Amusement Park Roller Coaster for Fun

When you are five years old and 43 inches tall, there are only four rides in all of Hershey Park. According to the good folks at Hershey, there are over 60 rides and attractions, but according to our daughter there are only four: The Comet, Superdooperlooper, Trailblazer and Roller Soaker.

If you guessed that these four rides are roller coasters amusement rides, you probably also guessed that we have a five year old thrill seeker in the family. I am sorry, make that a 43 inch tall five year old. We must keep the facts straight. After all, she did not make me check her height twice a week all winter for nothing. This child has been measured more than a Weight Watchers convention!

I guess it all started last year when she rode the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood for the first time, and then again, and again; six times in all that day if memory serves. And mind you, we did not just ride, we waited extra time to sit in front and then extra time to sit in back and I even got a lecture on how to properly raise my hands above my head. White knuckled adults were shaking their heads in amazement, but she just could not get enough.

She talked about it so much over the winter that to tide her over until summer arrived, I even created a screen saver collection called Roller Coaster Mania -- try it and see what you think: http://store.eSellerate.net/90percent/rcm ; I put this on my computer and all winter as we ticked off her progress on the growth chart, she grilled me about which one of the coasters in these gorgeous photos she would be able to ride. By the first signs of spring, I have to admit, I was pretty eager to get on the rides too!

So when considering our vacation destination for the summer of 2006, the primary objective was to find a park that had big sizer roller coasters that met the height requirement and a good selection of kiddie rides for our younger daughter who thinks her sister is nuts, regardless of how tall she is.

Since most parks put a 48 inch minimum on what our daughter calls real roller coasters, I had to do a little searching on the Internet before finally deciding upon Hershey Park in Pennsylvania which fit the bill. Of their 10 coasters, four are set at the 42 inch minimum with the greatest excitement of it all being the fact that one even does a loop dee loop, as she calls them.

We nestled in to a cozy cabin at a nearby campground, saw some other sites in Amish Country, visited the Crayola Factory, attended a beautiful festival in Kutztown, and then it was off to the park for the day. Of course, to our five year old, the park was the whole purpose for the trip, not just one of the many family activities we had planned. Our youngest was just in it for the chocolate and also delighted in boinking the Hershey Bar character on the nose. So we all have our vices I guess.

At dawn on the big day, I found myself being tapped on the shoulder several hours before I had planned to be out of bed. Can you measure me one more time, just to make sure, she said, as she waived a measuring tape over my head. Even before my first cup of coffee, this was one of those moments you will never forget.

Not only did she sneak a measuring tape into the suitcases, she also brought along her high healed sandals just for good measure. I could not quite explain that after passing the 42 inch mark, it did not matter how tall she was until she reached the next 48 inch plateau. She insisted on the added insurance that the sandals provided, so they were the footwear of choice; at least until after the first hour or so when I pulled out the backup pair.

I absolutely love riding roller coasters http://bestonrollercoaster.com/ but let me go on record as saying that for a mother, it is a little unsettling to see your baby being strapped into a seat beside you; she just looked so tiny sitting there! So I did what any quick thinking mom would do and when the ride started, I proceeded to reach over with my arm and pin her against the back of the seat, brace her head from moving, and make sure she didn't fall out. After all, the ride operator DID say to secure, my belongings.


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How Do Roller Coasters Work?

Many of us like to go on roller coasters, but how many of us know how they work? The best part of being on a roller coaster is to have a feeling like you are about to fly out of your seat, but why don't you? In this article we will go step by step of how the fun ride works.


First of all, we have to get to the top. So we start going upwards, and the first hill is always the tallest one (for more excitement!), which means that the potential energy is at its highest when the ride is at its highest. Meaning that at that point the ride is at its' highest point and after the drop, the roller coaster will be doing the most work and the energy that the roller coaster will build up from that first drop will be enough to take you until the end of the ride.

After the cheap roller coaster makes it to the top of that first hill, the gravity will take over. The ride will be pulled downwards with the gravitation pull of 9.8m (or 10m). As the ride accelerates down the "hill," the potential energy converts into kinetic energy, also known as motion energy as object that has kinetic energy must be in motion.

Now, how does the roller coaster ride http://bestonrollercoaster.com/ come to an end? Well, it all has to do with inertia, the law that states that an object will stay in motion until acted by an equal but opposite force. When the roller coaster is at the bottom of the "hill" its' kinetic energy is at its highest. While the ride is going around the loops and other hills, the energy is being lost to an energy like friction. So when the roller coaster gets to an end it has used all of its energy (but of course there are also breaks that help the ride with coming to a stop, which also convert the kinetic energy into heat).

So you know the feeling like you are going to fly out of your seat that we talked about earlier? The reason you do not fly out of your seat is because you are being pushed down by your safety bars, even though you are going up the hill. When you go down the hill, you are still being pushed downwards even though the roller coaster starts pushing you up again. The combination of these two "feelings" keep you safe in you seat and make sure you do not fly out and enjoy your ride.


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