Cheap Thrills: America’s Best Roller Coasters

There’s no better legal way to get a thrill than riding a great roller coaster. With better engineering than ever and a healthy competition to build the biggest, fastest, longest track, theme parks across the country are taking riders on adventures like never before.

Banshee and The Beast
Kings Island
Mason, Ohio

Kings Island, a AAA GEM attraction, claims to have the world’s longest wooden and steel inverted roller coasters. You can almost hear the Beast’s wooden track roar as you hurtle at speeds up to 65 mph through tunnels and banked turns in the surrounding forest. And if you’re not already hoarse from screaming after that thrill, you’ll shriek like a banshee through seven loop and roll inversions (where you’re turned upside down) at a maximum speed of 68 mph on Banshee’s steel track.

Griffon
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Va.

Your heart will pound before boarding Griffon, as you’ll be anticipating a 205-foot free fall -- right after a cruel cliffhanger stop. Two Immelmann loops (a half loop and half twist, exiting in the reverse direction) and another vertical drop lead to a splashdown, drenching spectators in the soak zone.

The Incredible Hulk Coaster
Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Orlando, Fla.

Blast off into a spiffy, special effects-enhanced tunnel while rock music blasts and speeds reach 67 mph. The Incredible Hulk Coaster twists you and turns you through upside down, weightless rolls.

Lightning Rod
Dollywood
Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Resembling a bright red 1950s hot rod painted with flames, the Lightning Rod wooden coaster will feed your need for speed. Feel adrenaline course through your veins as you’re launched 20 stories to a brief airtime (rising out of your seat as you crest a hill), followed by twin airtime summits and a tortuous, 165-foot drop. Nine more airtime elements, as well as banked turns, twists and loops will take you cruisin’ through Dollywood’s surrounding hills and trees.

Mako
SeaWorld Orlando
Orlando, Fla.

Ascend 200 feet to a brief, spectacular view. Mimicking the fastest-known shark, Mako propels you as fast as 73 mph through nine airtime hills and banked turns. For more thrills, ride the floorless Kraken and face-down Manta roller coasters.

Montu and SheiKra
Busch Gardens Tampa
Tampa, Fla.

These floorless roller coasters will tie your tummy in knots. Montu whisks you into a corkscrew roll, drops, loops, seven inversions and an Immelmann loop. SheiKra climbs 200 feet, dangles you unsparingly past the edge of the vertical drop, then dives into an Immelmann loop, a second drop and a tunnel underground, ending in a splashdown.

Valravn
Cedar Point
Sandusky, Ohio

Valravn is a fast, long and tall dive roller coaster that will make you feel like you’re flying. After climbing 223 feet, hang over the top of the fall for the longest four seconds of your life before plunging 214 feet. Next, you’ll soar into a giant Immelmann maneuver, another dive, a loop, a roll and a brief airtime before returning to solid ground. Cedar Point has 16 more roller coasters that are just as exciting.