Top Ten Roller Coasters

Local family helps 'Bert the Conqueror' battle roller coasters

COSHOCTON -- Jeb and Laura Patterson and their son, Spencer Wolfe, 10, watched Wednesday night's episode of "Bert the Conqueror" with more excitement than usual.

Longtime fans of the Travel Channel program, the Coshocton family appeared as extras on the episode filmed in May at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari amusement park in Santa Claus, Ind.

They were right with series star Bert Kreischer as he rode the Wildebeest, the longest water coaster in the world, and the Voyage, voted the top wooden roller coaster in the world by roller coaster enthusiasts for the past four years.

"Bert screamed like a little girl, and it was funnier than all get out," Laura said of his trip on the Voyage.

Spencer sat directly behind Kreischer on the Voyage and can be seen over his shoulder in a photo on the "Bert the Conqueror" website before the ride started. Spencer said he and a few other boys were interviewed by Kreischer about the Wildebeest after they rode it.

"I rode it 14 times. (Kreischer) interviewed me and three other boys. He asked us if we liked the ride, and we said 'yes.' He asked how fast it went. I said it went about 50 or 60 mph, and the others said they thought about 70 (mph)," Spencer said. "It was nice. (The park) had free drinks, free sunscreen and free parking."

The series traces comedian Kreischer as he attempts to conqueror his own fears of amusement park rides and activities that are fast, high or go in circles. He has done everything from plunging down a 40-foot water slide in Hawaii to competing in the North American Wife Carrying Championships in Maine. A previous episode was taped at Cedar Point in Sandusky.

"He's not conquering anything hard, he's just conquering his fears," Laura said. "He makes everything fun. It was neat to be part of something like that. It was the tallest roller coaster my husband had ever been on at the time too. It was neat Bert was going to be doing something my husband was going to be conquering at the same time."

The show has encouraged Jeb to battle some of his similar fears; he said he is slowly becoming a roller coaster fan himself. The Voyage looked like a coaster he wanted to try from photos and information he found online.

"It has one of the steepest drops in the country. It looked interesting to ride in the pictures," Jeb said of the Voyage. "There was lots of airtime (on the ride). There are five separate underground tunnels, which is a world's record.

The Top 10 Amusement Parks in America

The deciding factor in selecting the top ten amusement parks in America was the answer to the following question: is the park worth a trip across country? If the park is in Florida is it worth the trip from the West Coast? If the park is in California is it worth the journey from Boston or Baltimore? If the answer was yes, the park qualified for inclusion.

The list also favored parks associated with popular franchises (Disney, Marvel Comics, Peanuts, and Sesame Street just to name a few). While this may put off some adults (okay, most adults), kids love the characters. And after all, amusement parks are all about the kids.

1. Walt Disney World Resort

Location: Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Phone: 407 939 7675
Website: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com
Size: 25,000 acres
Rides: They don’t have “rides” they have “attractions.”
Operating Season: Hours vary by season.
Top Attractions: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Walt Disney World Resort is the largest and most visited amusement park on the planet. There’s not enough summer to see and do everything Disney World has to offer. Sure the resort is a “little” commercialized, but with 25,000 acres of high quality fun Disney World is the prime vacation spot for both the young and the young heart.

2. Universal Orlando Resort

Location: Orlando, Florida
Phone: 407 363 8000
Website: http://www.universalorlando.com
Size: Unknown
Rides: 25+
Operating Season: Hours vary by season.
Top Attractions: Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Wet ‘n Wild Orlando, City Walk Orlando

Universal Orlando Resort is a smorgasbord of family fun. Many of its amazing rides and attractions, including 4 D adventures and state of the art roller coasters, are based on popular movies and television characters like Harry Potter, Shrek, The Simpsons, and Marvel Comics. Yet, as cool as Spider Man and the Hulk are they can’t beat the mouse and that’s why Universal Orlando is number two.

3. Cedar Point

Location: Sandusky, Ohio
Phone: 419 627 2350
Website: http://www.cedarpoint.

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