Theme parks are a staple in American culture. From characters and cotton candy to thrilling coasters and water slides, a day at a theme park is unlike any other.
Here’s a list of the best attractions at parks across America–have you tried these epic rides?
The Intimidator
This steel coaster is located at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Intimidator is a NASCAR-themed “hypercoaster” and hits a top speed of 75 mph.
Griffon
Griffon is a steel Dive Coaster at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. This coaster is the second-fastest Dive Coaster ever built and features a 90-degree drop that goes straight down at 75 mph.
Toy Story Midway Mania!
Toy Story Midway Mania is a 4D ride where guests wear 3-D glasses and play five mini shooting target games with Buzz Lightyear’s laser gun. You can try it out at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The takes passengers in large “honey pot” cars through scenes from the Hundred-Acre Wood. The attraction exists at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland Park.
Nitro
Nitro is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackon, New Jersey. It’s New Jersey’s fastest and tallest roller coaster that hits a top speed of 80 mph with a 215 ft drop.
Fantasmic!
Fantasmic! is a nighttime show at Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort, Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort. The show features fireworks, tons of Disney characters, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, decorated boats, and mist screen projections, to name a few. It’s fun and exciting and the perfect way to end a day in Disney.
Alpengeist
This steel roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia has an Apline mountain region theme named “Ghost of the Alps” in German. It reaches a top speed of 67 mph and has 6 inversions.
Tatsu
Tatsu, the steel flying roller coaster, is located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. It’s the parks SEVENTEENTH coaster and reaches a max speed of 62 mph.
Mind Bender
The Mind Bender coaster is located at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, Georgia outside of Atlanta. It’s over 40 years old, but its age doesn’t hold it back from being super fun. It’s one of the few looping coasters with only lap bars holding riders in…
Behemoth
The Behemoth, a steel coaster in Canada’s Wonderland, is located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. This hypercoaster tops out at 77 mph, is similar to the Intimidator at Carowinds, made by the same manufacturer.
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue is a 3D motion simulator at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. The simulator takes guests on an adventure across the galaxy with C-3PO and R2-D2.
Banshee
At Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio lives Banshee, the longest inverted coaster in the world. The track is 4,124 feet long and reaches a max speed of 68 mph.
Hyperspace Mountain
The original Space Mountain opened at Disney World Orlando’s Magic Kingdom in 1975 and then opened in Disneyland in Anaheim two years later. It’s an indoor coaster that has recently been updated and renamed Hyperspace Mountain to align more with Star Wars.
Fahrenheit
This steel coaster in Hershey Park, located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, held the title of the steepest coaster in the world with a 97-degree first drop for a while in 2008. The coaster also has 6 inversions and tops out at 58 mph.
Kumba
Kumba is a steel coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It’s a three-minute ride with 7 inversions and a 60 mph top speed.
Full Throttle
This steel launched coaster is located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. It has a 160 ft vertical loop and cost $6 million to build!
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando and Shanghai Disneyland Park. It replaced the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sean: Submarine Voyage in 2014.
X2
The X2 coaster is the world’s first 4th Dimension roller coaster. The trains’ seats pitch 360-degrees forwards and in reverse independent of the chassis. It also features special effects like a sound system and a pair of flame throwers. You can ride the X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California.
Na’Vi River Journey
The Na’Vi River Journey is a dark boat ride attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park in Orlando. It’s set in the fictional world of Pandora, the World of Avatar, and is a 4.5-minute ride through the Pandore jungle through a bioluminescent rainforest.
Peter Pan’s Flight
Peter Pan’s Flight is a rail-suspended dark ride at the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland. It’s one of the few remaining attractions that was there since Disneyland’s opening day in 1955.
Splash Mountain
Splash Mountain is a 10-minute log flume ride at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. The ride is styled after the Disney film Song of the South.
Thunder Canyon
Thunder Canyon is a river rapids ride at Cedar Point, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, and Valleyfair. All riders will be soaked from the many waterfalls and water shoots along the river.
The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride attraction located at Disneyland Park, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. It’s a ride-through tour inside a haunted manor.
Radiator Springs Racers
Originally developed for Test Track, Radiator Springs Racers features third-generation transport technology for a simulated slot car type ride in Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure.
Kraken Unleashed
Located at SeaWorld Orlando, the Kraken Unleashed is a steel floorless coaster with 7 inversions. In 2017 the ride was refurbished and reopened to include virtual reality, however, it was short-lived due to excessive wait times.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a mine train roller coaster in Frontierland at Disneyland Park and the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Park as Big Thunder Mountain.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates is a dark boat ride attraction at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Park in Paris. This original ride at Disneyland was the last attraction overseen by Walt Disney himself. He passed away three months before it opened.
Test Track
Test Track at Epcot in Disney World is a high-speed giant slot car attraction. The ride simulates the testing procedures that General Motors uses to evaluate concept cars and wraps with a high-speed drive around the exterior track.
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye
This enhanced motion vehicle dark rise is based on the Indiana Jones film series at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. It first opened at Disneyland in 1995 the day after the Temple of the Forbidden Eye film was released.
SheiKra
This steel Dive Coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay opened in 2005. It reaches a max speed of 70 mph and a height of 200 ft. This coaster coast a whopping $13.5 million to build.
Prowler
This wooden coaster at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri. Prowler tears through the woods at a top speed of 51 mph and has a max drop of 86 feet.
Montu
Montu is an inverted roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa in Tampa, Florida. Montu has 7 inversions, a max speed of 60 mph and cost $20,000,000 to build.
The Incredible Hulk Coaster
The Incredible Hulk Coaster is a launched coaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park at Universal Orlando Resort. The coaster goes from 0-40 mph in 2.5 seconds.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
The Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Disney World is an enclosed indoor launched coaster that takes off from 0 to 57 mph in 2.8 seconds. The ride features the tunes of rock legends Aerosmith.
Raging Bull
Raging Bull is a coaster at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. It’s the world’s first “hyper-twister” coaster with a track that is nearly a mile long and reaches a top speed of 73 mph.
Manta
Manta is a steel flying roller coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. Rides fly high in the prone position reaching top speeds of 56 mph with four inversions.
Top Thrill Dragster
This steel accelerator coaster is located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Top Thrill Dragster is the second tallest steel roller coaster in the world at 420 ft and it reaches a max speed of 120 mph.
El Toro
El Toro, at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, has a 76-degree drop, one of the steepest of all wooden coasters. It has a drop height of 176 feet, putting it second in the world.
Leviathan
Leviathan is a steel coaster in Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario. It’s the tallest and fastest coaster in Canada with a top speed of 92 mph.
Revenge of the Mummy
Revenge of the Mummy is an enclosed coaster at Universal Studios in Florida. With amazing special effects, the ride places you right in the action of The Mummy films.
Apollo’s Chariot
Apollo’s Chariot is a steel coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in James City County, Virginia. It was the first Hyper Coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, reaching a top speed of 73 mph.
Cheetah Hunt
Cheetah Hunt is a steel launched coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa. The track is 4,400 feet making it the parks longest thrill ride and was built alongside a new cheetah exhibit in 2011.
Nemesis
Nemesis is located at the Alton Towers theme park in England. It’s an inverted coaster that allows riders to experience a zero-g roll where they experience the feeling of weightlessness.
The Beast
The Beast is a wooden coaster at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. It opened back in 1979 and was the tallest, fastest, and longest wooden coaster in the world at the time, and is one of the world’s most famous coasters.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
This motion-based 3D dark ride located at the Islands of Adventure, Orlando and Universal Studios Japan, Osaka theme parks, is based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
This Harry Potter ride is a motion-based dark ride at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida; Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California; and Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan.
Maverick
Maverick is a steel roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. It was coaster number 17 at the park and reaches a top speed of 70 mph.
Expedition Everest
Expedition Everest–Legend of the Forbidden Mountain is a steel roller coaster at the Animal Kingdom in Disney World themed around the legend of the Yeti who is said to protect the Forbidden Mountain next to Mount Everest.
The Raven
The Raven is a wooden coaster at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safaris in Santa Claus, Indiana. It opened in 1995 and is based around Edgar Allen Poe’s poem of the same name.
Millennium Force
Millennium Force is a record-breaking steel roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. It has a 310-foot drop and hits a top speed of 93 mph.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The Tower of Terror is a staple ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s an accelerated drop tower dark ride with a 130-foot drop.
Avatar: Flight of Passage
This Avatar ride is a 3D flying simulator at the Animal Kingdom in Disney World. The ride simulates flying on a native mountain Banshee over the landscape of Pandora.
Steel Vengeance
Steel Vengeance was formerly known as Mean Streak at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. It’s a steel coaster that reaches a max speed of 74 mph and is the highest hybrid coaster in the world at 205 feet.
Kingda Ka
Kingda Ka is a steel accelerator coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. It’s the world’s tallest coaster at 456 feet and the second-fastest at 128 mph.
The Fury 325
The Fury 325 is North America’s longest coaster at 1.25 miles long. This Carowinds coaster reaches a max height of 325 feet and a top speed of 95 mph.
Superman – Ride of Steel
Superman, a steel coaster at Six Flags America in Woodmore, Maryland, reached a top speed of 73 mph and has a max drop of 207 feet. Its twin coaster is located at Six Flags Darien Lake in New York.
Lightning Rod
Lightning Rod is a wooden coaster at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. When it opened it was marked as the world’s first launched wooden roller coaster.
The Voyage
The Voyage is a wooden coaster that opened in 2006 at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safaris in Santa Claus, Indiana. It ranks as the second-longest in length and sixth in height.
Valravn
Valravn is a steel coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. It’s said to be the tallest, longest, and fastest dive coaster in the US.
Cannibal
Cannibal is a steel coaster at Lagoon amusement park in Farmington, Utah. It opened in 2015 after the coaster cost $22 million to build. It features the steepest drop in North America, of 116-degrees.