ROLLER COASTER ROUNDUP
The Thrill Is On

Fasten your seat belts for 2002’s heightened frights. Leading the coaster class is X at Six Flags’ Magic Mountain (661-255-4100, www.sixflags.com) near Los Angeles, which suspends riders in cars beside, rather than over, the track, where they spin freely while racing the rails. At nearby Knott’s Berry Farm (714-220-5200, www.knotts.com), ’57 Chevys rev up to 82 mph on the ’50s-themed Xcelerator. The U-shaped Wicked Twister at Cedar Point (419-627-2350, www.cedarpoint.com), between Cleveland and Toledo, thrusts riders up and back on two twisting vertical track arms. Lastly, the Lara Croft-spinoff Tomb Raider: The Ride menaces with sharp talactites and molten lava at Paramount’s Kings Island
(800-288-0808, www.pki.com) near Cincinnati.