Lifestyle Features

The best coasters on the East Coast

By DAVID EISENBERG | July 18, 2011

MOBY DICK

PALACE PLAYLAND, One Old Orchard Street (Route 5), Old Orchard Beach, ME | 207.934.2001 | palaceplayland.com |Got an inner ear of steel? Hit up Moby Dick. The ride swings left to right back and forth before heading in a constant state of leftness and giving you the sensation of centrifugal force. This is what happens when amusement parks take on classic literature.

SUPER SPIRAL

YORK'S WILD KINGDOM, One Animal Park Road (Route 1), York Beach, ME | 207.363.4911 | yorkzoo.com | No one quite utilizes the power of alliteration quite like the amusement-park industry. If you've got a strong stomach, have at this one. As the name indicates, you might be in for some spins. If that doesn't make you vomit, go to the park's zoo afterward and watch gross animals consummate their grossness.

SKY COASTER

LAKE COMPOUNCE, 186 Enterprise Drive, Bristol, CT | 860.583.3300 | lakecompounce.com | It's kind of like sky diving and bungee jumping but less dangerous. Then again, you'll drop 185 feet at 65 mph at a park that opened in the 19th century, but le's not dwell on that. It's definitely fun, and if nothing else, you can reconnect with the memory of that time your great, great, great grandfather and his lover came looking for a fun escape from the oppressive nature of James K. Polk's presidency.

CAROUSEL

SALEM WILLOWS PARK, 167 Fort Avenue, Salem, MA | 978.745.0251 | salemwillowspark.com | This 135-year-old carousel is the oldest in the country. It's a tried-and-true classic, so it's truly a historic piece of equipment worth checking out. The park is named for willow trees — like the ones that they used to hang witches from.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT

SIX FLAGS NEW ENGLAND, 1623 Main Street (Route 159), Agawam, MA | 413.786.9300 | sixflags.com/newengland | When Christian Bale was deciding how gravelly his Batman voice should be, he probably had no idea his melodramatic take on Bruce Wayne's alter ego would inspire the most rockin' ride in New England. The feet-danglin' coaster will send you through loops, dives, and a straight zero-G roll.

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