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.
The “holdup” photo is classic! Great job on that one.
But seeing your breasts on the first photo was a bit nauseating. You may want to censor that one
Oh, and I have a new idea for your next photo…bust out a laptop and play Roller Coaster Tycoon.
Here you can find lot of photos of people playing chess on a roller caster: http://blag.xkcd.com/2007/07/18/roller-coaster-chess/ .
@LN… Thanks…I think.
@ Rastafa
Thanks Rastafa….there aren’t really a lot of pictures on that page but I actually link to the xkdc page where there are.
It’s a statement to be sure but I really like as few “props” as possible.
@ LN…Thanks…I think
@ Rastafa.
Thanks for posting the link…I love xkdc and that why I originally linked to him. There aren’t really a lot of photos on the pages you suggest but there are quite a few on the page I link to earlier.
The “chess on a coaster” gag does make be laugh but I’m a fan of using few to no props…
Thanks for the visit.
Chess is getting boring. One of my friends used to have a photo of himself reading a book on the Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz.
@Technetium. If he still has it ask him to post it on flickr. We are always looking for more interesting Roller coaster photos…
As for chess on a coaster, I think it’s funny because it is boring…but I would agree it’s getting old. Let get some new ideas people!
Hehe, that’s me and one of my friends in that “modification on the chess coaster comic”; and that woman behind me is actually another friend of mine who agreed to play along for extra effect 😉
@ Altijd
Excellent commitment to the shot my friend!
they look cool. where are they at ? Could you see full pictures of them ? now I want to go on the roller coaster \haha/that first one i wired j/k
@ Gabrielle. Thanks for hte comments on the coaster pics…. I list their locations up there. 1st is at Kings Island in KY, second at Six Flags Over Georgia and the Third is at Kings Island in OH… I’ve taken more but felt those got my point across best.
the first was long ago…when I still had abs that could be seen. =\
Thanks for the visit!
I never bought my photos off of rides, but I must brag a little and say that last time I went on a roller coaster, I met some people up there and we decided to fill up as many carts in a row as we could. I forget exactly what we did, but it was so impressive that some people who weren’t even in the shot bought the photo….I must track this photo down for evidence.
@Timi… I look forward to seeing your submission. Make sure it’s awesome.
Hi everybody !
I know that topic is old but if anybody look here you may watch this video that I edited :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9avlc_people-are-strange_fun
It’s about playing chess in roller coasters 😉