Today is Rollercoaster Day. As I've mentioned before, I don't like riding roller coasters but I love learning about them. Roller coasters were invented when people tried to make sled tracks without snow. Then people decided to make them as tall as possible, and added loops and such, and now you can find parks full of different coasters where no two rides are the same experience.
Now let's talk about how roller coasters are classified, because there are a few different factors. What material the coaster track is made out of is a major one, with the usual suspects being wood or steel. The seat orientation and the layout of the track seam have the biggest impact on how it rides, but how fast and tall the coasters are is what most people are going to look for when choosing what coasters to ride. And this doesn't include "gimmicks" such as music or video, water features, or even being able to go backwards. That’s how they have enough different coasters to fill a park.
[CONTRIBUTOR’S NOTE: I spent many of my younger years playing Rollercoaster Tycoon, designing the worst possible coasters in attempts to explode the carts full of patrons. My knowledge of coasters brims from my twisted past. I threw up after riding Six Flags Over Georgia’s Great American Scream Machine™.]