Scariest Roller Coaster Rides
Roller Coasters are often the main attraction at Theme Parks and Amusement parks. They routinely draw in crowds of thrill-seekers looking for a scary adrenaline-filled experience that they won't soon forget. But what elevates a Coaster from an entertaining joy ride to a jaw-dropping mind-blowing must-try experience? Is it the heart-pounding acceleration of the launch? Is it the stomach-sinking first drop or the crazy inversions? Or is it a combination of these factors blended together devilishly with break-neck speed and unnerving airtime? In this list we feature some of the biggest, baddest, fastest and scariest roller coasters across the world. Some of them are record breakers, others are deceptively frightening owing to their wooden construction - but all of them have what it takes to be on every coaster fanatic's scary hall of fame. Go through the list to experience the incredible POV videos included and let us know by ranking the list which ones you think deserve to be on top (pun intended)!
The Joker (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, California, USA)
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Kingda Ka (Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey, USA)
#11.0Kingda Ka is a steel accelerator roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. It is the world's tallest roller coaster, the world's second fastest roller coaster, and was the second strata coaster ever built.
Intimidator 305 (Kings Dominion, Virginia, USA)
#23.0Intimidator 305 is a steel roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, United States. Standing at 305 feet (93 m) tall and reaching speeds of 90 miles per hour (140 km/h), it is the second Giga Coaster to be built in North America – the first was Millennium Force at Cedar Point. Intimidator 305 has a first drop of 300 feet (91 m), with a maximum descent angle of 85 degrees. The overall height of Intimidator 305 is higher than the observation platform of the park's Eiffel Tower replica, making it one of the tallest rides at Kings Dominion.
El Toro (Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey, USA)
#34.0El Toro is a wooden roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. When it opened, it had the steepest drop of any wooden roller coaster in the world at 76 degrees, until the record was broken by T Express in 2008 by one degree. Overall, its structure height of 181 feet (55 m) is ranked fourth, its drop height of 176 feet (54 m) is ranked second, and its top speed of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) is ranked fourth among all wooden roller coasters in the world.
Sky Scream (Holiday Park, Hassloch, Germany)
#44.0Sky Scream is a launched steel roller coaster located at Holiday Park in Hassloch, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. In addition to being scary on its own, the ride has a horror theme to it with the buildings around it designed to look like an abandoned industrial complex.
Goliath (Six Flags Great America, Illinois, USA)
#55.0Goliath is a wooden roller coaster in County Fair at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. It set three world records for wooden roller coasters when it opened to the public on June 19, 2014: the longest drop at 180 feet (55 m), the steepest drop at 85°, and the fastest speed at 72 miles per hour (116 km/h). The ride also features two inversions.
Formula Rossa (Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi, UAE)
#66.0Formula Rossa is a launched roller coaster located at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Formula Rossa is the world's fastest roller coaster with a top speed of 240 km/h (150 mph). The coaster train accelerates to its top speed in 5 seconds using a hydraulic launch system which generates a release velocity similar to that of steam catapults on an aircraft carrier.[citation needed] Riders experience up to 1.7 g of force during acceleration and up to 4.8 g throughout the ride. The roller coaster track is 2.2 km (1.4 mi) in length, ranking it sixth in the world for steel roller coasters.
Colossos (Heide Park, Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany)
#77.0Colossos is a wooden roller coaster located at Heide Park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany. Manufactured by Intamin, the roller coaster opened in 2001. Unlike traditional wooden coasters, its track was prefabricated, laser-cut in a factory to a high degree of precision, with sections designed to snap together like Lego pieces.
The Banshee (Kings Island, Ohio, USA)
#88.0Banshee is a steel roller coaster located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio. Banshee opened on April 18, 2014. The roller coaster features 4,124 feet (1,257 m) of track making it the longest inverted roller coaster. Banshee is also the first inverted coaster built in the United States since the Patriot debuted at Worlds of Fun in 2006.
The Steel Dragon (Nagashima Spaland, Mie Prefecture, Japan)
#99.5Steel Dragon 2000 is a steel roller coaster at Nagashima Spa Land amusement park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Built by Morgan Manufacturing, Steel Dragon was opened in 2000, in the year of dragon in Asia. As of 2019, it is the longest roller coaster in the world.
The Gravity Max (LIHPAO Discovery Land, Taichung, Taiwan)
#109.8The Gravity Max is located in Lihpao Discovery Land in the Houli District of Taichung, Taiwan. It is the world's first coaster to feature a true 90-degree drop and the world's only tilt coaster.
Full Throttle (Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, USA)
#1111.3Full Throttle is a steel launched roller coaster located in Six Flags Plaza at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. It opened on June 22, 2013 and featured the world's tallest vertical loop at 160 feet (49 m) - a record that has since been surpassed on January 1, 2016 by Flash which opened at Lewa Adventure in Xianyang, China. It is also the first roller coaster to feature a top-hat element on top of a vertical loop.
Wicked Twister (Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, USA)
#1212.3Wicked Twister is a second generation steel Inverted Impulse roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Wicked Twister consists of two 215 feet (66 m) tall spikes. Both ends of the towers (track) are designed with 450-degree vertical twists which is the main difference between Wicked Twister and other Inverted Impulse roller coasters.
The Takabisha (Fuji-Q Highland, Fujiyoshida, Japan)
#1313.3The Takabisha is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter steel roller coaster located at the Fuji-Q Highland theme park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan. It is famous for having a drop angle of 121° – the steepest coaster in the world. The Japanese name Takabisha translates to "high-handed" or "domineering" in English. The name is a pun, in that the three kanji in the name literally mean "high fly car".
The Ultra Twister (Nagashima Spaland, Mie Prefecture, Japan)
#1414.3Ultra Twister is a roller coaster located at Nagashima Spa Land in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Built by TOGO, which is also one of the few ultratwister models still in operation in Japan. It is almost identical to the other Ultra Twister models in the United States except it has a vertical chain lift hill and an 84 degree drop. Other ones had a steep lift hill and drop as well. The car goes slowly through the station, loads riders, and then flips the car straight up, into the lift hill, which is partially very slow, but soon speeds up as the car is almost at the top. As the drop, into an airtime hill, and then up into a heartline roll, a very small hill, and then a brake run, going down into two heartline rolls, and then a magnetic trim brake run allows a car to go slowly back into the station.
Hades 360 (Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park, Wisconsin, USA)
#1515.3Hades 360 is a wooden roller coaster at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. It was originally known as Hades before the 360 degree roll was added in 2013. It is the largest roller coaster in the park. Hades 360 is a rarity among wooden roller coasters due to its 360 degree roll, 110-degree over banked turn, steep 65-degree drop as well as its 90-degree banked turn, as drops and angles this steep are generally not included on wooden roller coasters due to structural limitations.
Shivering Timbers (Michigan's Adventure, Michigan, USA)
#1616.3Shivering Timbers is a wooden roller coaster at Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon County, Michigan. The ride's out and back layout is 5,383 feet (1,641 m) long, making it the fourth-longest wooden roller coaster in the world. The ride starts with a left turn out of the station and on to the 122 ft (37.2 m) lift hill. At the base of the lift hill, the train reaches its maximum speed of 57 mph (91.7 km/h). Following the lift hill are two camelback hills, the first being 100 ft (30.5 m) tall, and the second being 95 ft (29 m) tall. In these hills, riders experience "ejector air-time". The train then jumps a bunny hop and another camelback hill and a double up hill, before turning around for the second half of its course. After the turnaround, the train hits another bunny hop and another double up hill. After the double up hill there is a series of six bunny hop hills. After the last hill there is an on-ride photo camera and the ride's finale, a 630 degree helix, in which riders experience lateral g-force. After the helix, the train slides on to the final brake-run and executes a U-turn back into the station.
The Superman Escape from Krypton (Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, USA)
#1717.3Superman: Escape from Krypton (originally known as Superman: The Escape) is a steel shuttle roller coaster located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. When it opened in 1997, it was the tallest roller coaster in the world, and its speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) was tied for the fastest with Tower of Terror II, a similar roller coaster which opened two months earlier at Dreamworld in Australia. These two coasters were the first to utilize Linear Synchronous Motor (LSM) technology to propel vehicles to top speed. After refurbishment in 2011, the ride featured new trains which face backward moving at speeds of up to 104 mph (167 km/h), and was painted with a new color scheme. As of 2013, Superman: Escape from Krypton has the third-tallest structure, the fifth-fastest speed and the third-longest drop of any roller coaster in the world.
Top Thrill Dragster (Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, USA)
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Fury 325 (Carowinds Amusement Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA)
#1919.3Fury 325 is a steel roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, it features a 6,602-foot-long (2,012 m) track that reaches a maximum height of 325 feet (99 m). Riders experience speeds of up to 95 miles per hour (153 km/h), winding through high-speed curves and passing over and under the park's main entrance. Fury 325 is the sixth-tallest roller coaster in the world and the tallest to use a traditional chain lift hill. It has also been voted the world's best steel coaster for three consecutive years in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards beginning in 2016, which ended Millennium Force's six-year streak.
Skyrush (Hersheypark, Pennsylvania, USA)
#2020.3
Cannibal (Lagoon Amusement Park, Utah, USA)
#2121.3Cannibal is a steel roller coaster at Lagoon amusement park in Farmington, Utah, United States. Opened on July 2, 2015, the $22-million ride was built and designed mostly in-house. It features the steepest drop in North America, fourth-steepest in the world, and holds the world record for the tallest beyond-vertical drop on a roller coaster. The roller coaster features a 208 feet (63 m) elevator lift, enclosed in a huge tower structure, a 116° beyond vertical drop, inversions including an Immelman-like loop as well as an inversion unique to the park, a water feature, and