Whats up with RCDB and coaster counts?

I noticed on RCDB they have a lot of duel coasters listed as one. Like Dueling Dragons or Lightning Racer.

Whats up with that.

Also do you count Rolling Thunder at SFGRAd as 2? I would surely think so.

Also I seen that people had Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls listed as a coaster. Is it?

Thanks

I barely post on this forum but I read it enough to know what the next 10 people are going to say. The way that an enthusiest counts coasters is entirely up to them. Nowhere is there a "set of rules" for counting how many coasters you have ridden. I personally count dueling coasters as 2...others don't, it is entirely up to you.

As for counting flumes and other water rides as coasters...again, entirely up to you. Your coaster count should be more something that you keep track of for your own records rather than something to brag about to other enthusiests. Really nobody cares if you have ridden 80 coasters instead of 79.

I don't think RCDB is meddling in coaster politics, I think it's just a matter or programming.

For simplicity's sake, rides like Dueling Dragons are listed on one page. Otherwise, you'd start having pages with several entries for the same ride (see Blackpool's Steeplechase), which would be a confusing mess. I assume that the existing roller coaster count is generated based on the number of rides in that list, not the total number of unique tracks.

Credit wise, I'd be much quicker to consider riding Dueling Dragons as 2 credits than two Batman: The Rides that are 1,000 miles apart.

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PhantomTails said:I don't think RCDB is meddling in coaster politics, I think it's just a matter or programming.

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Sounds like the simplest answer...gets my vote. ;)

As far as "water-coaster hybrids", my first thought was that KerSplash and Timber Mountain were the only two "flume rides" I counted. Then I remembered that JtA and BuzzSaw Falls are also rides I count. Dudley's, TSC, and the like don't generally qualify for most, despite having uphill sections. That line easily becomes blurred though, with the abundance of true flumes with uphill sections, like K-Woods, and even various raft-type rides (gotta get to SFKK for Deluge).

*** Edited 7/4/2007 5:42:54 AM UTC by rollergator***

I think Duane's criteria is if two tracks share supports and couldn't be separated, they count as one (various racers and duelers) but a single attraction like Primeval Whirl counts as two because the layouts are independent.

Would that make Hoosier Hurricane and Cornball Express a single credit? :)

If I go on a dueling coaster like Colossus (SFMM), and I feel the same things on both, I count that as one. It's not that side is better than that one. However, Dueling Dragons is completely different. I don't care for one, and I like the other one. I don't care for either side on American Eagle. Who cares if it has one more drop on one side? I still say it's one like Colossus.

For Space Mountain at WDW, I feel one gives you the bigger drop. They both give you nice drops, and are basically the same, but one just feels bigger. They say it's the same track on both sides, but I don't agree. The reason is because they crisscross. One has to be higher than the other one because they are crisscrossing. They can't be the same height. So, I say one is better (not as much to count them as 2), and I still say they are 1 coaster with 2 sides.

For the Matterhorn, I count as 2. One is just boring, and the other one is rough. Thus, I say 2.

The Batman the Rides (B&Ms) are all the same except for SFStL. That's counts as a different ride because it's not as good because of the direction it's going. It's an okay Batman, but not great like the other ones. I would consider Primevil Whirl as the same ride. Thus, it's 1 ride, and not 2.

My definition of whether a dueling coaster counts as 2 if you care is whether those coasters ride completely different. American Eagle and Space Mountain (for the most part) doesn't matter to me, where the Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Batman the Ride (SFStL vs the rest of them) do.

Spinout, SFSTl is not the only mirror Batman... The Vampire (La ronde) and the ex SFNO Batman The Ride are mirrored too. I personally like the Vampire

Both tracks on Space Mountain are the same, except that one track is 10 feet longer to allow for it to cross the other. That's it!

^ I thought one side of Colossus was ran backwards. Surely that's a different experience then the forward side.

While I'm talking about MM, has S:TE ever been counted as two coasters? Then again, how many of you have ever counted it as 1? lol.

Anyway, I've always counted any dueling coaster as two coasters. They're two separate rides even if they are the same experience. It's almost like counting flat rides at an amusement park, and just because the park has two carousels, you take one ride off the count. You know?

When i look at the coasters that i have rode over the past few years, i think of most racing style count as one, that even includes such as lightning racer, different levels of track in areas, and such but the same ride.

Like i count rides that are mirror images but the only few i can think of are mind erasers/thunderhawk and the the racer and rebel yell, only reason i have is because they are at different parks, but same ride layout and everything for both, but i wont count both sides.

So my opinion says if its a different layout or just for the sake of maybe being a ride monger, i do count the ones at different parks, even if they mirror another ride, because of the location only.

I believe if you haven't been on it before that how you count it.

I believe that all roller coasters do essentially the same thing - give you a ride coasting along a rail structure - so once you've ridden one, you have THE credit.

Anyone who has a track record higher than 1 is just credit whoring. ;)

We've been through this before, haven't we? Actual coasters, virtual coasters, imaginary coasters, desk chairs emulating coasters... ;)

The simplest thing is don't bother keeping count at all. It works quite well for me.

For what it is worth....

Of the coasters I have ridden, I count them as follows:

Counting as two:

Dueling Dragons (IOA) and Twisted Twins (SFKK): Different coasters... different layouts... different experiences... count as two.

Rolling Thunder (SFGrAdv): Both sides follow the same course, but the elements are arranged differently that each side has its own personality... I count as two.

Rebel Yell (KD), Racer (KI), Thunder Road (CW): While each side of these coasters is a mirror or the other (Actually each of these coasters mirror each other), the fact that one side runs forward while the othe runs backward Changes things... thus 2 coasters.

In all of the above cases I prefer one side over the other.

The following I count as ONE coaster:

Gemini (CP) and Racer (Kennywood): Layouts are identical (the case of Racer, actually the same track!)... and I can't tell one side from the other.

The following I could argue either way:

Lightning Racer (Hershey): Okay, the layouts are a close mirror image of each other so they are not IDENTICAL... but yet I still can't tell one side form the other.

Gwasi (BGT... or BGA or what ever they are going to be calling themselves in the future): Only rode each side once and I don't remember preferring one over the other, though satellite pics show slightly differeing layouts.

As I suffer from credit envy, I REALLY like Gonch's definition. ;)

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Lee Grant said:
I thought one side of Colossus was ran backwards. Surely that's a different experience then the forward side.

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But what if Colossus ran one train forward and one train backwards on the same track. Could that be counted as two separate coasters running on the same track?

First, I was attempting to clarify Spinoff's definition:

"If I go on a dueling coaster like Colossus (SFMM), and I feel the same things on both, I count that as one."

Based off of what you feel from both sides, Colossus would be two coasters, right? And as far as runing forward and backward trains on the same track, the fact is that they don't. The way I look at identical racers is that they're 2 identical roller coasters that just happen to be stuck together.

Think about this: do you concider conjoined twins one person? *** Edited 7/5/2007 9:46:16 PM UTC by Lee Grant***

Oh here we go with this debate again. Like someone said, it's a personal thing.

To me, here's what I'd go with:

--If it's marketed AND generally regarded as a rollercoaster, then it's a rollercoaster. If it's a flume/hydrid coaster/flume, then I don't count it, since it would only be a partial coaster, anyway.

--If there are 2 separate tracks that share the same support structure, then I count each track as a coaster. If you can count ride like The Chiller as 2 coasters, then why not rides like the Rebel Yell? Some might say that it's the same ride, just a mirror image. Well, what about the 2 SROS clones at SFA and SFDL? The main one that I might not hold to this is STE, since it's mainly for capacity's sake that they have 2 tracks.

--If a coaster has been moved, you should only count it once. It's the same track, just in a different location. Clones, on the other hand, are physically different coasters, even though the design is the same, so they should be counted individually.

--If a coaster has been modified significantly (and I know that this can be a blurry line), such as Steel Phantom to Phantom's Revenge, then it can be counted twice. Significant could be defined as half or more of the track has been modified and replaced (not talking about retracking) from what the original design was.

So many rules, and even more gray areas. My method is easy: 1, 2, or more tracks? Counts as one. Relocated? Counts once. Remove the gray areas and counting becomes so much easier.