Enthusiasts love a ticket to ride
Vacations can encompass countless miles, traversed by car, boat or plane. But for Cequenda Bruggeman and her son Christian, the best miles are seen from the seat of a roller coaster.
Longtime members of a group called the American Coaster Enthusiasts, the Butler duo plans most of their vacations around conventions and amusement park trips hosted by the national group.
ACE members since 1998, the Bruggemans have visited parks in Florida, Tennessee, New Jersey, New York and elsewhere.
"We have no idea how many coasters we've ridden," said Cequenda, 59. "That's in oblivion."
But according to 19-year-old Christian, no two coasters are alike.
"You can ride a Tilt-A-Whirl, and it's pretty much the same Tilt-A-Whirl as everywhere else," he said, noting the vast differences in coasters — even the duplicates, which take on their own personalities in their respective environments.Coasters can range from wooden historic construction to large-scale flying machines that require riders to wear a chest harness.Some, like the wooden 1920s Racer at Kennywood, travel 40 mph on a looped track.Sleek, steel coasters like Superman the Escape at California's Six Flags Magic Mountain often reach speeds of 100 mph with plunging 300-foot drops.Some rides last a mere 30 seconds. Others continue for several minutes. Occasionally, they continue for hoursChristian's longest stint lasted 12 hours aboard the Blue Streak during a 2001 fundraising event at Conneaut Lake Park in Crawford County.
"You can ride a Tilt-A-Whirl, and it's pretty much the same Tilt-A-Whirl as everywhere else," he said, noting the vast differences in coasters — even the duplicates, which take on their own personalities in their respective environments.Coasters can range from wooden historic construction to large-scale flying machines that require riders to wear a chest harness.Some, like the wooden 1920s Racer at Kennywood, travel 40 mph on a looped track.Sleek, steel coasters like Superman the Escape at California's Six Flags Magic Mountain often reach speeds of 100 mph with plunging 300-foot drops.Some rides last a mere 30 seconds. Others continue for several minutes. Occasionally, they continue for hoursChristian's longest stint lasted 12 hours aboard the Blue Streak during a 2001 fundraising event at Conneaut Lake Park in Crawford County.
The marathon was part of an ongoing effort to preserve the coaster, currently idle in the park, which has had financial struggles.The marathons stop briefly for bathroom breaks, and riders sometimes rotate seats to avoid excess time in the jerkier spots.Eating, however, is done while in motion."Fruit is great to eat on roller coasters," said Christian. "It doesn't make you sick."ACE also was instrumental in revamping the Leap the Dip coaster at Lakemont Park in Altoona."It stood for 20 or 30 years without operating," Christian said of Leap the Dip, billed as the world's oldest operating wooden coaster.According to ACE president Ron Cole, such efforts are not uncommon."Overall, our mission and our goals are the preservation of wood and steel roller coasters as well as educating the public (about history)," he said."A lot of amusement parks were what we call trolley parks: a way for trolley companies to extend their operation," Cole said, telling how the 19th century trolley lines otherwise saw little use on weekends."Kennywood is a perfect example of that — and it has survived. People don't know that," Cole said of the park, one of only two on the National Register of Historic Places.
With membership exceeding 6,000 worldwide, ACE is divided into 26 regions. Three of those regions encompass Pennsylvania."It's got a high concentration of coasters, and also a high concentration of our membership," Cole said, listing Ohio, New York and New Jersey as other coaster hot spots.Although about 50 daylong events are hosted each year at the regional level, ACE hosts several gatherings at the national level. The national events last several days and are spread over multiple parks.Last year, those events included a Preservation Conference spread among parks in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Another, called Coaster Con XXXI, was spread between the Six Flags and Wild Adventures in Georgia. A third featured parks in Michigan and Indiana."Last year I think we went to all three riding events," Cequenda said of the national gatherings, which can draw as many as 500 attendees.As members of the group, some enthusiasts are invited to participate in special events like filming for movies or television commercials.Christian's participation included riding in a television commercial for the X-Flight roller coaster, which operated from 2001 to 2006 at Geauga Lake in Ohio."I ended up riding it 27 times that weekend," he recalled.
He also took part in the filming at Kennywood in 2007 for the film "Adventureland."After exposure to so many coasters, the Bruggemans say many enthusiasts become partial to certain styles or those designed by certain companies."I like a smooth, fast ride," said Cequenda, who prefers coasters designed by the Swiss company Bolliger & Mabillard, more commonly known as B&M.Aside from speed, Cequenda likes B&M coasters for their exciting assortment of loops and turns, known in the business as elements.Christian has a different preference."If you had asked me five years ago I might have said steel," he said. "Now I'm not so sure. There's something about battling the wooden coaster: At the end you feel like you did battle and won."Although individual preferences differ, Christian said the thrills include sharing the experience with like-minded friends.During the gatherings, ACE members attend educational sessions with designers and builders or go behind the scenes for a peek at how the machinery works.Sometimes, they are afforded ERT, or exclusive ride time, during a park's off hours."It's a whole different attitude. You can just let go and act goofy because everyone else is," Christian said."It's momentary childhood."
As part of the trips, Cequenda and her son also go to nearby attractions they might not otherwise visit.On the way to a gathering in Chicago, for instance, they stopped in Michigan, where sites included the Henry Ford Museum. In Florida, they visited SeaWorld.At the amusement parks, they unite with longtime friends.In addition to having fun in a group, individuals often help with jobs like painting rides or park cleanup.A portion of event proceeds also go toward the group's long-term goal of opening a museum. Many relics already are in storage."(Roller coasters are) a really important part of American history," Christian said, alluding to a time when people worked fewer hours and had more disposable income to spend at amusement parks.Although the Bruggemans believe it's important to preserve memory of the defunct historic rides, Christian also noted the nostalgic quality of those that continue to operate."It's a day away from daily life: from ordinary life," he said, explaining the amusement park experience can't be had outside of that setting."Everyone there is there for the same reason. It's in the name: It's an amusement park. It's a whole day of nothing but fun."
Christian Bruggeman became enthralled with roller coasters as a young child, after his older brother, Barrett, described riding them.A short time later, Bruggeman learned about the American Coaster Enthusiasts, convincing his mother, Cequenda, to join."I wouldn't let it go until we were members," said Bruggeman, now 19 and a student at Carnegie Mellon University.Since joining the group in 1998, many of the duo's vacations have revolved around ACE amusement park gatherings.The Bruggemans have lost count of the number of coasters they've ridden, but neither is tired of the experience."No. The thrill's not gone," Christian said.
