Welcome to 2022! A few days ago we took a look back at our coaster highlights from 2021. Today, we’ll be looking ahead at what the new year has to offer. The list of incredible looking roller coasters opening in 2022 has us salivating and already planning our trips. In fact, some of the members of the Coaster101 team have shared our 2022 theme park plans below – read on to find our where you’ll find us this year.
Andrew
Parks Planned to Visit in 2022: It’s a given. Carowinds, I’m coming for you. Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, I’m coming for you too, hopefully, because Virginia is for new coaster lovers, and Pantheon and Tumbili are both going to be great! I’ll be in Las Vegas in March, and if I fly clear across the country and don’t ride the coasters at Circus Circus and New York, New York, what kind of enthusiast would I be?
I’m going to manifest the following trips in hopes that they happen: A Universal Orlando/SeaWorld trip in the first half of the year, with credit grabbing at Fun Spot Kissimmee and Peppa Pig Theme Park along the way. A Minnesota/Iowa “speed run” to visit Valleyfair, Mall of America, Lost Island, Adventureland Iowa, and maybe Arnold’s Park. I haven’t been to Dollywood in years, so that needs to happen. Also, would love to get up to New York to visit Adventureland Long Island, Luna Park, Deno’s Wonder Wheel, LEGOLAND New York, and Nickelodeon Universe at American Dream. There’s also 100% going to be the odd, random credit or park that I happen upon seemingly randomly — see my Camden Park visit from last year.
Dark Horse Potential Coaster Credits of the Year where I really hope I can go: Huracan at Ventura Park in Cancun, Mexico and the Rudicoaster at Santa’s Village in Cherokee, N.C. — the lone non-mountain coaster in North Carolina that I’ve yet to ride!
Most Anticipated Attraction for 2022 you’ll probably definitely ride: If I play my cards right, I’m hoping that I can plan a weekend in Virginia that will see rides on both Tumbili and Pantheon. Those are the two most likely new attractions for me, but Ice Breaker is right behind that in the area of likelihood.
Most Anticipated attraction for 2022 you probably won’t get to ride: The Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster at EPCOT. Even if I somehow end up at Walt Disney World in 2022 (very unlikely), there’s no way I’m going to be able to figure out Disney Genie/Virtual Queue/Lightning Lane in a way that doesn’t cause me to wait multiple hours for it — that’s assuming it even opens in 2022.
Sleeper Hit of 2022: From a roller coaster perspective, I think people are sleeping on Ice Breaker at SeaWorld Orlando. There’s been a lot of conversation about the new coasters in the I-4 corridor – Velocicoaster to the north, and Iron Gwazi to the south. I don’t think enough people are talking about Ice Breaker. Honorable Mentions: Defiance, Palindrome, and the entirety of the Lost Island theme park in Waterloo, IA. Maybe because these aren’t big corporate parks, but I think they’re all going to surprise casual fans and enthusiasts alike.
John
Parks Planned to Visit in 2022: Dollywood and Six Flags Great America are my annual shoe-ins. Realistic wish-list parks include Busch Gardens Tampa, Valleyfair, Nickelodeon Universe (Mall of America), Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Pie-in-the-sky: Alton Towers.
Most Anticipated Attraction for 2022 you’ll probably definitely ride: Iron Gwazi. I really, really, really hope it’s Iron Gwazi. I’m going to keep speaking it into the universe.
Most Anticipated attraction for 2022 you probably won’t get to ride: Tron Lightcycle Run – I just don’t see myself making a Walt Disney World trip this year. I’ll go as soon as possible, though (hopefully once Guardians of the Galaxy opens at Epcot).
Sleeper Hit of 2022: Daddy Pig’s Roller Coaster at Peppa Pig Theme Park.
Larry
Parks Planned to Visit in 2022: Anything this next year will be better than 2021. Hoping to get down to Kennywood, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and whatever other ones I can finally get to again. Several other midwest parks like Valleyfair and Mall of America are on the list as well. Michigan’s Adventure, Cedar Point, Kings Island are my regular parks I want to go to again next year.
Most Anticipated Attraction for 2022 you’ll probably definitely ride: Pantheon. I’ve waited 2 years now to ride that sucker and hopefully can finally make it down there to not only visit that Busch Gardens but also ride that launched beast.
Pantheon back when it was under construction.
Most Anticipated attraction for 2022 you probably won’t get to ride: Anything in the Florida region. I don’t anticipate any sort of trip down there due to cost and time, but hopefully that could be a winter 2023 trip possible.
Sleeper Hit of 2022:Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger at Six Flags Fiesta Texas since it’s the first dive coaster to go beyond a 90 degree drop, even though there’s been a slew of new dive coasters over the last few years.
Nick
Parks Planned to Visit in 2022: Thanks to a Spirit Airlines Black Friday sale I got my family tickets to Orlando, so we’re planning on doing Universal Studios Orlando, Universal’s Island of Adventure, and perhaps the Florida Fun Spot parks as well as potentially a quick trip to SeaWorld for Ice Breaker. I’d like to get to Darien Lake to take advantage of my Six Flags Membership. I also look forward to wherever the annual Coaster101 trip takes me, whether it’s Texas like we planned for 2020 or doing a Iowa/Minnesota trip to check out the new Lost Island, Adventureland, Valleyfair, and Nickelodeon Universe.
Islands of Adventure!
Shane
Parks Planned to Visit in 2022: I’ll likely be visiting my home park of Six Flags New England, as well as the nearby Canobie Lake Park and Lake Compounce. And as soon as El Toro reopens, I’ll be making another trip to Six Flags Great Adventure to finally get this long-anticipated credit. I would also like to reignite my streak of visiting Hersheypark each summer.
Most Anticipated Attraction for 2022 you’ll probably definitely ride: I have to get back to Kings Dominion this year because I didn’t even come close to seeing all this park has to offer, and I will certainly be adding Busch Gardens Williamsburg to my itinerary when I do, because Pantheon is my most anticipated coaster for 2022.
I still have Disneyland tickets that I have left over from my trip to California that got cut short due to the pandemic, and I’m hoping 2022 is the year that I make it out there, as well as revisiting Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and getting to go to Knott’s Berry Farm.
I’ve also been planning a Cedar Point trip for early summer, and I hope to finally get to the enthusiast destination next year.
Most Anticipated attraction for 2022 you probably won’t get to ride: Tron Lightcycle Power Run at Magic Kingdom. Since I made two trips to Walt Disney World in 2021, it’s probably not in the cards that I make it back to the most magical place on earth next year, but I would really like to get the chance to try out Tron. Even though I am very interested in Guardians of The Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, I don’t know enough about it yet to truly get excited. The scale of Tron partnered with my love of the movies makes it my number one in this category.
Sleeper Hit of 2022: I think people are underestimating just how good ArieForce One is going to be. I think the general consensus will be that it is better than Iron Gwazi, and may even top some people’s RMC rankings. It’s unique enough to draw in enthusiasts from all over the country, and it’s a great mix of tried-and-true RMC chaos with new, innovative elements. It’s also unlikely that I will make it on this coaster in 2022, but I’m not going to rule it out just yet.
2022 is going to be an exciting year for the Coaster101 team. What are your coaster and theme park plans for 2022? Let us know in the comments below using the same format we did!
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