The success of the Shuttle Launch Experience at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida will be confirmed this March when it scoops Outstanding Attraction Achievement at the annual Thea Awards. As Visitor Complex numbers begin to rocket, Nick Towle talks to the Launch Experience’s creators.

Today’s park-goers are more likely to ask how many loops a coaster contains rather than if it goes upside down at all. Yet until it wasn’t until the 1970s and the start of The Rollercoaster Renaissance that guests became fully acclimatised to any kind of inversion in their coaster-riding experiences. Paul Ruben traces the history of looping coasters. Hold tight!

A Huss Topple Tower is the newest family thrill ride at Marineland, Niagara Falls, Ontario. Paul Ruben profiles a first for Canada.

Chance Morgan has been making CP Huntington trains for almost 50 years. The Wichita, Kansas, ride manufacturer turns out between five and 10 of the people-movers every year, and this summer it put the finishing touches to number 350. Park World toasts a stalwart park attraction.

Troy at Toverland near Venlo in Holland is a landmark ride for both operator and manufacturer. Transforming the profile of a park that began life as an indoor attraction, the 1km-plus long wooden coaster is also one of the largest constructions ever for Great Coasters International (GCI), and only its second in Europe. A ride that might seem at odds with Toverland’s family focus has in fact been a long time dream for park owner Jean Gelissen. Here Jean’s sister, Toverland director Caroline Maessen, explains why Troy is helping the park provide a more balanced offering, putting it on course to smash the half-million attendance barrier for the first time.

Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, has introduced Maverick, its 17th rollercoaster and the most at any single park in the world. Paul Ruben profiles one of the latest linear synchronous motor (LSM) launch coaster from Intamin.

The Flying Dutchman (Vliegende Hollander) is the Efteling’s largest, most expensive and complex attraction ever. A never before tried combination of dark ride, walk-through, water ride and coaster, the project took the park so long to perfect that it was delayed by a full season. But just as Captain Willem van der Decken was determined to sail the Flying Dutchman ship in the legend of the same name (“I will sail, storm or no storm, even if I have to sail to Judgment Day”), so Efteling officials were determined to get the ride right before it opened to the public this Easter.

Is it bird? Is it coaster? No, it’s a Mountain Glider! Walibi Belgium has finally opened its Vertigo ride, giving guests a bird’s eye view of the park and the closest experience they will get to flying like one. Park World profiles the latest attraction from a name that will be new to many within the amusement industry – Doppelmayr.

A ride on Griffon, the world’s tallest, floorless dive coaster at Busch Gardens Europe, Williamsburg, Virginia, is like being pushed off the edge of a cliff. You’re 205 feet in the air. It’s 90 degrees straight down. Paul Ruben was Park World’s guinea pig, or rather lemming.

When Massachusetts’ Jiminy Peak Mountain Adventure Park, introduced the Mountain Coaster last summer, it got more than it bargained for. Paul Ruben travelled to Hancock to find out more.

Named after the Widalpen hills around Vienna, the Widalpenbahn is a new River Splash ride at the city’s famous Prater park.

Dutch family park Drievliet has just opened the world’s first X-Car launch coaster. Built by Maurer Söhne using an LSM (linear synchronous motor) launch, it’s thrilling a wide variety of guests. Owen Ralph visits The Hague to experience a new kind of launch coaster.

Water is an effective way to add excitement to a ride. Riders can float, slide or be splashed. Paul Ruben traces the history of water rides, and asks several park operators and suppliers why they are still so enduring, while elsewhere we note five current trends.