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Highest Concentration of Quality Anywhere?

Jarrett

Most Obnoxious Member 2016
So planning my New England trip for 2016, I've been told that out of anywhere in the world, the region I will be visiting has the highest amount of decent coasters within the closest distance of each other anywhere in the world. This statement has had me thinking lately, what are other areas like this that are in the running? That just have a ton of awesome coasters that aren't terribly far from each other?

A few sprung to mind for me...

Pennsylvania Triangle: This was the nickname I gave to the region involving Hershey, Knoebels, and Dorney when planning my Pennsylvania trip that went down this summer. Starting at Hershey, it's an hour to Dorney and from there, two to Knoebels. In two days' time, it's possible to get an awesome racing GCI, two really good Intamins (Fahrenheit and Stormrunner), the best coaster ever (okay, that's a matter of opinion, but Skyrush is definitely world-class), a highly-rated invert, a decent B&M floorless, the uniqueness that is Flying Turns and Black Diamond, Twister being pretty good, and some of the best wooden airtime ever on Phoenix. That's ~11 pretty good to amazing coasters within the span of three hours of each other. Not to mention Kennywood or SFGAdv could be on the way depending on which way you come from.

Ohio River/Kentucky-Indiana Border: By next year, it will be possible to do Kentucky Kingdom, Beech Bend, and Holiday World in the span of ~1.5 days. In those days you can get an RMC, a really kick **** Morgan Hyper GTX, a woodie that boasts a fair bit of airtime that's good for what it is, an okay GCI (though nothing that spectacular except for the drop in the back), another kick **** little airtime machine that is Raven, possibly the highest-rated wing coaster built yet, and one of the highest-rated wooden coasters ever. Kings Island is a bit of a hike from the rest of this but it is in the same general area and it has a massive B&M invert (often regarded as the best of the breed), a B&M hyper, and a terrain woodie that happens to be the best night ride ever. That's 7 enjoyable coasters within the span of 3 hours, and 10 in the span of 5 if you drag it out to Kings Island.

Cedar Point: I expect this one to get some rap, but let's be honest here. This is just one park and inside can be found one of the most universally enjoyed (and still most controversial) coasters ever in Millennium Force, the second tallest coaster in the world known for its killer launch, a historical gem in Magnum that also delivers a very aggressive ride in its ejector seat, a highly rated wing coaster, possibly the best dive machine built, and their supporting lineup is also pretty awesome in that it lacks boomerangs or other **** filler trash. And it's all within walking distance! Most traveled enthusiasts don't think they have the best coaster in the world (albeit some do), but I personally think that the reason this is the Thrill Capital of the World is because of the fact that they have some of the best all packed together on a peninsula dominated by coasters.

So what other "quality hotspots" do you think exist worldwide? I'm interested to see if this happens at all in other countries and the like!
 

ThomVD

Giga Poster
Not coasters, but for parks Efteling, Toverland and Phantasialand are quite a lot of awesome in a relatively small space.
 

DelPiero

Strata Poster
Pretty sure Mass/Conn wins this, 3 top 10 contenders and Wooden Warrior.
Maybe CP, Waldameer, KI but none of them are guaranteed to break the 10.
There's nothing in Europe as yet, but Sweden having Helix, Balder and Wildfire next year probably tops the EU entry.

Edit - China's recent installations would have a shot too, Nanchang and Wuhu (sic) spring to mind but not sure of distances, Gavin knows better.
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
I'm l know I'm looking at a larger area, but In terms of world leading coasters (based on reputation) it has to be New York.
* Boulder Dash
* Wicked Cyclone
* Bizarro
* Phoenix
* Skyrush
* Storm Runner
* El Toro
* Nitro
+ Wooden Warrior, Fahrenheit, the tallest coaster in the world & 8 other B&Ms all relatively easy to get to.

The other ones which are pretty obvious and more easy to reach are LA and Orlando.
 

Darren B

Giga Poster
Jarrett said:
So planning my New England trip for 2016, I've been told that out of anywhere in the world, the region I will be visiting has the highest amount of decent coasters within the closest distance of each other anywhere in the world. This statement has had me thinking lately, what are other areas like this that are in the running? That just have a ton of awesome coasters that aren't terribly far from each other?

A few sprung to mind for me...

Pennsylvania Triangle: This was the nickname I gave to the region involving Hershey, Knoebels, and Dorney when planning my Pennsylvania trip that went down this summer. Starting at Hershey, it's an hour to Dorney and from there, two to Knoebels. In two days' time, it's possible to get an awesome racing GCI, two really good Intamins (Fahrenheit and Stormrunner), the best coaster ever (okay, that's a matter of opinion, but Skyrush is definitely world-class), a highly-rated invert, a decent B&M floorless, the uniqueness that is Flying Turns and Black Diamond, Twister being pretty good, and some of the best wooden airtime ever on Phoenix. That's ~11 pretty good to amazing coasters within the span of three hours of each other. Not to mention Kennywood or SFGAdv could be on the way depending on which way you come from.

Ohio River/Kentucky-Indiana Border: By next year, it will be possible to do Kentucky Kingdom, Beech Bend, and Holiday World in the span of ~1.5 days. In those days you can get an RMC, a really kick **** Morgan Hyper GTX, a woodie that boasts a fair bit of airtime that's good for what it is, an okay GCI (though nothing that spectacular except for the drop in the back), another kick **** little airtime machine that is Raven, possibly the highest-rated wing coaster built yet, and one of the highest-rated wooden coasters ever. Kings Island is a bit of a hike from the rest of this but it is in the same general area and it has a massive B&M invert (often regarded as the best of the breed), a B&M hyper, and a terrain woodie that happens to be the best night ride ever. That's 7 enjoyable coasters within the span of 3 hours, and 10 in the span of 5 if you drag it out to Kings Island.

Cedar Point: I expect this one to get some rap, but let's be honest here. This is just one park and inside can be found one of the most universally enjoyed (and still most controversial) coasters ever in Millennium Force, the second tallest coaster in the world known for its killer launch, a historical gem in Magnum that also delivers a very aggressive ride in its ejector seat, a highly rated wing coaster, possibly the best dive machine built, and their supporting lineup is also pretty awesome in that it lacks boomerangs or other **** filler trash. And it's all within walking distance! Most traveled enthusiasts don't think they have the best coaster in the world (albeit some do), but I personally think that the reason this is the Thrill Capital of the World is because of the fact that they have some of the best all packed together on a peninsula dominated by coasters.

So what other "quality hotspots" do you think exist worldwide? I'm interested to see if this happens at all in other countries and the like!

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elephant58

Hyper Poster
a highly rated wing coaster, possibly the best dive machine built

From what I've heard, GateKeeper's one of the worst and Valravn has barely even broken ground yet.....

In the UK anyway, Alton Towers for 3-4 highly quality coasters and the Pleasure Beach for its historical rides. And from what I've seen the big European parks like PortAventura, Europa Park, Efteling, Phantasialand, Gardaland, etc. all look like highly-themed, quality parks.
 

CarolinaRider

Mega Poster
Central Florida? They have almost every type of B&M you could imagine, most of them are old school. Vekomas don't suck in Florida, they have a great GCI coaster, one of Intamin's longest launch coasters, and a highly unique Mack spinner. I feel like this region gets overlooked because of the Disney/Universal Parks but if anything, it should make the area look more enticing because they are some of the best parks in the world.
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Pink Panther said:
I'm l know I'm looking at a larger area, but In terms of world leading coasters (based on reputation) it has to be New York.
* Boulder Dash
* Wicked Cyclone
* Bizarro
* Phoenix
* Skyrush
* Storm Runner
* El Toro
* Nitro
+ Wooden Warrior, Fahrenheit, the tallest coaster in the world & 8 other B&Ms all relatively easy to get to.

The other ones which are pretty obvious and more easy to reach are LA and Orlando.
Did you mean to say New England? None of those roller coasters are in New York. :razz:

I would venture the highest concentration of quality roller coasters/attractions would be Los Angeles-area. Within an hour and a half drive, you have Disneyland, Knott's, Universal Hollywood, and SFMM.

While Orlando-area would also spring to mind, between WDW, Seaworld Orlando, Universal, and BGT (also within an hour and a half-ish); the California parks still has an edge on the roller coaster front.
 

andrus

Giga Poster
I would say western Germany:

You could go from south to north (or north to south) and have a great* new park every day for 6 consecutive days! :) And then you can add on one of the Dutch parks too if you want to...

-Tripsdrill
-Europa Park
-Holiday Park
-Phantasialand
-Movie Park
-Heide Park


*The definition of great is obviously personal. Haven't been to Movie Park e.g. and while it does look substantial, it doesn't look like it has a lot of quality. Same goes for Holiday Park which I rate rather low, but since there's a huge audience loving EGF I included it anyway!
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
Hyde said:
Pink Panther said:
I'm l know I'm looking at a larger area, but In terms of world leading coasters (based on reputation) it has to be New York.
* Boulder Dash
* Wicked Cyclone
* Bizarro
* Phoenix
* Skyrush
* Storm Runner
* El Toro
* Nitro
+ Wooden Warrior, Fahrenheit, the tallest coaster in the world & 8 other B&Ms all relatively easy to get to.

The other ones which are pretty obvious and more easy to reach are LA and Orlando.
Did you mean to say New England? None of those roller coasters are in New York. :razz:

I would venture the highest concentration of quality roller coasters/attractions would be Los Angeles-area. Within an hour and a half drive, you have Disneyland, Knott's, Universal Hollywood, and SFMM.

While Orlando-area would also spring to mind, between WDW, Seaworld Orlando, Universal, and BGT (also within an hour and a half-ish); the California parks still has an edge on the roller coaster front.
Sorry. I when I wrote that I had in mind NYC as a hub for visiting those coasters. Just a plainer version of what ECG said in the other thread.
 
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