Data & media sources

Our principles

• Facts with sources — height, speed, year opened, and manufacturer are public facts. We still link to official pages so you can verify them.
• Original writing — summaries, history essays, and park-area descriptions are written by us. We do not copy RCDB, Wikipedia, or park marketing copy.
• Respect rights holders — photos carry credit and license. POV video is embedded from YouTube; we never download or re-host third-party video.
• No bulk scraping — we curate from public pages the way a human researcher would, not by mirroring databases.
• Verify at the park — operating status, height requirements, and closures change. Always confirm with the park before you visit.

Official park & manufacturer links

• Cedar Point — cedarpoint.com (primary source for v1 ride specs)
• Cedar Point on Coaster Atlas
• Intamin
• Rocky Mountain Construction
• Bolliger & Mabillard

History & background

Flagship ride pages include sourced timeline events and version history (free), plus a longer background essay (Coaster Pro). Events, records, and spec numbers cite official park or manufacturer pages where possible.

Facts & specifications

Every curated coaster stores a source_url on its specification record — usually the official ride page on cedarpoint.com. Ride and park pages include a Sources & official links section with outbound links you can verify.

POV video

When available, ride pages embed point-of-view video from the rights holder's YouTube channel — for Cedar Point rides, typically the official Cedar Point YouTube. We use YouTube's embed player only; we do not download or re-host those videos. Click the player to load the embed; links to the channel and specific video appear below the player.

Photos

Hero images use licensed photography (often from Wikimedia Commons) with credit, license, and a link to the file page on every hero image and in each ride's sources panel.

Trademarks

Park names, ride names, and logos are trademarks of their respective owners. We use them only to identify real-world places and attractions (nominative use). Nothing on this site should be read as sponsorship or endorsement by any park.

Your uploads (coming soon)

User-submitted photos will require approval before they appear publicly. Uploaders must confirm they own the image or have permission to share it. See our Terms of use for the license you grant when uploading.

Copyright concerns

If you believe content on Coaster Atlas infringes your copyright, contact us through Contact or the process described in our Terms of use (DMCA section). We respond to good-faith notices and may remove or replace disputed material.