The Golden Age of Thrill Rides
				Florida's Theme Parks Online
	There is something unique about riding a machine that takes full control of you for two and a half minutes. It is a special time because it lifts us out of our diurnal lives and precipitates us into an adventure beyond imagination and fear. When you are strapped into a roller coaster, all of life's worries, stresses and frustrations stay behind in the queue; it is just your heart and soul on board a chaotic stampede to the finish line. The roller coaster is a past-time which symbolizes joy and thrills. Before the 1970s, the state of Florida was void of these high-speed thrill rides. Space Mountain brought forth a new dimension to the coaster concept --- speed and darkness. During the 1980s, the Magic Kingdom, Boardwalk & Baseball, Busch Gardens and Miracle Strip Amusement Park took advantage of the public's demand for excitement. These rides were popular and worth the wait, but something unthinkable was just around the corner and the 1990s was the perfect time to accomplish it. In 1989, Walt Disney World opened their third major theme park, the Disney-MGM Studios. This 115 acre park led the technology race in the industry with the simulator experience of Star Tours. However, Disney would soon fall behind within another year to the Seagram/Rank Corporation. In the summer of 2000, Universal Studios Florida opened with the most realistic attractions ever seen including: Kongfrontation, Earthquake: The Big One and E.T. Adventure. The following year put the park on a pedastal above everyone else --- it was the year of Back to the Future: The Ride. Never before has a ride received so much positive attention, but then again, it was deserving of every bit of it. The Magic Kingdom had been taking a rest during the first two years of the decade. In 1992, Splash Mountain, the most eye-catching and imaginative flume ride in history opened to the public. The reaction was overwhelming and Disney knew that today's world and Orlando needed more thrills and spills. 1993 was a year absent of significant construction at the five major Central Florida parks. This wasn't the case for the West Coast. What they built soon changed the theme park landscape in this state forever. K-U-M-B-A! Busch Gardens teamed up with the up-and-start designers Bolliger & Mabillard of Switzerland to create a monsterous steel roller coaster at the 335 acre park. Kumba immediately held the prestigious honor of being the Southeast's largest and fastest steel roller coaster. For the first time, coaster fanactics across the nation flocked to Tampa to ride this 135 feet high, seven inversion, 65 mph beast. The race was on to build the fastest, tallest, longest, and wildest ride and the only question was, "Who's next?" Disney leaped forward aggressively and quickly built the Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror at Disney-MGM Studios. Centered around a fabulous theme was a 13 story elevator free-fall in the dark. The ride generated so much attention that Disney continues to use it in its 1999 advertisement commercials. Across the state, teenagers and young adults were proudly showing off their souvenir Tower of Terror and Kumba shirts.