All 10 parks

Every park, side by side

Compare the 10 parks covered by this guide. Attraction counts below describe current catalog records, not the parks’ complete official inventories or what is open today.

ParkResortCurrent attractions coveredHeight limitsTallestPlan for
Six Flags Magic MountainSoCal101054"10–12 hours
Knott's Berry FarmSoCal11448"8–10 hours
LEGOLAND CaliforniaSoCal8142"7–9 hours
SeaWorld San DiegoSoCal7554"7–9 hours
SeaWorld OrlandoOrlando8554"8–10 hours
LEGOLAND FloridaOrlando60—7–9 hours
Six Flags Over TexasTexas8554"8–10 hours
SeaWorld San AntonioTexas6254"8–10 hours
Six Flags Great AdventureNew Jersey7654"9–11 hours
Six Flags Great AmericaChicago8654"9–11 hours

Los Angeles, Buena Park, Carlsbad and San Diego, California

Southern California

Four parks, one traffic pattern: Magic Mountain's coasters, Knott's haunt pedigree, Legoland's first coasters, and SeaWorld's dive machine.

SoCal

Six Flags Magic Mountain

The self-declared coaster capital of the world, and for once the marketing is close to true.

10 attractions covered10 height limits4 tracked snacks

  • Opened1971
  • Plan for10–12 hours

SoCal

Knott's Berry Farm

America's first theme park — a real ghost town, the boysenberry, and the haunt that started the entire industry.

11 attractions covered4 height limits4 tracked snacks

  • Opened1920
  • Plan for8–10 hours

SoCal

LEGOLAND California

The brick-built first-coaster park — Miniland, a dragon's castle, and the friendliest height ladder in Southern California.

8 attractions covered1 height limits3 tracked snacks

  • Opened1999
  • Plan for7–9 hours

SoCal

SeaWorld San Diego

A marine park with a real thrill lineup — Emperor's dive coaster, Electric Eel's spike, and the bay it all sits on.

7 attractions covered5 height limits3 tracked snacks

  • Opened1964
  • Plan for7–9 hours

Southern California planning overview

Orlando and Winter Haven, Florida

Orlando

The marine-park side of the theme park capital: Mako, Kraken and Manta on the waterfront, plus Florida's brick-built park an hour south.

Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando

Three B&M coasters and a marine park — Mako's airtime, Kraken's loops, Manta's flight, on the water.

8 attractions covered5 height limits3 tracked snacks

  • Opened1973
  • Plan for8–10 hours

Orlando

LEGOLAND Florida

The brick-built park on the old Cypress Gardens — a dragon's castle, historic botanical gardens, and Florida's friendliest height ladder.

6 attractions covered0 height limits3 tracked snacks

  • Opened2011
  • Plan for7–9 hours

Orlando planning overview

Arlington and San Antonio, Texas

Texas

Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington and SeaWorld San Antonio: two covered parks with separate visit plans.

Texas

Six Flags Over Texas

The 1961 original that named a whole chain — oil derricks, the Shock Wave loops, and the ride that started the hybrid-coaster era.

8 attractions covered5 height limits3 tracked snacks

  • Opened1961
  • Plan for8–10 hours

Texas

SeaWorld San Antonio

The Texas SeaWorld — coasters, animal presentations and a show-paced San Antonio day.

6 attractions covered2 height limits2 tracked snacks

  • Opened1988
  • Plan for8–10 hours

Texas planning overview

Jackson, New Jersey

New Jersey

El Toro, Nitro and the ghost of Kingda Ka — the Northeast's biggest coaster park, an hour from Manhattan.

New Jersey

Six Flags Great Adventure

El Toro, Nitro and the empty sky where Kingda Ka stood — the Northeast's biggest coaster park, an hour from Manhattan.

7 attractions covered6 height limits3 tracked snacks

  • Opened1974
  • Plan for9–11 hours

New Jersey planning overview

Gurnee, Illinois

Chicago

Raging Bull, Goliath and Whizzer at Great America — Chicago's coaster park, with an American classic wooden racing coaster in the back corner.

Chicago

Six Flags Great America

Raging Bull, Goliath, the original Batman invert and a pair of racing woodies from 1981 — Chicago's coaster park.

8 attractions covered6 height limits3 tracked snacks

  • Opened1976
  • Plan for9–11 hours

Chicago planning overview