Six Flags has built many record-setting coasters in recent years, coasters like Tatsu, the tallest and fastest flying coaster, introduced this year at Magic Mountain, or Kingda Ka, the tallest and fastest coaster when it opened at Great Adventure in 2005. I wondered if this is the end of the Roller Coaster Arms Race.

A little background may be helpful here. The Golden Age of rollercoasters ended with the The Great Depression, when the coaster population exceeded 3,000 worldwide. By 1979 the number of coasters had dropped to less than 300.The theme park era began with the opening of Disneyland in 1955, and big new coasters began to appear with the introduction of the Racer in 1972 at Kings Island in Ohio. The appearance of two California looping coasters, the Corkscrew at Knott’s Berry Farm in 1975 and the Revolution at Magic Mountain in 1976, accelerated the Arms Race as parks strived to introduce the tallest, fastest or loopiest coaster. It marked the beginning of a rollercoaster renaissance. Today, with more than 40 different types of coasters, parks can claim bragging rights in many varieties, and have. More than 1,600 coasters are now in operation, so we can finally take rollercoasters off the endangered species list. If Six Flags stops building record-setting coasters, as Shapiro implies, will that signal a ceasefire in the Arms Race? Will other parks stop pushing the envelope, too? I think not. Introductions of major new high-capacity coasters have produced boosts in attendance that enabled parks to pay for the rides within a year or two. If you can afford them, they have been good for business.

That’s not to say you need record-setting coasters. Just big, fast, thrilling rides, along with a little ingenuity, will do nicely. Shapiro was on the right track when he told me, “We need to be building rides that are, if it’s possible, attractive to all ages.”

Like, for example, the Comet at The Great Escape, behind me in the photo? Next year it will be 60 years old. I rode it when it was built in 1948 at now-defunct Crystal Beach Park in Canada, and I’ve ridden it every year it has operated since, not that I’m compulsive. It’s a modest 89ft tall, and the pacing is excellent. It’s smooth enough that both parents and children can enjoy it. Build more coasters like the Comet and you won’t go wrong. Meanwhile, I have this free advice for Six Flags: Ignite the Dark Ride Arms Race. In lieu of $20 million coasters, why not build $20 million dark rides? You need dark rides, families love dark rides, and right now I’m suffering dark ride depravation.

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