5 Must-Ride Rollercoasters You Can't Miss Out On This Season

Rollercoaster rides are non-stop, action-packed experiences featuring extreme drops and turns. One of the few things in life that are better when scarier, the combination of mountainous heights and breath-taking speeds determines the "thrill factor" of a rollercoaster. Experts say that the true determination of the greatness of a rollercoaster is whether the rider wants to jump right back in line for another ride. Visitors will certainly want to do just that at these five East Coast roller coasters that make the perfect destination for a charter bus day trip.

Goliath

Six Flags New England
1623 Main St.
Agawam, MA 01001
(413) 786-9300
www.sixflags.com/newengland

Goliath is a 20-story vertical drop ride in which the car is pulled backwards 200 feet up a tower and then released into a free fall. Since Goliath opened in 2012, it is called a "super boomerang" rollercoaster and is the tallest and fastest ride of its kind. After the 20-story vertical drop, Goliath takes the rider on the outside of a vertical loop and into a 110-foot boomerang double inversion. The ride takes 1 minute and 32 seconds from start to finish and travels at a top speed of 65 miles per hour with six inversions along the way.

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Coney Island Cyclone

Astroland
Luna Park
1000 Surf Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11224
(718) 373-5862
www.lunaparknyc.com

Cyclone at Coney Island has been deemed by many as the most famous rollercoaster in the world. The wooden twister sports steep drops and some remarkable airtime. The wooden track is built on a steel structure, which offers good stability. The 1 minute and 50 second thriller ride travels at 60 miles per hour. Cyclone was named an official New York City Landmark in 1988 and became a National Historic landmark on its 64th anniversary in 1991.

Skyrush

Hersheypark
100 W. Hersheypark Drive
Hershey, PA 17033
(844) 330-1813
www.hersheypark.com

Traveling at 75 miles per hour, Skyrush ascends 200 feet before beginning its 85-degree angle descent. There are four high-speed curves and five zero G-time hills to navigate on the thriller ride. Hersheypark has 13 rollercoaster to please everyone in the family. Skyrush is the tallest and fastest rollercoaster at the park and offers a high-speed, thrilling ride with many unexpected twists, turns and changes in speed.

Excalibur

Funtown Splashdown USA
774 Portland Rd.
Saco, ME 04072
(207) 284-5139
www.funtownsplashtownusa.com

Fun town Splashdown USA offers 45 rides and attractions, which are split between the theme park and the water park. Excalibur, a wooden rollercoaster, is the tallest and longest roller coaster in northern New England and the only wooden rollercoaster in Maine. Excalibur travels at 55 miles per hour during the one-minute and 58-second thriller ride. The height drop is 82 feet on this ride.

Boulder Dash

Lake Compounce Theme Park
146 Enterprise Ave.
Bristol, CT 06010
(860) 583-3300
www.lakecompounce.com

Boulder Dash is a spectacular new $6 million rollercoaster which is uniquely built into the side of a mountain, overlooking a lake. The thriller ride is one of two wooden rollercoasters at Lake Compound Theme Park. It was voted Best Wooden Coaster in the World by the National Amusement Park Historical Association one year after the ride opened. Traveling at 62 miles per hour and reaching a height of 150 feet, Boulder Dash has one inversion along the way.

This article was written by Nancy Burgess of Examiner.com for CBS Local.