Exclusive: Where The Roller Coasters Come From

Yeah, I struggled with that edit about IAAPA. I didn't prep Matt well enough to answer in a way that included the questions or context.

Jeff,

I enjoyed the video, you did a great job. Was all of the work going on in the plant for Gatekeeper?

Thanks,

John

No. I'm not sure if we were supposed to say where the other one was going.

Is it Michigan's Adventure?

Where do roller coasters come from?

Well, when a mommy roller coaster and a daddy roller coaster really love each other.... ;-)

That was the joke I told people at the plant. No one LOL'd there, but it did give me the idea for the title!

I can't believe that this happened 11 years ago yesterday. Still one of the coolest things I've been able to do. Feels timely, as well, to look back and hear industry leaders talk about the product and not the transactions.

I might just post this every year. Such a fun day.

It's insane to me that Gatekeeper is 12 years old. Even crazier that Millennium Force was built a quarter of a century ago.

God I'm old.

I'm at that point where the reality of time is just depressing. My birth was closer to the end of WWII than it is to today.

Ugh. I just checked and my birth is closer to the period between WWI and The Great Depression. Thanks for that.

Vater:

Even crazier that Millennium Force was built a quarter of a century ago.

I recall following that construction. I was in middle school, Coasterbuzz was brand new, Jeff had whatever that hairdo was, and the coaster wars were in full swing. Arrow was working on 4D coasters, SOB was a thing. Yeah….

Forget Coasterbuzz being new, what about rollercoaster.nu being new? -dies and turns to dust-

TheMillenniumRider:

I recall following that construction.

Same. I was 26. I'm less than a month from turning 52. MF has been at Cedar Point for half my life.

Depressingly, its opening year was the last time I was there.

Millennium Force opened the second year I worked at Cedar Point. It was so exciting watching it test during the few weeks before it opened while I was working at Paddlewheel and Camp Snoopy. It flew by right in front of us across the lagoon. The day before the park opened, they let employees ride it. It was the most incredible roller coaster I had ever ridden at the time.

It still is one of my favorite coasters, partially because of our history together.

I'm never really shocked at how long ago some of the coolest parts of my life occurred. It does not seem like yesterday to me like it does to others.

CoasterBuzz has always been a part of those memories as well. Thanks for everything you have done all these years, Jeff.

In my love letter to Millennium Force I wrote about the experience of obsessively following its construction, along with Son of Beast. I was also in middle school at the time, and I haven't felt that much anticipation for a new ride every since.

TheMillenniumRider:

SOB was a thing.

Is it wrong to say I kinda miss that ride? ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Vater:

I was 26. I'm less than a month from turning 52.

It's really strange how many of us are within a year of each other. Also, ****, I was that young when I was climbing around on MF track in the Soak City lot?

And time for me means that I'm closer to wearing diapers than I am wearing diapers.