Friday is National Roller Coaster Day: 8 in Ohio to check out
This week, National Roller Coaster Day celebrates the thrills the amusement rides offer.
Here in Southwest Ohio, we’re lucky to have some of the best at Warren County’s Kings Island. The park’s website says Aug. 16 was chosen as National Roller Coaster Day to honor the “date in 1878 that Richard Knudsen and J.G. Taylor received a U.S. patent for the first wooden roller coaster.”
However, documents show the two filed separate patents six years apart. J.G Taylor filed his patent for “Improvement in Inclined Railways” on July 2, 1872. Richard Knudsen’s patent for an “Inclined-Plane Railway” was approved in 1878 — in January.
Regardless, nationaldaycalendar.com commemorates Aug. 16 as the approval date of Edwin Prescott’s patent for the first vertical-looping rollercoaster. This is seemingly confirmed by the official patent for Prescott’s roller coaster, which was approved on Aug. 16, 1898.
Ohio is home to many ground-breaking coasters important to the history of theme parks, and here is a guide to a few favorites:
Sea Dragon
Location: Columbus Zoo: 4850 W. Powell Road, Powell Opened: 1956 Description: The oldest operating coaster in Ohio, Sea Dragon opened in 1956 as the Jet Flyer. This ride was created by famed wooden coaster manufacturer Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, and designed by John C. Allen. This coaster is 1,320 feet long and reaches speeds of 25 mph. Sea Dragon costs $3 per ride and is only open on weekends.
The Racer
Location: Kings Island: 6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason
Opened: 1972
Description: Another John C. Allen creation, guests have been racing on this coaster’s dual tracks since Kings Island opened in 1972. Giving 104 million rides over the decades, Kings Island’s website states “The Racer is credited with re-igniting the wooden roller coaster building boom in the 1970s, thus beginning the second golden age of the roller coaster.” The Racer inspired a similar coaster at sister park Kings Dominion in Virginia called Racer 75.
Corkscrew
Location: Cedar Point: 1 Cedar Point Drive, Sandusky Opened: 1976 Description: The first coaster to go upside down three times, Corkscrew opened in 1976 at Cedar Point in Sandusky. Its simple layout and short length may seem outdated, but the Arrow Dynamics-built ride was cutting-edge for the time. The ride opened just one year after the first modern day looping coaster, Corkscrew at Knott’s Berry Farm.
Guests can also walk under the coaster’s signature corkscrews, making for a unique photo opportunity.
The Beast
Location: Kings Island: 6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason
Opened: 1979 Description: At a then-unheard of 7,361 feet, The Beast at Kings Island opened as the longest roller coaster in the world in 1979. While the title has since been claimed by metal giants like Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan, it remains the longest wooden coaster in the world. The Beast takes guests through Ohio’s wilderness, with twists, turns and tunnels throughout. The ride ends with a gigantic double helix, before returning riders to the station.
Magnum XL-200
Location: Cedar Point: 1 Cedar Point Drive, Sandusky Opened: 1989 Description: In 1989, Arrow Dynamics and Cedar Point teamed up to create the then-tallest roller coaster in the world. Taking guests up 200 feet, the coaster throws riders through a series of airtime hills and banked turns. This ride single-handedly created the “hyper coaster,” a coaster that stands between 200 and 300 feet tall. In the time since, dozens of hyper coasters have been built in theme parks everywhere.
Millennium Force
Location: Cedar Point: 1 Cedar Point Drive, Sandusky Opened: 2000 Description: “The Future is Riding on it.” With that tagline, Cedar Point sent shockwaves through the theme park industry. Intamin, known for building a wide range of theme park rides, built the park a new type of coaster, the “giga coaster.” Standing at 310 feet, Millennium Force sends guests flying throughout the park in its signature overbanked turns. With a top speed of 93 mph, “Millie” remains one of the fastest coaster in the world without a launch.
Diamondback
Location: Kings Island Opened: 2009 Description: After decades of changing ownership, Kings Island and other Paramount parks were purchased by Cedar Fair in 2006. It didn’t take long for Kings Island to benefit from the merger, as it received the 230-foot-tall hyper coaster
Diamondback in 2009. Created by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger and Mabillard, Diamondback is the first of three coasters in the park created by the company. Housed in the Rivertown section, the ride features an airtime-filled layout ending with a splashdown, where water shoots out behind riders.
Orion
Location: Kings Island Opened: 2020 Description: Another coaster built by Bolliger and Mabillard, Orion opened in 2020 as the second giga coaster in Ohio and seventh in the world. The ride took a different approach to its layout than Millennium Force, with Orion focusing on large airtime hills instead of banked turns. Orion also has a tight helix towards the end of its layout, giving riders that intense “sinking in your seat” feeling for which positive G-forces are known.