21st Century Amusement Park Skillz

The annual trek to Kings Island took place on arguably one of the hottest days of Summer with heat indices above 100 degrees F. That really didn’t seem to slow down the group of 12-14 year olds who were determined to ride a certain number of roller coasters by the end of the morning.

I have to back up a bit to say that 3 of the 4 kids were not roller coaster riders to begin with. They were, however, virtual roller coaster designers. Using the Roller Coaster Tycoon series they learned how to make roller coasters that: made guests hurl; plunged underground; reached impossibly high heights and ridiculously steep declines. So they approached this trip to Kings Island a bit differently than I would have 30 + years ago. They used 21st Century skills (or Skillz) to vet the coasters and rank the order in which they planned to ride them based on level of intensity and location. The week before we made the trip they had already examined each coaster they intended to ride using POV videos found on YouTube.

Today’s coaster kids have an extreme advantage – the POV. On YouTube anyone can watch a video taken from the front seat of most popular roller coasters.

I remember the thrill of our first trip to Cedar Point the year they opened The Corkscrew. My brother and I had spent months talking about the first vertical loop coaster to open. All we could do when got to the park was stare in wonderment and speculate what happened to the stuff that flew out of the coaster as it looped over the walkway underneath it. We stood in line for hours that day for our first chance to ride this new style coaster. I remember that I had barrettes in my hair and that, during the ride, my head shimmied so hard between the over-the-shoulder harness that they both unclipped and flew out somewhere along the path of that ride. I had tender bruises above my temples for days. By today’s standards, the Corkscrew is pretty tame. But back then it was a leap of our faith in coaster engineering – coupled with the shouts of glee emanating from riders disembarking – that we would survive the ride with lunch intact.

All in all, I think the POV video, along with her comfort level in the process of virtual discovery, gave my 12 year old the courage to ride a roller coaster she probably would have been too intimidated to try without having had the virtual experience first. The combination of intellectual curiosity and ready access to technology – (The RCT III software requires a pretty sophisticated graphics card) along with collaborating with her cohorts who were equally curious and adept at using technology to answer questions- made for a nice package of 21st century skillz.


About Jeanne Bernish

News junkie. Advocate for high ability children and encouraging girls in pursuing STEM fields. Believer in the power of technology to transform education. Find me on Twitter @JeanneBernish.
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