How to Take a Prank Photo on a High-Speed Coaster A comedy article
by John Hargrave 128,123 71 08/20/2010 02:05 PM 4809 views
Ever since the webcomic XKCD jokingly suggested staging a picture of someone playing chess on a high-speed roller coaster, prank coaster photos have become a national pastime. [See our gallery here.]
But most of these photos are taken on relatively tame rides. How hard would it be to get a prank photo on a screamingly intense coaster? To find out, we recently went to Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world, to get a prank photo snapped on their terrifying Magnum XL-200.
1) The night before the ride, we decided on a theme. First, we glued pieces to a Scrabble board, then to a couple of Scrabble racks as well.
2) At the park, we went through the ride once, so we could figure out where the picture would be taken. The coaster was insanely high and fast.
The Magnum XL was the first coaster to break the 200-foot barrier, spawning the term "hypercoaster." When it debuted, it was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, setting off the "coaster wars" between rival parks.
It's known for "airtime," or the feeling of weightlessness. The third hill of the ride, where they take the photo, gives you the feeling of weightlessness for almost 5 full seconds. We figured out a strategy for hanging onto our props without having them fly off the ride.
3) Then we visited the photo booth outside the ride, to look at the camera angle. We were surprised to see two "prank photos" that were displayed on their monitors as sample photos, as if they were challenging people to do better.
The corncob pipes are a nice touch.
It's good to see David Lee Roth is still enjoying himself.
4) We got back in line, this time with our Scrabble props.
Jay ponders how to get the triple-word score at 72 mph.
I hid the board under my shirt, like a wordplay-loving hunchback.
Jay and I each carried a rack in our pocket. (Not a euphemism.)
5) As the ride went up the hill, we pulled out all our props and got them ready. Then we held on to them for dear life as we shot down the first hill at nearly 100 mph.
It's much higher than it looks.
6) As we came near the third hill, we screamed at each other to get our props in position. Over the deafening noise of the coaster, and the screams of terror from everyone around us, we couldn't possibly hear each other.
7) Smile and say cheese! Or in our case, frown and try desperately to keep a Scrabble board from decapitating the passengers behind you.
True, we look like we're having the most intense bowel movement of our lives, but keep in mind we are suspended in mid-air. We're also usually more photogenic than this, but the park was 95 degrees that day, and I had also coated my face in vegetable oil.
As we pulled into the station, the two guys behind us were howling with laughter. "Did you see that?" they kept screaming at each other. "Those dudes pulled out a Scrabble board!"
"Yeah, we really like playing Scrabble," Jay deadpanned.
"On a roller coaster?!" they shouted, laughing.
"You wouldn't believe this word he just played," I said. "QUIZZICALLY. Can you believe that? 102 points, on a coaster!"
"Whoooooaaaaa," they said, their minds blown into Scrabble shrapnel.
I have a picture of myself and a friend on the Magnum at night, but rather than playing Scrabble, we are screaming like two frightened little girls. Did you ride the Top Thrill Dragster*?
The way to one-up this is to involve the whole roller-coaster car. Something like a bartender and waitress serving drinks to the people in the seats behind you. Bonus points if the waitress is in a Playboy bunny outfit.
Even better would be to involve the whole train. Since the cameras take a picture of each car as it passes, you can make it like a comic. In Car 1, a thief (in stereotypical striped shirt) is holding a woman at gunpoint. In Car 2, a similarly dressed person is being napped by the cops. And so on. Imagine your own scenarios.
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