Derek Poitras, BMET ’14, is an amusement park authority. His various park visits total as many as 20 a year, he cofounded his own amusement park fan site, and he has already graduated from the Disney College Program—a professional preparatory program for students interested in amusement park careers. For co-op this summer, he’s heading back to Disney World, where he’ll help build the park’s new Fantasy Land expansion. We asked for his top three roller coasters for your must-ride list. —DAN MORRELL
#1 – Bizarro (Six Flags New England)
“It’s the number-one steel roller coaster in the country. It really packs a punch—lots of air time, lots of speed. And it doesn’t let up until the brakes hit at the end.”
#2 – Goliath (Six Flags Atlanta)
“It is 200 feet tall and goes 80 miles per hour. And it is a real air-time machine, which means that riders experience weightlessness for a few seconds because of the different forces at work.”
#3 – Boulder Dash (Lake Compounce, Conn.)
“It literally uses a mountain as its course and follows the natural curves and dips to make for a completely different experience than most wooden coasters. The best time to ride is at night, because when the sun sets, you can barely see the track in front of you.”