The first manufacturer to employ the format was TOGO, a Japanese company that converted two traditional roller coasters in 1982 to stand-up configurations.

Screamroller at Worlds of Fun was a common corkscrew layout found at multiple parks and was built by Arrow Dynamics in 1976.

[3] Arrow retrofitted another coaster in 1984 called River King Mine Train, which originally debuted at the grand opening of Six Flags St. Louis in 1971.

[4] TOGO set out to design the first ever stand-up roller coaster from the ground up and successfully tested a prototype in the parking lot of their Tokyo plant.

Named Astro-Comet, the prototype was purchased by Kings Island, an amusement park in the US looking for the proper ride to celebrate the 100th anniversary of America's first roller coaster.

In addition to surfboard-designed cars, Pipeline features modernized and comfortable vest restraints and bicycle-style seats which move several inches up and down, to simulate the feelings of actually surfing.

Only one stand-up roller coaster, the Shockwave at Drayton Manor Theme Park in the United Kingdom, includes a zero-gravity roll.