Chillicothe Gazette from Chillicothe, Ohio • 17

Inside Sunday rt News of Note, 2C Have fun doing tta crossword puzzle, on P2Q8 5C tresmie Travel, 3C Religion, 6C (iff ft 1 Im mSmmtfsim 'llA mm mmm F9 TJ mm A r- 4 mm mmm fAji TIa A KM ii a iffc ziuuuincii ttujic re em uccii uri. mi a tutu im yajKit uiiu just iikyki icta u. tyici nuauis 'Liquid Coaster' is all wet 1.1.) r-'. TV Vv a. ii.) ran Testing the thrills offered by the Raptor rollercoaster at Cedar Point are, from left, Tyler Adams, Larry Harter and Eric Clark.

()'))') 6i Courtesy of Tyler Adams Rollercoaster fan uses his Web page to keep on top of his favorite hobby MjkJ EH! (( By LARRY DI GIOVANNI Gazette Staff Writer When Tyler Adams of Chillicothe spots his favorite rollercoasters during his frequent visits to Cedar Point in Sandusky, his adrenalin goes into hyper-drive. Adams, 16, a member of The Great Ohio Coaster Club, can tell you important facts on any rollercoaster the park has to offer. Like, for instance, the Magnum XL is a "hypercoaster" that travels 72 mph. "Ifs been ruled the best steel rollercoaster in the World," said Adams, who paid $100 to be a Cedar Point season pass holder. His favorite Cedar Point ride is called the Raptor, which opened in 1994.

The inverted steel rollercoaster offers a vertical loop, and near the end of two minutes, 16 seconds of sheer rush, a "cobra roll." "It's the smoothest coaster I've ever been on," Adams said. "It's laid out perfect and just never lets up. You can look up and see the track as your feet are dangling." The Raptor's seats are located underneath the ride, ski-lift style, he explained. Adams doesn't work for Cedar Point, but he serves as one of its unofficial spokesmen. Using web-design computer software, he offers his own Internet site for area residents who want facts before visiting the park.

The site is home to articles, essays, and even term papers he has written. He can tell you what hotel accommodations are available, and has updated the site periodically since he developed it last February. It's address on the world wide web is: http:www.zoom- By Frank D. Roylance The Baltimore Sun Around Memorial Day, Premier Rides Inc. will open its first "liquid coaster" at Silver Dollar City in the Midwest music resort of Branson, Mo.

It's a combination high-speed coaster and water flume ride. Coaster historian Paul Reuben, editor of Park World, an amusement industry trade magazine, says coaster nuts also look forward to a new "dark" coaster at Kennywood, in Pittsburgh, called The Exterminator." It is "a charming ride through a sewer" -complete with rodents, he says. The new Medusa coaster at Great Adventures in New Jersey leaves its floor behind at the platform, and dangles your toes 16 inches above the track as it flips you upside down seven times. Such things aren't for everyone, "and that's fine," says Reuben, 62, a veteran of 500 different coasters and 4,000 miles of coaster track. "We need those people to hold our change." Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service they are one of the safest rides in the park9 By Frank D.

Roylance The Baltimore Sun Even with all the safety features built into today's roller coasters, accidents and injuries do happen. Hard data on roller coaster safety are difficult to nail down. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission counted nine coaster accidents from 1987 to 1998 that proved fatal for park guests, accounting for a quarter of all amusement ride fatalities. Mechanical failures were the most frequent cause, with rider and operator behavior tied at a distant second. There is no data on nonfatal coaster injuries, although the government estimates that 8,000 people are injured annually on all 2 types of rides.

Given the millions of safe coaster rides people take each year, enthusiasts and industry spokesmen argue the number of casualties shrinks nearly to invisibility. The truth is, they are one of the safest rides in the park," says coaster historian Paul Reuben, editor of Park World, an amusement industry trade magazine. They're safer than any other form of transportation." The most dangerous ride? The innocent-looking merry-go-round, Reuben says. "People aren't fastened in. They change horses while the ride's in operation, and they get off before it stops." neLnety-bmgain.

Cedar point has the following address: www.cedarpoint.com. "I've got the stuff that people really want to know for their trips," he said. The most often-asked question he gets is how to obtain coupons and dis Ti counts. Currently, Adams a soon-to-be junior at Adena High School has a web feature on the Millenium Force, which at 310 feet tall and a top speed of 92 mph, will be the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the universe. The stadium-style seating, Adams said, will mean riders can "look up and over" each other as they plummet down an 80-degree drop.

"It's almost going to be like you're looking straight down you won't be able to tell that 10 degrees of elevation is there," he said. "I just can't wait for (summer) 2000." Adams taps into a Cedar Point bulletin board on the park's web site, for the "really hardcore patrons," he said. Suggestions are common, and one he and others made was not to use the name "Millenium Force" for the heavily touted "gigacoaster." "It's dated already," he said of the name. "I don't like it" Like so many rollercoaster buffs, Adams likes the least-restrictive ride possible. As much as having the "tallest and fastest" rollercoasters are a source of pride to theme parks, rollercoaster riders take pride in how thrilling they can make the rides, he said.

He loosens his seat belt and wedges his knees against the lap bar. Adams much prefers the "open-air" type rollercoasters. Inverted rides are fine, but the over-the-shoulder harnesses that must be worn don't give you the loose-ride feel of their "open-air" cousins, Adams laments. Adams plans to join a nationwide group called the American Coaster Enthusiasts. He lives in Chillicothe with his mom, Sue Harter, and brothers Josh, 15, and Wyatt, 11.

He and Wyatt recently visited Cedar Point together, to test their coaster courage. "I'm really getting Wyatt into it," Tyler said. Info: Through the Labor Day weekend, Cedar Point opens every day at 9 a.m., with closing hours of 11 p.m. on weekdays and Sundays, and midnight on Saturdays. Admission is $32.95 for adults; $27.95 for children 48 inches to 54 inches tall; and $8.95 for children under 48 Thrill seekers enjoy the Raptor, an inverted roller-coaster and one of the top attractions at Cedar Point.

Courtesy of Cedar Point Cedar Point unveils ride of 2000 This design shows what Millennium Force, Cedar Point's latest rollercoaster, will look like when it is unveiled in the summer of 2000. Courtesy of Cedar Point Three 36-passenger trains featuring cars without side panels -give Millennium Force a capacity of 1,600 riders per hour. "It's somewhat unique and somewhat frightening I think," Lifke said. "You have that feeling of being somewhat open." Ten years ago, Cedar Point began the first amusement park to break the 200-foot barrier with the opening of Magnum XL-200. Being the first to break the 300-foot barrier has long been a priority at the park, Lifke said.

"It's totally insane," she said. To think we've got something 100 feet tailed than the Magnum and 10 mph faster is unbelievable." minute-45-second ride. Talk about roller coaster bliss," said Bill Linkenheimer, president of American Coaster Enthusiasts, in a news release. Cedar Point's 14th roller coaster -the world's largest and fastest is being built by Intamin AG of Wollerau, Switzerland, and will debut in May 2000. "We want to give them what they want and they say they want roller coasters," Lifke said.

e're hoping Millennium Force will do for Cedar Point what Magnum did for Cedar Point 10 years ago." The roller coaster will operate with an elevator cable system, eliminating the clackity-clack associated with traditional lift chains of most roller coasters, Lifke said. By KRISTOPHER WEISS Gazette Staff Writer SANDUSKY Cedar Point will welcome the first summer of the new millennium with a new record-breaking roller coaster called Millennium Force. Plans for the ride, which were unveiled July 22, have been in the works for about two years and require the moving of the park's Giant Wheel and portions of the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad, said spokeswoman Janice Lifke. Although park officials won't reveal specifics, they say the new coaster is the largest investment in its 129-year history. Millennium Force will tower 310 feet above the Midway and will take riders up to speeds of 92 mph on their two-.