6 Totally Terrifying New Thrill Rides Worth the Trip This Summer Jo Piazza

By Jo Piazza

(Courtesy: Six Flags Great Adventure)

Nothing says “Great American Summer” like a tour of the country’s best theme parks. These days, there's no limit to how high, how fast, and how fear-inducing roller coasters and water slides can be. 

May we suggest adding these record-breaking rides to your summer bucket list?

(Courtesy: King’s Island)

1. Banshee - King’s Island, Ohio

Characterized as an “aggressive thrill,” Banshee is the world’s longest inverted roller coaster. Making its debut this season, Banshee will thrill riders on 4,124 feet of track and seven inversions, hitting speeds up to 68 miles per hour. 

2. Verrückt - Schlitterbahn, Kansas

Meet the recently anointed World’s Largest Water Slide, opening later this month at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City. At a staggering 168.5 feet, Verrückt will stand taller than both Niagara Falls and the Statue of Liberty. After climbing 264 steps you and three friends will board a raft and plummet from the top at a speed of 65.2 mph before being propelled up and over a 50 foot-high hill. It opens May 23—just in time for swimsuit season—so book your tickets now. 

(Courtesy: Schlitterbahn)

3. Goliath - Six Flags Great America, Illinois

There are few things more terrifying than a wooden roller coaster. Goliath takes the wooden coaster to entirely new extremes. It is faster (reaching speeds of 72 mph), twistier (it has three intense, over-banked turns and a zero G-roll twist), and higher (165 feet in the air) than almost any other wooden coaster in the world.

4. Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom - Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey

With an adrenaline rush like no other, Zumanjaro will be the tallest drop tower in the world, hurtling riders 415 in the air and then toward the ground at 90 miles per hour. The ride itself lasts only 10 seconds, so don’t forget to scream.

(Courtesy: Six Flags Great Adventure)

5. Skyscreamer - Six Flags New England, Massachusetts

If swings are your thing, you want to head to Massachusetts, where you can buckle into an open-air seat, dangling more than 400 feet above the ground, to swing at 40 mph.

6. Thunderbolt Reborn - Luna Park, New York

If you’re a Woody Allen fan then you know a little about the original Thunderbolt in Coney Island. His fictional Alvy Singer, the protagonist in Annie Hall lived beneath the famed roller coaster. Sadly, that coaster, a twin to Brooklyn’s famous Cyclone, was closed in 1982. The new Thunderbolt shares the name, but with a modern punch, rising 125 feet in the air to plummet 65 mph down a 92-degree drop.