Ranking Walt Disney World's roller coasters, from best to worst
Today is the official opening day for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios. I was invited by Disney to preview the ride last week, so today I thought it would be a good idea to offer up my latest ranking of Walt Disney World's nine roller coasters, from best to worst.
Follow the links below for my in-depth reviews and on-ride videos for each coaster.
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind: EPCOT was the last Disney theme park to get a roller coaster. And this one was worth the wait. Perhaps Disney's best coaster worldwide, Cosmic Rewind sits in Theme Park Insider readers' top five for the world's best coasters. A near-perfect blend of story, setting, and thrills, Cosmic Rewind is an easy pick as Walt Disney World's best coaster.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: Big Thunder was the other Disney coaster to crack our TPI Top 40 list this year, so I am giving it the second spot on my list. The prototype for themed family coasters, Thunder continues to deliver for Disney fans, especially with its recent rebuild.
Expedition Everest: This Disney's Animal Kingdom coaster has made our top coasters list in years past and deserves a spot in Disney World's second tier, right below Cosmic Rewind. It's another great Disney mountain, though I prefer the visuals on Thunder, given the ongoing disability of Disco Yeti.
TRON Lightcycle Run: This import from Shanghai Disneyland offers a short but fun ride with its motorbike seating. The ride is substantially better at night, when the exterior lighting complements the interior's. Honestly, you could jumble these three coasters in any order behind Cosmic Rewind and I would not argue that ranking.
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets: Judging show quality, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster ranks behind only Cosmic Rewind in my book. But this 27-year-old Vekoma headbanger is one of Disney's two roughest roller coaster rides. Balance those two issues and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster falls exactly in the middle of Walt Disney World's coaster lineup for me.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: A delightful introduction to coasters in the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland, Mine Train offers a dark ride scene along with a clever rocking element that help make this a worthy ride for any coaster fan. But this starts the tier of Disney's three kiddie coasters that lack the broader family appeal of Thunder and Everest.
Slinky Dog Dash: This Mack Rides launch coaster pulls some gently forceful moments that have unlocked more than few lifelong coaster habits among its young riders. It's a cute setting within Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios, too, with some fun decorations along the track. Unfortunately, the queue here is set in Andy's Easy-Bake Oven, making it a ride that is too often not worth the grueling wait.
The Barnstormer: You can find Vekoma Junior Coasters in theme parks around the world, including Legoland's Dragon and Universal's Flying Hippogriff. This one is fine, and well worth riding with a young coaster enthusiast. It just lacks the extra something - in show quality or launch thrill - that its two companions above it on my list offer.
Space Mountain: If you were wondering what was the other of Disney's two roughest roller coasters, besides Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, here it is. Disney's original roller coaster in the dark simply does not have enough show quality compared with the resort's other coasters to move it up above any of the better - i.e. less painful - ride experiences above it on my list.
Planning a Disney visit?
For assistance in planning a Walt Disney World vacation, please contact our travel agent for a free, no-obligation vacation quote.
To see what is available at the Walt Disney World theme parks, please check out our one-page visitors guides, which include our reader rankings as well as on-ride videos and links to reviews:
Finally, to keep up with more Disney and theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
Replies (10)
Apologies for (once again) appearing to be a contrarian, but sitting in the front seat of Space Mountain is still one of my favorite theme park experiences. I'll give GOTGCR, TRON and Muppets the first, second and third slots. But after that I list that front seat as number four.
Everest is one, the GotGCR and then BTMR. Tron is good but short, then RnR, then Space Mountain, Slinky, Seven Dwarves, and Barnstormer. Everest is a top-5 ride in all of Disney World.
Must...fix...Yeti...
i agree with TH, as i never understand the hate for SM. it's still one of my favorites and having just re-ridden the DL version a few months ago, i had totally forgotten how much fun that version is. i had a huge smile the whole ride. as for WDW, i got many front row rides during Covid and could have ridden it all day if i were 15 y/o again ;)
I would generally agree with these rankings, but the biggest probablem I have with Disney coasters in general is that there's a ton of build up and immersion for a physical experience that is underwhelming. It's a lot of "bark" and very little bite when it comes to the forces and sensations on the ride. Take 7DMT for example - you queue through this incredibly detailed mine shaft and if you did any research on the coaster, you know the cars tilt freely along the course, but once you're on the ride, that tilting effect is practically non-existent (especially if you've ever ridden an Arrow Suspended coaster) and what is supposed to be a runaway trip through a mine feels like a glorified kiddie coaster. The same goes for Slinky Dog Dash that looks like a pretty decent launching coaster, but once you're on board, those launches are just so mediocre and nearly forceless that you feel like you've been swindled into spending 45+ minutes (and in some cases hours) in line for a coaster that is bested by at least 4 coasters in an average SF park.
I get it, Disney can't make coasters too extreme because their attractions need to have broad appeal, but I just wish Disney could find a way to build something like Velocicoaster or Stardust Racers that could really satisfy the thrill seekers. I do agree that Everest and GotG:CR probably come the closest (and RnRC was pretty revolutionary for its time), but even those feel like they're deliberately "Nerfed" so as to not turn off the average guest.
The real answer is Disney has NO rankable coasters...
But if I must - Rock N Muppets coaster
Then Everest...
My issue with GotG:CR is that after the initial backwards launch and a couple of spins, the attraction doesn't do anything new. You just keep whirling around for a bit longer and that's it.
Compare that to Everest: you leave the station, travel through a couple light and dark passes of the mountain, travel backwards after discovering a broken track, a silhouetted Yeti fixes your track and you move forward through a different area, finally discovering the (albeit disco-fied) "real" Yeti. The ride itself has different sensations while you move through the story. Guardians just spins you around to music.
Because of this I'd say Everest, even in its current state, reigns supreme (Tron would get the honor if it were even 30 seconds longer). Don't get me wrong, Cosmic Rewind is still a fantastic coaster, I just wish there was more in its bag of tricks.
The problem with Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom is that the superior DL version exists.
Circa my last visit to Walt Disney World in 2021, this is how the coasters ranked for me...
1. Expedition Everest
2. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
3. Space Mountain
4. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
5. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
6. Slinky Dog Dash
7. Barnstormer
Based on what I know of Guardians and Tron, I expect them to be in the top three (along with Everest), but I'll have to wait until I return to the resort to experience them to know for sure.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Very accurate ranking, but if you know Space Mountain's layout well enough to counteract the roughness, then I'd say that makes it shoot right above Seven Dwarfs