Out of control

Daniel Weiss '12 has a passion for rollercoasters that borders on obsessive, often traveling large distances for a new thrill. A civil engineering major, he hopes to learn how to design new coasters as a civil engineer. After 1,340 rollercoaster rides in 19 years, he miraculously does not seem to have brain damage.

Q Tell me about your first time.

A Honestly, I don't really remember it. I was 5 when I went to Disneyland and on Space Mountain. Probably my most memorable experience was at Cedar Point in Ohio this summer. We got the last ride of the night on Top Thrill Dragster, which was once the fastest rollercoaster in the world.

Q How many rollercoasters have you ridden since then?

A I've been on 184 different rides, a total of 1,340 times. This past summer alone, I went on over 500 rides. I have a huge Excel chart that has columns for the ride, park, number of times I rode the ride, track length of each ride and total length.

Q What was the best rollercoaster you've ever ridden?

A The best rollercoaster I've been on is, hands down, The Voyage at Holiday World in Southern Indiana. It's this incredibly tall and long wooden coaster that is built off into the back woods. It is by far more intense than any other ride I've been on. I rode the world's best ranked wooden coaster (The Voyage) 36 times in one day. I also have particular affinity to my landmark coasters. The 100th coaster I went on was Hades, in Wisconsin, and the 150th was Prowler, near Kansas City, Mo. And there is one ride at home, Batman, which I have now ridden over 200 times.

Q Do you prefer speed or large drops?

A It's definitely about the thrill, about the feeling the ride gives you at the end. Air factor is a huge factor for me in how good the ride is, as is speed and intensity. My favorite rides give me an out-of-control feeling.

Q Are you also a fan of amusement parks or just the rollercoasters?

A Occasionally, I'll go on other rides if they are worth it or particularly unique. I make a point to go on every single rollercoaster, even the kiddie ones, just to get my count up. There's a whole community of fan clubs with thousands of members and forums with rules for what rides count as rollercoasters. There are usually about 20 people per state that count as rollercoaster enthusiasts. I've never met anyone in person who's as passionate as I am, but there are people on the forums.

Q When do you find the time to ride all these rollercoasters?

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A This summer I was working two jobs and still managed to go over 30 times to parks. Finding time for me isn't hard. The hard part is finding other people to come along. It's kind of a give and take, especially financially. I have a Six Flags season pass, but amusement parks aren't cheap. I care about this enough to save on other things. I don't eat out or spend much money. I've gone a couple Fridays this semester, whenever there's an opportunity.

Q Why exactly do you enjoy them so much?

A Honestly, I'm not sure, but I can never have enough. It's all I think about, and I'm always looking at forums and researching. It's something I'm obsessed with, and have been for a while.

Q Any funny stories?

A I was recently given an ID quiz for my history class, and one of the words we had to identify was "Tivoli." In the context of Roman history, I have no idea what that means. Not wanting to make up information though, I wrote about the history of a small traditional park in Copenhagen, Denmark, called Tivoli Gardens, and what makes this park unique. I have yet to see the preceptor's response.

- Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Heather Hammel ‘12.