JOYRIDERS' PARADISE

Only the movie business is better at creating summertime hype. But the amusement-park industry has a boast that remains astoundingly extradimensional (after all, cinematic thrills extend no farther than the screen): 20 new roller coasters are opening this year. Hold on tight. This is theater in the round, zooming off into real flights of fancy.

What are the standouts among the loopy score? Superman: The Escape, which opened--after a year's delay to get all the kinks out--at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif. It is the tallest (415 ft.) and fastest (100 m.p.h.) roller coaster ever built. Chang, which opened in April in Louisville's Kentucky Kingdom, claims the "tallest vertical loop for any roller coaster" (121 ft.), while a new ride 200 ft. tall at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pa., is distinguishing itself as "the tallest, longest and fastest steel roller coaster on the East Coast." The Great White at Sea World of Texas in San Antonio is that state's only inverted coaster. But what if you're a wimp? Well, no one has torn down all the world's merry-go-rounds just yet.