Editor’s Note: In the doldrums of winter, we thought it would be fun to look back on some summer excitement. 

Walking into an amusement park as a teen brings back feelings of nostalgia, the sound of rushing roller coasters, the smell of concessions and the feeling of gripping onto the handlebars of the scariest ride you have ever been on. 

Many students who had been to Busch Gardens said it was their favorite, mainly because of the variety of different roller coasters. Junior Ian Bailey has gone three times, and it continues to be his favorite amusement park.

“My favorite ride is the one made out of wood. I like it because it was one of the faster rides,” Bailey said.

Freshman Bri Gambone also chose Busch Gardens as her favorite. She’s been there four times. Her favorite ride was Le Scoot because she loved the adrenaline, and it had a big drop. 

The quality of roller coasters seems to be a trend amongst the students in depicting which amusement park is their favorite. Similar to Busch Gardens, Six Flags was another popular roller coaster park choice. 

Senior Courtney Campbell –roller coaster fanatic– enjoys the hair-raising rollercoasters Six flags has to offer.

“The Goliath is my favorite. It’s like the biggest one in the park, and it goes around the entire park. It’s also like the highest. When you get to the top, you can see over all of Atlanta. I really like it, and it goes super fast,” Campbell said.

Shaun Adams agrees that Six Flags has bigger and faster rides, with his favorite being the Green Lantern because of its immense speed and the fear factor. 

Senior Sinai Branch has been to Universal about five times, as it is her favorite amusement park she’s been to out of many. She enjoys the thematic scenes and hyperelastic rides, like the Spiderman attraction. 

“It was 4D, so it felt like you were actually there: it was spraying you, it was moving you around, and you felt like you were really high up when you weren’t. It was really interesting because I couldn’t fathom how they made it so realistic,” Sinai said.

Out of the 15 students interviewed, five said Universal was their favorite. Amongst those few, junior Noel Smith says there was a lot to do; additionally, she says rides were fun and scary.

“My favorite ride was the castle ride in Harry Potter World. It was a very cool and fun ride that I went on three times,” Smith said. “That ride had a really long wait, but as you go up the line, you go through Hogwarts, and then the ride takes you through every episode of Harry Potter. The ride kind of had lots of jump scares and was super fun.”

Freshman Sylvana Sotelo adds that her favorite ride from Universal is the hulk.

“It puts you upside down, and it drops you all the way down, and it is very high. That’s what I like about it. I like the adrenaline rush,” Sotelo said.

Aside from Universal, Disney was another popular destination for students. In particular senior Delaney White enjoyed the thrilling factors Disney’s rides had to offer.

“Tower of Terror is most cool because the entire time right before you go on it, you’re sort of convinced that you’re gonna die, but then you go on it and it drops for the first time and you’re like ‘Oh my God, we’re dying!’ Then a penny floats in there and you’re like ‘Okay that’s kinda cool,’” White said.

Freshman Landen Holland has lost count of how many times he has visited Disney. His favorite ride is Thunder Mountain because it is fast and thrilling. He hopes to go to Busch Gardens, since he has heard many good things about it.

The exhilaration of the rides is a popular attraction to students. Sophomore Evan Hasket provides insight into his favorite ride.

“My favorite ride is the Rock’n Roll Coaster. The ride has a 90-degree incline and a big drop I like and you can pick music to listen to during it,” Hasket said.