If you’re a roller coaster aficionado, then there are some riding experiences that you won’t want to miss when you’re traveling around the great United States. From California to Pennsylvania, you can take the ride of your dreams when you become a passenger on some of the country’s most bone-chilling, stomach-lurching and hair-raising coasters that will have you coming back for more. Strap in, get comfortable and prepare to take a cyber-ride on the ten best roller coasters in America.
Valencia, California is home of Superman – The Escape, a coaster reaching 415 in height and achieving a speed of 100 mph in under seven seconds. Advertised as the fastest ride on earth at a rate of 4.5 G’s, this reverse freefall coaster is composed of fifteen passenger trains and weighs a whopping six tons, which is propelled along the 1,315 foot track by linear synchronous motors. This is about as exciting as it gets in the world of adventure rides.
The Magnum Force Roller Coaster at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio is 420 feet tall and rockets its riders around the track at a breathtaking 120 miles per hour. Referred to by park staff members as the fastest roller coaster in the universe (sorry, Superman), this is only one of sixteen coasters that are housed within the amusement park. Its twisted steel track offers loops, dips, towers and vertical challenges that can be rivaled by no other, its loops rising in the sky like hi-tech mountains which tower over the park to dare only the bravest of souls to take a ride.
Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania is host to Steel Force Roller Coaster – this 205 foot, 75 mph roller coaster offers twists, tunnels, banks and blood-curdling excitement. The first of its kind on the East Coast to break the 200 foot barrier, this thrill ride makes up for in excitement what it lacks in speed, by comparison to its faster rivals. If you’re in Allentown, you won’t want to miss the Steel Force Roller Coaster experience that Dorney Park has to offer.
Desperado, located at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino in Primm, Nevada will send you plummeting down a 225 foot drop at a force of 4 G’s. Built in 1994, this popular ride can accommodate approximately 900 passengers per hour in its three 5-car trains, taking those who dare to ride it on a 5,843-foot trek that they’ll never forget. Offering the traditional twists and turns of a modern thrill ride, Desperado also challenges its riders to not one, but two thrilling drops – the first measuring 225 feet, with the second coming in at 155 feet.
Busch Gardens, in Williamsburg, Virginia, boasts the Alpengeist – this resident roller coaster is a bit tamer than others, reaching 195 feet in height and achieving a maximum speed of 67 miles per hour. Not to be taken lightly, though, the Alpengeist slams passengers into six mind-numbing inversions, followed by a 170-foot drop. By the time you’re finished flipping and spinning through this death-defying thrill ride, you’ll be glad that this top-ten roller coaster doesn’t reach the speeds of some of its competitors.
Its cousin – Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida – offers the Montu Roller Coaster, one of the most challenging inverted rides in the world. After rocking into an inverse diving loop and 60-foot vertical loop, passengers are thrust through the steel tangles at a G-Force of 3.85. Unlike most roller coasters, which require passengers to be at least 48” tall, the Montu requires riders to be at least 54” in height. Once you experience the excitement for yourself, you’ll see why there are so many restrictions.
Kings Mills, Ohio is home to the Beast at Paramount’s Kings Island. For the true thrill of a lifetime, bolster your courage and take a ride on the one roller coaster that continuously goes down. Its 7,400 track drops down the mountainside at lightning speed, hitting a lift near the end of the ride, just before the finale. You’ll feel as though you’re free-falling as you plummet down the length of this gigantic steel monster, making it one of the most exciting roller coaster rides in the world.
Also at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio is Raptor – often referred to as one of the “tallest, fastest and steepest inverted roller coasters on the planet,” this coaster coined the term, “thrill ride”. Painted bright green in honor of its name, Raptor offers 3,790 feet of heart-stopping excitement as it takes passengers through its “cobra roll” – designed to flip the passengers, spiral them upside down into a 180 degree roll and then repeat it in reverse. Approximately 1800 riders can experience this unique ride within the span of an hour after being strapped into ski-lift style seats. This is one wild ride, so make sure that you’re properly secured.
Las Vegas – not to be outdone – is the home of Manhattan Express in New York, New York Casino. This mammoth roller coaster will drop passengers 144 feet from the sky and offers a vertical angle of 55 degrees. At a maximum height of 203 feet, riders will not only launch through 4, 777 feet of track, but will experience both loops and dive loops during their journey. Achieving a maximum speed of 67 mph, the Manhattan Express is one of the most exciting attractions in Las Vegas.
Tenth in the rank of America’s top ten roller coasters is the Blue Streak Roller Coaster, located in Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio (home of three of the top ten roller coasters in America). Like its two counterparts, this roller coaster is one thrill after another, reaching 78 feet in height and offering the experience of negative G-Forces. This screaming steel machine will propel you through the air and around hills like no other. It wasn’t named after a local football team for nothing!
Wherever your travels take you as you wind through the highways of America, you’re bound to be near one of these outstanding thrill rides. No vacation is complete without such an experience – but don’t forget to hold off lunch until after you take that ride.
