Dollywood is a theme park that is jointly owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton through her entertainment company, Dolly Parton Productions. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly 3 million guests in a typical season from mid-March to the Christmas holidays, Dollywood is the biggest ticketed tourist attraction in Tennessee. It has won many international awards.
Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, formerly named Santa Claus Land, is a theme park and water park located in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. The theme park opened in 1946 and features rides, live entertainment, and games that are divided into four sections that celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July.
Raging Bull is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), the ride opened to the public on May 1, 1999. It features a 208-foot (63 m) first drop, a maximum speed of 73 mph (117 km/h), and a track length of over 5,000 feet (1,524 m). It was the second B&M Hyper Coaster model to open in the United States, closely following the opening of Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Alpengeist is an inverted roller coaster located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Alpengeist has an Alpine mountain region theme and opened in 1997 as the tallest inverted coaster in the world. The name "Alpengeist" is German for "Ghost of the Alps" or "Alpine Spirit", and the ride is themed to a runaway ski lift. It has the records for the tallest complete circuit inverted coaster in the world, tallest inverted roller coaster in the United States, and the longest complete circuit coaster drop in the world.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a 422-acre (1.71 km2) amusement park in James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States, located approximately 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Virginia Beach. The park was developed by Anheuser-Busch (A-B) and is owned by United Parks & Resorts. The park opened on May 16, 1975, adjacent to Anheuser-Busch's brewery and near its other developments, including the Kingsmill Resort complex.
Superman: Krypton Coaster is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park in San Antonio. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the Floorless Coaster model opened to the public in 2000 as one of the first of its kind in the world. The well-received ride held the title for the world's tallest vertical loop from its opening until 2013. Superman: Krypton Coaster stands 168 feet (51 m) tall and reaches a maximum speed of 70 mph (110 km/h).
Montu is an inverted roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida. Designed by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, it is the park's second roller coaster designed by that company following the success of Kumba, which opened 3 years prior. When the ride opened on May 16, 1996, it was the world's tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster, a title it has since conceded to Alpengeist at sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The ride stands 150 feet (46 m) tall and reaches speeds of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).
Blue Streak is a wooden roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company, Blue Streak opened to the public on May 23, 1964. It is the oldest roller coaster operating at Cedar Point. In 2013, Blue Streak achieved its highest ranking in the annual Golden Ticket Awards publication by Amusement Today, ranking 27th among the world's top wooden roller coasters. In 2022, it was awarded a Coaster Landmark designation by American Coaster Enthusiasts.
The Voyage is a wooden roller coaster located at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana. Designed and built by The Gravity Group with the help of designers Mike Graham, Korey Kiepert, Larry Bill, Chad Miller, and former park President Will Koch, the roller coaster is themed to the famous voyage of the Mayflower by Pilgrims to North America in 1620. It opened to the public on May 6, 2006. It is widely considered one of the best wooden roller coasters ever built, and was awarded by TIME Magazine as the Best Roller Coaster in the world in 2013.
Wicked Cyclone is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags New England amusement park. The ride originally opened as a wooden roller coaster named Cyclone on June 24, 1983. Its name and design were inspired by the historic 1927 Cyclone roller coaster located at Coney Island. In 2014, after 32 seasons, Cyclone was closed while being re-tracked with steel. It reopened as Wicked Cyclone on May 24, 2015.
Storm Chaser is a steel roller coaster located at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Designed by Alan Schilke and manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) at an estimated cost of $10 million, the ride opened to the public on April 30, 2016. It features three inversions, a 78-degree drop, and a maximum speed of 52 mph (84 km/h) utilizing RMC's patented I-Box track technology.
Shock Wave is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. Built right at the edge of the park, Shock Wave is easily seen by passers-by on Interstate Highway 30. Its unique four-sided tube truss track system is similar to The Riddler Mindbender roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia which was constructed at the same time.
New Texas Giant is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. It originally opened as Texas Giant, which was the tallest wooden coaster in the world when it debuted in 1990. Manufactured by Dinn Corporation and designed by Curtis D. Summers, Texas Giant operated for nearly two decades and was highly-ranked in Amusement Today magazine's annual Golden Ticket Awards. The ride's popularity declined over the years as it gained a negative reputation for increasing roughness.
Lightning Racer is a wooden dueling roller coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Built by Great Coasters International (GCI) and designed by Mike Boodley of GCI, the ride was completed in 2000 within the Midway America section of the park. Lightning Racer was GCI's second roller coaster at Hersheypark.
Thunderhead is a wooden roller coaster located at Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Manufactured by Great Coasters International, the ride opened on April 3, 2004, as the anchor attraction of a new section added to the park that season called Thunderhead Gap. Thunderhead features 22 turns and 32 crossovers, and utilizes GCI's Millennium Flyer trains, which have been used on all GCI coasters since 1999.
The Legend is a wooden roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It was designed and built beginning in 1999 by the now defunct Custom Coasters International, with the help of designers Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill; it opened on May 6, 2000. The Legend is themed after Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and mimics the frightful ride Ichabod Crane took as he was chased through the woods by the Headless Horseman. The Legend has been consistently ranked among the world's top twenty-five wooden roller coasters at the Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented annually by Amusement Today magazine.
Skyrush is an Intamin prototype Wing Coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. It opened to the general public on May 26, 2012, as Hersheypark's 12th roller coaster and the park's third coaster made by Intamin. Skyrush features a 200 ft (61 m) cable lift that raises the train at 26 ft/s (480 m/min). The roller coaster is located in the Hollow section of Hersheypark, next to the Comet wooden coaster; Skyrush itself is mainly set above Spring Creek.
Wildebeest is a water coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It was designed and built beginning in 2009 by ProSlide Technology; it opened on May 7, 2010. Wildebeest is named after the African mammal, keeping with the water park's safari theme. When it was completed in 2010, Wildebeest held the record for the world's longest water coaster at 1,710 feet (520 m) long. It held that record until May 11, 2012, when Mammoth, Holiday World's second water coaster, took over the title at 1,763 feet (537 m) long. In 2010, Wildebeest was voted the world's "Best New Waterpark Ride" at the Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented annually by Amusement Today magazine. Wildebeest was also awarded the Golden Ticket Award for "Best Waterpark Ride" in 2010, 2011, and 2022.
The Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride is presented by Amusement Today to the best new attraction in the water park industry. The award was presented for best new attraction in both water parks and amusement parks since its inception in 2005 until 2018.
Lightning Rod is a steel roller coaster located at Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC), the ride is themed to hot rod cars from the 1950s and opened to the public on June 13, 2016. Initially marketed as the first launched wooden roller coaster of its kind, Lightning Rod was later modified for the 2021 season, with over half of its wooden Topper Track getting replaced with RMC's steel I-Box track. Prior to the conversion to steel, Lightning Rod was considered the fastest wooden coaster in the world reaching a maximum speed of 73 mph (117 km/h).
