Roller Coaster Terms

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Terminology

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Roller Coaster Terms

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Terminology for Roller Coasters NOTE: Snowboard terminology coming soon NOTE: This site is under major construction and will be up as soon as and as fast as I could type. Thank You
A Airtime: The sensation when reaching the crest of a hill at high speeds of weightlessness Air Gates: The retractable floor on inverted rollercoasters that prevent riders feet from getting trapped Air Launch: Compressed air used to accelerate trains Anti Roll-back: Name for a device used to keep trains from coming back down the lift Hill B Backwards cars: Cars facing the opposite direction that the train is traveling Backwards Trains: Trains facing the opposite way that the train is moving Backwards Seats: Seats Facing the opposite way that the train is moving Back-to-Back Seats: Seats arranged Back to Back as seen on Vekoma Invertigo's Banked Turn: A section of turning track tilted slighty to reduce forces Barrel Roll: An inversion that rotates the riders 360 degrees without changing elevation Batwing: A B&M inversion found on Montu which has two inverted half loops facing each other at 45Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Âº Bench Seat: Found on wooden rollercoasters allowing riders to slide side to side into each other Block: A block is a section of track which has a set of brakes at both ends. Only one train can occupy a block at any one time Bobsled: A coaster that is not fixed to a track Body Restraints: Restraints that hold the whole body in place, including the ankle Boomerang: A shuttle coaster by Vekoma Box Section Track: Box Section track has a feature which is un-mistakable; the track gives out an almighty ROAR as the trains go past. This is due to the air traveling at high speed through the square box spine on the track. Sea World Adventure Park of Orlando and Dorney Park paid extra to have this sound removed from Kraken and Talon, respectively by filling the box section with sand. These two rides are unusual to watch, as they are completely silent Brake Run: To prevent accidents, most rollercoasters have a Brake Run half way through the ride. The brake run is there so that trains can be stopped in the event of an emergency, preventing the trains crashing into the back of each other. Trains must be able to complete the run (or block) after leaving the brake run from a stationary position. LIM's are occasionally used to move a stationary train out of the Brake Run if it is one prior to a station, as is the case on Big Thunder Mountain at numerous Disney parks. However, most of the time, the train will either be able to escape the mid-course brake run without aid or booster tires might assist the train to continue its journey. A brake run can be un-reliable in wet conditions, as the brake fins can not be gripped by the brakes Brake Fin: The fin on the bottom of the train that connects with the brake pads to stop the train C Camel Back: Two Bunny hops in succesion Capacity: The theoretical number of riders a rollercoaster can handle in a given time Car: Part of the train Catapult Launch: A flywheel and cable combo that pulls the train out of the station Centripital Force: The force that the track exerts on the train or the train exerts on the rider Centrifugal Force: The force which is exerted by the rider on the seat or the train on the tracks during positive G. Opposes the Centripetal Force Chain Dogs: These are catches beneath a coaster train which "clank" over the ratchets of a lift-hill, the whole device ensures that a train can not roll back down the lift hill Chain Lift: Powered by a motor and chain, this is the most common type of elevation method on coasters Check Brakes: These separate "blocks" from each other and prevent two trains from running on the same block of track. If a train attempts to enter an occupied block, the brakes are activated and the train stopped Circut: The layout of the coaster Circumfrential Coaster: A coaster that travles around the park and is not limited to one area of the park Clamshell: A type of restraint found on B&M hypers That covers the thighs Clothoid: The mathmatical name of the shape of a standard loops, an elliptical shape Cobra Roll: B&M version of a boomerang Corkscrew: The first ever fully operational inversion for a rollercoaster Crossover: When two tracks cross over each other Cutback: Comprised of two mirrored half-corkscrews which form a 180Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Âº turnaround D Dark Ride: See "Enclosed Rides" Dog Leg: A crude name for a section of track that is not straight but is not overly curved either Dive Loop: Found on B&M coasters. It is an incline into a half-loop. The opposite is an Immelman loop Double Drop: two drops in succesion Double Loop: Two loops in succesion Double Out & Back: A circuit which heads out and then returns to the station, progressing over a number of bunny-hops, and then traveling out again and returning finally to the station Dual Track: A single structure and station that holds two tracks, which coasters can race along. Being expensive to maintain, wooden coasters with two circuits on the one structure are rare, and most parks tend to go for individual dueling tracks on separate structures Dueling Coasters: A coaster that races and often is designed to give the rider a feeling of impending collision. These are on separate structures and can be made from wood or steel, and the most popular steel dueling coaster is the highly impressive Dueling Dragons at Universal's Islands of Adventure. The ride contains a number of near collision points including adjacent loops where the riders feet on both trains come within 3ft of each other E Element: A section of track which can be added to a ride to increase it's thrill factor Elevated Curve: A banked curve which dives as it progresses. See Elements > Diving Drop Elevator Lift: Introduced on Millennium Force, because of the huge height of the lift hill. This is a lot faster than chain lifts as it uses a lift pulley system with elevator cable. These are found in excavation sites and mines around the world, as they lower and raise a train full of workers in and out of the site, up or down an inclined ramp Ejector Airtime: When riders are thrown into the lap bars Empty Loading: When riders load an empty train because the previous riders exited at a prior station Enclosed Ride: A rollercoaster track or flat ride which is enclosed completely in a building, often in the dark. The best example of a dark rollercoaster is Space Mountain, in it's old and new incarnations. Dark rides included Phantom Manor at Disney World and Hex at Alton Towers Exclusive Ride Time: Time allocated for exclusive ride sessions for members of coaster clubs. This often takes place before or after a park's opening hours F Fan Curve: A curve that is entered whilst the train is inclining, and exited whilst the train is declining Figure Eight: A section of track that resembles an eight Fixed Lap Bar: A lap bar which riders have to slip into because it doesnt move Flat Spin: B&M corkscrew Flat Turn: A turn in the track which is un-banked Floater airtime: When riders are gently lifted from their seats Flush Loading: When riders load on one side and exit on the opposite side Flyer: A junior suspended coaster Foot Print: The area which a rollercoaster takes up Free-Form: A design of coaster which is not a set product such as the Vekoma Boomerang or Schwarzkopf Looping Star. The ride's layout is dictated by the needs of the park or the designer and are very popular. B&M are the largest producers of Freeform coasters Full Loading: When riders load and unload on the same side of the station G G-Forces: Forces caused by the inertia of the rider Gigacoaster: Any rollercoaster that exceeds 300ft in height Guage: the distance between the two running rails Guide Rail: Used on old coasters in place of side-friction wheels to guide the train
H Hairpin Turn: A highly banked 180 degree turn Head Chopper: An obstruction usually in a tunnel that gives the riders the since that they will be hit in the head Helix: A banked curve which loses/gains height and increases/decreases curvature as it progresses Horse Collar: Another term for an Over-the-Shoulder restraint Hunting: Describes the way trains on coaster track with inner side-friction rails tend to move from side to side inside the track creating "Headbanging". This does not occur on B&M coasters which have outer side-friction rails to prevent the lateral movement Hyper Coaster: Any coaster exceeding 200ft in height I Immelman: A reverse Dive Loop found on B&M coasters. Because of the track being on opposite sides of the box-section on inverted and normal coasters, the Dive Loop is usually found on normal coasters and the Immelman is found on Inverters Incline Loop: A loop which is tilted 45 Degrees to a side Individual Lap Bar: A situation in which each rider recieves their own lapbar Indoor Coaster: See "Enclosed Rides" Inertia: The effect on any given object of rapid acceleration or change of direction. The best example is the classic one - if any solid object were to reach the speed of light, it would cease to exist. In lesser cases, humans can be imploded by rapid changes in movement, such as in a fighter jet. On coasters, inertia limits the speed at which a train can be launched - too high of a speed and it can kill instantly Inversion: A part of the ride that turns riders upside down Inverted: A coaster that runs beneath the track. The cars are firmly attached to their wheel assemblies and do not swing Invertiphobia: A fear of being turned upside down. 9 times out of ten this fear will disappear the instant someone actually is turned upside down Interlocking Inversions: When two inversions inter-twine with each other, most commonly corkscrews and loops J Junior Coaster: A coaster designed with children in mind K Kinetic Energy L Lap Bar: Found on wooden, steel, and looping coasters, this is a safety bar the folds down across your lap and locks into place Lateral G: On flat curved track, you centre of mass moves outside the car and you are 'pulled' into the side of the car. In actual fact, it is the side of the car pushing against you Ledger beam: The beam used to support the track on a wooden coaster Lift Hill: A section of track that elevates the train to a height suffecient to give it enough speed to complete the circut LIM/LSM: LIM (Linear Induction Motor) and LSM (Linear Synchronous Motor) are types of magnetic propulsion systems used in roller coasters, particularly in recent reverse freefall rides such as Superman: The Escape, to propel the roller coaster vehicle at a high speed up a steep hill. This eliminates the need for pull-chains and contain no moving parts. Disney also put this technology to use on the alignment system of some of their rides; Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. This system ensures that the cars are aligned with the correct rows on every occasion. The LSM technology used for Superman: The Escape, is capable of propelling vehicles filled with passengers from zero to 100mph in just 7 seconds, allowing the vehicle to reach a height of 400ft. LSM's have a very strange feature associated with them; they Scream! A high pitched "scream" is heard as the frequencies switch on Superman: The Escape. LIM's and LSM's can only be used on horizontal and vertical track Linear G: The force exerted on the rider during a launch or braking procedure Loading Platform: The area where riders board and de-board the train safetly m Magnetic Brake: Brakes which use a magnetic field to slow a train down Manual Brake: Found on older wooden coasters, this is a brake lever which can be pulled back to stop the cars Mid-Course Lift: A lift hill in the middle of the circut Mine Train: A family ride often themed to a runaway train. The ride consists of swooping curves and high speed Mobius Coasters: This is rare and found on old wooden racing coasters. You start the ride from one station and end up at another adjacent station. when you leave this station you end up back at the original station. The Grand National at Blackpool Pleasure Beach is a mobius coaster Multi-Element: A rollercoaster with a variey of elements U Negative G's: A force created on the rider when shooting upwards as gravity which attracts things toward the earth is a negative (or attractive) force O Out & Back: Track that after an initial drop, continues to send the train over parabolic camelbacks before retuning to the station Oval Layout: A layout that resmles an Oval Over Banked: Werner Stengel describes this as a turn banked through more than 90Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Âº Over Run: When a coaster train over shoots the station and gives riders an unexpected free ride! P Parabolic Curve: A continuous curv in the form of a parabola Partially Enclosed: A rollercoaster that has an indoor section and an outdoor section Pay One Price: When a theme park charges for admission at the gates but does not charge for rides on their attractions Pickpocket: A slang term which describes an inversion which can easily empty the pockets of riders. A big problem at Islands of Adventure is the amazing pickpocket effect of the zero-g roll after the launch on The Hulk, which used to scatter coins, cameras and any other inanimate objects on the guests below. They use a net to stop these objects injuring guests walking below and is nearly always full of items lost on that first inversion Pipeline: A form of coaster which begins with a vertical drop, and proceeds to travel through consecutive heart line twists Positive G: Airtime Potential Energy: A form of coaster which begins with a vertical drop, and proceeds to travel through consecutive heart line twists Powered Coaster: The tracks contain electric contacts which power the coaster throughout it's journey QQueue: The area where riders wait to board the train
R Racer: A dueling set of coasters that "race" each other through the course Running Rails: These run along the top of the track and are underneath the rollercoaster vehicle Ratchets: These are found on the lift hill and prevent the train from rolling backwards. They produce a clanking noise as the chain dogs move over them Restraint: The apparatus used to secure the rider into the seat Ribs: Connect the running rails to the spine on steel track Rolling Stock: The rollercoaster train S Scarf/Skid Brakes: Used only to slow the trains down at certain points on the circuit Set-Up: When a coaster train is stopped by a brake run Side Friction Wheels: Attached to the side of the vehicle, these (smaller) wheels run along the side of the track and stop the vehicle moving to the left or right Shoulder Restraints: Restraints which fold down over the passenger's chest area to secure them into the car. These are nearly always yellow (no reason why!) but some clever clogs like to change them to other pretty colours Shuttle: A layout that is not joined into a circuit. Once the train has been launched, it goes through inversions before climbing a hill, and returning through the inversions backwards to the station Slammer: Short Abrupt drop Speed Bump: A small bunny hop taken at high speeds Spine: The main structure of the track Spinning Cars: Cars that spin freely throughout the ride SBNO: Standing But Not Operating means that the coaster is standing but is not open to riders Stand-Up: Riders stand up in the harness and go throught the ride standing up Stall: When a coaster train fails to crest a hill or inversion, and rolls back to a mid-course stationary position. This usually occurs as a result of high head-winds Station: This is where the loading platform is located, along with the maitenence bay Steel Coaster: A rollercoaster comprised maily or fully of steel Steeplechase: Multiple parallel circuits with a single rail track Suspended Coaster: Trains hang below the track and can swing from side to side as they go around corners T Terrain Coaster: A coaster that makes use of the scenery and terrain already provided by mother nature Theme Park: An area of land run by an Amusement company which includes one or more themed lands and rides Themeing: When a ride is combined with attractive scenery or building appropriate to the theme of the ride Tire Launch: Universal have not opted for a powerful blast of LIM technology, nor have they gone the way of Disney and used Catapults. This is the most low tech; and most expensive powered launch there is, as the ride includes it's own built-in power generators! High-speed rotating tires thrust the train up the final section of the lift hill, (which isn't that far about a 1/4 of the hill, the rest is tires moving the train up the hill at a low speed.) providing (the lowest speed on a powered launch) 0-40mph in a few seconds. By comparison, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster manages 0-60mph in just 2.8 seconds using Catapult technology and Superman: The Escape manages 0-100mph in 7 seconds. Technically, the catapult gives the fastest launch Traditional Park: A park that operates like parks from the early 1900's. The focus is on recreation and less on rides Train: A series of cars connected together Track Wear: Mostly seen on B&M coasters, this is when the paint is stripped from the running rails over the course of time as the train provides friction which is not kind to the paint job. These two photos are of the diving drop on Kraken, an element which particularly is tough on the paint job. The first picture is of Kraken on it's first ever run, and the second picture was taken a year later. Notice how the once blue running rails, are now completely silver. A good way of slowing down this process is by adding trim brakes to the circuit Trim Brakes: Often added to rides when the trains begin to wear the track away. Trim Brakes can slow the trains down to reduce the stress on the rides Truck: Another term for the wheel assemblies Twister: A ride layout which features track which winds and twists around itself U Unloading Platform: An area usually connected to the loading platform where rider de-board safetly Up-Stop Wheels: Run along the underside of the track and prevent the vehicle from leaving the track V Valley: When the train doesnt make it up over the first hill and comes to rest in the middle(Mantis is the only B&M ever to do this) Vertical Loop: A simple loop on a rollercoaster W Weight Drop Launch: Some coasters are launched from the station by pulling a large weight up to a height and dropping it, producing a heavy acceleration on the train Wheel Assembly: The unit which houses all the wheels underneath the train(side-friction, up-stop, etc) Wild Mouse: A coaster featuring single cars which navigate a circuit of drops and tight flat turns Wingover: A corkscrew on a B&M Inverted coaster Wooden Coaster: A coaster comprised entirely or partially of wood


Operation Status Operated: the roller coaster operated during the specified period but has since changed status. Operating: the roller coaster is open to the public. Maintenance or off-season periods do not change a roller coaster's status from 'Operating'. SBNO: an acronym for Standing But Not Operating. The roller coaster is present and assembled at a park, but not open to the public. Maintenance or off-season periods do not change a coaster's status to 'SBNO'. Storage: the roller coaster is disassembled and being stored. Under Construction: the roller coaster is being built and not open to the public. "Soft Openings", media days and/or preview periods do not change the ride's status. See 'Operating' status above.