The theme park industry celebrates August 16 as National Roller Coaster Day, so let's play along by republishing our list of the World's Best Roller Coasters, as voted on by Theme Park Insider readers.
Which coasters will make that list this year? We will open our annual roller coaster survey in November, and you can get first notice of that by signing up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
In the meantime, I put up what my favorite new coasters of the year have been so far, back in early June: Robert's top 10 new coasters of 2023, so far.
We've had Zambezi Zinger at World of Fun and Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence at PortAventura open since then, so maybe they might get some votes in this year's survey, too. Again, please sign up for our free newsletter to get in on that vote this fall.
And for our park-by-park coaster and attraction rankings, as well as links to ticket discounts and tips for visiting, please check out our Theme Park visitors guides.
Fury 325 gets back into the top 5 running rollercoasters just under the wire!
The Ride to Happiness in Plopsaland is my favorite too!
@Pierre - That park looks neat never herd of it before. The flume ride looks amazing too! :)
Time for a repost of my personal top 30 (since 10 isn't enough when you've ridden close to 700 coasters):
1. Iron Gwazi - Busch Gardens Tampa
2. VelociCoaster - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure
3. F.L.Y. - Phantasialand
4. Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point
5. Twisted Timbers - Kings Dominion
6. Lightning Rod - Dollywood
7. Wicked Cyclone - Six Flags New England
8. Twisted Colossus - Six Flags Magic Mountain
9. Fury 325 - Carowinds
10. Skyrush - Hersheypark
11. Shambhala - PortAventura Park
12. Intimidator 305 - Kings Dominion
13. Maverick - Cedar Point
14. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure
15. Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park
16. Pantheon - Busch Gardens Williamsburg
17. Taron - Phantasialand
18. Storm Chaser - Kentucky Kingdom
19. Schwur des Karnan - Hansa-Park
20. Voyage - Holiday World
21. X2 - Six Flags Magic Mountain
22. Mako - SeaWorld Orlando
23. Millennium Force - Cedar Point
24. Outlaw Run - Silver Dollar City
25. Superman the Ride - Six Flags New England
26. Iron Rattler - Six Flags Fiesta Texas
27. GhostRider - Knott's Berry Farm
28. Phantom's Revenge - Kennywood
29. Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster - Six Flags Fiesta Texas
30. Time Traveler - Silver Dollar City
For any curious, the best new for 2023 coaster I've ridden was Matugani at Lost Island Theme Park and the best new to me coaster I've ridden this year was Maxx Force at Six Flags Great America.
Texas Stingray at Sea World San Antonio is all sorts of fun too
Great to see some love for F.L.Y! It's surprisingly forceful, but what makes it so special is the entire experience. Seeing it interwoven with Rookburgh, then going through the marathon queue and finally boarding. I won't spoil what happens after that, but it's amazing.
I am stunned to see someone list Iron Gwazi above Steel Vengeance, though! They aren't close in my opinion. I'll post my top 20 (out of 374):
1. The Voyage, Holiday World
2. Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
3. El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure
4. Fury 325, Carowinds
5. ArieForce One, Fun Spot America Atlanta
6. Velocicoaster, Islands of Adventure
7. The Beast, Kings Island
8. Phantom's Revenge, Kennywood
9. F.L.Y., Phantasialand
10. Shivering Timbers, Michigan's Adventure
11. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce (pre-Titan Track)
12. Lightning Rod, Dollywood
13. X2, Six Flags Magic Mountain
14. Intimidator 305, Kings Dominion
15. Skyrush, Hersheypark
16. Taron, Phantasialand
17. Iron Gwazi, Busch Gardens Tampa
18. Coaster, Playland (Vancouver)
19. Thunderhead, Dollywood
20. Diamondback, Kings Island
Manta at Abu Dhabi is awesome for a coaster with lots of speed despite having no big height to it, and it really does move like a manta would. Its perfect.
A new coaster missed off for 2023 is Mission Ferrari. Its a one off, and a fun ride with some excellent show scenes (if a little stop-start)
@Francis 24 – Their flume ride is awesome indeed! Plopsaland is a little hidden gem among the bigger parks in Europe, some of their attractions are world class… but don’t tell anybody or it will get overcrowded ;-)
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Ride to Happiness in Plopsaland de Panne is currently my favorite coaster in the world, followed by Velocicoaster and Iron Gwazi