Coaster Con Comes to Bay Area

2014 "Coaster Con" rattles into the Bay Area

Turns out the Bay Area is an epicenter for roller coasters, too.

The roller coaster fan group American Coaster Enthusiasts has named the Bay Area as the host site for its appreciation of all things loud and fast and clattery, the 2014 Coaster Con.

The 37th edition of the Coaster Con is already underway. Rides are active now through the end of the week.

Luckily, since we already live in the area, we need not travel far. However, it's good to know what draws roller coaster enthusiasts from all over this great nation.

Great America seems to be the top draw, with "three [coasters] of historic significance": to wit, Vortex, Flight Deck and Gold Striker. Two of these are custom-designed coasters made by legendary Swiss firm Bollinger & Mabillard.

In the North Bay, at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, there's Roar, the wooden coaster, and there's Medusa, a "massive... floorless" roller coaster. Not bad.

And, of course, there's the granddaddy of them all, the Giant Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

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