While I’ve gotten the chance to visit Cedar Point, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Kings Island over the years, there are still a few North American parks I’m yearning to get to.
To provide some alternate programming in an effort to break up my fixation on video games and the Super Smash Bros. series, I figured I’d take a look at one of my favorite warm-weather pastimes as the days get filled with more sunshine.
With this being my first winter living in Northern California, it’s throwing me off quite a bit that summer feels like it’s already here by Midwestern standards, leading my mind to think about what roller coasters I’ll be able to add to my credit list this year.
While I’ve been a lifelong roller coaster enthusiast, it took quite some time for me to actually want to ride them myself, with the lofty height and speed statistics often spooking me out as a kid. A visit to Six Flags Great America with a friend in 2010 changed that for good, and I’ve tried to seek out new coasters when traveling ever since.
To make it clear which parks I won’t be including on this list, here’s a look at parks that I’ve ridden at least one roller coaster at:
- Six Flags Great America – Gurnee, Illinois
- Six Flags Magic Mountain – Valencia, California
- Six Flags St. Louis – Eureka, Missouri
- Cedar Point – Sandusky, Ohio
- Kings Island – Mason, Ohio
- New York-New York Hotel & Casino – Las Vegas, Nevada
- Universal Studios: Hollywood – Los Angeles, California
- Disneyland – Anaheim, California
- Disney California Adventure – Anaheim, California
- Magic Kingdom – Bay Lake, Florida
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Bay Lake, Florida
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Bay Lake, Florida
- Universal Islands of Adventure – Orlando, Florida
- Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park – Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
- Safariland – Villa Park, Illinois
- Nickelodeon Universe Mall of America – Bloomington, Minnesota
- Fun Spot America Atlanta – Fayetteville, Georgia
- Six Flags Over Georgia – Austell, Georgia
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom – Vallejo, California
- Kemah Boardwalk – Kemah, Texas
- Luna Park – Brooklyn, New York
- Belmont Park – San Diego, California
With nearly two dozen parks in the book, many of my most-hyped coasters can still be found at parks I haven’t made it to yet.
This list will not be including California’s Great America, a soon-to-close park located in Santa Clara that I have plans to get to within the next two years. It also won’t include Cedar Point, which I haven’t visited since August 2013, despite the addition of multiple amazing coasters since.
Here’s a look at where I hope to make it to the most:
1. Canada’s Wonderland (Vaughan, Ontario)
In what would be my first international park, Canada’s Wonderland is a mixed bag for many coaster enthusiasts – but its strengths greatly outweigh its weaknesses from my perspective.
Boasting 18 roller coasters, Canada’s Wonderland is tied with Six Flags Magic Mountain and Cedar Point for second-most in the world, only trailing Energylandia in Poland. While many enthusiasts point to the park’s wealth of seemingly unremarkable rides geared towards families and younger audiences, Canada’s Wonderland still has plenty in store for thrillseekers.
This is perfectly exemplified by the trio of towering Bolliger & Mabillard coasters, all of which fit the definition of a hypercoaster (200+ feet in height) at the very least. Leviathan, the park’s tallest coaster, features a height and drop of 306 feet while reaching speeds of 92 miles per hour.
There’s also the more standard B&M hyper with Behemoth, as well as the world’s tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster in Yukon Striker.
The park added to its top-tier repertoire last year with AlpenFury, with its dizzying nine inversions offering more than any other roller coaster on the continent along with top speeds of 71 miles per hour.
With over a dozen other credits to pick up ranging from the suspended Vortex to the familiar Backlot Stunt Coaster, plenty of coasters at Canada’s Wonderland are consipcuous absences from my credit list.
2. Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio, Texas)
While Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey was long the Six Flags park highest on my list, the closure of former all-time record holder Kingda Ka bumped Fiesta Texas up to this spot.
Lauded for its picturesque setting located largely within a quarry, much of the park and its rides take perfect advantage of the location to create what appears to be one of the more unique amusement experiences one can find in North America.
Over the years, the park has built up a dynamite coaster lineup, including the floorless Superman: Krypton Coaster and Rocky Mountain Construction-built Iron Rattler, both of which feature drops off the top of the quarry surrounding the park.
Other highlight attractions include the single-rail Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster, Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger, an incredibly steep dive coaster, as well as the twisted knot of a coaster that is Poltergeist.
With a top-heavy lineup of 11 roller coasters in one of the most unique settings one could have for a theme park, Six Flags Fiesta Texas is a must-go that I have yet to see.
3. Holiday World (Santa Claus, Indiana)
While my best shot to visit this park was likely while living in Chicago and being rougly a six-hour drive away, I’d still be more than willing to figure out a way to experience what is in many ways a wooden wonderland.
Taking inspiration from the city name the park is located in, Holiday World is a holiday-themed park, with four sections of the park each corresponding to different holidays – Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Independence Day.
Though the park also includes a large water park in Splashin’ Safari, my focus would be entirely centered on the park’s six roller coasters, which include some of the most renowned wooden coasters in the world.
On top of the incredible wooden trio of The Legend, The Voyage and Raven, the park also features a pair of must-ride steel coasters – Thunderbird, one of just two launched wing coasters in the world, and Good Gravy!, a Thanksgiving-themed family coaster.
Though not an easy park to get to by any means, its smaller footprint in a heavily forested setting makes for amazing night rides and one of the more seemingly quaint amusement experiences on the continent.
4. Silverwood (Athol, Idaho)
In some ways the Holiday World of the Pacific Northwest, Silverwood is nestled away in the forests of northern Idaho, located just under an hour drive’s away from Spokane, Washington.
On top of its pristine surrounding scenery in a part of the country where roller coasters are incredibly scarce, Silverwood brings seven roller coasters to the table, a few of which are arguably worth making the trip for.
After seeing the former Deja Vu, a giant inverted boomerang coaster, often closed during childhood visits to Six Flags Great America, I could finally get my chance to ride it as Aftershock. Opening in 2008 at the park just one year after the end of its 2001-07 run at Great America, the coaster is one of just three of its kind still in operation.
Among the park’s other highlights are a pair of classic wooden coasters in Timber Terror and Tremors, along with the single-rail Rocky Mountain Construction-made Stunt Pilot, giving the park another unique style of coaster that is not yet widespread.
With an idyllic setting and surprisingly strong coaster lineup, Silverwood seems to be an experience unlike any other – and one I’ll be sure to have in the coming years.
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