Italian Job. maXair. Raptor.

These are some of summer's best and newest thrill rides. There's a lot of hype and promises. But will the new stuff amuse?

We asked two savvy 10-year-olds to rate the hype:

The Italian Job Stunt Track opened last month at Paramount Kings Island near Cincinnati. Here's the pitch for the indoor coaster: "Stunt drivers dodge near-collisions, chase through tunnels and narrowly escape massive explosions triggered by gunfire from a menacing helicopter.

"I like roller coasters, and since it's indoors it doesn't seem like it would go up that high. It sounds like it would be really exciting," said Chelsea Ringl, 10, of Rochester Hills, Mich.

Meanwhile, Corey Smykowski, 10, of Yale, Mich., likes the Italian Job's stunt driver concept, and he's a roller-coaster fan. Mix the two, and he's interested.

"I don't like rides where you go up real high and drop down, like Demon Drop. But this sounds really really fun," he said.

maXair is the big new ride at Cedar Point in Sandusky. Passengers sit in cars with their legs dangling along the edge of a giant wheel. The wheel is controlled by a tall arm, which swings the wheel around and gives sensations of weightlessness.

Corey is sold. "My favorite thing is a ride where you go sideways in a car, and the car is flipping really fast. I like when you go upside down," he said.

Chelsea is lukewarm.

"I'm kind of afraid of heights a little bit. So I don't think I'd like the ride, but some other people might like it," she says. She'll choose roller coasters instead.

Of all the rides kids talk about, they keep coming back to one - the Raptor at Cedar Point. The coaster may not be the highest or fastest, but it has inspired a devoted following since it opened in 1994. Among coaster fans, it ranks among the best inverted coasters in the world.The two-minute, 16-second ride shoots you 3,790 feet through six inversions - corkscrew, zero-G rolls and cobra rolls.Experiencing it remains one of the most vivid memories for children just tall enough to hop on.Last fall, dozens of Michigan students who wrote to the Detroit Free Press about their best summer vacations mentioned Raptor.Here's a vivid firsthand account from sixth-grader Rachel Klein, 11, of Westland's Marshall Middle School:"My cousins and I got in first. I pulled the leather-like material bar down and strapped myself in. I held on for dear life as the ride jerked and we slowly clicked up the hill, click ... click ... click. The ride swooshed down the hill and came to the first loop. I held on real tight as we went upside down."I tried to scream for joy but nothing came out. The wind was pushing into my mouth and my feet felt like falling off. They went this way and that way."From that point on I knew that this was the best ride of my life."