The Analytics of Thrills

In this episode, Kira discusses about whether or not having more roller coasters make a park better, and the importance of the ranking of the roller coasters in each park. https://rcdb.com/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1358237/most-visited-theme-parks-us/?srsltid=AYCX9vJR9JVEkw7hFTb1kAwqNDWvK5yCI6RmIMwGm1cii5hwOYjbDXZd https://captaincoaster.com/en/ranking/

Kira talks about whether or not a traditionally large coaster makes it better. We run regressions to find the correlations between a coaster’s top stats and its rank. We’ll then discuss the r^2 values and what they tell us.  https://captaincoaster.com/en/ranking/?page=1 https://rcdb.com/

In this episode, Kira contrasts the most statistically average coasters in each theme park with the qualitatively most average coasters in each theme park. Kira talks about the both overlap and lack of overlap between these two different averages, and why that might be so. Sources: https://rcdb.com/ https://captaincoaster.com/en/tops/7293 https://captaincoaster.com/en/parks/73/busch-gardens-tampa...

Kira discusses whether or not inversions make a coaster better or worse. Kira compares the median amount of inversions per coaster at a few different theme parks, and then compare sthe general ranking of those theme parks to see if more inversions generally correlates with a higher park ranking. https://grokipedia.com/page/Roller_coaster_inversion#:~:text=A%20roller%20coaster%20inversion,below%20t...

In this episode, Kira discusses the fun "what if" scenario of getting rid of half of the coasters in a couple of theme parks. She compares and contrasts which coasters she personally would get rid of with the coasters that would lose in each stat category, for example the shortest coasters. https://rcdb.com/   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bad_Wolf:_The_Wolf%27s_Revenge   https://www...

In this episode, Kira presents a brief history of Hersheypark and then compares the coasters of Hersheypark and Hersheypark as a whole using data. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hersheypark https://rcdb.com/ https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo-cAmusementWaterParks-g191

Kira discusses the history of the Six Flags chain pre-merge (2024,) and highlights the differences between the statistically 'best' coasters/parks and those which are actually regarded as the best. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Flags   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_One_(roller_coaster)   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bobcat_(roller_coaster)   https://rcdb.com/   https://sc...

Kira discusses the safety features of roller coasters, and how roller coaster safety has evolved over time. Kira also compares data regarding roller coaster accidents to those of everyday activities to show the chances of injury. https://bmwlawgroup.com/amusement-park-injury-statistics/#:~:text=How%20Many%20Roller%20Coaster%20Accidents,in%20Six%20Flags%20New%20England   https://www.transportation....

Kira gives a brief overview of the manufacturers B&M and Intamin and uses data to compare them. https://www.intamin.com/company/about-us/   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolliger_%26_Mabillard#Notable_roller_coasters   https://grokipedia.com/page/Bolliger_%26_Mabillard#roller-coaster-types   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intamin#Roller_coasters   https://rcdb.com/

Kira compares wooden and steel roller coasters, discusses the struggle of the lack of data on roller coaster costs, and examines the varying intensities of wooden and steel coasters. https://rcdb.com/ https://grokipedia.com/page/Shivering_Timbers#history https://grokipedia.com/page/Wildfire_(Silver_Dollar_City)#trains-and-technical-specifications https://www.carneerides.com/wood-roller-coaster-mai...

Kira discusses the different ride elements, both quantitative and qualitative, that have placed some roller coasters in highly ranked spots! https://rcdb.com/ https://coasterbot.com/votecoasters-fullresults2024 https://captaincoaster.com/en/ranking/?page=1

Kira discusses the concept of unoccupied versus occupied waiting, looks at what the data says about how effective occupied waiting is, and suggests ways to make wait times feel shorter using occupied waiting. In addition, she talks about causes of and solutions to long ride queues. Link to study mentioned: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296325000396#s0025