In a deeper look at one of my lifelong interests, here are the 91 roller coasters across the United States that I have rode at least once.
While I have aimed to dedicate this site to writing extensively on my personal interests, it’s quite obvious that sports and video games have dominated much of the content on The Rubber Match thus far.
I’ve been fortunate enough to spend most of this week in San Diego, a gorgeous city that I have not previously visited and one I didn’t expect to be riding a roller coaster in. Thankfully with some free time the other evening, my wife and I made our way to Mission Beach Boardwalk to grab a ride on the century-old Giant Dipper, an incredible piece of American roller coaster history.
Although my fascination with roller coasters dates back to the first time I ever saw and rode one at the defunct Kiddieland in Melrose Park, Ill., it took quite some time for me to feel comfortable riding larger coasters.
A big part of this was simply me being a pretty weird fucking kid. Instead of just going to the amusement park and finding out what was fun as I went along, I obsessed over each park’s roller coasters, learning the height, drop, length and top speeds of any roller coaster at a park I was about to go to.
This of course, made me a lot more nervous to ride larger rides than a kid just getting on and letting it happen. While the idea of an inverting roller coaster didn’t scare me much as a kid, any coaster with a maximum height above 100 feet was one that I felt I could not handle, a fear that persisted well beyond me being the minimum height to ride a park’s tallest and most intense rides.
Yet a trip to Six Flags Great America with a couple of friends and one of my friend’s parents in June 2010 was the catalyst for breaking through and feeling comfortable riding larger coasters. Working my way up throughout the day, we finished the trip to the park with rides on Raging Bull and Superman: Ultimate Flight – two incredibly smooth Bolliger & Mabillard creations that remain highlights at the park to this day.
Since getting exposed to larger rides, I’ve become a full-blown roller coaster enthusiast, with trips in the last 15 years to Cedar Point, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Kings Island and Six Flags Over Georgia, among others.
While this list is not a ranking (I’m waiting until I ride my 100th roller coaster to dive into that list), this is a loosely organized list of the coasters I’ve gotten at least one ride on before:
A * denotes the roller coaster is no longer operating.
- Superman: Ultimate Flight – Six Flags Great America – Bolliger & Mabillard
- The Dark Knight Coaster – Six Flags Great America – Mack Rides
- Batman: The Ride – Six Flags Great America – Bolliger & Mabillard
- THE FLASH: Vertical Velocity – Six Flags Great America – Intamin
- The Joker Free-Fly Coaster – Six Flags Great America – S&S
- Little Dipper – Kiddieland/Six Flags Great America – Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
- Sprocket Rockets – Six Flags Great America – Vekoma
- American Eagle – Six Flags Great America – Intamin
- Demon – Six Flags Great America – Arrow Dynamics
- Goliath – Six Flags Great America – Rocky Mountain Construction
- X-Flight – Six Flags Great America – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Whizzer – Six Flags Great America – Schwarzkopf
- Raging Bull – Six Flags Great America – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Viper – Six Flags Great America – Six Flags
- Iron Wolf – Six Flags Great America – Bolliger & Mabillard*
- Ragin’ Cajun – Six Flags Great America – Zamperla*
- Batman: The Ride – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Goliath – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Giovanola
- The New Revolution – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Schwarzkopf
- The Riddler’s Revenge – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Scream – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Superman: Escape from Krypton – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Intamin*
- Tatsu – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Viper – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Arrow Dynamics
- River King Mine Train – Six Flags St. Louis – Arrow Dynamics
- Batman: The Ride – Six Flags St. Louis – Bolliger & Mabillard
- The Boss – Six Flags St. Louis – Custom Coasters International
- Screamin’ Eagle – Six Flags St. Louis – Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
- Pandemonium – Six Flags St. Louis – Gerstlauer
- Rockin’ Roller – Six Flags St. Louis – Bradley & Kaye*
- Blue Streak – Cedar Point – Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
- Cedar Creek Mine Ride – Cedar Point – Arrow Dynamics
- Corkscrew – Cedar Point – Arrow Dynamics
- GateKeeper – Cedar Point – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Gemini – Cedar Point – Arrow Dynamics
- Iron Dragon – Cedar Point – Arrow Dynamics
- Magnum XL-200 – Cedar Point – Arrow Dynamics
- Maverick – Cedar Point – Intamin
- Millennium Force – Cedar Point – Intamin
- Mean Streak – Cedar Point – Dinn Corporation*
- Top Thrill Dragster – Cedar Point – Intamin*
- Disaster Transport – Cedar Point – Intamin*
- The Racer – Kings Island – Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
- Flying Ace Aerial Chase – Kings Island – Vekoma
- Scooby’s Ghoster Coaster – Kings Island – Caripro*
- Woodstock Express – Kings Island – Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
- Big Apple Coaster – New York-New York Hotel & Casino – TOGO
- Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride – Universal Studios: Hollywood – Premier Rides
- Space Mountain – Disneyland – WED Enterprises
- Matterhorn Bobsleds – Disneyland – Arrow Dynamics
- Incredicoaster – Disney California Adventure – Intamin
- Space Mountain – Magic Kingdom – WED Enterprises
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – Hollywood Studios – Vekoma
- Expedition Everest – Animal Kingdom – Vekoma
- The Incredible Hulk Coaster – Universal Islands of Adventure – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Pegasus – Mt. Olympus Theme Park – Custom Coasters International
- Tiger Terror – Safariland – Wisdom Rides*
- Pepsi Orange Streak – Nickelodeon Universe – Zierer
- Fairly Odd Coaster – Nickelodeon Universe – Gerstlauer
- SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge – Nickelodeon Universe – Gerstlauer
- Gold Rusher – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Arrow Dynamics
- West Coast Racers – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Premier Rides
- Apocalypse – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Great Coasters International
- Full Throttle – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Premier Rides
- Twisted Colossus – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Rocky Mountain Construction
- Flight of the Hippogriff – Universal Studios Hollywood – Mack Rides
- Maxx Force – Six Flags Great America – S&S
- ArieForce One – Fun Spot America Atlanta – Rocky Mountain Construction
- Twisted Cyclone – Six Flags Over Georgia – Rocky Mountain Construction
- Dahlonega Mine Train – Six Flags Over Georgia – Arrow Dynamics
- Great American Scream Machine – Six Flags Over Georgia – Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
- Blue Hawk – Six Flags Over Georgia – Vekoma
- Riddler Mindbender – Six Flags Over Georgia – Schwarzkopf
- Batman: The Ride – Six Flags Over Georgia – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Goliath – Six Flags Over Georgia – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Georgia Scorcher – Six Flags Over Georgia – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Queen City Stunt Coaster – Kings Island – Premier Rides
- The Beast – Kings Island – Kings Island
- Mystic Timbers – Kings Island – Great Coasters International
- Adventure Express – Kings Island – Arrow Dynamics
- The Bat – Kings Island – Arrow Dynamics
- Invertigo – Kings Island – Vekoma
- Diamondback – Kings Island – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Flight of Fear – Kings Island – Premier Rides
- Orion – Kings Island – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Superman: Ultimate Flight – Six Flags Discovery Kingdom – Premier Rides
- Medusa – Six Flags Discovery Kingdom – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Sidewinder Safari – Six Flags Discovery Kingdom – Zamperla
- Boardwalk Bullet – Kemah Boardwalk – The Gravity Group
- Coney Island Cyclone – Luna Park – Vernon Keenan
- Giant Dipper – Belmont Park – Frank Prior, Fredrick Church
- Carolina Cyclone – Carowinds – Arrow Dynamics
- Carolina Goldrusher – Carowinds – Arrow Dynamics
- Copperhead Strike – Carowinds – Mack Rides
- Thunder Striker – Carowinds – Bolliger & Mabillard
- Fury 325 – Carowinds – Bolliger & Mabillard

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