New Junkie wants your recommendations

Hi there, coasterbuzzers.

I'm a new coaster zombie. I hadn't rode coasters for most of my life, until I had LASIK and didn't have glasses to lose.

My wife took me to Cedar Point earlier this year, and I am hooked. We went back to CP once already this year, and just got back from Worlds of Fun in KCMO. (Patriot and Mamba are both fantastic.)

We took the opportunity to get the Cedar Fair season pass, so are beginning to think about where to go next year.

Favorites so far seem to be:
* Inverted Anything (Raptor is my favorite, although Patriot comes very close.)
* Hypercoasters

With that in mind, what would your personal recommendations be for the next park we should visit? Initial impression from what I've read would be that Knott's BF would be a decent choice. (We're definitely going back to CP for Maverick, though.)

Thanks in advance.

H

Knotts is quite far away from those and not that far up the list of must visit parks. Most enthusiasts would recommend visiting Holiday World, Knoebels, Kennywood, Kings Island, Indiana Beach, etc. Those along with CP are probably my favorites in the States.

There's a ton of great parks in the mid-west (and further out)....if you like coasters, you'll have a ball at any of them.

Anywhere with some quality wood coasters. Period.

I suggest you use the census and records features on www.rcdb.com It shows coasters and parks sorted almost any way you can think to sort them. For example Geauga Lake actually has more inversions on coasters than Cedar Point and Kings Island.

Ohio lists 6 inverted coasters, and CA has 7.

Here's a link to the list of the 12 tallest coasters in the US http://www.rcdb.com/rhr.htm?statistic=1&type=&design=&location=59

Hope this helps, and welcome to the hobby/obssesion!

Before making the jump to California, there are some "cant miss" parks closer to where you are too:

You have SFGAm in Chicago, SDC/CC in Branson, PKI in Cinci, and Holiday World in Santa Claus.

PA has Kennywood, Knobels and Hershey

Florida of course is a place you need to go at some point

Texas has SFFT Schlitterbahn (a waterpark, but one I have yet to hear any coaster enthuiast not enjoy) and SFOT

Virgina's duo of PKD and BGE are also fantastic.

My suggestion is to look at some of the copereate parks and plan vacations where your SP's for that year can get you into multiple parks. On the other hand being a newbie is great because you havent experienced anything yet, going to small parks is something that most newbies dont appricate yet but there are some great small parks (some of which Ive mentioned) that are fantastic. Read some trip reports, and check out www.rcdb.com to determine what parks to hit next.

If you want to ride a good invert, go to Carowinds. Top Gun is brillant.

Kings Island and GL are good parks to use your CF pass while you're in Ohio visiting the Point.

Valleyfair is opening up what looks like to be a great woodie next year as well.

I would suggest Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Great America, Six Flags over Texas, Knott's Berry Farm, Islands of Adventure, both of the Busch Gardens, most of the Paramount Parks, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Holiday World.

Just take some time to look up these parks online over at www.rcdb.com and just go from there. *** Edited 10/16/2006 4:02:35 AM UTC by Matthew Engel***

If you liked Patriot and Mamba, you would like Talon and Steel Force at Dorney. The only issue is that Talon is very similar to Patriot and Mamba is very similar to Steel Force. You could combine a trip to Dorney with a day at Great Adventure or Hersheypark since the parks are somewhat close to each other. *** Edited 10/16/2006 4:25:59 AM UTC by YoshiFan***

Hogarth,

Welcome to the coaster club! I remember when I was really getting started in this awesome hobby and I fell in love with inverts and hypercoasters also. I still love them but I think you will find, like most of us, after awhile you'll fall in love with woodies!

My 2 cents...My favorite invert is Montu at Busch Gardens in Tampa. They have Shrieka there now which looks awesome plus you'll get to ride Gwazi...awesome wood.

Since you know you like the inverts and hypers I would say go somewhere with some awesome wood to find out if you like wooden coasters. Thunderhead at Dollywood is my favorite, but since you live in Tulsa, I would recommend heading out to Branson for some nice steel coasters and a great wood one.

If you are ever coming down to Oklahoma City, email me. I just got here from Ohio and I still haven't been out to check out Frontier City here.

Have you been out to Bell's in Tulsa yet? *** Edited 10/16/2006 6:12:27 AM UTC by S&SFAN***

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S&SFAN said:
I still love them but I think you will find, like most of us, after awhile you'll fall in love with woodies!

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Maybe -- but I have neurological issues and haven't yet found a woody (except Blue Streak, and hybrids like Gemini) that doesn't cause me to be in pain for days.

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but since you live in Tulsa, I would recommend heading out to Branson for some nice steel coasters and a great wood one.

If you are ever coming down to Oklahoma City, email me. I just got here from Ohio and I still haven't been out to check out Frontier City here.

Have you been out to Bell's in Tulsa yet?

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Bell's was out of commission for most of this summer due to a big storm. I hadn't bothered with it -- and while we thought about going to Frontier City over this past summer, we saved up for another trip to CP instead. Branson is a definite possibility.

Everyone else, thanks for your suggestions. Geauga Lake looks -phenomenal- and PKI is no slouch either. With my wife having family in Columbus, it sounds like a cross-Ohio trek is in the making.

Thanks!!

Branson is SWEET....just wear earplugs... ;)

The combo passes for SDC/CC worked wonders, for maximum day/night enjoyment... :)

Might I suggest a non-disney vacation to the Orlando/Tampa area?

Islands of Adventure has two (really three) world-class rides in Dueling Dragons and the Incredible Hulk (plus it's a great all-around park), and Busch Gardens Africa (/Tampa) boasts one of the most well-rounded coaster collections out there, not to mention a fantastic atmosphere (oh, and free beer).

Other perks of a trip down there is that once we pass Halloween, there should be a nice break in the crowds at those parks in early november, early december, and basically anytime from January through at least March.

Busch Gardens Africa

Islands of Adventure

Keep us posted and welcome to the addiction!

^If you do go to Florida, do Disney too, especially if you grew up on the movies because those parks are amazing. I suggest the supersize 16 day (2 weeks with an extra weekend) Florida break with 1 day at Busch Tampa, 1 day at Sea World, 2.5 days at Universal/Islands of Adventure (stay on property, you get front of the line access that way) and 7.5 days at Disney (with 4 travel days.)

^and half your life's savings with a partridge in a pear tree ;)

^Not if you work the deals right.

^Especially if you stay at one of the top resorts like the Polynesian. Oh the Poly. :)

Next Summer, GO TO INDIANA! (My recommendation would be to fly into Indianaopolis, then drive north and spend a couple of days at Indiana Beach, then hesd south to the Ohio River and spend AT LEAST TWO DAYS at Holiday World.) These are two of the best Amusement Parks on the Planet and they have Six of the best Wooden Roller Coasters you'll ever ride!

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) *** Edited 10/17/2006 10:12:53 AM UTC by Borntocoast***

Sounds like a great idea for a trip. However, he might want to test the waters a bit with quality wood before jumping into such a major wood coaster trip, considering his neurological concerns. LoCoSuMo is probably not a good ride for him.

Holiday World and The Voyage are a must for anyone who loves coasters.

Check out Mitch's poll (www.bestrollercoasterpoll.com) to see the favorites of the community.

Just so you know, it's weighted in such a way that it's NOT affected by number of riders (a good coaster that nobody has a chance to ride will place higher than a crap coaster that everybody has ridden).