Traveling the Globe for the Best Coasters and Theme Parks
It’s our second year presenting a fresh-take on award categories for the theme park and coaster world. With a few returning categories, and a variety of new categories, this is Crystal Crown Awards 2021 – Recognizing Unusual Theme Park Highlights.
Continue reading “Crystal Crown Awards – 2021”
We’re all so used to exploring different theme parks around the world and riding loads of different rollercoasters and rides beyond our imagination. We often forget to appreciate how advanced and state-of-the-art a lot of the modern technology which allows rollercoasters to be manufactured, built and operated really is. So I thought to myself, let’s go back to the roots of the amusement park industry. What was the inspiration for theme parks in general and what were the first designs for rollercoasters, the materials used and the elements and experiences created by these historic and revolutionary ideas. We’re taking you over 100 years back and some of the oldest rollercoasters in Europe are still operating today. So join us as we take an exciting and historical adventure across Europe!
Continue reading “A Look at the Oldest Rollercoasters in Europe”
Like many, we got quite surprised after hearing the name of Plopsa’s coaster for 2021: The Ride To Happiness by Tomorrowland. Although a music festival might seem weird to theme a ride and area, the aesthetic of the Tomorrowland brand does actually fit. It did get us thinking, what other brands or franchises haven’t we seen in theme parks yet and could be interesting to see? Let’s talk about 10 themes not yet seen!
Continue reading “Major Brands and Franchises Not Yet In Theme Parks”
There are many ways to show your love for roller coasters and theme parks, and for many of our readers these attractions are a way of life. Today we’re taking a look some of our own coaster tattoos, as well as readers’ theme park and roller coaster tattoos!
Continue reading “Roller Coaster and Theme Park Tattoos”
Coaster Kings is proud to present their very own Discord server! We’re always looking for ways to interact with our readers, create unique content, and have a global presence across various platforms. The Coaster Kings Discord server will be home to a variety of channels, including regional and language specific ones!
Continue reading “Coaster Kings Discord Server”
We happened to be in the Florida panhandle this week and were only a few hours removed from OWA in Foley, Alabama. So we notified some nearby family and hit up this Zamperla prototype park on the Alabama Gulf Coast. This park is home to a few coaster credits and an excellent selection of flat rides. Let’s take a look at this 100%-Zamperla park!
Continue reading “The Park at OWA”
Coaster Kings is proud to introduce a new annual special event: The Crystal Crown Awards. – Within the coaster and theme park enthusiasts communities there are many different annual awards, polls, etc. We wanted to take a different approach and present a unique lineup of categories that highlight specific characteristics of theme parks, rides, rollercoasters, and the industry as a whole. To listen to the awards in detail, check out our Coaster Kings Radio episode, you’ll also find the 16 carefully chosen categories and their winners here:
You might have heard of this park called Europa-Park. We already wrote several times about this incredible park, which also blooms as a resort more and more. Last year, they proved that even more with the addition of Rulantica, a heavily-themed indoor waterpark and basically their second gate. We’ll guide you through, discovering this special place and how you need to prepare yourself for a visit! Continue reading “A Guide to Visiting Rulantica, Europa-Park’s Water Park”
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is adding a new food festival with incredible dining options. This exciting news also includes details on attractions that will be reopening that were previously closed, including Alpengeist and Verbolten! Check out all that the food festival has to offer! Continue reading “Taste of Busch Gardens – Coming to Busch Gardens Williamsburg”
We’ve seen parks of all types, locations, and architectural styles. Some parks, however, were just very weird. After a fun trip down memory lane we created this list of the 10 weirdest parks in the world. Enjoy! Continue reading “10 Weirdest Theme Parks in the World”
Europe holds quite a few smaller theme parks that have plenty of reasons to visit. That’s why we love to put those parks in the spotlight as they often have big parks to compete with. Today, we want to talk about a smaller park in Poland and 5 reasons to visit. Let’s go to Legendia! Continue reading “5 Reasons to visit Legendia”
We’re fortunate enough to have ridden all traditional Giga coasters in the world (that means lift-hill followed by several additional elements). We figured we may as well create a ranking of them all! We know our opinion can be a bit shocking at times, thus we asked Instagram followers on @thecoasterkings to guide is in creating this list. Some of the poll responses we just couldn’t agree with, but thank you readers for making the ranking process fun. Continue reading “All Traditional Giga Coasters in the World – RANKED”
While Knott’s Berry Farm theme park remains closed, Knott’s Ghost Town is the setting for the all-new, limited time outdoor food and retail experience, Knott’s Taste of Calico. During this specially ticketed outdoor event, guests will be able to take a nostalgic stroll through the streets of Calico, sample unique Knott’s culinary creations including boysenberry specialties, visit local crafters and shop at our unique stores. Continue reading “Knott’s Taste of Calico”
Alexander: Greetings! Who’s ready for another Coaster Kings Top 5? This time we’re looking at one of B&M’s most enduring product lines, the Flying Coaster!
Sven: While we can’t really travel much to theme parks at the moment, why not start planning to do so? At some point, all of this will have to be over so why not be prepared and start dreaming about our theme park trips? That’s why we’ll help you with our new article series: European Coaster City Trips! First up: Brussels in Belgium! Continue reading “European Coaster City Trip: Brussels”
Sean: Disney loves their (mine) train themed coasters and every Disney Resort is home to at least one signature version! Today we take a look at five of the eight spread around the world to make our ranking. The selection ranges from classic Big Thunder Mountain Railroad installations to new-age versions such as Expedition Everest and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Continue reading “Our 5 Favorite Disney Mine Train Roller Coasters”
Sean: SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is reinvesting in its properties more than ever, and a park where that’s very apparent is the vibrant and exciting SeaWorld San Antonio. Our last visit was a little less than 3 years ago, and the park feels completely different! Continue reading “SeaWorld San Antonio 2020 – A Park Reborn”
Sven: It’s over! Goodbye 2010, goodbye 2011 and so on. In the past 10 years we had some great coaster additions all over Europe. Some pretty unexpected while others seemed only normal that they would eventually be built. I’m sure you’re already thinking of quite some coasters and so did we. Read along about a whole decade of new major coasters in Europe! Continue reading “The 10s of Europe – A Decade in Review”
Alexander: We’re very fortunate to have ridden as many coasters as we did this calendar year – from America to the Netherlands to China, we covered a lot of ground for some highly sought-after credits.
Some rides, however, really blew us away despite their unassuming nature – we didn’t plan trips around these great rides, and yet, they stick out in our minds as some of the best coasters we hit this year. Continue reading “Our Top 10 Biggest Surprise Coasters of 2019”
Alexander: Welcome to Coaster Kings‘ countdown of the 20 best coasters that turned 20 years old this year!
The Coaster Class of 1999 had a lot of stars (still the most coasters to open in one year), so let’s take a look at the best of the best!
Continue reading “Twenty-Year Top 20: The Best Coasters of 1999”