My interview with Devin Olson

Devin Olson loves roller coasters.  He road his first roller coaster in 1998 and has been hooked ever since.  He runs the most sucessful roller coaster site in existence.  (coaster-net.com)  In this site you will find a catalogue of information about hundreds of roller coaster around the world.  So let us find out why this man started this website and why he loves roller coasters so much.

 General Coaster Questions

You are a self professed roller coaster geek. Just why do you like roller coasters so much?
Seriously, where else can you experience the unique type of excitement that a roller coaster provides in complete safety without fearing for your life once? Roller coasters are really an ultimate escape from the monotony and stress of life.

How many roller coasters have you been on?
Thirty-eight steel coasters, eighteen wooden, and a dozen junior coasters –– not nearly as impressive as a lot of coaster freaks out there, and yet I can still recite facts even the most seasoned globe-trotting theme park maniacs never knew. I could pretty much narrate any roller coaster in the world on my first ride. Sad, I know.

Which one is your favorite?
I don’t have to hesitate for a second here –– Millennium Force at Ohio’s Cedar Point. This ride is the world’s exemplary design of everything a roller coaster should embody: sheer, ridiculous intensity; beauty, uniqueness, impressiveness, comfort, and so many other qualities, all rolled into one ride. Everyone should put this list somewhere on their “to-do-before-dying” checklist.

Which one is your least favorite?
It’s a tossup here, but there’s this one little mostly-unheard-of coaster at Six Flags over Georgia in Atlanta that served up probably my worst experience of all time. Let’s just say this is a ride that should be sponsored by Advil, with an Advil booth at the exit. It would undoubtedly prove a huge money-maker.

How often do you visit amusement parks?
School has definitely complicated my amusement-park-visiting itinerary a bit, but I try to get in at least a couple park visits a month during the summer, with a couple media events each spring and a fall trip or two as well.

What is your favorite amusement park?
Without a shred of doubt in my mind, Cedar Point in Ohio. This is the crown jewel of the entire amusement park universe, and anyone who seeks out the best of the best needs to visit. This isn’t just an innocent suggestion; it’s a mandate of the amusement park world.

The Coaster Website

You are the webmaster of COASTER-net.com. Tell me the purpose of this website.
I started the site back at the dawn of my coaster-freak-ness in 1998, so it’s been almost a decade now. Wow! It was really a project meant to bridge the enormous online gap I saw in the cyber-coaster-world. I amassed the wide variety of features I couldn’t find anywhere else at that time, and over the years they’ve lost their uniqueness, but had time to grow into a collection that surpasses even older coaster sites now.

How many hits do you get?
We get between five and a little over ten million hits per month. However, I mainly focus on unique visitors when I look at stats each month. In terms of those, we get between 50,000 and 100,000 people checking out our site.

How often do you update your website?
This used to be a simple question; now, however, the site is updated almost on a minutely basis through user-generated content. Larger updates such as new feature articles arrive on a basis closer to weekly.

You told me that other people help update your website; how many people do this?
We maintain a staff of around twenty ranging from discussion board moderators, to news writers, to videographers. On the main administrative staff that oversees the largest and most basic functions of the site’s workings, two others work with me.

What do you like most about your website?
Very rarely does a hobby ever pay off. Usually, that hobby will just eat up your resources and provide you with some joy in your spare time. COASTER-net has taken my hobby beyond simply just a hobby. It’s turned it into a major part of my everyday life, and the site’s really provided me with opportunities I never dreamed of having in just its first decade online. Most of all though is probably the interaction with our fans. I love every single one of them and the conversations that we can have even just in passing. That’s really what makes it all worth the work.

Confessions

Have you ever thrown up while riding a roller coaster?
I’ve never come close, which is surprising considering how carsick I’m prone to get. One time, I was puking all the way to a media day for a new ride at Kings Dominion. However, while I rode it time and time again, I was fine. Then, on the way back home, there I was puking again.

Have you ever thought about never riding a roller coaster again?
Only the ones that are almost unbearably painful, which is thankfully fewer and fewer these days.

Have you ever blacked out while riding a roller coaster?
Never. The closest I’ve come is graying out on a couple.

Were you ever scared while riding a roller coaster?
Only the first one: Rebel Yell at Kings Dominion. From that point forward, not really. Thrill rides can really terrify some people, but they seem to have the adverse effect on me. I’m more relaxed while I’m flying through the air on a roller coaster than just about anywhere else on earth.

FOX News Interview

You were interview on FOX News a little while ago. How did FOX News find out about you and your former co-worker Clint Novak?
They contacted Kings Dominion looking for a couple roller coaster freaks for their segment as obsessed as they could get their hands on, and the park knew exactly who to ask.

Tell me the whole interview process-from the first phone call to saying good bye.
Clint, as my former PR director for COASTER-net, handled everything prior to the day of filming. On the day of filming, we showed the FOX crew around the park during their few hours in Virginia and we got some nice walk-on rides during the filming.

Who interviewed you?
One of the correspondents for the FOX Report with Shepard Smith flew down from New York City for a few hours with his cameraman and producer.

How did you like being interviewed on Fox News?
I loved it, especially since I’ve been a fan of Shepard Smith’s show for years. 

The Future

So what do you see happening in your future?
Life’s like a roller coaster. I’m just trying to hang on tightly and enjoy the ride! After graduating from Liberty University, I’ll be pursuing a career in mass media, wherever that leads me. I eagerly anticipate the ride ahead!

Is there anything you would like to add?
None of my accomplishments so far would have been possible without my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s only through him that I can get up every day and face all the stresses and new challenges that seem to come along at a quicker and quicker pace every day.

Make sure to check out his website devoted to roller coasters:  www.coaster-net.com.  You can watch the Fox News interview with Devin on You Tube here.