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Top 10 Roller Coasters

Jan 10, 2013
7,304
12,085
No man's land: SoCal
I'm curious to know how many coasters everyone has been on and what their personal top 10 are?

I'll share mine. As of this post I've been on 178. Here are my top 10:

1: Steel Vengeance (Cedar Point)
2. Cannibal (Lagoon)
3: Twisted Colossus (SFMM)
4: Millennium Force (Cedar Point)
5: Maverick (Cedar Point)
6: Diamondback (King's Island)
7: Top Thrill Dragster (Cedar Point)
8: Railblazer (CGA)
9: X2 (SFMM)
10: New Texas Giant (SFOT)

I've yet to go to Carowinds when Intimidator and Fury opened or have gone to SFGA or Dollywood. I should get on those parks soon.
 
I've been on 163

1. Maverick (Cedar Point)
2. Lightning Rod (Dollywood)
3. Twisted Timbers (Kings Dominion)
4. Twisted Cyclone (Six Flags over Georgia)
5. El Toro (Six Flags Great Adventure)
6. Intimidator 305 (Kings Dominion)
7. Millennium Force (Cedar Point)
8. Apollos Chariot (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)
9. Kumba (Busch Gardens Tampa)
10.Thunderhead (Dollywood)

I haven't made an official top 10 for myself yet so these are the best I could think of that I've been off the top of my head.
 
Current top 10 (out of 125 ridden):

1: Steel Vengeance (Cedar Point)
2: Fury 325 (Carowinds)
3: Maverick Cedar Point)
4: Millennium Force (Cedar Point)
5: Storm Chaser (Kentucky Kingdom)
6: Mako (SWO)
7: Diamondback (Kings Island)
8: Kraken (SWO)
9: Montu (BGT)
10: Banshee (Kings Island)
 
Current Top Ten (I have a lot of catching up to do lol):

1. El Toro (SFGAdv)
2. Superman: Ride of Steel (SFNE)
3. Intimidator 305 (KD)
4. Maverick (CP)
5. Millennium Force (CP)
6. Kumba (BGT)
7. Voyage (HW)
8. Mako (SWO)
9. Shivering Timbers (MIA)
10. Montu (BGT)

Top Prospects:
1. Steel Vengeance (CP)
2. Lightning Rod (DW)
3. SkyRush (HP)
4. Fury 325 (CW)
5. Boulder Dash (LC)
 
I lost track of my exact number, but I think it's around 140
  1. Lightning Rod (Dollywood)
  2. Intimidator 305 (Kings Dominion)
  3. Goliath (Six Flags over Georgia)
  4. Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
  5. Thunderhead (Dollywood)
  6. El Toro (Six Flags Great Adventure)
  7. Nitro (Six Flags Great Adventure)
  8. Manta (SeaWorld Orlando)
  9. Montu (Busch Gardens Tampa)
  10. Kumba (Busch Gardens Tampa)
With honorable mentions of Kraken and Apollo.
 
Coasters are weird to rank for me because it's one of the most time dependent things to rate. There's no isolation of variables like movies, music, tv, theatre, etc instead it depends on so many factors like temperature, operations, maintenance, and more. So the following is a list of coasters I talk about a lot and consider on a personal "tops" list. This isn't comprehensive (only around 200 coasters only in the USA) and factors in the ride experience.

  • Steel Vengeance - I've been on this I think 10 times this year and it's totally my favorite coaster. An exhilarating coaster that overwhelms the senses. There is nothing quite like the last half of this coaster anywhere I've been to. This is worth booking a trip just to Cedar Point for.
  • X2 - I've followed X's construction for years and knew about it but finally got to ride it in 2011. My friend and I got off the coaster totally blown away. This is the most intense ride we've ever been on with a totally unique first drop. The ride is an engineering mess, has constant breakdowns, and single handedly sent Arrow Dynamics into bankruptcy but holy hell is it a way to go out.
  • El Toro - I haven't been on this in a decade, so I can't speak much of it beyond I loved it.
  • Fury 325 - This is the anti-B&M B&M coaster. Forceful, fast, and a ton of fun. This thing eats people for breakfast too, which helps with waits.
  • Millennium Force - I've never understood the "this ride is forceless" claims and this year the ride is running in its best shape in a long time. An exhilarating ride along the side of Lake Erie.
  • Maverick - A near perfect ride only ruined by the breaks placed after the second launch. A fantastic first drop mixed with inversions, tight turns, and wide turns.
  • Voyage - Another coaster I haven't been on in a long time, this one is a "once or twice and done" for me. It's INTENSE and sprawling, mixing an out and back layout with insane turns and a fun fly by of the interior queue line.
  • Lightning Rod - finally rode it this May and it lived up to the hype. Unfortunately I rode it AFTER Steel Vengeance (and everything is just a tad lamer after SV) but the launched lift hill combined with that return section down the hill put it on my list.
 
I've been on 105 coasters, slightly less than people here. I'm currently working up to hit major parks around the country (and eventually, world) but with my shaky job situation that hit a snag. Next year I hope to come around to Carowinds, for instance. I have also yet to ride SV at Cedar Point, as I was last there in 2017. For that reason my list is going to seem a little "basic" I guess the slang would be, but whatever, as of Sept 2018 these are my favorite coasters, in no particular order:

-Millennium Force: like Joe said, it's pure exhilaration and shockingly smooth after 18 years. Everytime I rode it I had a giant smile on my face.
-Maverick: those turns, and that launch. Everything about this ride is proof that nothing needs to be tall to be a great.
-Mystic Timbers: a GCI masterpiece. The shed is like a neat little topper on the end, it's all about that relentless airtime and consistent speed thru the woods.
-White Lightning: yes, at Fun Spot. This one is just pure fun, Mystic Timbers on a smaller scale. I loved riding that thing over and over.
-Mako: yeah, it's not the tallest B&M hypercoaster, but boy does it perfect the hell out of the standard out-and-back layout with such a tremendous speedy ending full of great banked turns. This one is what makes me desire so much to go to Carowinds to ride Fury.
-Manta: this is the Mack launch at SeaWorld San Diego. Two launches, pure speed and heavenly curves despite its "family coaster" moniker. (because if it's not over 200 ft and has no inversions...) Such a great ride.
-Twisted Colossus: the only coaster I really adore at SFMM, this is just a great RMC that's hampered by that second lift hill. Yet the dueling elements really make up for it.
-Space Mountain: at Disneyland. Yes. I put this on here. It makes me happy, it's stunningly simple yet the effect is pure fun. It's a zen ride everytime. I love it.
-Cannibal: at Lagoon, probably the craziest ride I've ever ridden, that I've enjoyed (glares at X2), the "Lagoon roll" maneuver is strikingly unsettling yet glorious and that drop is stuff of legends.
-Xcelerator: at Knott's... it's that launch. Yeah, Top Thrill Dragster has a great launch but Xcelerator is so intense. Can not wait to ride it again in a couple weeks.

Really hoping this list gets more and more defined as the years go on.
 
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