For some, the count may mean even a bit more than just a fun part of a hobby. For those "serious" about their coasters, the count says as much about a person's experiences and how valid their opinions are as anything else. So whether you count for fun, or you want to get serious about it, here's my rules and guidelines for counting coasters. Not only have I mentioned how I maintain and keep my own count, but I also try to include other methods and opinions if they seem to have a good number of people that use those methods. So without further ado, here we go:
1. The first thing to determine is, what makes a roller coaster a roller coaster?
Why aren't log flumes and simulators considered roller coasters? For me at least, the answer to this is right in the name of the ride- roller coaster. Roller- it has to roll on wheels. And coaster- it has to coast under the power of gravity. Of course, it can't be just that simple, not with the variety of rides out there. So let me explain a bit more.
1a. Roller- It has to be on wheels. Period. No wheels, it's not a coaster.
Additionally, it must maintain those wheels in relative position to the track. So if you have wheels on the bottom, you can't shift to another set of wheels on the back of the car (e.g. freefall drop rides). The wheels don't always have to roll, or even necessarily be in contact with the track the entire time (e.g. moments of negative g-forces, or in the case of a hybrid flume/ coaster), but the track has to stay in one place in relation to where the wheels are- always on the bottom, top, side, etc.
1b. Coaster- it has to, for at least a portion of the ride, coast solely under the power of gravity and/or momentum.
I don't care how the ride starts (lift hill, powered launch, elevator (maintaining the wheel position to track of course!), but somewhere along the way it has to coast unaided or unhindered by anything mechanical. Thus powered coasters or dark rides that have a drop don't count, since they never really coast without power or something else helping to propel them.
Using those guidelines, let me mention a couple of specific rides that seem to come up in "are they a coaster" conversations, and how I determined what my own answer is. I'll start with the Journey to Atlantis rides at Sea World in Orlando and San Diego. They are a mix of flume rides with portions that include roller coaster track and drops. After looking at them, I ended up deciding to count the one in San Diego as a coaster, but not the one in Orlando. Outside of one single coaster drop on the one in Orlando, there isn't any other portion on it that resembles a roller coaster. Instead it's almost entirely a flume ride, and the one small portion wasn't, for me at least, enough to call it a coaster. On the other hand, the one in San Diego has almost half of it's length as coaster track, with three drops and some other coaster action, so it did get counted. In other words the overall feel and type of ride can, and sometimes does play a part- especially in rides that mix more than one ride type together.
Possibly the biggest coaster to be argued about is Superman: The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain, a ride that launches you at up to 100 mph, rocketing you straight up a 410 foot tall tower where, after a 6 second hesitation, you then drop backwards down the way you came and end up back in the station. For me at least, it's pretty clear that it's a coaster. The wheels on the car always maintain their position with the track (on the bottom of the car), and after the launch it's momentum is all that continues to propel it forward and then up the tower. After that, gravity takes over and it coasts all the way down the tower and back to the station, as it's braked to make sure that it stops when it should. It rolls, and it coasts. Simple. And yet this ride seems to have more controversy over it than any other out there. I always get a kick to out of the ones who won't count it, but they'll count impulse coasters (e.g. Vertical Velocity or Steel Venom) or shuttle loops as coaster, even though they are incredibly similar.
Ok, that done, back to my list of rules for counting.
2. Each individually operating track on a coaster counts as one.
This means that I will count racing and dueling coasters once for each side, as each one can operate completely independently of whether or not the other side is running. This is true for pretty much every coaster that has 2 sides to choose from, with only 2 known exceptions that I'll deal with in a minute. In my mind, if that ride can operate independently on it's own, then it deserves to be counted on it's own. That would mean that Disney's Matterhorn (or Space Mountain at WDW), SFMM's Colossus, IOA Dueling Dragons, Hershey's Lightning Racers, PKI's John Allen Racer, CP's Gemini, etc would all count as two coasters. The only exceptions would be Kennywood's Racer and one coaster in England, which are "mobius" coasters- both sides are actually one long, continuous track. You leave on one side and come return to the station on the other. In these cases because each side can't operate on their own, I would count them as one coaster, and only once I'd been on both sides. As a side note, there are a good number of people who disagree on my general rule here and count coasters as one per "attraction", viewing the coasters as one ride sharing the same name and location on the map. The community is probably divided up pretty evenly on this aspect.
3. "Clones" all count individually
As you travel around, you'll notice that there are some coasters that just seem to be all over the place- boomerangs, Vekoma suspended looping coasters (slc's), Batman: The Ride, Galaxi's, and many others. These are coasters that are built with the same exact kinds of track, layout, trains, etc and are, except for location, virtually identical. However, they are still separate coasters, and their locations, scenery, theming, etc., help to make an impact on the rides as well. Thus, while I have been on 5 coasters called Batman: the Ride, and they are all virtually identical, each one is counted once, for a total of 5 on my list. This also influences my next point:
4. A coaster that has moved from one park to another may be counted again.
I've only had to deal with this once so far that I know of, with the bobsled coaster that was once at SFMM as Sarajevo Bobsleds and now resides at SFoT as La Vibora. At the time I rode it the second time, I didn't have a clue that it was the same coaster (nor did I particularly care to much at the time) As far as I was concerned, I was riding a ride that was completely new to me. The change in parks had a drastic difference in how I perceived the ride, and for me the new location equaled a new coaster. There are some that would argue against my views here, pointing out that it's the same machine as I had ridden previously. To which I pointed at that the clones I'd ridden practically were to, but they all counted individually, even though they were identical rides. Seems to me that the two are intertwined since they both involve the same ride at different locations, though getting agreement on that would be a challenge. :)
5. A coaster that moves to a different location in the same park does NOT get counted again.
This should seem obvious, but in light of the last two points, I did want to clarify that. Same park, same ambience, etc. The next point is also related to this:
6. A coaster that gets rethemed, enclosed, etc., but in the same location does not get counted again.
This includes most cosmetic changes to a coaster, as even though the surroundings change, the coaster itself does not. So even though a coaster that may have been outdoors now has a building around it, it's still the same coaster in the same location. People aren't going to look at it and think it's a new ride, thus it doesn't get counted as one.
7. Reprofiling or major changes are a case-by-case basis
This is where changes to a coaster's layout, trains, or other major changes to it come in. If a large portion of a coaster has been retracked, but the layout is identical, it's not counted again. But if in that process they made changes to the layout of the coaster, then it might, depending on how much was changed and how drastic. A couple of examples- Colossus at SFMM has had it's first drop sequence changed from when it opened as well has had a double down (one drop after another) changed to a flat section with a brake on it. While both changes affected the ride, it is still, essentially the same coaster, so no new count. However, Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood changed huge portions of that coaster, removing loops and inversions and changing the course in major ways. New coaster.
Trains may or may not influence this to, and are an individual decision. Does riding a coaster sitting down one time, then on a standup train count twice (there's a coaster in Japan that does this)? For some yes, others no. Does riding it forwards and backwards count once for each time? For me, sometimes yes and sometimes no. If the backwards is a unique change not always offered, I would count it. But if both options are offered simultaneously, no. Confusing? You bet! Not a lot hard and fast here. Which brings me to my last point:
8. Counting is up to the individual doing the counting!
In the end, it's up to you to count what you want to count and to go by your rules, not someone else’s. If you're not sure, feel free to seek advice. But in the end with so many differences, variances, and changes, there isn't any way to have solid rules that everyone is going to agree on about what to count and what not to count. Everyone is going to end up disagreeing on something or other. That's just part of life. So make sure it's something you're comfortable with, don't get upset if others disagree, and be open to other opinions and maybe even changing yours at some point. That goes for me to, as I'm constantly revising and editing my own rules. And probably will again once I get feedback from this, so look for edits and changes to be forthcoming. :) In any case though, remember- it's a hobby and is supposed to be fun. If it gets serious or offensive because of a disagreement, then someone's priorities about life are in the wrong place. Don't let that be you!