2019 Favorites – Roller Coasters

Can we just say that I’ve saved “the best” for last? At least, the “most fun” for last?

I have to admit – this crazy “roller coaster” journey that Derrick is on truly just gets better & better. I would have never guessed that my innocent suggestion, “Hey, why don’t you start an Instagram account,” would bring us here. Derrick now has a flourishing Instagram account and a YouTube channel, which is growing by the day. As of me sitting down to write this post – he has 5.61K subscribers & has 1.35 million views on his videos! I’m not sure if those numbers seem substantial or not, but when I think back to one year ago when Derrick had just reached 1,000 subscribers – that is incredible growth!

I always talk about roller coasters as “Derrick’s thing”, (and this still feels strange to admit), but it’s slowly becoming “my thing” as well. In the future, I definitely want to explore this topic of “my own personal roller coaster journey” but, for the sake of this post (and not writing 3,000 words), I’ve been exploring more of this thought of, “Well, why do I personally like roller coasters?” Is it something I’m just along for the ride with Derrick on (pun totally intended)? Or do I have a story based around roller coasters as well? (Spoiler alert – I actually do have a really fun history with roller coasters & some core memories associated with riding them!)

I will never be the hardcore, obsessive, sorry-I-mean passionate, roller coaster nerd that Derrick is, but as I am on this journey with him – helping him grow his channels & produce content – I can feel myself shifting more into the “coaster enthusiast” category than the “general public” category. It’s a fun place to be!

So, anyways, that’s just a small taste of a series of posts I plan on writing in the future (stay tuned)! But for now though, let’s talk about roller coasters in 2019!

After a very slow roller coaster riding year in 2018 (thanks to me being pregnant all summer with Leander), I knew that 2019 was going to be a big roller coaster riding year. We visited 10 different amusement parks (plus an indoor water park) – we took 3 different trips centered around riding roller coasters & visited Kennywood (our “home” park) at least once a week in between. We had so much fun! I mean, duh – what an incredible, amazing “hobby” to have!

We brought our camera gear into every park we visited – so that I could take photos to fuel Derrick’s Instagram account (and for my own personal enjoyment – I truly love the challenge of taking these photos of roller coasters!) and so that Derrick could take video to fuel his YouTube channel. And this year, the “challenge” level of taking photos & shooting video went up a notch: not only were we in parks to ride rides & have fun, but we had 2 kids with us that needed our attention as well! It definitely makes things more interesting!

This is the 3rd year that I’ve published specifically my favorite “roller coaster” photos!
If you’d like to see my previous “favorite roller coaster” posts, you can find
2018’s favorite roller coasters here, and
2017’s favorite roller coasters here.

What follows are my favorite roller coaster images from 2019! Usually, I mix things up & show my “favorites” photos “in no particular order”, but I decided to leave everything together & in order today – that way, you could see what photos are from what parks!

Six Flags America in Bowie, Maryland

Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey

Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury, Connecticut

Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut

Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts

Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio

Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania

This last photo was taken by Derrick’s friend Jonathan (Rampaging Rex Productions) on Steel Curtain’s Media Day at Kennywood Park. It will forever be one of my most favorite images!

If you missed my other “favorite” image posts from 2019, be sure to check them out here:
Favorite Wedding Images
Favorite Engagement Images
Favorite Portraits

So, that does it with “favorite” posts from me! I hope you enjoyed this little jaunt down the year 2019 – I can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store for us!