Day Trips for the Brooklyn-Based Roller Coaster Enthusiast
Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure – Jackson, NJ (about 1.5 hours from NYC by car)
Brooklynites pride themselves on being bold and fearless creatures, even making it through the summer without air conditioners, so being hydraulically launched 45 stories in the air at 128 mph on a rail of steel ain’t no thing. But, oh, ha!, in layman’s terms that means you’re being catapulted—while lying horizontally (perfect for napping!)—from 0 to 128 mph in three-and-an-half seconds, flinging higher than five Cyclones stacked on top of each other, so let’s go ahead and call that bonkers. In even simpler terms, Kingda Ka is the tallest, and second fastest, roller coaster in the world. Then you’ve got El Toro, featuring the steepest drop of any wooden coaster in the country (recently ranked the best wooden coaster by Amusement Today), while Nitro took the number three spot for best steel coaster in the 2011 Golden Ticket Awards. Jersey’s Six Flags is essentially your one-stop shop for big-kid rides.