#otp:gsr

(when it took them two years to find out Sara and Grissom were together)

“I’ll miss you” 

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation:

S01 E05 “Friends and Lovers”:

The coaster that shows up in this episode is none other than the world-famous ‘Big Apple Coaster’, also known as the ‘Manhattan Express’. This coaster has been decorating the New York New York Hotel & Casino in Vegas since 1997 and has since become not only an icon of the city, but one of the most famous coasters for coaster enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike.

S01 E22 “Evaluation Day”

The rollercoaster Warrick and Grissom ride at the end of this episode sadly doesn’t exist anymore. It was called ‘Speed – The Ride’, and it was located at the Nascar Café at the old Sahara Hotel in Vegas. The ride operated from 2000 to 2011. It was a shuttle loop coaster, which means that the coaster traveled its layout twice; once forwards, once backwards. Props to W. Petersen and G. Dourdan for daring to ride it.

S04 E21 “Turn of the Screws”

The roller coaster that serves as the crime scene in this episode isn’t actually located in Las Vegas – the real one, that is. ‘Pharaoh’s Fury’ was actually the ‘Screaming Mummy’, which operated at the former Pharaoh’s Lost Kingdom family park in Redlands, California, now Splash Kingdom Waterpark, the location where the park scenes were shot. After several relocations, the ride currently operates in a park in Michigan.

Aditionally, though not shown, throughout the episode Grissom and Woody, the ride operator, mention several real-life coasters. These include the ‘Desperado’ in Primm, Nevada, ‘The Beast’ and ‘Son of Beast’ at Kings Island, Ohio, the latter of which was the first modern-day wooden coaster to feature a vertical loop (hence the “head over heels” comment from Grissom), the ‘Steel Phantom’ (now ‘Phantom’s Revenge’ at Kennywood, Pennsylvania), and the 'American Eagle' at Illinois’ Six Flags Great America.

CSI: Vegas:

S01 E10 “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”

The rollercoaster featured in the season finale of CSI: Vegas where that long-awaited GSR kiss finally happens isn’t actually in Vegas either. Just like the Mosaic Casino, the Mosaic coaster doesn’t exist. Instead, Mr. Petersen and Ms. Fox took a trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, to ride one of its coasters: ‘Goliath’. Then, they altered the footage to make it seem like the coaster is located in Sin City. Here you can see a comparision between the show footage, and real footage of the coaster.

CSI: Cyber

S01 E02 “CMND:/Crash"

This one is actually a bit of a mystery, and there isn’t a lot of information out there. As evidenced by the stills from the episode (the two on top and the one right below on the left), several different coasters were used but made seem like it was the same one. I couldn’t identify how many, or which ones they were. I can only say that the one with the corkscrews (see below) is actually a rollercoaster at Heide Park Resort in Germany, of all places. Needless to say, it was probably stock footage. You can see a picture of the real coaster right next to it.

My best guess? Since we barely see the actual "ride" layout and the only long scenes happen at the "station" and with the wrecked car... Is it too far-fetched to think there's no real coaster and they built it for the episode? Who knows.

Bonus:

On some of the opening credits for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the very first frame we are shown features the iconic coaster that wraps around the top of the Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas: the ‘High Roller’. This was, of course, very real, but it was torn down in 2006. Fun fact: they actually cut the coaster into tiny pieces and sent them down the elevator.

The Depressing One:

The Happy One:

There are still souls for whom love is the contact of two poetries, the fusion of two reveries. ― Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Reverie