New Beginnings | Thrillcraft — Thoosies Unite

Hey there! I’m Jay, the founder of Thrillcraft, an upcoming web and mobile application dedicated to bringing rollercoaster and theme park enthusiasts together like never before. My journey has been anything but ordinary, fueled by a lifelong pursuit of varied interests — from travel and adventure to software development and everything in between.

Born from Fire

By my teen years, I dabbled in nearly every hobby I could get my hands on (I’m sure at the expense of my mother’s sanity) — but it wasn’t always that way. My first time on a rollercoaster with an inversion (actually 2!) was one I’ll never forget — Desert Storm at Castles ‘N Coasters in Phoenix, Arizona. My family had been adventuring through the barely bearable weather of Phoenix on our bicycles, and through some fabrication and mystery, we were surprised with an opportunity every kid dreams of: 1 ride of choice at Castles ‘N Coasters. The only snafu was that my older sisters and I had to decide collectively. I voted for the more tame, but very fast and fun Patriot. My older sisters had no taste for this childs-play, and instead outvoted me to ride on Desert Storm. I’ll never forget the tears streaming from my eyes as I was dispatched from the station, doomed to a certain early death on this paint-flaked Hopkins beast. And yet, that day a thoosie was born.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more grateful and empowered by the opportunities I was granted (or have earned for myself, intentionally and inadvertently). These varied interests have given me incredible insight into the inner workings of many parts of our world that people take for granted, and I’ve been thankful for the opportunity to participate in so many communities.

One of the most passionate communities I get to participate in is the Thoosies (or for those not in the know, rollercoaster enTHOOSIEsts). Across the planet, there are hundreds of thousands of impassioned people who want to spend the weekends, their vacations, and their lives doing one thing — riding rollercoasters. This group is immensely proud of their ride credits, or tracking which coasters across the globe they’ve been lucky enough to plant their butt into. It’s all a huge game, who can ride how many rides, who can marathon a ride, who has traveled the world in seek of the biggest thrills, and more.

Even more than showboating their ride credits, the community loves discussing coasters. New rides, old rides, upcoming rides, long forgotten rides, and every variation you can think of in between. If there is something to say about ANY aspect of a theme park, the thoosies will chat.

What this boils down to is two key needs for a passionate, sizable community that spans the globe. And those needs are currently not being met. The current solution for ride tracking? Your best bet is to open up a spreadsheet and go crazy. How about comparing with other people? No one lies on the internet, right… What about those discussions, where are those taking place? In fragmented communities, scattered across Reddit, YouTube, Discord, and everywhere else.

As an entrepreneur and problem solver, this to me says one thing:

There is a definitive opportunity in the market to deliver a product catered to the community, a community that would so willingly invest time, effort, and care into supporting and contributing.

Yeah yeah, get on with it then. What’s this all about?

My goal is simple: I set out to design, build, and deliver a ground-up, consumer-first product that connects a community with unfulfilled needs. I’ll be using this blog to talk about some behind-the-scenes looks, from devlogs to feedback-seeking to trip reports and reviews of our own.

What is Thrillcraft?

• FREE, easy to use website and mobile (iOS & Android) application for rollercoaster enthusiasts
• Offers built-in ride credit tracking, leaderboards, community groups and posts, as well as reviews and reports for parks and rides from the community.
• Badges, Trophies, and “Community Votes” (Karma)
• Optional location-based ride tracking (check-in post-ride for your quick review and claim your credit!)
• Coaster & Park database integrated
• Discussion threads, share photos & videos
• Blog & coaster news
• Meetups & Events
• Crowd/Business Tracker (planned)
• Plenty more planned!

When will it be released?

Soon! Expect to be using Thrillcraft during your 2024 Season

How can I get access to it early?

We will be announcing a beta program sign-up on this blog, be sure to follow and stay tuned!

I have ideas, feedback, hate mail, and other miscellaneous things

Drop me a line! jay@thrillcraft.app