Word: rollers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
There are as many families waiting in line for the world's longest, highest, fastest, scariest roller-coaster ride (just about every park claims the ultimate) as there are for the elephant ride or the multimedia screen show or the placid monorail to nowhere. City children will spend hours playing with small animals; other young visitors may take a dozen consecutive gut-wrenching rides or spend rapt hours trailing wandering minstrels. Many TV-age adults see live shows and big-name concerts for the first time-and possibly the last, until their return to a theme park. Notes California...
...great rushing, rhythmic, onomatopoeic piece of machinery, the roller coaster distills our emotions and describes our physical boundaries. The achingly slow climb to the top, the high-speed plunge to the bottom; a moment of weightlessness at the crest; an instant of contorting heaviness from the G force in the valley; terrified anticipation when it begins, and grateful relief...
...quite certain why careening through turns and careering down heart-stopping hills hold such a strong attraction for otherwise sane human beings. Some psychologists have suggested that riding a roller coaster is a form of rebellion against smother love and all its safety, a final plunge to freedom from childhood dependency. Others theorize latent death wishes or the need to act out and exorcise fears. For some, the motivation is simpler. Two years after he crossed the Atlantic, Charles Lindbergh took a spin on the Coney Island Cyclone, one of the oldest roller coasters still in operation (it is celebrating...
...Roller coasters come in two distinct species: wooden and metal. The wooden coasters, contemporary versions of rides of old, are strong, flexible and durable, but they look rickety, thus adding to the terror. Their clacking and creaking are built in, and serve to heighten the sensation of speed...
...metal roller coaster draws its inspiration from the aerospace industry. "We take great precautions to ensure that the biomechanical aspects of the rides are within the limits a rider can endure," says Terry Brown, vice president of Arrow Development Co. "We check each ride with instruments. The computer tells us about velocity, centrifugal forces and stresses...