Introducing Redux Rundown! (5/23/25)

Welcome to the first episode of Redux Rundown!  Coaster Redux is all about in-depth storytelling from my visits to new theme parks, and I'm going to continue bringing you that type of content.  Redux Rundown episodes will now join full Coaster Redux episodes on this same feed, giving me the ability to step outside the story timeline and talk about the news, what's going on with the podcast, tell a quick story that doesn't warrant a full episode, or interview a fellow enthusiast.  I can't wait to bring you more interesting and up-to-date theme park and roller coaster content with Redux Rundown!    

Theme Song: Alex Grohl/Electronic Rock (King Around Here)

If you enjoyed this episode, please help me out by leaving a 5-star rating, a review, and tapping follow. You can also comment on Spotify, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and X @coasterredux.

Transcript

What’s up coaster nerds, it’s Erik from Coaster Redux, and this is the first episode of Redux Rundown. It’s a brand new component of the podcast, and after just dropping the Season 3 finale, I’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming months, and where I want to take the show, so let’s get into it.

So I first started this podcast to tell the story of my revived roller coaster fandom, because you know, as a roller coaster fan one of my favorite parts of the hobby is getting the reaction of somebody coming off a ride they’ve never ridden before.  That’s what I want to share with you.  Over the last three seasons, I’ve brought you my first-time reactions to 25 different parks and 158 roller coasters. I felt that other podcasts out there didn’t go into much detail about the specifics of the rides, the vibe of the parks, and the story of the day.  I love watching YouTube vlogs and full park walk-throughs, and wanted to bring that long-form content to the podcast space.  

It’s been a great experience as I continue to learn how to do this, and the response has been overwhelming!.  A term I keep hearing in the creator space is “evergreen content,” meaning that people will still listen to an episode on a park I visited two years ago because it’s still relevant, and my analytics agree.  

With that being said, I’m not going to say I’m running out of new parks to visit, but I’ve covered a lot of the low-hanging fruit in the US, at least as far as stringing a bunch together for road trips when I’m based in Florida.  I’ve still got plenty of new park trips coming up this season, and venturing overseas dominates my short-term bucket list.

Rest assured, I’m going to continue making audio vlogs in my current style whenever I go to a new park, or visit one with major changes, but I feel like this format, which I love, leaves me painted into a box.  In my mind, storytelling needs to be linear, so I don’t want to start a new story until I’ve finished the last one.  Sometimes I’ll experience something cool at a park that doesn’t justify a full episode.  For example, I could have released a short episode about Scorpion’s final ride right after it happened back in September, so it would have been fresh without interrupting the timeline of the main podcast.  

That’s why I’m introducing Redux Rundowns. This will give me a sort of freeform sandbox to drop other interesting content in a more timely manner.  I want to talk about the news as it happens.  Believe it or not, announcement season is right around the corner, and I think we have a lot to look forward to in 2026.  I get requests all the time for ratings and rankings, so I can also intertwine things like that in between full storytelling episodes.  I want to invite more enthusiasts to join me for interviews, and just provide updates on what’s going on with the show like I am right now.  

Full episodes take a lot of time to write, record, and edit, and I want to bring you more frequent and relevant content.  Same quality, just without as much production time.  I didn’t feel right about ghosting y’all for two months between Episodes 32 and 33, and this will give me a way to avoid that.

So here’s how it’s going to work.  Redux Rundowns will be part of the Coaster Redux podcast, so if you’re already following me here, they’ll show up in your feed.  They’ll have the same red logo you see for this episode.  Descriptive titles will be followed by the release date.  Full episodes will maintain the blue logo, with titles starting with an episode number, the name of the park, and a subtitle as they always have, making them easy to differentiate on whatever app you use to listen.

The final way I’ll be using Redux Rundowns is to talk about what’s coming up on the podcast.  The next episode will feature a trip I took in April to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Kings Dominion to ride Rapterra, and Carowinds on the way home.  I’ll be joined by my new friend Mike who I met at Kings Dominion.

Then, in just about a week, from this release, I’ll be heading to Epic Universe, and I’m so stoked to check this place out.  It’s been killing me not to watch videos or listen to podcasts on this brand new theme park, but I want to keep my first-time reactions completely my own.  I’ll be there for two days, and my goal is to rope drop the park and stay all 12 hours until closing in hopes of riding everything at least once, and soak up the atmosphere at night.  That trip may end up being split into two full episodes because there’s going to be so much to talk about, but we’ll see how it goes.  If any of you have been to the park and have recommendations about how to tackle the park, like which rides to hit early and whatnot, I’d love your feedback.

Which brings me to my final point.  Podcasting doesn’t lend itself to the same level of interaction between you and I as YouTube, but it’s getting better.  Spotify now allows you to comment on every episode, so do you have tips for me on Epic Universe?  Thoughts about Redux Rundowns?  Anything else you want to hear on the podcast?  It’s pretty cool that I can now say “drop a note in the comments.”  You can also reach out via Instagram, Facebook, or X, where you can find me @coasterredux.  I welcome any opportunity to interact with you all.  I’m super excited about this new format, and I can’t wait to bring you more roller coaster and theme park content.   So with that, thank you for listening to Redux Rundown.  Until next time, enjoy the ride.