Top Roller Coaster Myths & Rumors!

Hey everyone!

Working on something that I need your help with.

I am looking for the most common or outlandish "Roller Coaster Myths" or "Outlandish Rumors" that you have heard of. Now, we are NOT looking for things like "Oh, I hear Cedar Point is going to build a 500 foot woodie", we are looking for real ACTUAL things that people believe to be true. Things that could be TESTED to either be proven "true" or "false" For example:

"Magnum is sinking 1 inch every year."

That has come up so many times that people really believe it!

We are also looking for common GP "misconceptions" like:

"If you drop something from the top of the loop, you’ll catch it at the bottom of the loop…"

Other things would include stories of haunted attractions, unproven rumors of someone dying on a roller coaster, or things that people really believe can happen on a ride, but you're not too sure if they are real or not.

Ok, start posting!!!

Thank you!

--Robb

Disney is pretty fertile ground for this sort of stuff. For example, I recall hearing stories that someone died of heart attack when the Haunted Mansion opened, so they had to tone the ride down; that the actual plane from Casablanca is part of the Great Movie Ride (they didn't use a real plane in that movie); and that Walt Disney's face appears on one of the singing busts in the Haunted Mansion (it's actually the face of singer Thurl Ravenscroft).

What about the Kings Dominion "UFO," which is actually just a smoke ring created by the fire effect on Volcano? (Local news stations actually covered that one.)

Here's one that explained what happened to the infamous Drachen Fire roller coaster Busch Gardens Williamsburg after it was SBNO for years, It was melted down to make the Griffon coaster.

Here's one that explained what happened to the infamous Drachen Fire roller coaster Busch Gardens Williamsburg after it was SBNO for years, It was melted down to make the Griffon coaster.

Ahhh! lol! I remember hearing this one to! Perfect!

I've heard that the Matterhorn is sinking because of all those years when the lagoon was empty.

^Hah! I remember that one! Well, I've actually been to the park when that lagoon was empty for a refurb of the old Sub ride. The Matterhorn did just fine.

I hadn't heard the Drachen Fire rumor before, but I imagine it got started because the park sold the ride for scrap after no other park would buy it.

Some gentleman told me he should have came to the park earlier in the season because roller coasters run faster in cold weather when the track shrinks.

These are Kings Island Rumors.

The classic "Vortex is sinking!"

People Died on the Bat.

People got thrown off the loop on Son of beast.

Vortex is being removed.

People died on the Beast.

They're rebuilding Son of Beast.

Son of Beast is reopening!

I've also heard CGA's Flight Deck was sinking, and would need to be replaced in a few years.

^I'm familiar with that one.

How bout the person being decapitated on Space Mountain when it first started testing (I've heard this rumor refer to both WDW and DLR's versions).

My favorite as a kid (dark ride rumor, not coaster) was for Indiana Jones, that if everyone in the car didn't look at the eyes of Mara, the ride op would send your jeep on a secret track with a totally different ride experience.

Some gentleman told me he should have came to the park earlier in the season because roller coasters run faster in cold weather when the track shrinks.

Actually, stuff like this is perfect!

"Roller coasters run faster in the cold weather"

"Woodies are more intense in the back seat"

Seriously, though, keep posting stuff, even if it seems outlandish.

Six Flags America is supposed to be haunted.

The whole theory that "coasters run faster later in the day".

Flying Turns will one day actually open.

dt

There's the old legend of the man dying on top of the Ride of Steel after having a heart attack. I have heard of at least 10 versions of that one.

I can't remember which it was, but I always heard that a person, or water dummy, fell off Kingda Ka back in 2005 when it opened and that's why it was closed.

T2 at Kentucky Kingdom came from Opryland

One I totally believe is true: Leviathan was meant to be built at Knott's.

dt

Flying Turns will one day actually open.

 

dt

I actually believe that one. And for awhile I thought Magnum was able to sink.

Maverick was originally going to be an Aquatrax.

dt

Wasn't there a rumor about the test dummies flying out/being horribly mangled during testing on one of the Windseekers?

Speaking of secret tracks, the Track B on Test Track rumor.

Also, what about 'magic seats?' Some rides have them, and people swear by them.

Darien Lake was going to remove Grizzly Run and put in the stand up coaster from Six Flags Astroworld in 2011.

There was a Florida rumor that the old tubes they used for Key West Rapids at Adventure Island in Tampa were replaced because one of them flew out of the flume!

These are Kings Island Rumors.

 

The classic "Vortex is sinking!"

People Died on the Bat.

I remember someone telling me (over 20 years ago) that the Bat was removed because it was sinking. That rumor has longevity!

Most of the myths I can think of had something to do with ride removal. There was always some sinister back story (e.g., someone died or was maimed) instead of the bland reality of the Six Flags ride-rotation program.

Without understanding the concept of "up-stops", kids in Pittsburgh always think that the Jack Rabbit trains (or roller coasters in general) were held on the track by magnets...