The Best Theme Park Podcasts
The 2007 season is underway as most parks in the U.S. are open for business. I’m kicking off the new season with the return of Top 3 Thursdays. This Thursday I’m reviewing the top theme park podcasts that I’ve come across. If you’re new to podcasting or wonder what it is, CoasterBuzz has a great guide to podcasting. They are pretty different from each other so I’m not ranking or judging them in any way.

The Kevin and Nate Show
From the people behind Coasterdom.com comes The Kevin and Nate Show. Two college-aged guys review the latest news and happenings in the theme park industry. This was one of my first podcasts and it’s jarring at first hearing an amateur show when you listen to as much talk radio as I do. One of the bright spots of the show is the Road Trip segment. Each episode they travel to a new state and break down every park, roller coaster, ride, and attraction. They even cover defunct rides and parks, and go into detailed description of parks as small as Planet Fun and Jeepers. Critiquing the names of water slides can get a bit old, but at least some personality comes through as Nate seems to always have an opinion on attraction names. And for some reason he hates rock climbing walls. After exhaustively covering everything amusement within a particular state they rank the state against states that they’ve covered in previous episodes.

CoasterBuzz Podcast
Jeff Putz from CoasterBuzz.com hosts the CoasterBuzz Podcast. CoasterBuzz started a weekly podcast back in September of 2005. 68 shows later, it’s a pretty polished and listenable show. Jeff is joined by a variety of other hosts that call in. Quite often it focuses more on the business aspect of the amusement park industry. Topics for this month’s podcasts have included Six Flags earnings losses, Lake Compounce’s attempt to get the State to pay for a road relocation, and Joyland’s financial trouble. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just different from a couple of coaster nerds geeking out on the latest news and rumors. Because Jeff and his co-hosts are thirty-somethings they’re probably more interested and capable of analyzing zoning and tax law issues than the younger podcasters. It’s a good show and offers another angle of the industry.

In the Loop
Hosted by Clint Novak of CoasterCrew.com, In the Loop is a daily show. Clint has radio experience and you can tell from the start. He’s got the radio delivery and the production includes bumpers, background music, and a great radio show feel. There are even a few commercials and spots. Aside from the daily show which offers the very latest news, In the Loop has Guide to the Midway episodes that cover a particular park.

Honorable Mention – I came across CoasterRadio.com a bit too late. It seems that the crew behind that show is on hiatus as they decide how they will move forward with the show. I have to say from what I’ve heard it was one of the best around. Their new project sounds to be less theme park focused. Other than that they’ve given no clues as to when they’ll be back or what the show will be like. It’s still worth stopping by their site to listen to their archives.

Check out some of the smaller podcasts that I was able to fit in my Box. In the Box, CoasterRadio.com reviews Final Destination 3 and talks about the pros and cons of going to theme parks alone. Also, Clint from In the Loop reviews this week’s latest theme park news.

Do you know of any other theme park or roller coaster podcasts? Leave a comment below.

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3. Top 3 Theme Park News Sites