Coaster Radio: The Original Theme Park Podcast

Have you ever been riding on a roller coaster for the first time and sworn that you've ridden it before? It probably wasn't deja vu (the feeling, not the coaster). Most likely, you were riding an exact duplicate of a roller coaster from another park. You were probably riding a coaster clone. (Actually, the roller coaster Deja Vu is a coaster clone!) Sometimes if a theme park or a ride designer has...

Theme parks are a great place for families and friends to get together and have a good time. They're fun, loud, colorful and exciting. But are they romantic? This week, we'll talk about whether or not theme parks are a good place to start up a romantic relationship. When you think about it, there are plenty of similarities between a theme park trip and an average date. Instead of having awkward co...

For our first 10-minute show of the Fall, we're going to talk about what's HOT and what's NOT as we finish the 2005 season and head into 2006. As E.B. said during the pre-show, we're lazy. If you'll remember, we didn't plan on doing new, weekly shows during the off-season. So, the topic for this show began when one of our listeners posted a message about it in the CoasterRadio.com Forums. Hey, the...

Labor Day signals the end of summer, the beginning of school and the close of the theme park season. But before we start to pack away our t-shirts and shorts and pull out our jeans and sweaters, it's time for one last summer celebration. This week, we present the 2005 CoasterRadio.com Awards! Over the past month, thousands of CoasterRadio.com listeners have been voting for their favorite parks and...

As we wind down the 2005 Summer Theme Park Season, we wanted to do something special for the thousands of you who listen each week. We decided to put you in charge of this week's show. Over the past few months, we've received hundredsof e-mails and forum postings from listeners all over the world who want us to talk about specific topics. Since there isn't time to get to all of them during our reg...

If you're a theme park enthusiast, you definitely know names like Disney, Universal, Six Flags, Paramount, Busch and Cedar Fair. They are the companies behind the major theme park chains in the United States. They also account for most of the profit made in the amusement park industry. However, when it comes to customer service, cleanliness and value, most of those parks can't compete with America...

Orlando, Florida is the theme park capital of the world. Millions and millions of tourists head there every year for their vacations, but most never venture away from Walt Disney World or Universal Studios to see what else the city has to offer. Most tourists never realize that Orlando is home to a bunch of other theme park and amusement facilities that offer alternative entertainment and big-time...

This week, CoasterRadio.com broadcasts live from International Street at Paramount's Kings Dominion. If you've listened to our show for any amount of time, you already know that Kings Dominion is our home park. This year, they're celebrating their 30th Anniversary. So, we'll spend some time talking about our favorite rides and memories from PKD's past 30 years. We'll be joined by Sarah Lovejoy, PK...

When we first started CoasterRadio.com, we had no idea that people from all around the world would listen. We've been making friends with people in the UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Austria and other countries throughout Europe. So, even though we don't know a lot about Europe, we're going to do our best to devote this week's show to European Theme Parks. To help us out, Robb from Theme Park Revie...

Fifty years ago on July 17th, 1955...history was made. Even if you're only a casual fan of theme parks, this is the week to pay tribute to a man who had enough imagination to turn a California Orange Grove into "The Happiest Place on Earth". This week, CoasterRadio.com celebrates Disneyland's 50th Anniversary and pays tribute to it's founder, Walt Disney. To help us celebrate, we'll be joined by E...

We're not sure what the weather's like where you are, but here in Washington, DC... IT'S HOT! So, what better way to cool off than with a CoasterRadio.com all about waterparks. Back in the day, waterparks had nothing to offer but a few tame waterslides and maybe a lazy river. Today, waterpark designers are coming up with attractions that go higher and faster than ever before. Today's water rides b...

The 4th of July is a special time in America. It signifies the middle of summer. Of course, it also means that the theme park season is in full swing! Join us as we celebrate this classic summer holiday by shooting off some of the very lame "legal" fireworks that you can buy in the state of Virginia. Of course, we'll also have discussion about theme parks. We'll talk about how one county in Maryla...

Think about the last time you visited a theme park. If it was a good trip, what made it memorable? If it was a bad trip, what made it terrible? Whatever type of trip you had, odds are it was affected by the employees at the park. Think about it! Were there long lines at your favorite roller coaster because the trains weren't being loaded fast enough? Or were the lines constantly moving because the...

When you were a kid, did you ever dream of building a theme park in your own backyard? Maybe you turned an old wagon or a Big Wheel into the roller coaster of your dreams? This week on CoasterRadio.com, we'll be taking a look at three very different thrill rides that have been built in backyards across the world. We'll talk about a guy in Germany who has created his very own log flume. We'll also...

This week, we took the show on the road and set up our broadcast at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, PA. We got a chance to record our broadcast right in front of Dorney Park's new floorless roller coaster, Hydra: The Revenge. On this week's show, we'll review the ride and give you our thoughts about the park's other attractions. We'll also talk with park guests to get their reactio...

We've been working really hard on the show since it premiered six weeks ago. We've taken two road trips - one to Busch Gardens Williamsburg and one to Six Flags Great Adventure. We've also been hard at work recruiting new correspondents from all over the world. If that wasn't enough, we've also been hard at work developing new content and ideas for the CoasterRadio.com website. So, we decided to t...

This week, we broadcast from the Media Day of the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster - Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure! Join us as we talk with park officials, engineers and coaster enthusiasts about the new ride. We'll also give you our review and let you know if it's worth traveling from your hometown for a ride. We'll also put a wireless microphone on E.B so you can hear exactly...

Anytime you visit a theme park message board on the internet, you're bound to run into "Conspiracy Theories" about your favorite park or ride. People post the most outrageous claims and it's difficult to figure out what's true and what's not. For instance, is your favorite roller coaster going to be torn down because it's sinking into the ground? 

This week, CoasterRadio.com returns to our Washington, DC studios. We start off the show by answering listener e-mails about Italian Job Stunt Track and our Park Pet Peeves segment about line cutting. We'll also wrap up last week's trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg and give our final reviews of their new attraction "Curse of DarKastle." Then, we'll talk with Kristin Siebeneicher, the Public Relat...

Busch Gardens Williamsburg  has just unveiled their newest dark ride and it looks like it is going to be one of the top new attractions in 2005. "Curse of DarKastle: The Ride"  is a dynamic, motion-based, 3D attraction that sends guests on a terrifying, gravity-defying ride through the mysterious corridors of a Bavarian Castle. Across the country, teams of animators, engineers and designers worked...

Welcome to the premiere show of CoasterRadio.com! We'll kick off the 2005 Summer season by reviewing many of the new rides and attractions that will be headed to theme parks this year. Will they live up to the hype? Or, will we all end up suffering from "antici-pointment?" (A combination of too much anticipation that eventually leads to disappointment.) We'll talk about the newest attraction to hi...

CoasterRadio.com is a half-hour podcast dedicated to roller coasters, theme parks and thrill rides. Podcasting each week from our studios in Washington, DC and from theme parks around the country, the CoasterRadio.com crew gets you ready for your day at the park!