer a pretty cool and authentic ride. Steel coasters are the newer, more modern coasters, and typically offer a smoother ride with more variety of motion options. The sub-categories for steel coasters are seemingly endless as they are constantly building them bigger, better, faster and have to label them with a new word to describe it. Below are a few popular coasters, what type they are, and where you can find them.
This wooden coaster is called El Toro and is located in Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey. Like most traditional coasters, the ride begins with a slow climb up followed by an intense drop. It reaches a speed of 70mph, which is pretty fast for a woody and has one of the steepest drops as well. Considering the speed and the wooden construction, El Toro is a surprisingly smooth ride, compared to many of this type. El Toro is definitely a favorite in the wooden category for this fact alone. Not to overshadow the greatness of El Toro, but in the background of this photo you can see the preeminent Kingda Ka, which I describe more below.
You might recognize this well-known steel coaster. It is the Hulk, located in Universal Orlando. It's known as a blast or launch coaster because it blasts off from the platform reaching a speed of 67 mph. - all with some pretty cool sound effects before and after take off. The Hulk can also be classified as an inversion coaster because the train inverts several times throughout the ride. I wasn't tall enough to ride it yet in this photo, but I remember wanting to go on so badly!!
This is Kingda Ka, also located in Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey. It is a strata coaster, meaning it has a height and drop of at least 400 ft. It is currently the tallest and fastest coaster in North America with a speed of 128 mph. It was also the main reason I dragged my family to New Jersey after vacationing in NYC one summer. And it was worth it!! Kingda Ka launches riders from 0 to 128 in 3.5 seconds and climbs to a height of 456 feet before dropping back down. It was definitely the most thrilling 30 seconds of my entire vacation! The only coaster faster than Kingda Ka at this moment is one called Formula Rossa, at 149 mph, located in Abu Dhabi. Unfortunatey, I haven't been able to drag my family to Abu Dhabi.....yet.
Manta is located in SeaWorld, Orlando. It is an inversion coaster and is also called a flying coaster because of the way the riders are positioned during the ride. This positioning is what makes this coaster different. You start out sitting upright, but during the ride the entire train flips, or inverts, several times so riders are facing downwards and sideways like you would if you were hang gliding. It is supposed to mimic the way a manta ray swims and dives through the ocean, and it does not disappoint! With the smooth, gliding motion and well-timed water features, it really does make riders feel like they are skimming through the ocean like a manta ray.
This grand tower is Superman: Escape from Krypton located in Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. It's a steel shuttle coaster that blasts riders up 415 ft at a speed of 100mph, and then drops them back down in the reverse direction. The coolest thing about this coaster is the g-force and those few seconds of weightlessness you feel at the very top of the ride before it shoots back down. Superman held the record as faster coaster in the world when it was first built and is currently the only reverse free fall coaster. With a minimum riding height of 48 inches, it was one of my first of the fast and biggies!