So we all have our favorite coasters and our favorite places to sit on coasters. What about those coaster elements? In this blog, I will be discussing some of my favorite coaster elements and why I enjoy them so much. I will count down my top five elements leading all the way up to my favorite. So here goes!

5.) The elevator lift hill system: Okay, so some of you may not actually consider this an element, but there is something about these kinds of lifts I just love. I have ridden two coasters with them...and you guessed it, both of these coasters are on my top 3 list! Millennium Force at Cedar Point and Intimidator 305 out at Kings Dominion are the two monsters with these fast lifts. The thing is with these lift hills is they get the adrenaline pumping right off the bat right out of the station. They get you up to 300+ feet in 20 seconds or less, where as a normal lift would take like a minute or more. Now to get even more in depth...I would have to say I enjoy Millennium Force's cable lift more due to how it speeds up even faster about half way up the hill. This just gets you even more itchy for the coaster as you go up fast and the amazing drop ahead awaits.

4.) Vertical and Beyond Vertical drops: These are just amazing. I love plunging straight down towards the ground at full speed, sometimes even stretching beyond ninety degrees to where you are actually coming back a bit in the opposite direction than coming up the lift hill. I love the feeling of getting steeper, and steeper, and steeper until maximum speed is reached and gravity has taken control 100 percent. The only thing securing you from falling out is the restraints. This is a true drop on a roller coaster.

3.) Airtime on the highest point of the coaster: A perfect example of this is sitting in the very back of a hyper coaster, or any tall coaster for that matter, and getting the biggest boost of air time right off the bat as the rest of the train yanks you and the back car over the top of the first hill and plunges downward. Three coasters that I have ridden that demonstrate this feature very well are Diamondback at Kings Island, Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America, and Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Europe (Williamsburg, Virginia). I would say Diamondback is the best with this. About 5 feet from the top of the ride, you can feel the coaster pull you over...and from that point to the trough at the bottom of the first hill, you are completely weightless and out of the seat and this creates the most amazing feeling. This feels like you are flying through the air, are completely free from everything, and are squirming, waving arms and feet, all while looking at the tiny people below on the midway walking around. It feels like I am on the top of the world during that part of the ride and love doing it over and over and over again. I love "flying through the air" hundreds of feet above the ground with nothing but a lap bar keeping me from falling to my death, and that is exactly what these extreme and extensive airtime features do, especially on Diamondback. Obviously, I know it is safe so I am able to enjoy the full thrill to this as well as coasters in general.

2.) Darkness: Yup, this is about the most amazing thing about a coaster. Riding it at night. Riding at night is basically a completely different ride than riding it during the day. Being out in the dark night traveling at over sixty miles an hour where it is just you and the dark, is just so great. I like seeing the train disappear into the black, knowing the riders are out there going crazy and screaming, and then seeing them return knowing I will be on it soon. Then I get on and experience the whole thing. Going up the lift up and away from everyone, eventually it is just me and the night. Eventually no one can see the train except the people on the train. It is like I don't exist for a couple of minutes, until re-appearing back into the loading station. It's like the rest of the world disappears and I disappear from the rest of the world during the soothing and amazing ride through the night feeling the colder night wind on my face from start to finish. There is just something about this feeling I love so much and can only explain to a degree.

1.) Over-banked turns!: At last, the number one! Ever since Millennium Force made its debut in 2000, I absolutely cannot get enough of the over banked turn. People who know me know I love this element. It is just so unique and amazing and just by leaning a different way each time, you can experience this element in so many different ways. This is one of the reasons why Millennium Force has remained on my top 3 all time favorites since I first rode it and even accumulated so many new coaster credits since first riding it opening year in 2000. I also like it on the fact that it is just a great coaster all together. Leaning into an over banked turn, I can turn myself completely upside down. A lot of the time, I will turn myself as right as I can (on a rightward over banked turn, and left on a left one), so I am able to almost drape myself completely upside down with my arms perpendicular to the ground at the highest point of the turn. It feels like I will fall out, but I know I won't due to the lap bars. Call me crazy, but I love doing this technique on every over-banked turn I encounter. Plus the fact the over banked turn really is an incredible element on any coaster, and Millennium Force still utilizes them the best, even at over a decade old. The angle of the over banked turn is just so unique to me. Now some of you did not know why I choose to sit on the right seat on Millennium Force! Now you know and this is why! It is because Millennium Force consists of 3 rightward over-banked turns, and just one leftward one...thus sitting on the right side allows me to drape myself basically outside of the car all freely with just the lap bar holding me in three different times throughout the coaster, instead of just being able to one time by sitting on the left side!