Side Friction: Roller Coasters and the Parks They Live In

Side Friction - Episode 60 - "Digging for Thrills" December 14th, 2024 Steph and Greg meet with Troy Parsh of the Amusement Preservation Museum and discuss the unexpected (and funny) challenges of finding, restoring, and displaying amusement park history. Amusement Preservation Museum Website Amusement Preservation Museum Instagram Amusement Preservation Museum Facebook Mastodon: https://worldkey....

Side Friction - Episode 59 - "Weather or Not" December 7th, 2024 Greg and Bob do their best to find stuff to talk about on this slow news week on this short but sweet episode. Family Awarded $8M in lawsuit against BGT   Attendance, revenue down at United Parks & Resorts due to bad weather   Attendance, revenue and income increase at United Parks & Resorts   Petrus Trust Company LTA Makes New Inves...

Side Friction - Episode 58 - "Thanksgiving Tony and the Coaster Harvest" November 30th, 2024 Steph, Adam, and Bob are joined by Piper and LJ for this Friendsgiving episode.  Touching on a few news stories but mostly a whole lot of rabbit trails this is an episode that will certainly bring you a lot of laughs. We hope all of our US listeners had a great Thanksgving holiday. IAAPA Expo 2024 Wraps Up...

Side Friction - Episode 57 - "Come On, Knock it Off!" November 23rd, 2024 Greg and Bob discuss the happenings at IAAPA as slim as that news is but also talk about a lot of other interesting things including a whole lot of knock offs of other coasters and rides. Pre-show Rant: Google's mysterious 'search.app' links leave Android users concerned Kentucky Kingdom kicks off multimillion-dollar Christm...

Side Friction - Episode 56 - "King Dick" November 16th, 2024 The whole team (Greg, Bob, Adam, and Steph) put on one of the most fun episodes we've had in a while. Of course we cover the elephant in the room and the Dick who killed it as well as a few other stories. You won't want to skip this one. Richard killed the king La Vibora - Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington, Texas, United States) Six Flags...

Side Friction - Episode 55 - "The Frontal Lobe" November 9th, 2024 Greg and Bob make the best out of a week that certain other US news far out-paced amusement park news.  It's one of our shortest shows but has lots of interesting speculation and some unique stories. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation Reports 2024 Third Quarter Results Six Flags potentially selling some of its theme parks followin...

Side Friction - Episode 54 - "Queenda Qwa" November 2nd, 2024 This show starts off with some sad news as Bob and the others remember his mom who passed away on October 17th but then the whole crew (Bob, Steph, Greg, and Adam) all get into the latest news and turn it into a fun episode. Utility Markers appear next to Kingda Ka   Siren's Curse parts arriving at CP Walt Disney World hikes annual pass...

Side Friction - Episode 53 - "Greedflation" October 12th, 2024 It's happening everywhere including parks and especially at Disneyland and Six Flags Entertainment Corp.... prices are going up.  Greg and Bob call it out along with a whole host of other frustrations and a few things that are exciting as well. It's a shorter episode than normal but should still keep you entertained. Image of partially...

Side Friction - Episode 52 - "Pagan Cat" October 5th, 2024 We're back with another episode and for it we've got the entire team together again.  Join Bob, Greg, Steph, and Adam as they discuss an extremely wide range of news stories with the typical rabbit trails leading to who knows what. Universal Patents Technology to Detect Behavior Will Disneyland raise ticket prices in October? Rivers of Ame...

Side Friction - Episode 51 - "Maurer's Curse" September 21st, 2024 Steph and Bob go on a wild ride of news. Bob gets fired up and Steph actually comes along for the ride when it comes to the other half of Todd Joseph. It doesn't stop there, however, so many news stories to address that some of the ones lesser important ones needed to be kicked to next week so that they could give these the time th...

Side Friction - Episode 50 - "Holy Hell, Watch Out for the Mayonnaise!" September 14th, 2024 We've made it to 50 episodes! This episode is packed full of not only news but a few flash backs, some trivia, and of course rabbit trails galore but we didn't stop at content, we also packed it full of hosts with Greg, Steph, and Bob pulling Adam into the mix as well. Come along for the ride! Golden Ticke...

Side Friction - Episode 49 - "Bobbing for Treasure?" September 7th, 2024 Greg and Bob find that it's a famine this week when it comes to news but they manage to scrape together enough to talk about including a couple stories that pop up just before the record. Warner Bros. Discovery Merges Theme Park, Studio Tour and Retail Groups Into One Division   Zeus Derailed   Six Flags New Orleans - will it...

Side Friction - Episode 48 - "Indefinite Height" August 31st, 2024 Steph and Bob discuss a collection of news stories ranging from infuriating to completely expected.  It won't cost a thing unless your name is Myke who owes a few rides on Tumbili. Twizzlers Twisted Gravity CoasterRadio "She's a coming down" reference (E1045, 28:10 to 32:40)   Top Thrill 2 Not Opening, No Surprise Niagara Amusement...

Side Friction - Episode 47 - "Disney's Left in the Stardust" August 24th, 2024 Greg and Bob talk about an asortment of news with a bit of a focus on some truly perplexing incidents and a Disney and Universal showdown. Lost Island goes RMC Raptor Morey's maintenance UK's oldest gets crunchy Scenic Railway - Dreamland   Waldameer swings accident Reddit Post   Ferris Wheel fire in Germany Ferris whee...

Side Friction - Episode 46 - "Binding Arbitration" August 17th, 2024 Steph is back and joins Bob as they discuss the dystopian legal future Disney helps bring us and the other half of the Six Flags company that forgot to make their announcements with the Cedar Fair half last week. It'll be as much fun as looking at magic eye images. Super Slide Amusement Park Recovering You had a free Disney+ Tria...

Side Friction - Episode 45 - "You Put My Volcano Where?" August 10th, 2024 Mother Nature tries really really hard to make this show not happen and First Energy doesn't do anyone any favors either but Greg (who usually hides in the background doing work making our website not a bright yellow eyesore) joins Bob to address all the Cedar Fair things.  With a little luck Northern Ohio will have power n...

Side Friction - Episode 44 - "Up On Blocks" July 27th, 2024 This week is different.  Steph needed to take a break so filling in for her is Bob's Nephew, LJ.  Join them as they discuss the news and LJ learns just how frequent rabbit trails can happen. Kennywood's Racer coaster temporarily closed for modifications The Fees are Gone Waldameer getting a Nebulaz Thousands of Disneyland workers vote to...

Side Friction - Episode 43 - "BSOD: Blue Spin of Death" July 20th, 2024 Riley from That's So Mid joins Steph and Bob to talk about, well, whatever they feel like.... but they do fit in some news here and there.  It may not be the most news heavy episode but it is highly entertaining. Disney Data Breach! Wingcano Did YoU kNoW?! Officials reveal cause of death for man killed in suspected hit with Ba...

Side Friction - Episode 42 - "Decades of Research" July 13th, 2024 Bob and Steph put lots of time and effort into this show..... or maybe they just tossed some links on a Google Doc and hit record. We'll let you decide. Ferris Wheel Torn Up By Beryl   Fire Ball Survivor   One person in hospital after falling 30 to 40 feet from ride at Canada's Wonderland   Zamperla celebrates opening of fastest la...

Side Friction - Episode 41 - "Tipflation" July 6th, 2024 The merge happened..... and Steph and Bob both got their glimpses at each side of that merger. Hear the trip reports mixed in with the news from the last 2 weeks and whatever rabbit trails turn up along the way. Cedar Fair and Six Flags Merge Mr. Six Dead?   Tipping at United Parks Quick Service Don't Re-Enter SeaWorld Chippewa Lake History...

Side Friction - Episode 40 - "Stress Analysis" June 22nd, 2024 A lot of sad news stories this week but Steph and Bob do a great job of keeping the episode fun and, by somewhat intentional design, the show gets more fun as it goes on. Man Struck by Rollercoaster Jetline Derailment Caused by Weak Parts Upside Down in Oregon Lawsuit Filed   Zamperla Investigating   FUN - Anticipated Merger slated to...

Side Friction - Episode 39 - "Wingcano's Epic Barnyard Adventure" June 15th, 2024 West from High Rollers joins Steph and Bob for an adventure in whatever the hell they feel like talking about. A seriously fun episode where lots of topics get covered whether or not they are here on the rundown. Cedar Point: Camels Blood Mayflies Punching Another Spirit Halloween, I mean, Claw Machine pops up Potent...

Side Friction - Episode 38 - "Suck It, Tony Clark, Suck It" June 8th, 2024 Steph talks all about HWN and Santa Claus (the town, of course) and doesn't want to stop but eventually Bob gets her back on track only to go on a few other rabbit trails. Avoid the Giant Hill at Legoland Beech Bend Emergency...Not Entitled to Scale Heights Never been used Vekoma Family Coaster Top Thrill 2 will remain clos...

Side Friction - Episode 37 - "Mackprodukt" June 1st, 2024 Generally fun stuff in this week's episode as Steph and Bob talk about the latest coaster to join the list of extended closures Tony Clark says a TT2 update is "approaching" Hyperia Closes After One Day Gene Staples: The King of Schwarzkopf Big Hot Lost Island Announcement Kenny Kangaroo's Sewage Sludge Empire Kennywood Park: 11 cats found...

Side Friction - Episode 36 - "Coast to Coast(er)" May 25th, 2024 Steph and Bob barely stay on the reservation as somehow talking about coasters and industry news leads into discussions about the strange things that border the realm of the paranormal. Amusement Preservation Museum Stunt shows return to Kennywood Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Giant Dipper Turns 100 El Toro's FREE double sided lockers h...