Diehard roller coaster fans will travel the world in search of bigger and better thrills and spills. Luckily for them, new rides are opening all the time as theme parks try to outdo each other by creating the longest, tallest, fastest and most extreme white-knuckle experiences. From hair-raising hairpin bends to face-shaking G-force, have a go at these – if you're brave enough.
Click through this gallery to see some of the planet's most exciting roller coasters...
For a real taste of sci-fi, the TRON Lightcycle Power Run at Shanghai Disneyland is the ride to try. Opened in June 2016, passengers on this roller coaster – much like the characters in the film franchise – find themselves on futuristic motorbike-style vehicles, doing battle in a high-tech neon world. The semi-enclosed ride has a track length of 3,169 feet (966m) and a max speed of 59 miles per hour (95km/h). There’s another version of the ride at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, which opened in 2023.
A ride that can simultaneously lay claim to being the UK’s tallest, fastest and most weightless roller coaster is bound to capture some attention. Since opening in May 2024, the 3,264 feet (995m) of twisted track that make up Thorpe Park’s Hyperia has shot to the top of the ‘must experience’ list for many adrenaline-chasers. Rising high above the Surrey landscape to an epic height of 236 feet (72 metres) and serving up speeds over 80 miles per hour (128km/h), this coaster – inspired by the daughter of a river god in Greek Mythology – is a spectacular piece of engineering, albeit one beset by a few breakdown issues.
Formerly known as Nemesis, this legendary Alton Towers ride is one of the United Kingdom’s most iconic roller coasters. It first opened in 1994 but relaunched with a new name in early 2024, after getting some serious upgrade work. Combining an infamous one-eyed alien predator from another dimension with four inversions, a track length of 2,349 feet (716m) and a top speed of 50 miles per hour (81km/h), it’s easy to see why thrill-seekers love this one.
Any ride inspired by the life and times of legendary electrical engineer Nikola Tesla, packing as many twists and turns as this one, must be worth a look. Voltron Nevera, located in the Croatia zone of Europa-Park in Rust, Germany, delivers the kind of innovation that roller coaster enthusiasts can’t help but get excited by. Serving up seven wild inversions, four explosive launches (including a ludicrously steep 105° one) and 2.2 seconds of weightlessness, this intense and unique ride experience opened in 2024. Visitors to Germany’s largest theme park are in for a treat.
The Iron Gwazi in Florida is not only North America’s tallest hybrid roller coaster, but also the world’s fastest and steepest as well. Formerly an all-wood roller coaster, in recent years the ride has been transformed with the introduction of thrill-inducing steel sections and a new layout. Sending riders from a 206 foot-tall (63 metres) peak into a 91° drop and hitting top speeds of 76 miles per hour (122km/h) along the way, this crocodile-inspired attraction blends modern thrills with classic nostalgia.
Red Force is part of Ferrari Land at PortAventura in Spain. It's as sleek and speedy as you'd expect, perhaps even more so. Over the course of its 2,887 foot-long (880m) route, passengers experience the feelings of an F1 driver as they accelerate to 112 miles per hour (180km/h) in just five seconds. Get ready to be rapidly shot 367 feet (112m) above the ground and for the adrenaline rush that comes with it.
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Busch Gardens Tampa Bay combines zoo attractions with thrill rides, and the latter are often inspired by the animals visitors can see at the park. Take Tigris, opened in 2019 as Florida’s tallest launch coaster. It’s a wild mix of twists, tilts and drops at more than 60 miles per hour (97km/h), designed to mimic the speed and agility of the tiger. A percentage of gift shop proceeds goes to tiger conservation projects.
The Steel Curtain, at Pittsburgh’s Kennywood Amusement Park, isn’t merely a super-speedy roller coaster. It also pays homage to local American football heroes the Pittsburgh Steelers, and was the first addition to the Steelers Country area of the park that opened in 2019. The coaster, with its bright yellow steel structure that mimics the Steelers’ strip, speeds through nine inversions – including the world’s tallest – at 76 miles per hour (122km/h).
With a curly-whirly track of loops, sharp turns, slow climbs and fast drops – not to mention a rather terrifying clown face at the entrance – the Hair Raiser ride is guaranteed to get your heart racing. Its setting, on a cliff overlooking Deep Water Bay in the South China Sea and with views of Hong Kong Island, further adds to the drama.
Stomach-flipping thrills collide with spectacular views on Fujiyama, the longest and tallest coaster at Fuji-Q Highland, Japan. As it reaches its 259-foot (79m) summit, riders on what was once the world's tallest rollercoaster are treated to clear views of Mount Fuji. There's not much time to catch your breath and take in the scenery though as the rapid descent, with its top speed of 81 miles per hour (130km/h), will have you flying again in no time.
What kid, or adult for that matter, hasn’t dreamed of taking the controls of the Millennium Falcon? The Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run simulator ride can be found in Disneyland Park’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge themed area, which launched in June 2019. Queues can be long but patrolling Storm Troopers, android factories, holograms and sound effects help the time pass quickly.
Sometimes, a roller coaster’s surroundings are as spectacular as the ride itself. That’s certainly the case with Glacier 3000’s Alpine Coaster. The ride only operates during the summer season and is powered by gravity, allowing riders to control their own speed. With the toboggans starting at an altitude of 9,444 feet (2.8km) and travelling over curves, waves and jumps while surrounded by some of Europe's most epic mountains, this one is thrilling even if you do decide to take it slow.
The Staffordshire theme park of Alton Towers is famous for its innovative white-knuckle rides and Wicker Man tends to leave faces just as pale. It combines the rickety charms of wooden roller coasters with bone-chilling special effects, such as effigies that burst into flames and burning embers that engulf the labyrinthine track. The scary coaster has a top speed of 44 miles per hour (71km/h) and a track length of over 2,000 feet (610m).
This Gothenburg amusement park is better known as a concert venue, though that’s changing since Valkyria zoomed onto the scene in August 2018. It's Europe’s longest dive coaster, with a 164-foot (50m) vertical drop that plummets riders into an underground tunnel. It reaches 65 miles per hour (105km/h) as it races around the undulating track.
Leviathan, Canada’s tallest and fastest roller coaster, takes rides to a whole new level. Considered a 'giga coaster', this full-circuit roller coaster reaches heights of 306 feet (93m) and hits speeds of 92 miles per hour (148km/h). Prepare for the adrenaline rush of your life way up in the Ontarian sky.
Classified as a hyper coaster – which means it has a height of at least 200ft (61m) – Superman The Ride, situated in Massachusetts, speeds passengers through its twisty-turny red track at 77 miles per hour (124km/h). The scariest (or best) bit is a 221-foot (67m) drop into a tunnel. You might need nerves of steel to take on this ride inspired by The Man of Steel.
You're going to need a Hershey’s chocolate bar to help you recover after a spin on this crazy coaster in Pennsylvania (don't have one before, if you're planning on keeping it down). The steepest in the world when it launched in 2008, Fahrenheit throws pretty much everything at its willing participants: high climbs, inverted loops, corkscrew turns, cobra rolls and moments of weightlessness where it feels like your stomach’s floating.
Fancy being catapulted from zero to 80 miles per hour (129km/h) in less than two seconds? One of the UK's fastest roller coasters, the entire ride on Thorpe Park's Stealth lasts just 26 seconds. What this breathtaking roller coaster in Surrey lacks in duration, however, it more than makes up for with its addictive adrenaline rush.
Hyperion, found at Poland's Energylandia, is one of Europe's tallest and fastest mega coasters (also known as hyper coasters). Designed to resemble an abandoned space station, the ride has a mile-long (1.6km) track and reaches speeds of more than 87 miles per hour (140km/h). Tunnels, twists, sudden drops, weightlessness and over-banked turns – where the carriages teeter on the edge – keep the thrills coming thick and very, very fast.
Consider yourself a speedster? Formula Rossa in Abu Dhabi makes the bold (and quite terrifying) claim to be the world’s fastest roller coaster, launching riders to intense speeds of nearly 150 miles per hour (241km/h) in under five seconds. The G-force is so strong, riders have to wear protective goggles. Gulp.
Knott’s Berry Farm started out as a roadside fruit stall in the 1920s. While you can still taste its renowned boysenberry treats, some less sedate attractions have been added over the years. HangTime is a steel roller coaster that twists and turns, ducks and dives with a beyond-vertical drop and stomach-churning suspensions.
If weaving through the buzzing party crowds of Khao San Road isn’t thrilling enough for you, this theme park in Bangkok’s Khan Na Yao district should do the trick. Siam Park City’s most heart-pumping ride is Vortex, one of the world’s largest suspended roller coasters (where the car hangs from the bottom of the track). Throw in more than a few whirls and twirls and you’ve pretty much ticked all the terror boxes. Just save the partying for afterwards, maybe.
The vividly blazing colours of FireWhip, in Santa Caterina theme park Beto Carrero World, only hint at the fieriness of this ride. It was Brazil’s first inverted roller coaster. Riders on it speed along at nearly 60 miles per hour (97km/h), soaring and spinning over lakes and waterfalls with their feet dangling from the car.
With a Wild West theme and cars designed like old-fashioned train carriages, Steel Venegance might look charming and cute. It's anything but. This hyper-hybrid roller coaster, with its steel track set atop a wooden structure, rises 205 feet (62m) above the park and has more airtime – when you rise out of your seat – than any other ride (30 seconds). Throw in a series of inversions and ricochets and you've pretty much hit white-knuckle nirvana with this one.
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Sometimes you just can’t beat an old-school wooden roller coaster. You feel every twist, turn, duck and dive as you rattle along. Wildfire takes it to new levels with speeds of around 70 miles per hour (113km/h), three uphill climbs and drops so steep your stomach seems to leave your body entirely. It lasts for a satisfying two minutes and, at the top, you can take a moment to soak in views of mountain-backed Braviken Bay right before a breathtaking plummet.
Silver Star at Europa-Park in Germany hits its riders with about as much G-force as humans can physically stand. Those prepared to face the centrifugal forces head-on are rewarded with adrenaline-pumping speeds of 80 miles per hour (129km/h), as the steel coaster soars up to around 240 feet (73m).
The T Express at Everland theme park in Yongin, South Korea is the steepest wooden roller coaster in Asia. Needless to say, it's probably not one for nervous riders. Even standing below the intricate wooden structure, against its backdrop of thick forest, is enough to make your stomach flip. Thankfully it isn’t as rickety as it looks, sending riders down a 77-degree angled track at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour (104km/h).
New York’s Coney Island is a place of candy floss, candy stripes and cavorting on the sand. Until, that is, you step aboard Thunderbolt and experience its extremely modern thrills. It stands out amid the old-school rides and attractions with its 2,233 feet (680m) of corkscrewing steel track and 100-foot (30m) vertical loop. The original Thunderbolt coaster, built in 1925 and featured in the film Annie Hall, was rather less extreme.
India’s biggest roller coaster can be found at AdLabs Imagica, just outside of Mumbai. It's a curvy stomach-churner with five loops and inversions along its 2,800 feet (853m) of track. The cars spin and rotate before plummeting with several sharp, electrifying drops.
It isn’t only the shiny new theme parks that can deliver top-notch thrills. Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen brings a modern spin – and lots of loops – to the historic park, founded in 1843. The Demon ride has a virtual reality twist, with riders having the option to wear VR glasses to transform the car into a fire-breathing dragon.
Special hydraulics launch riders a head-spinning 456 feet (139m) upwards on Kingda Ka, in New Jersey. It's held the world's tallest roller coaster title for almost two decades, since opening in 2005. When the ride first opened, it was also the fastest roller coaster in the world with its top speed of 128 miles per hour (206km/h). The attraction's speed record has since been claimed by the Formula Rossa ride in Abu Dhabi.
Go, go, Gotham City. This Batman-themed multi-launch roller coaster, located at Parque Warner Madrid, is a multi-launch ride with four inversions and a top speed of 65 miles per hour (104km/h). It’s a chance to immerse yourself in the world of Bruce Wayne and an action-packed story featuring comic books' most iconic villain The Joker. During the course of the 111-second ride, you will – like the Caped Crusader himself – find yourself hanging upside down like a bat.
Looking for an idyllic backdrop for your next roller coaster ride? Settings don’t come much prettier than the one for Roaring Timbers, a wooden coaster at the Sun World Hon Thom Nature Park in Vietnam. Perched on a green hillside, with breathtaking views of the Gulf of Thailand, the 2,920 feet (890m) of track here twists and turns over the terrain in the dreamiest way imaginable. A truly unforgettable experience.