Better Than Disney? TripAdvisor Ranked This PA Park Best in the U.S.
TripAdvisor named Knoebels Amusement Resort the best amusement park in the United States, beating out Disney World, Universal Studios, LEGOLAND and Dollywood in its 2026 Travelers’ Choice awards. The century-old, family-owned park is in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, and is considered the nation’s largest free-admission amusement park, with free parking, daily entertainment and picnic areas. Visitors can pay for rides or choose an all-day pass, and Knoebels also celebrates its 100th anniversary with classic rides, a wooden roller coaster, a swimming area, golf course, campgrounds and budget-friendly food.
With kids out of school and a slate of sunny days ahead, it’s the perfect time to hit up an amusement park.
There are plenty in the United States to choose from, but a new study naming the best parks for thrill seekers highlighted some a short drive from Delaware.
The best amusement parks near Delaware for daredevils
Solitaired, a game website, looked at roller coaster data from the Roller Coaster Database for amusement parks across the U.S. to find out which parks offer the most extreme rides for thrill seekers. The study compared the number of thrill and extreme coasters at each park, along with the total number of roller coasters, maximum coaster height, maximum drop, maximum speed and inversions. The factors were then combined to create a final daredevil score out of 100. Only active roller coasters were considered.
Two regional amusement parks made the top 10.
Hersheypark in Pennsylvania ranked No. 7. The park has 13 extreme coasters out of 14 total, according to Solitaired’s study, with a maximum height of 210 feet, a max speed of 76 mph and a max drop of 180 feet for an overall daredevil score of 90.12.
At No. 9 is Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. The park has 10 extreme coasters out of 13 total, with a maximum height of 230 feet, a max speed of 80 mph and a max drop of 215 feet for an overall daredevil score of 88.89.
The No. 1 amusement park for daredevils in the United States is Cedar Point in Ohio. The park had a daredevil score of 99.65 out of 100, with 16 thrill coasters out of 18 total, a max height of 420 feet, a max speed of 120 mph and a max drop of 400 ft.
The rest of the top 10 U.S. amusement parks for daredevils are:
- Six Flags Magic Mountain in California at No. 1, with a score of 94.02
- Kings Island in Ohio at No. 3, with a score of 92.48
- Carowinds in North Carolina at No. 4, with a score of 92.12
- Kings Dominion in Virginia at No. 5, with a score of 91.61
- Six Flags Great America in Illinois at No. 6, with a score of 91.39
- Six Flags Over Texas in Texas at No. 8, with a score of 90.06
- Six Flags New England in Massachusetts at No. 10, with a score of 87.61.
Other tristate area parks that made the list of 50 best U.S. amusement parks for daredevil include:
- Kennywood in Pennsylvania at No. 15, with a score of 84.34
- Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Pennsylvania at No. 17, with a score of 83.13
- Morey’s Piers in New Jersey at No. 32, with a score of 75.35
- Knoebels Amusement Resort in Pennsylvania at No. 38, with a score of 72.24
- Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park in New Jersey at No. 47, with a score of 66.77
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.delawareonline.com ’
