Jaunted

· Dragon Challenge
We’ve been pretty focused on what Harry Potter is bringing to the theme park world, but besides a crazy adaptation of his Wizarding World, there’s a roller coaster too. It’s actually just a remake of the Dueling Dragons coaster that has been at the Islands of Adventure park for years, but now it’s getting a wizard update and so it’s going on our list. Choose either a Chinese Fireball or Hungarian Horntail for your journey, and the two coasters race each other and come too close for comfort on several occasions. In case you haven’t memorized the date, the coaster and all the wizard stuff will open on June 18.

· Wildebeest
Most roller coasters are made of steel or wood, but at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, their newest attraction probably has a lot of plastic fiberglass as well. That’s because their new ride for the 2010 season is a water coaster. Sure it’s not the traditional steel-looping coaster, but they’re hoping the thing will be the world’s longest water coaster. The giant slip and slide cost over $5 million to construct, and there’s seven hills and two tunnels where riders will hit speeds of about 25 miles per hour. Guests will be screaming and splashing starting on May 14.

· Intimidator
It’s not as big as its sister coaster up the coast, but Carowinds in Charlotte has its own Dale Earnhardt-themed roller coaster. The thing has already opened for the season, and it's quickly putting other rides in the area to shame. It’s the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the Southeast, and it hopes to attract visitors with its almost mile-long track and top speeds of about 75 mph. The best part of the coaster—besides the 200-foot drop—is the three-and-half-minute ride. That makes the long time spent waiting in line a little more bearable.

· Sky Rocket
Those near Pittsburgh won’t have to make a road trip to Ohio's Cedar Point this summer, because Kennywood has opened up the checkbook for their own huge new roller coaster. This new steel beast will send riders up to 50 mph in less than three seconds, and then the real fun begins as everyone heads straight up an almost 100-foot vertical hill. The rumors have this thing opening at some point in June, but the park hasn’t printed out the grand opening shirts and souvenirs just yet. It might be good to save this park and coaster for a summer finale just to ensure that everything will be open and correctly operating.

Related Stories:
· Intimidator 305 [Official Site]
· The Wizarding World of Harry Potter [Official Site]
· Wildebeest [Official Site]
· Intimidator Carowinds [Official Site]
· Sky Rocket [Official Site]
· Roller Coasters coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of Intimidator 305: daveynin and photo of the former Dueling Dragons: Brian Marshall]