Happy International Roller Coaster Day!
Commemorating the day of the first patent for a vertical loop roller coaster, International Roller Coaster day is not an officially designated holiday. But in recent years it has become a day for celebrating coasters, especially with announcements of new coasters coming for the next season and beyond.
Except this year. So far today, I have received zero press releases about new coasters. Earlier this week, I did get word of upcoming coaster and attraction announcements, including at Six Flags Over Texas on September 25 and at Silver Dollar City Fan Fest on September 26. But for today, let's instead focus on celebrating the coasters that have opened so far in 2025.
We here at Theme Park Insider love bringing you first-look reviews and on-ride videos when new coasters debut. So for the Class of 2025, please follow the links for our reviews and videos.
AlpenFury at Canada's Wonderland
Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf's Revenge at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Curse of the Werewolf, Hiccup's Wing Gliders, Mine-Cart Madness and Stardust Racers, at Universal Epic Universe
The Flash: Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Great Adventure
Georgia Gold Rusher at Six Flags Over Georgia
Rapterra at Kings Dominion
Siren's Curse at Cedar Point
Wrath of Rakshasa at Six Flags Great America
Which brings us to the obvious question: Which coaster has the early lead to become the Valedictorian of the Class of 2025? You can see which coasters our readers selected as the world's best last year on our Top 30 Roller Coasters page. Which of this year's coasters has the best chance to join that list at the end of 2025?
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From this list, I've only ridden the coasters at Epic so Stardust gets my vote, as I think it may very well be my favorite coaster of all time. Heading there again this week and planning to get my first ever night ride. I'm downright giddy and I haven't been this excited about a coaster in a VERY long time. Honorable mentions to Hiccups, which was a great surprise and dare I say, Mine Cart Madness, which was a huge surprise (in a good way).
I haven't gotten a chance to ride any new for 2025 coasters yet (and, the way things are looking, probably won't until next year), but here's what I'd say based on my opinions and those of others...
-Siren's Curse vs. Stardust Racers appears to be the question for a lot of folks. For me personally, I think Siren's Curse looks better as a coaster, but Stardust Racers looks like a more unique experience. I think I lean slightly toward Stardust, though after riding both I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up putting Siren's Curse ahead.
-The bronze medal appears to be between Flash: Vertical Velocity and Wrath of Rakshasa. I've never ridden a Super Boomerang (or any of Vekoma's sit down thrill coasters), but I've ridden several B&M dive coasters (of both large and small varieties), and with the unique layout and my general dislike of shuttle rides I'm almost certain I'd rank Wrath ahead of Flash.
-The next matchup is between family launcher Hiccup's Wing Gliders and launched wing Rapterra. Because these rides are so different, I'm going to call this one a toss-up.
-The next tier is kind of the misfit tier: Big Bad Wolf, Georgia Gold Rusher, and Mine-Cart Madness. Of those three, Big Bad Wolf looks the best to me and Georgia Gold Rusher looks the worst.
-Curse of the Werewolf appears to be the loser of the year among notable coasters. Unlike the mixed reviews of the group above, almost every review I've heard of this one leans negative, and it looks like a filler attraction.
-AlpenFury is the big wildcard of the year, as it opened so late I haven't heard that many reviews yet, but those I have heard are praising it as one of the best coasters in North America. To me, that indicates it's definitely in the top three for 2025, and probably a contender for the top spot. It definitely looks far better than any of Premier's other Sky Rocket style attractions.
So, at the end of the day, I'd say at the moment Stardust Racers appears to be the leader for 2025, but I wouldn't be surprised if AlpenFury or Siren's Curse instead wound up claiming the crown.
I have had an opportunity to ride all of these aside from the ones at Epic and SFoG, and looking at this list, I am humbled to have provided coverage for so many of the new 2025 coasters. For me, the answer is pretty easy having not ridden Stardust Racers, and that is Alpen Fury. I rode Siren's Curse less than a week after riding Alpen Fury, so I felt that I had about as close to a side-by-side comparison as you can get, and Alpen Fury was still miles better IMHO. That's nothing against Siren's Curse, which significantly exceeded my expectations, but Alpen Fury is a once-in-a-decade type of coaster that pushes the envelope and is on an entirely different level than other coasters of this era. As I noted in my review, no coaster is perfect, and Alpen Fury is going to struggle with capacity and perhaps is lacking a bit in the theming department, but with everything else considered, there are only a few coasters on the planet that I have experienced in my life that are better than Alpen Fury.
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I'm going with Siren's Curse.
UO already had a new multi-launch coaster and I found the overall ride experience underwhelming especially compared to its spiritual predecessor Dueling Dragons, which opened in 1999, but had much better overall theming/presentation. To Disney/Universal standards I just found the ride "lazy" (I realize i'm holding it to a different standard).
I've been on a lot of B&M dive coasters so I don't find Wrath of Rakshasha particularly interesting, though I do think its a good addition to SFGAm. But I also sat on the inside of the train, i've heard the outside is pretty rough.
Alpen Fury, while it does look really good, again i've been on lots of similar rides and i'm not the biggest Premier fan due to chronic design flaws (going as far back as 30 years. I'll take a wait and see approach on this one, if 5 years from now this thing has operated consistently without periods of SBNO i'll consider it a great addition.
I like the station and some of the theming on BBW, but other than that it's baffling why they made Big Bad Wolf a small kids coaster when the original version was a major thrill e-ticket with such a large presence in the parks history. It's like the management of this park is completely tone-deaf. I think this ride would be a good addition to BGW if it were themed after something original.
Siren's Curse is the perfect addition to CP IMO. It's something you're not going to find anywhere else in North America, the view from the top is amazing, the ride is smooth and intense, good theming and placemaking that fits the area of the park its in really well (right next to the marina). For a last minute relocation addition I feel like they didn't phone it in, they actually put in effort to make it as good as it could be. The only critique I have is the track color doesn't fit the theme but I guess that's to be expected considering this was supposed to go to a different park with a different theme.