The Best Dark RidesDifferent from indoor roller coasters, dark rides are indoor rides consisting of a vehicle traveling past animated scenes. This week I’m going to list my top three dark rides. I’m going to forgoe the ranking system (1-3) as it’s tough to compare the more tradional dark rides to the state-of-art 3D varieties [...]

I’m often asked about the best time to visit theme parks. After reading this week’s Top 3 Thursday you’ll be able to find beautiful sights like this empty queue for Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point. In order of worst to best, here are the best days to visit theme parks. #3 – Weekdays During the [...]

The Most Anticipated Roller Coasters of 2007 2006 was all about Voyage and Expedition Everest, although later on El Toro and Goliath (Six Flags Over Georgia) got some attention too. This Thurday, I’m counting down the most anticipated coasters of the Class of 2007. 3 – Mystery Mine at Dollywood Dolly’s new steel looper will [...]

The Best Dueling Roller CoastersDueling roller coasters were the next obvious evolution after the racing coasters of years past. Like racing coasters, duelers have two tracks. The major difference is that on dueling coasters the tracks interact with one another. Exciting near misses and fly-bys are common on these roller coasters.3 – Gwazi at Busch [...]

The Best Theme Park PodcastsThe 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, [...]

The Coaster Critic’s Blog is kicking off the 2007 season with a slew of enhancements: The return of Top 3 ThursdaysNew theme park reviewsNew roller coaster reviews with videosMore additions to Coasterology 101 Also, readers can request my next review by leaving a comment at the bottom of the Theme Park Reviews page or the [...]

The Best Inverted CoastersFor my final Top 3 Thursday of the ’06 season I’ll be counting down the best inverted coasters. Over the past decade these looping steel creations have found a permanent place in the theme park landscape. 3 – Volcano: The Blast Coaster at Kings DominionTo call Volcano a custom inverted coaster is [...]

The Best to Come Out of the Hyper Coaster Era The popularity of Magnum XL-200, which opened it 1989, kicked off a revolution in the theme park industry. What was known as the ‘Coaster Arms Race’ began as parks aimed to build the tallest coaster in the world in this similar style to Magnum’s. This [...]