All children and almost all adults love fun fairs and various amusement or theme parks. As the world gets faster, also the roller coasters and other attractions want to offer its visitors more adrenaline experiences, more speed and more unexpected twists and swings - it is just getting
fast and furious. Coastersandmore.de, a roller coaster magazine, has published a study on the world’s fastest and thus “coolest” roller-coasters ever.
1/ Kingda Ka
206 km/h
Fanfare for the winner! World’s fastest roller-coaster is situated in the "
Six Flags Great Adventure" amusement park in Jackson, New Jersey, USA. It works on the basis of
hydraulic launch mechanism. The train speeds up from the speed of 0 km/h to one of 206 km/h in just 3,5 seconds, thus pulling about 1.67G. The speed is certainly amazing, however, it has an unpleasant
side effect – the ride lasts only 28 seconds. The main tower is 139,5m tall and after reaching its top, the train goes straight down 127 meters. Amazing, isn’t it?
2/ Top Thrill Dragster
193 km/h
The fastest one before the construction of Kingda Ka can be found in
Cedar Point Park, Sandusky, Ohio. The top of the track lies in the height of 122m and reaching it, the train literally falls down forming the right angle to the land. When this roller-coaster was built in 2003, it set five world
records, e.g. fastest and tallest rollercoaster in the world or one with the highest drop. Later, it was beaten by the today’s winner mentioned above.
3/ Dodonpa
172 km/h
This roller-coaster, situated in Fujikyu
Highland, Kawaguchi Lake, Japan was the fastest and tallest one when it was built in 2001. It enables the riders to feel the crushing power of 4,25 G and is until now the roller-coaster with the highest acceleration in launch time – it reaches the top speed of 172 km/h in bare 1,8 seconds.
5/ Tower of Terror
161 km/h
The Tower of Terror in Dreamworld, Queensland is the first and only representative of Australia in the top 10 and also the oldest one – its construction was finished in 1997. It is the fastest and tallest roller-coaster on the southern hemisphere. The passenger car accelerates to 161 km in 7 seconds and then pitches up vertically to the height of 115m. The passengers are weightless during this vertical ride, i.e. for about 6,5 seconds.
5/ Superman - The Escape
161 km/h
This theme-roller-coaster, situated in the
Six Flags Magic Mountain, California, USA was set into operation in 1997, as well as the Tower of Terror, with which it shares the fifth position. The authors tried hard to make a realistic Superman impression – before the loading, the riders walk through Superman’s Fortress of Solitude or get to see the Kryptonian Battle Suit. Nevertheless, not only Superman-fans will have their adrenalin experience and fun here.
6/ Steel Dragon 2000
153 km/h
Built to celebrate the “Year of the Dragon”, the Steel Dragon 2000 is world’s tallest roller-coaster to utilize a traditional chain lift. Except for this record, it also holds the one of being the roller-coaster with the longest track - exactly 2479m. Its building required enormous amounts of steel, as the park is situated in an earthquake zone. Thus, the price rose up to $50,000,000. Steel Dragon 2000 can be found in Nagashima Spa Land, Nagoya, Japan.
7/ Millennium Force
150 km/h
Here is another one from the Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio! No wonder, as there are 14 roller-coasters in this amusement park. The Millennium Force is 95m tall in its highest point and was the first roller-coaster to utilize a cable lift system. It offers the riders an amazing 2:45min ride (quite a long one in comparison with the 0:28min on Kingda Ka) with two tunnels as a bonus.
9/ Goliath
137 km/h
Even though not the fastest one, Goliath in Six Flags Magic Mountain, California (where you can also find the Superman’s Escape) definitely has many things to offer and is not to be used by the old and weak! A double helix in the speed of “only” 137 km/h causes such enormous G-forces to apply on the rider’s body that some people complained about having black-outs during the ride. But do not worry, there are no permanent
brain damages recorded and all people recovered before the ride was finished.
9/ Titan
137 km/h
The Titan, situated in Six Flags Over Arlington, Texas, USA, is very similar to the Goliath and these two roller-coasters also share the ninth position. The Titan is slightly taller and has an extra helix. It offers its riders a very long 3:30min ride with many spirals, helixes and turns.
10/ Phantom's Revenge
132 km/h
This roller-coaster can be found in Kennywood Park, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, USA. One of its distinguishing features is the use of the park’s hilly terrain. Although it is not very tall (49m), it gives the riders the impression of rising high and falling low. Further on, the ride is made special by the fact that the longest descent is not the first, but the second one, which makes the ride even faster.
