Float down a lazy river, visit a Sesame Street Forest of Fun or climb aboard a twister as area amusement parks introduce their new rides for the season. Read on to see what’s new at some amusement parks in the area, but don’t forget the old favorites too!

Busch Gardens
Williamsburg, Va.
www.buschgardens.com
About 3 hours from Baltimore

Sesame Street Forest of Fun is new this year and features Elmo, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby and all the friends from “Sesame Street.” There are four new rides for kids including a junior roller coaster, wet and dry playgrounds, a photo studio and a musical performance. Dine with Elmo and friends in a new facility and catch a new 4-D movie called “Lights, Camera, Imagination!”

Dutch Wonderland
Lancaster, Pa.
www.dutchwonderland.com
About 90 minutes from Baltimore

Catch the new high-dive show called “A Dragon’s Tale” featuring the adventures of Queen Gwinneth and Puff, her pet dragon. The show will be performed twice daily in rotation with the current show, “The Adventures of the Frog Prince.”

Also new this year is The Twister, a circular motion ride for the entire family. The 20-seat ride spins guests horizontally and then starts fluctuating like a wave.

Hersheypark
Hershey, Pa.
www.hersheypark.com
About 90 minutes from Baltimore

Hershey has concocted two new ways for visitors to keep cool this summer. The Boardwalk at Hersheypark: The SEAquel adds The Shore, a wave pool, and Intercoastal Waterway, a lazy river, to it’s popular Boardwalk attraction.

The Shore is a nearly 378,000-gallon wave pool that simulates the ocean’s currents and offers a moderate surf experience. The Intercoastal Waterway offers a smooth boating trip along 1,360 linear feet of flowing water in individual rafts.

Kings Dominion
Doswell, Va.
www.kingsdominion.com
Less than two hours from Baltimore

Two new rides are being added to the lineup — Americana, a giant 110-foot Ferris wheel that features 24 six-person gondolas so the entire family can ride together, and El Dorado, a high-in-the-sky swinging pendulum ride in a blue 1950s style El Dorado convertible car that seats 40 riders.

Six Flags America
Bowie/Mitchellville
www.sixflags.com/america
About 40 minutes from Baltimore

The park will have 18 concerts and several new shows including “The Best of Dick Clark’s Bloopers,” which encourages audience members to create their own blunders while watching some of Dick Clark’s best missteps.

Betsy Stein