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Our Picks for the Best Amusement Park rides for 2002
© 2002
by Darryl Musick
BORING DISCLAIMER FIRST: This is not meant to be the final word on all thrill rides...only our opinion of the best WE'VE ridden. There may be better rides out there, we just haven't gone on them yet. Now, keep your arms and legs in at all times....
TOP 5 ROLLER COASTERS - The king of all rides, here's where we stand with these masters of gravity.
STEEL
The second-best hanging inverted coaster we've been on (keep going for the best). Unusually good theming for Six Flags coupled with a smooth ride gives this five-inversion coaster high marks. Ride could be a bit longer but it is still very good. Wheelchairs enter through the exit.
Riddler's Revenge and Mantis are great coasters except most wheelers can't ride them because you have to be able to stand up. Medusa is basically Riddler's Revenge with seats. You still get the thrill becase the cars have no floor. Your feet are dangling in air just inches above the track as you go through several massive inversions including a cobra roll. Very smooth but hard to get the operator's attention when you need to use the elevator. Wheelchairs enter via an elevator next to the on-ride photo shop. Have the clerk in the shop call up to the platform to let you know you need the lift.
Another inverted hanging coaster like Batman above except with one more (6) inversion. Another thing is that many elements take place just inches above other guests heads over the midway. This is the best of this type of coaster we've been on. Wheelchair use an elevator located around back reached via the exit.
At one time, the tallest and fastest coaster on earth. Still packs a mighty wallop and the three camel humps inside dark tunnels definitely take getting used to. No inversions, just pure speed and extreme height give this coaster its punch. Wheelchairs enter via the exit.
1. Millennium Force (Cedar Point, Ohio - Picture
Above at top of Page)
Bigger is better in this case. The tallest
roller coaster in the world outside of Japan. You truly have a cast
iron stomach if the 310 foot lift hill doesn't give you the willies in
that open car with only a lap-bar to keep you in. The almost vertical
first drop of 300 feet at 92 miles-per-hour will definitely wake you up.
The speed is relentless as you complete the circuit via a bow-tie overbanked
turnaround, two tunnels, a bunny hop, and two more overbanked (slightly
inverted) turns. Our favorite steel coaster. Wheelchairs enter
via a separate path and load at the exit platform.
WOOD
This racer is good, but was much better in the past. Still, when it's in top form it's a fun coaster. No longer raced, you now have the choice (when both sides are open) to rode forward or backward. The ride is bumpy.
What a pleasant coaster located along the blue Pacific in one of the last beachfront amusement parks on the West Coast. The tunnel before the lift hill is very wicked! Wheelchairs enter via the exit.
Another trip to a sadistic lumber yard. Roar is almost Ghostrider , and would be too, but has just a couple of dead spots en route. Who knew that such a bad amusement park could have two coasters on our list. Two! That's one more than the number of friendly employees they have there. Wheelchairs...look for the elevator to the platform.
In this case small and cute don't really mean it. This looks like a kiddy coaster and that's just what many think it is...especially with the huge Mean Streak towering in the distance. Fortunately, the oldest coaster standing in the park delivers a huge gut punch in the way of air time and speed. You will spend as much time out of your seat as in it in this small but powerful woody. Wheelchairs enter via the exit.
See the full description at our Knott's Berry Farm trip report. An absolutely unbelievably intense coaster. Many riders are taken in by it's mellow looks only to be blown away by this awesome coaster. Wheelchairs enter via a special entrance across from the fountain where an attendant will take you up to the platform via an elevator.
TOP 5 WATER RIDES - Too hot? or just like to float? These may just be the ticket.
5. Jurassic Park (Universal Studios, California
)
Nasty T-Rex's await in the dark in this highly
themed plunge ride. Wheelchairs have a special entrance near the
exit.
4. Bigfoot Rapids (Knott's Berry Farm, California
)
The wettest raft ride around! Be prepared
because you will get either very wet or soaked. Wheelchairs enter
via a ramp located at the exit which will take you to a separate dock.
Disney's much maligned new park does have a few good rides including the best river raft ride we've yet seen. Run the rapids around Grizzly Peak before spinning down the final drop into Mt. Lassen's boiling fumaroles. Wheelchairs enter via a separate dock to the right of the main queue.
2. Splash Mountain (Disneyland, California )
Disney's version of that theme-park staple...the
log ride. With Disney, you know the theming is top notch. Inside,
the ride is almost like a roller coaster in its dips and drops before the
final tall, steep drop into the briar patch...ouch! Ride is currently
under re-construction. Wheelchair access is not known at this time.
Excellent water ride. One of the first...if not the first...log rides in existence. Themed to a lumber camp and mill with two excellent drops. The first one in darkness inside a cave and the second with a grand view of Calico Square before splash down. Good thrills, good views, and great theming. Wheelers will have a hard time getting into the logs. Wheelchairs enter via a special entrance near the on-ride photo shop. The dock is pretty narrow...be careful.
TOP 4 THRILL RIDES - Just want a quick thrill? These will either make you want more or swear off for good! Sorry, I could only come up with four...
4. Sun Wheel (Disney's California Adventure, California) For such a disparaged theme park, it's a wonder there are any rides on this list from it, but DCA has another winner with the Sun Wheel...a copy of Coney Island's Wonder Wheel. It's a ferris wheel with cabins that roll on roller coaster-like tracks providing a real thrill. Best of all, half of those rolling cabins are wheelchair accessible. Officially, wheelchairs stand in the same line as everybody else but many wheelers just go in through the exit. Your call.
3. Soaring Over California (Disney's California Adventure, California) Okay, this is a pretty gentle thrill ride. Even your great grandma can go on this one. It's still pretty thrilling sailing over the Golden State in a hang glider complete with Smell-o-Vision! Wheelchairs enter via Fast Pass.
2. Supreme Scream (Knott's Berry Farm, California
)
A couple of years ago we declared this to be
the best ride in Southern California. It has been surpassed since
but this no-nonsense turbo drop ride is still menacing. An open air
ride in you seat up over 250 feet (on a clear day you can see ships at
sea many miles away) where you dangle for a few seconds before being blasted
down at 55 miles per hour. I had to sit still for half an hour after
going on this thing. Wheelchairs enter via the exit.
1. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (MGM/Disney Studios,
Florida )
A ride like no other. Combine a haunted
house ride (like Disney's Haunted Mansion) and a turbo drop ride (like
Cedar Point's Power Tower) and you get an inkling of what this ride is
like. Greeted by zombie-like attendants, you are ushered into an
old elevator of a long abandoned Hollywood hotel. Your haunted elevator
takes you through floors of bizare Twilight Zone happenings until you reach
the end of a hall where the elevator door opens to reveal the world outside...just
before you plunge to your doom down the elevator shaft! Wheelchairs
enter via the exit.
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