How would you describe coastering in your particular state,

[vertgforces]

New York is ok i guess for parks...Six flags darien lake has superman, which is my personal #5 coaster out of 133...predator is good except its alittle rough, boomerang...bleh, mind eraser...bleh, viper is average. the great escape's comet, the classic coney isalnd cyclone, and seabreeze's jack rabbit are great wooden coasters. also, seabreeze added a great spinner last year as well, Whirlwind, which was barrels of fun.

 

In my particular area, central new york, coastering is lousy, there is a less-than-great galaxi coaster about an hour away from my house, and the annual state fair has pretty much the same ride (they didn't even have it last year!). The state fair does have some good flats though, although not many. A top spin, a small drop tower, a zipper and a fireball/revoultion. (oh, and a slingshot that i havent gotten the nerve to ride yet)

[nissanskyline1235]

lets see...how do describe coasters in arizona...oh yeah! there are only 2 and they really suck!! Theres nothing else, except for the state fair once a year, which then they only have a spinning wild mouse and that green thing with the sharp turns. But, thats it, the desert storm, and the patriot are the only coasters in the state, and they suck. Castles N' Coasters, which I live 10 minutes from but don't go to because it sucks, is probably the worst park I've ever been to. So, yeah, that describes it.

[Sir Clinksalot]

SC is a good mid-location. From my location (Columbia), you can drive an hour up I-77 to Carowinds or four hours west to SFOG. We're also about six and a half hours from Orlando or the parks of Virginia. Just close enough to justify a weekend trip, just far enough to realize there wasn't enough time to get anything done when you're on the way back (I actually drove to Orlando, hit IOA for three hours, bought a Christmas present for my girl, then drove home in one day - this was...probably not the smartest thing I've ever done).

 

There's also the Pavillion at Myrtle Beach, which I'm going to eventually get around to going to. Same with Wild Adventures, just to get Tommy off my back.

 

But for ten magical days every year we get the SC State Fair! And if that isn't enough, you can follow the carnies 90 minutes down I-26 to Charleston for the (far superior, IMO) Coastal Carolina State Fair (different ride company, so they get the Zipper and a Wild Mouse down there. We're stuck with the Doppel Looper deathtrap).

 

Mmmmm. Carnies.... DAMN YOU HBO!!!!!

 

(sorry, still bitter about no more Carnivale)

 

But the greatest place in the world is a mere 90 minutes away, as a quick jaunt down I-20 to I-95 will bring you to South of the Border! Marvel at all the crap! Eat nasty food-like products! Buy fireworks! Go to Pedroland, where you can look at the standing but not operating Pedro's Wild Mouse!

Buy questionable pornographic magazines! Visit Pedro's arcade, and choose from the massive selection of...oh, wait. Pedro's arcade blew. Where the hell did they get that Shobiz Pizza change machine?

 

//edited twice 'cause I can't spell.

[CoasterFanatic]

West Virginia is the only state that has a 100% ACE Classic Status! Take your pick:

 

Big Dipper

 

- or -

 

Little Dipper

 

oh .... and we used to have this SUCK machine!

 

Thunderbolt Express

 

But that's about it.

 

Credits J Westland, D Hahner, RCDB

[Meteornotes]

There are about 30 parks within a six hour drive from Baltimore, MD, including such standouts as Knoebel's, Hersheypark, Kennywood and Cedar Point. I think the East Coast is a great place to live in general, but especially if you're a park/coaster fan, as there are just so many close by...

 

dt

[CoasterFanatic]

^ 100% correct. I may rag on my home state for only having 2 coasters but this is the reality ...

 

Parks within 360 miles (days drive) of my home:

Fun Fore All (31.4 miles)

Kennywood (36 miles)

Tuscora Park (46 miles)

Idlewild Park (71.9 miles)

Geauga Lake (75.2 miles)

Dover Lake Waterpark (80.6 miles)

Moxahala (82 miles)

Conneaut Lake Park (84 miles)

Memphis Kiddie Park (93.3 miles)

Erieview Park (98.1 miles)

Lakemont Park (115.1 miles)

Waldameer Park (118.8 miles)

Cedar Point (131.8 miles)

DelGrosso's Amusement Park (132.8 miles)

Wyandot Lake (133.6 miles)

Midway Park (156.9 miles)

Camdem Park (173.7 miles)

Williams Grove Park (189.1 miles)

Jeepers (189.5 miles)

Martin's Fantasy Island (198.2 miles)

Jeepers (202.7 miles)

Jeepers (202.7 miles)

Six Flags Darien Lake (205.6 miles)

Hersheypark (207.5 miles)

Paramount's Kings Island (208.1 miles)

Jeepers (208.1 miles)

Knoebels (214.2 miles)

Jeepers (219.4 miles)

Coney Island (220.4 miles)

Wonderpark (224 miles)

Dutch Wonderland (228.6 miles)

Stricker's Grove (229.3 miles)

Six Flags America (231.7 miles)

Roseland Park (239.3 miles)

Paramount's Kings Dominion (242.9 miles)

Fun Spot (247.4 miles)

Seabreeze Park (248.6 miles)

Dorney Park (266.1 miles)

Nay Aug Park (266.7 miles)

Blue Diamond Park (268.9 miles)

Lakeside (270.5 miles)

Pocono Play Park (280.1 miles)

Bushkill Park (282 miles)

Clementon Amusement Park (298 miles)

Sesame Place (299.2 miles)

Indianapolis Zoo (301.2 miles)

Busch Gardens Williamsburg (302 miles)

Land of Make Believe (312.3 miles)

Funland (314.9 miles)

Sylvan Beach (315.9 miles)

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom (316.7 miles)

Dinosaur Beach (321.6 miles)

Morey's Piers (321.6 miles)

Nickel's Midway Pier (321.6 miles)

Storybookland (324.8 miles)

Indiana Beach (325.7 miles)

Baja Amusements (325.8 miles)

Jolly Roger Amusement Park (325.8 miles)

Ocean City Pier Rides (325.8 miles)

Trimper's Rides (325.8 miles)

Bowcraft Amusement Park (326.3 miles)

Gillian's Wonderland Pier (327.4 miles)

Playland (327.4 miles)

Six Flags Great Adventure (330.6 miles)

Steel Pier (333.5 miles)

Keansburg Amusement Park (339.1 miles)

Blackbeard's Cave (340.9 miles)

Fantasy Island Amusement Park (342.1 miles)

Jenkinson's Boardwalk (344.7 miles)

Casino Pier (344.9 miles)

Funtown Pier (344.9 miles)

Nellie Bly Park (346.2 miles)

Astroland (346.4 miles)

Coney Island (346.4 miles)

Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park (346.4 miles)

Motorworld (348.2 miles)

Spash Down Dunes (348.4 miles)

Michigan's Adventure (353.9 miles)

Nascar Speed Park (357.6 miles)

Dollywood (358.4 miles)

[ebl]

I believe that California has the highest coaster count in the U.S. There are a few noteworthy rides and a few unique rides. We can ride all of our coasters year round (Well, in Southern California, anyway) unlike most of the rest of the country. That makes it nice to live here.

 

Personally, I'm a 90-minute or less drive from Disneyland/DCA, Knott's, and SFMM, so I satisfy a coaster fix anytime I want with little planning or distance to travel.

 

Eric

[vertgforces]

^ yup 72 coasters in california

[robbalvey]

I have to say that for me, coastering in California is very 'average' at best. Sure like EBL said we have 'year round parks', and while SFMM has a LOT of coasters, they don't have that many 'stand out' coasters.

Same with Knott's. Technically, Knott's probably has a better selection of coasters, but both parks seem to be run fairly mediocre lately.

 

Disney on the other hand is a great run park, but we haven't gotten our season passes renewed in 6 months, and quite honestly, we haven't missed it.

 

In fact, CA as a whole has very few stand out rides for the amount of coasters we have. The ratio is terrible!

 

What I miss is living on the east coast and having my pick of most of those parks that Ted listed above. I'd much rather do without coasters for 4-6 months out of the year, than have medicore rides all year long. Besides, flights to FL from just about anywhere on the east coast are VERY cheap if you need your fix during winter!

 

When the ONLY choices are SFMM, Knott's, Disney, PGA, SCBB, SFMW, Legoland, and a couple of other smaller parks, that's not a BAD selection, but nowhere near as good as having Knoebel's, Kennywood, Hershey, SFA, SFNE, Cedar Point, Geauga Lake, SFGAdv, PKD, BGW, etc all within reach. I can think of at least one coaster at each of those parks that is better than 98% of all the coasters at the CA parks.

 

--Robb "Having Vegas 4 hours away helps make up for the overall average park selection in CA" Alvey

[PhishyBrewer]

I have to say that for me, coastering in California is very 'average' at best. Sure like EBL said we have 'year round parks', and while SFMM has a LOT of coasters, they don't have that many 'stand out' coasters.

 

Do you miss that MidWest Weather though? Not me. Snow, the humidity. Like you said Rob, "flights to FL from just about anywhere on the east coast are VERY cheap if you need your fix during winter!" It's nice to visit, but I sure as hell don't want to live there again.

[Angry_Gumball]

There is plenty to pick from in California but up this way coasters don't go any higher than 150 feet due to a close by airport or city ordinances. It puzzles me though that Drop Zone is one of the only rides in Nor Cal to break the 200 foot barrier while the rest of the coasters @ PGA are no higher than 100 feet. Something's weird there. I am glad to have a well known classic in the area (Giant Dipper) and I'd have to say, it kicks the snot out of some other rides in the area. Anyway, I haven't tried any out of state coasters yet but am happy with what I do have around here: 2 parks, one 25 minutes away and one 45 minutes away, and another an hour away.

[zaneymon]

2 words about coastering in New Zealand

and I quote "It sucks" 3 roller coaster in one theme park

[Coasters 4 ever]

In NJ coastering is good. I live about:

 

1 hour away from SFGAdv but my mom doesn't want to go there(but my brother and I do so maybe we will sometime next year and if I'm not afraid I will go on Kingda Ka at 11 years old!)

1 hour and 10min. away from Coney Island

1 hour and 15min. away from Dorney Park

1 hour and 20min. away from Casino Pier

2 hours away from Hersheypark

2 hours away from Knoebels

3 hours away from Morey's Pier

5 hours and 30min. away from Kennywood

5 - 6 hours away from PKD

 

Out of those I have been to Hersheypark, Casino Pier, PKD(was too small to go on anything but Scooby-Doo's Ghoster Coaster), and Dorney Park(as an infant; Does that count?). I will be going to Dorney Park in less than a week, might be going to Knoebels during the summer, and probably going to Casino Pier(I went twice last year).