August 16, which I have always only associated with my birthday, Madonna's birthday, and the day that Elvis died, has apparently also been National Roller Coaster day since the early 1980's (which is the exact time I happened to have been born). How did I not know about this until now?
The main thing to keep in mind about this day is that it's not just some unknown holiday for adrenaline junkies to come together and celebrate amongst ourselves. There are certain places that actually give free roller coasters rides (or celebrated the day in some other way) around the world. Although I'm still looking into it, what I know for certain is that Buffalo Bill's Resort and Casino is one venue that offers free rides on this day.
If you've ever driven the lonely expanse of highway in between Las Vegas and Los Angeles (and I have -- many, many times), then you're probably familiar with Buffalo Bill's. It's also commonly referred to in the vernacular as "State Line," and is that last pit stop before the final 40-or-so minutes into Vegas (or final 3 1/2 hours into LA). It's home to a roller coaster called Desperado, which I haven't had the pleasure of riding since 2003, despite the fact that I've been through the area many times since then.
While we're on the subject, Desperado is actually a pretty good roller coaster to experience, if you haven't before. Back in 1996, it was the tallest roller coaster in the world, with an initial drop of 225 feet. Since then, of course, it's been dethroned by such legends as Goliath (255 foot drop, at Six Flags Magic Mountain), Millennium Force (300 foot drop, at Cedar Point), and Kingda Ka (currently the reigning champion with a 418 foot drop, at Six Flags Great Adventure). But still -- how could you justify turning down a free ride on this classic (especially when it's your birthday)?
The thing is, though, I'd like to get more theme parks on board with National Roller Coaster Day. I think the biggest parks should be aware of it (including all of the Six Flags parks), so that they can help celebrate in some way. After all, we coaster enthusiasts are their primary customer, and we dig holidays like National Roller Coaster Day.
We'll see what happens when August 16, 2013 rolls around. Hopefully many of us can be in contact with the parks before then.
Thanks for the mention, Katy! I was absolutely shocked when I called Six Flags Magic Mountain and they said they had never heard of National Roller Coaster Day before. At least Cedar Point was familiar with it when I called them, even though they don't celebrate it. What's wrong with these parks? That's a no-brainer day to do something special. I'm with you - let's start a grassroots movement to get more parks in the spirit for 2013! Sound like a plan?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely -- if nothing else, perhaps we can at least get Six Flags to do some kind of recognition within their parks. I'm on board! ;)
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