If you’re an amusement-park junkie withs spreadsheets detailing every ride you’ve been on, along with maps of parks and game plans to ensure you get on as many rides as possible every visit, then you have 10 more roller coasters to make room for on those charts and graphs. Here are 10 thrilling roller coasters that became available in 2013.
Outlaw Run, Silver Dollar City
Branson, Mo.
Outlaw Run hits speeds of 68 mph and runs a track just under 3,000 feet long. The wooden ride features an almost completely vertical drop of 162 feet, designed to make your stomach do somersaults, and goes upside down.
Full Throttle, Six Flags Magic Mountain
Valencia, Calif.
One of California’s most popular coaster destinations is introducing one more to a roster that’s already 17 deep in roller coasters. The park says it is the tallest, fastest looping roller coaster in the world and if that’s not enough, it features zero-to-70 mph acceleration and a 160-foot loop during which riders hurtle twice.
GateKeeper, Cedar Point
Sandusky, Ohio
See what it would feel like to fly on this ride, featuring fiberglass and steel coaches that suspend riders right over the edges of the 4,164-foot track. The ride loops around the park’s entrance and does a series of switchbacks, spirals and a zero-gravity roll where riders have nothing but air beneath their feet.
Gold Striker, California’s Great America
Santa Clara, Calif.
Great America has been working on this ride since 2009, and it’s finally ready to take on passengers. The ride begins with a 100-foot drop before wrapping around the Sky Tower, and twisting and banking wildly across the 3,197-foot track.
RiverRush, Dollywood’s Splash Country
Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Sitting adjacent to Dolly Parton’s megapark is Splash Country, which has just launched RiverRush. Designed to keep families cool who are bored by waterslides in the the Smoky Mountains, the “water coaster” takes riders on toboggans through hairpin turns and pitch-black tunnels down four stories of “track.” When it’s over, you’ll be happily dizzy and soaked.
Undertow, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Santa Cruz, Calif.
Take in the ocean breeze on this spinning roller coaster. Filled with crazy dips and sharp turns, the ride promises this: no two go rounds are ever identical. The ride is medium in size and speed but offers stunning views of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and the Pacific Ocean.
Iron Rattler, Six Flags Fiesta Texas
San Antonio, Texas
This is an updated model of the original 1992 Rattler, which at the time of its construction was the tallest, fastest wooden roller coaster in the world. Today the ride has been re-vamped and is a wood-and-steel hybrid. Riders go down an 81-degree drop and twirl through an inverted barrel roll on this renovated classic.
Hades 360, Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park
Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
Not new but certainly improved, the Hades 360 just added a 360-degree upside-down loop and a 110-degree overbanked turn. The wooden coaster is taking on features usually reserved for steel coasters, and all at 70 mph underground.
El Loco, Adventuredome
Las Vegas, Nev.
The New York New York roller coaster isn’t the only dizzying thrill on the Las Vegas strip anymore. Circus Circus is opening the family-friendly Adventuredome. The indoor coaster rises to 70 feet and features an unbelievably steep drop. Other El Loco coasters hold world records for drops of up to 120.5 degrees.
Meg-a-Blaster, Schlitterbahn Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas
Schlitterbahn has kept extremely quiet about its record-breaking new water coaster, which is still in development. The park owner explains, “To ensure the record-holding statistics of this new extreme attraction, we are not going to release final height and scope of the project until we are ready to welcome our first guests.” Our only reference to possibly understand the ride’s stats is the current record holder for the tallest, fastest slide—Insano in Brazil’s Beach Park, which rises 134.5 feet and goes 62.5 mph.
