How a 10-Year-Old's 1978 Disneyland Visit Inspired the Idea for Loop Roller Coasters
By
wordglyph
Reliable enough to start your morning with. Toast it again tomorrow.
Summary
A personal narrative about a 10-year-old's 1978 Disneyland experience riding Space Mountain for the first time, which inspired him to conceptualize a roller coaster with loops. The story details how the thrill of Space Mountain sparked the idea for inverted roller coasters, drawing inspiration from other amusement park physics principles like centrifugal force rides.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledIt figuratively and literally took my breath away. I loved every second of it and that night, I couldn't fall asleep; I just kept thinking about how exhilarating it was.
Then, a wild thought suddenly hit me: Why isn't there a roller coaster that goes upside down?
At first, I was like that's crazy, it can't work. But then I remembered Spin Out, the ride with a round room that spun so fast I stuck to the wall. If that worked, why not a loop on a roller coaster
In 1978, for my 10th birthday, I went to Disneyland and got to ride a new roller coaster called Space Mountain.
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