As we begin to close out 2009 and the decade, we look back at all the things that have occurred in a three-part series…

• General happenings and ThrillNetwork
• What happened with thrill rides — what’s new and what departed us
• The seemingly dwindling Biz of Fun

In this part, ThrillNetwork’s Chip looks at the changes among roller coasters and other thrill rides.

They’ve come a long way.

The decade began with records being broken. Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain opened in February 2000 with the longest drop and was the fastest coaster. Then three months later, Cedar Point opened Millennium Force, the first giga coaster, with a 300-foot drop. And only four months after that, Steel Dragon 2000 opened at Nagashima Spaland in Japan, beating Millennium Force’s height record by 8 feet, drop record by 6 feet and speed record by 2 mph.

The 2000s were more than just record-breaking coasters. Companies invented wild coasters like the fourth dimension, new launch systems using air and hydraulics, coasters with drops beyond 90 degrees, and the once-elusive speed limit of 100 mph was broken again and again. Colossus at Thorpe Park was the first coaster with inversions in the double digits. We saw a 200-foot wooden coaster, complete with a loop. Though Son of Beast doesn’t have the loop anymore, its legacy remains.

It wasn’t just coasters that got wild in the new millennium. Thrill rides of epic proportions took us to new heights and turned us around in new ways. We saw easygoing kiddy rides like a Sky Skater placed 900 feet above the Nevada desert (X-Scream on the Stratosphere). Huss came out with a line of giant rides. The standard Frisbee, which seats 40 riders and swings 66 feet in the air, was bested by the Giant Frisbee, a behemoth of a spinning ride taking 50 riders nearly 140 feet up at 120 degrees. Delirium at Kings Island and maXair at Cedar Point are the only Giant Frisbees in the United States. Huss also opened a Giant Top Spin at Kings Island and a Jump2 at Canada’s Wonderland. We also saw some Topple Towers, a sort of reverse of the Frisbee by Huss in which riders are taken atop a tower and tilted downward. In another revolutionary ride, Zamperla created the Disk-O and many varations of the first U-shaped track.

Companies branched out and tried going beyond the standard drops, hills and loops. Gerstlauer created a variety of rides called the Eurofighter with drops of more than 90 degrees. Mauer Sohne invented a coaster with a beyond-vertical lift hill and diving, twisting inversions called the “bent Cuban eight.” Intamin created Maverick and Fahrenheit, coasters with drops of 95 degrees and 97 degrees, respectively. X, which opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2002, featured a near-vertical first drop and a revolutionary train design with seats on the outside of the tracks that spin vertically, creating inversions where there are none in the track. X was followed up in 2006 with Eejanaika at Fuji-Q Highland. Intamin even answered with the ZacSpin, a “ball coaster” in which riders spin freely on the outside of the rails.

Also outside the rails, Intamin created Furius Baco, a launch coaster with fixed seats that do not rotate. S&S made the Free Fly, where the seats rotate and swing side to side through twists and turns.

In the 2000s, rules were broken. We saw the creation of the stand-up, tilting drop ride. Wooden coasters were made the way steel coasters were made. The wooden El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure opened in 2006 with a drop steeper than most steel coasters, relentless airtime and the smoothness of a steel coaster. A coaster with a tilting drop opened in Taiwan. Vekoma gave us flying coasters, and B&M opened some a few years later.

Intamin created a line of megacoasters that barely crack the 100-foot mark but pack a huge punch. The Mega-Lite features four cars per train and numerous airtime hills and direction changes. B&M made Hollywood Dream: The Ride at Universal Studios Japan, a megacoaster that’s only 155 feet tall and features trains with built-in speakers to play music during the ride.

Stratacoasters showed us how far into the sky coasters could reach and made us wonder how far we are from 500 feet. Intamin accelerator coasters literally launched coasters over the 400-foot threshold.

We saw old coasters become something new. Kennywood’s Steel Phantom had its inversions removed and was given a new paint job and a slightly longer drop by a different manufacturer. BuzzSaw Falls, a failed water coaster at Silver Dollar City built by Premier Rides, became Powder Keg, an S&S coaster with a launch and lift hill. Six Flags made “new” rides by adding fire, new paint schemes and retheming X, which became X2, and Superman – Ride of Steel, which became Bizarro. Vampire, an Arrow suspended coaster that opened in 1990 at Chessington World of Adventures, was closed for 2001 and reopened the following year with suspended floorless trains built by Vekoma. Texas Giant is going through a yearlong refurbishment to give it a better ride.

Coaster companies also died, though they lived on in other ways. Custom Coasters International folded in 2002. Its president, Denise Dinn, moved over to S&S and advised the firm on wooden coasters. Engineers from Custom Coasters created The Gravity Group and built Hades and Voyage, among others, that rank highly in polls. Arrow Dynamics was swallowed by S&S, and the fourth dimension concept was brought along with it.

And companies upgraded more than their track styles and elements. B&M changed its seating style on its megacoasters with Behemoth and Diamondback. Intamin dropped the lap bars that saw some problems early on and opened many new rides with either over-the-shoulder harnesses or lap bars with more restraint than a standard T-bar. The Gravity Group announced a new articulated train called Timberliners. The company said the trains should handle the track better and include shocks to absorb forces for a smoother ride. The Voyage will be the first coaster to operate with Timberliners when it opens for the 2010 season.

Vekoma opened a coaster with motorcycle trains, Booster Bike at Toverland, and Intamin and Zamperla followed suit. Zamperla built Orange County Choppers MotoCoaster at Darien Lake and Pony Express at Knott’s Berry Farm. Pony Express, in the same style as motorcycle coasters, has horses instead of motorcycle cars. Intamin made Jet Rescue at Sea World in Australia. Jet Rescue’s trains look like Jet Skis.

We had a full decade of records, innovations and thrills. The next 10 years promise to bring even more. In 2010 alone, Intamin is building the second gigacoaster in the United States. Alton Towers is building a coaster that’s rumored to have separate tracks for different endings. Knoebels plans to bring back a classic with Flying Turns. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure will include many rides and experiences based on the popular book about the boy wizard. Cedar Point’s bringing back a classic name and a new ride with Shoot the Rapids. One can only dream of what the next 10 years will bring. If they’re anything like the last 10 years, we’re in for some fun.

Tags: 00's, 2000's, Arrow Dynamics, Bolliger & Mabillard, decade, fastest, Intamin, longest, records, Roller coaster, S&S, tallest, thrill ride, vekoma