For many of us on the east coast, trips to California don’t come very often, and when they do, very rarely is it for more than a few days. That is why I have spent every free minute I have had the last few weeks gearing up for the trip and planning out everything as best that I can. Some will say that the best way to experience a park is to just “go with the flow,” and I tend to agree, but when you are shelling out the time and money that my dad and I are for this trip, and given the limited time we will have at the parks, we cannot afford to have any slip-ups with scheduling.

That being said, I have taken a look at the ride lineup at the six parks we will be visiting, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, California’s Great America, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure Park, and Knott’s Berry Farm. Each park has its own collection of rides and coasters that make it unique. Some focus on thrills more than others too. The focus of Six Flags Magic Mountain will be the task of conquering as many of the coasters as possible in two days, while at Disney, it will be more the entire park experience that determines the success of the trip as a whole.

With all of that in mind, from a roller coaster stand point, the trip overall will feature 49 roller coasters, 45 of which I have not ridden. Of those 49, over 40 of them should be open, with the maximum number of them expected to be operating is 45 barring any maintenance issues that are not scheduled (like the Matterhorn Bobsleds current renovation). Of those 45, 41 of them would be new coasters that I have never been on, which would elevate my overall coaster count to over 260. So now without further ado, I will go through the top ten coasters (not rides in general) I am most looking forward to riding while in California, starting with #10 through #6, and finishing with #5 through #1 later on this week.

#10 – Silver Bullet @ Knott’s Berry Farm – From what I have heard, this ride has received mixed reviews from various people. Many say it could be one of the worst of the B&M inverted coasters, but I personally am excited to see for myself. It certainly strays from what is a typical use of B&M elements, with its overbanked turn over the water and sequence of inversions. I have always been a fan of the B&M inverts, including Talon at my home park, which I think is very underrated. I don’t expect a Montu or Alpengeist like performance from this ride, but with my enjoyment of B&M inverts, I’d like to think I could look forward to this one.

#9 – V2: Vertical Velocity @ Six Flags Discovery Kingdome– Originally a standard Intamin “Impulse” coaster, this ride changed to a very unique ride due to local height restrictions. I have always enjoyed launched coasters, and I enjoy my rides on Possessed at my home park, Dorney Park. I can imagine that turning that front spike into an inversion complete with hang time on the first and last passes could make this ride even more exciting, and its uniqueness is the main reason I’m excited for V2.

#8 – Flight Deck @ California’s Great America – Keeping with my inverted coaster theme, this next ride may come as a shock to some. This park has not seen a whole lot of new attractions recently, and hopefully 2013 will change that with the rumors of a new wooden coaster, but for now, the highlight of the park is Flight Deck. As I stated earlier, I have always been a huge fan of inverted coasters, especially those built by B&M. Flight Deck is one of B&M’s shortest rides, but people I speak to say it is a very strong, intense, yet smooth ride, which is just what I like. If I had to pick a “sleeper” coaster that I think I will enjoy from this trip, I think this one may be it.

#7 – Riddler’s Revenge @ Six Flags Magic Mountain – If Vortex at California’s Great America is open when I visit that park the day before I get to Magic Mountain, then Riddler will be my seventh stand-up coaster, the fifth from B&M. I have been on Vortex at Carowinds, as well as Mantis and Green Lantern, and Green Lantern is my favorite of those, as I didn’t think it had nearly as much roughness as the others. Perhaps that is due to it being refurbished before it opened at Great Adventure, but I have heard that Riddler does not share some of the uncomfortable characteristics that some of the other stand-ups do. I am not a huge fan of these types of rides, but the reviews I have read along with it being the long-standing (no pun intended) record holder for this ride style make me want to give this ride a good chance.

#6 – Medusa @ Six Flags Discovery Kingdom – To finish of the first half of my list, we will stick with a B&M ride, the fourth of five in this half of my list which contains five B&M rides overall. As a bit of a spoiler, Scream! at Magic Mountain will not appear on this list and that is mainly because I have been on the mirror image Bizarro at Great Adventure. Medusa, a floorless coaster, is its own design that has not been cloned by B&M, but its layout and size slightly reminds me of Kraken down in Orlando, a ride that enjoy thoroughly. This coaster looks like it is long, intense, and from what I have heard, smooth as well, and the “Sea Serpent” inversion mid-way through the ride is something very unique not seen on a lot of rides. If Superman: Ultimate Flight won’t be opened at this park yet, I can at least look forward to this strong B&M ride.

I hate to leave you all hanging, but I will leave my top five for another time in a few days to give you some time to think about what I am most looking forward to ride out in California. My #1 ride I am anticipating may just surprise you a bit. Until then, let the debate begin!