The World’s Top 10 Roller Coasters
There is no shortage of theme-park thrills in this world, but the roller coaster is our favorite.
Originally, coasters were more like slides. Russian aristocracy would ride in wooden carts down a man-made hill. Engineers were experimenting with roller coaster technology in the early twentieth century, looking for new ways to provide thrills. At this point, the coasters could go faster, curve, and twist around hills.
And the thrills have grown exponentially over the last century. While the criteria for what makes the best coasters — the design, the number of inversions, the speed — may differ from thrill-seeker to thrill-seeker, there are plenty of adrenaline instruments to go around these days (and around and around). They break speed records, throw passengers with G-forces, and some are even designed to fool riders.
Today’s roller coasters are thrilling engineering marvels, whether they send us upside down (14 times), zoom us over a course at 150 miles per hour, or make us scream by shuffling the track while we’re on it.
These are the top ten roller coasters in the world, whether they are the fastest, tallest, scariest, or most bizarre.
#1 Formula Rossa – Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
No other coaster in the world can compete with Formula Rossa in terms of speed. This roller coaster, designed to look like a Ferrari sports car, is the fastest in the world. It accelerates riders from 0 to 150 mph in five seconds. The track is located on a Ferrari race track and swerves around 1.5 miles. The ride is only a minute and a half long, but it is one of the most thrilling 90 seconds you can have on a roller coaster anywhere on the planet.
#2 Jersey Devil Coaster, New Jersey
The Jersey Devil Coaster, which debuted in June 2021 as the world’s tallest, fastest, and longest single rail coaster, is the second coaster on our list at New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure. Sleek trains transport 12 passengers, who sit low and inline (one rider per row), with their legs straddling either side of the monorail track. This thrill ride, named after a folkloric creature said to have haunted the local woods for centuries, reaches 58 miles per hour and has a 130-foot drop. The coaster, which stands 13 stories tall, transports riders over 3,000 feet of track.
#3 Steel Vengeance – Cedar Point, Ohio
Accommodation in Ceder Point Marina
Cedar Point, known as the “Roller Coaster Capital of America,” is home to many of the country’s most thrilling rides. While any of the park’s 17 coasters could make this list due to their gravity-defying thrills, we’re highlighting Steel Vengeance because it’s the world’s longest hybrid (wood and steel) coaster. Riders get nearly 30 seconds of airtime — the most on any coaster in the world — as they invert four times and make their way around the 5,740-foot track, which reaches a height of 200 feet.
#4 Pantheon – Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Virginia
Accommodations in Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Pantheon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg is the world’s fastest multi-launch coaster, reaching 180 feet with a 95-degree drop and two inversions. On this two-minute ride, three of the speed bursts are forward motion, while the other is reverse motion. Riders achieve weightlessness on five hills.
#5 The Smiler – Alton Towers, United Kingdom
The Smiler will turn your world on its head. It has the most inversions of any coaster in the world — 14 in total. Passengers are propelled through the loops at a speed of 53 miles per hour. But don’t believe that quantity equals variety. Throughout the track, there are several different types of inversions, including a heartline roll, dive loop, and corkscrew. We recommend testing this one on an empty stomach.
#6 Takabisha – Fuji-Q Highland, Japan
Accommodation in Fuji-Q Highland
One of the most terrifying two-minute experiences in the world may be on the world’s steepest roller coaster. Takabisha drops riders into a dark tunnel and only gets scarier from there. The highlight is a 121-degree “beyond vertical” drop through several loops and inversions.
#7 Fønix – Fårup Sommerland, Denmark
Accommodation in Faarup Sommerland
Fønix is the world’s only coaster with a “stall loop,” in which riders experience 2.5 seconds of weightlessness when the train is in an overhead position followed by an inverted “camelback” before entering the second part of the loop. Because of the coaster’s fast dips, loops, and turns, riders reach zero gravity for more than nine seconds total on this ride. Fnix, Denmark’s fastest and tallest roller coaster, reaches 59 miles per hour and reaches a height of 131 feet in the air.
#8 Yukon Striker – Canada’s Wonderland, Canada
Accommodation in Canada’s Wonderland
Things may be larger in Texas, but they appear to be longer, faster, and taller in Canada. Canada’s Wonderland is home to the world’s longest, fastest, and tallest dive coaster. However, those records aren’t the most terrifying aspect of the ride. The Yukon Striker suspends riders for three seconds over a 90-degree drop, 245 feet above an underwater tunnel. Whoever said that Canadians are the friendliest people on the planet should take a look at this roller coaster.
#9 Time Traveler – Silver Dollar City, Missouri
Accommodation in Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City, an 1880s-themed amusement park in Branson, Missouri, transports visitors back in time. Time Traveler, the world’s fastest, steepest, and tallest spinning coaster, is anything but traditional. Riders in rotating cars are fully inverted three times, and the coaster accelerates to 50 miles per hour, launching twice during the two-minute ride, which reaches a height of 100 feet.
#10 Steel Dragon 2000 – Kawagoe, Japan
The Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan is the world’s longest roller coaster. It cost more than $52 million to build its 8,000-foot track, which reaches 318 feet at its highest point. On a 306-foot descent, the Steel Dragon 2000 flies passengers at 95 miles per hour.