the Evolution of a Roller Coaster Souvenir Photo

The art of taking a great souvenir poster while on a roller coaster is a time honored tradition. Since my first time ever riding a roller coaster back at Opryland (It wasn’t the greatest park but I miss it much) I have always had this strange fascination with not only riding coasters but taking great souvenir photos as well.



Possibly the most famous (at least to my knowledge) is the quite creative “Playing Chess while on a Roller Coaster” shot, inspired by xkdc. (I should mention this modification on the chess coaster comic…though I’m not sure if the chess game or the woman not noticing is funnier.) The only other quite humorous and creative coaster photo involves extreme knitting, very impressive.

Personally though, I don’t like sneaking props on (though I have thought about some Jedi light sabers…) so we always try to use what we have, or lack thereof. One of the earliest photos I can remember buying was from “Thunder Run” at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.

We bought this not only because the little kids in row 3 started following us and became corrupted (see chubby stomach in the back), but also because we were happy to still have prefect abs. We’ll call this shot “the corruption of youth”.

Through the years I advanced my trade, this time including my wife on the shot. This time on the newly constructed “Goliath” at Six Flags Over Grorgia.

I really like this shot despite the face she look to be having too much fun to be believably strangling me. Still, I think this was the 10th time or so we rode it that day…not really sure how healthy that is but who cares…it was fun. We’ll call this one “what did I do?”

And most recently, I decided to return to Kings Island to get this very clever shot on “the Beast”!

Now to me, you know you’ve done something special when you return to the photo booth at the end of the day and the attendant say “I memorized your number, this is the best photo I’ve seen in a while!” This photo was only made better by the fact that everyone has their hands up for “the holdup”.

I’ve got more ideas and while I’m not so on board with the whole Souvenir Onride DVD’s yet, it might be fun to perform Hamlet or something while on some rides. Honestly, a great shot takes time and at least a little planning. Often you have to ride multiple time to get one that’s worth keeping. And I am curious, am I the only one who has this obsession with Roller coaster souvenir photos? Surely some of you out there in internet world have some awesome Roller Coaster photos. Nothing vulgar or tasteless, but something cool and creative that will make people laugh for a moment.

Got some photos? Leave us a link here or post them in my new flickr group for Roller Coaster Souvenir Photos.

May the games begin.