Travel Guides Family Friendly Amusement Parks
Daniel Feininger
Chasing after the most exciting roller coasters in the world is a thrill-seeking hobby of many. Strapping in for a thrill-filled adventure really gets the heart pumping, and it’s a great way to spend an afternoon with friends and family. Almost 160 million people went to North America’s top 20 theme parks in 2019, and barring a global health crisis that changes the landscape of these types of activities, it stands to reason that this volume of interest in roller coasters and family fun will continue unimpeded.
Today, theme parks are the talk (scream) of the town once more, and nothing draws in visitors like goliath roller coasters that cast shadows with their towering heights over the rest of the park. Some of the biggest, longest, and fastest roller coasters in the world serve as individual selling points for their respective theme parks. In the UAE, for instance, the Formula Rossa experience is far and away the most enticing draw to bring people in through the doors of Ferrari World. Bigger, better, and newer roller coasters are always going to get people talking. Yet, some of the longest and most beloved rides on the planet aren’t just the newest out there. These are the longest theme park roller coasters around the world, and each one brings something special to the bravest riders.
The Steel Dragon 2000: The world’s longest coaster
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The Steel Dragon 2000 is the longest roller coaster in the world, measuring a whopping 8,133 feet in length. When construction on the coaster finished in August of 2000, it was officially christened the longest in the world, with a Guinness World Record being given to the park for the world’s longest track.
The Steel Dragon 2000, found in Japan’s Nagashima Spa Land Amusement Park in Kuwana, brings riders up to an enormous 307-foot lift before sending the cart careening along a four-minute ride that reaches around 95 miles per hour. Riders are given a brief pause at the pinnacle of the coaster’s track — just enough time to contemplate their decision to strap in for this wild ride! Then, the roller coaster kicks into high gear for a range of aggressive twists, turns, and drops. About halfway through, the ride slows down, only to plunge its riders into a tunnel area (and then a second). In total, the track incorporates a figure-eight helix and seven camelback hills, in addition to the early drop from the cart’s initial height.
Formula Rossa: A thrilling tour de force
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Tucked out on Yas Island near Abu Dhabi International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, Ferrari World is a celebration of all things Ferrari: speed, iconic motorsport design, and of course, the elegant style of the brand. The highlight of Ferrari World is, without a doubt, the world’s fastest roller coaster: Formula Rossa. The carts are built to resemble Ferrari-red Formula One racers, and the sheer speed and force of the ride bring this similarity home.
You begin with a hydraulic launch that sends the train out along the track at a ludicrous velocity. You’ll reach 149.1 miles per hour in just 4.9 seconds, delivering a G-force of 4.8Gs in the process. From here, the track will send you along a blistering series of curves that rise as high as 170 feet in the air and have you running as fast as you can back to the line for another crack at the circuit. The track leaves the sprawling Ferrari World complex, and it’s so intense that riders are provided safety goggles before the launch. Of course, the coaster is also incredibly long, with a track length of roughly 6,800 feet.
The Beast: The longest wooden coaster in the world
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Kings Island is a roller coaster spectacle found just north of Cincinnati, Ohio. The amusement park is home to a range of rollercoasters, including Banshee, Diamondback, and of course, The Beast. This wooden coaster is the longest of its kind in the entire world. Wooden roller coasters are often thought of as a bit of a novelty these days. However, The Beast truly delivers when it comes to thrills and excitement. There’s nothing to scoff at with this one, even as the coaster lacks loops. Only a few wooden coasters offer this feature, including Son of Beast, a short-lived rollercoaster in the Kings Island Park that did include an inversion.
The Beast was opened in 1979 and has stood the test of time ever since. It brings riders along a track that spans 7,361 feet and reaches a peak height of 110 feet. With decline angles of 53 degrees and 18 degrees, respectively, the coaster plunges you down drops of 137 and 141 feet, with the first diving straight into a 125-foot-long tunnel. The roller coaster reaches a max speed of 65 miles per hour and brings adventurous riders along a four-minute journey that’s filled with twists and a 540-degree helix tunnel.
Fujiyama: The king of coasters
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The name of this roller coaster is a bit of a play on words for the transliterated name for Mount Fuji, and Fujiyama is also known as the “king of coasters.” For such a hyped-up name, it might seem hard for the ride to deliver. And yet, the Fujiyama experience is nothing short of transcendent. Riders funnel into a seven-car train with rows of two riders. The track itself is unlike most hypercoasters that are built purely to deliver intense speed and then return riders back to the starting blocks. Instead, Fujiyama flings riders along a 3.5-minute and 6,709-foot voyage across sharp turns and massive drops. The roller coaster can reach a top speed of roughly 81 mph and ascends to a height of 259 feet before dropping almost all the way back down to the ground in a 230-foot plummet.
The sudden hills, turns, and sharp drops all make for an exciting and supremely enjoyable coaster that you’ll surely want to return to over and over again. Yet, one thing that sets Fujiyama apart is the surrounding scenery that you’ll take in while lifted into the sky. Riders on their way around the track will be spoiled with a breathtaking view of Mount Fuji, placing them in a rarified air that seems, at first, jarringly out of place while riding one of the longest roller coasters in the world.
Fury 325: A new kid on the block
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A newer entry into the world of superstar roller coasters, Fury 325 at Carowinds Theme Park in North Carolina has been thrilling riders since 2015. The coaster’s track extends 6,602 feet from start to finish and reaches a blistering speed of 95 miles per hour as the cars take on the dips and sharp turns. To begin, the track brings riders up 325 feet (reflecting its namesake) in the air before sending them careening on their journey, complete with a searing 81-degree drop and 190-foot barrel turn. This exhibition of engineering and entertainment is the longest steel roller coaster in North America, with an average ride time of roughly 3:25 minutes. Another unique feature of the ride is the path it takes in swinging its daredevil riders around. The winding course crosses out of North Carolina and briefly brings you into South Carolina!
The first drop is intense, and from there, the ride swerves through a series of tight, twisting maneuvers that writhe around the park and navigate varying levels of elevation. At one point, riders are suddenly swept under a footbridge and through a tunnel. This sudden drop comes shortly after an equally suspenseful rise that accompanies a rapid twist off to the righthand side.
Millenium Force: A titan arrived for the new millennium
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The first of Cedar Point’s spectacular marvels, Millenium Force is a wicked ride waiting for anyone brave enough to take it on. The coaster spans a length of 6,595 feet, placing it firmly in the hunt with some of the other expansive roller coasters of the world. However, unlike many of the lengthy rides that you’ll find elsewhere, Millenium Force in the Midwest amusement park is a somewhat short and gut-wrenching ride (rather than sweet). A typical adventure on the steel coaster lasts just two minutes and 20 seconds.
The vertical angle achieved by Millenium Force is a mind-bending 80 degrees, and its first, massive drop pulls the floor out from under you with a fall of 300 feet from the ride’s monstrous 310-foot height. The roller coaster has been in operation since May of 2000, and it has shocked and delighted countless riders in the years since. At its debut, the roller coaster was a record breaker for both the longest drop and fastest top speed (93 miles per hour). Cedar Point puts it plainly in describing the rocketing force of the coaster: “Millenium Force was designed for the purpose of proving bigger is better.” It’s hard to argue when standing at the foot of this gigantic thriller.
[Featured image by Coasterman1234 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]
The Voyage: A wooden rollercoaster with intensity
Riders taking on The Voyage will experience the feeling of weightlessness for over 24 seconds. This thriller was named the top wooden roller coaster in the United States by Time Magazine in 2013. The track is 6,442 feet long and includes bank angles that reach 90 degrees and a drop of 66 degrees from a height of 159 feet in the air (and a total elevation change of 173 feet from the coaster’s pinnacle to its lowest point).
The Voyage was introduced to Holiday World in the aptly named town of Santa Claus, Indiana in May 2006. Since then, its wooden hybrid frame has captivated riders with its steep banking curves and a top speed of 67 miles per hour. Over a ride lasting approximately 2:45, the track careens riders through a series of tunnels as well as back and forth through the scenic, tree-lined landscape for a thrilling roller coaster adventure to remember.
Incredicoaster: Disney’s extreme launcher
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The Incredicoaster at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim traverses a course that spans 6,072 feet from start to finish. This roller coaster began its life as a totally different beast. It was originally conceived in 2001 as a thrilling, launch-based experience that hid under the aesthetics of a 1920s-style wooden track. Originally, the roller coaster was called California Screamin’ and was later renamed and restyled to take on the persona of Disney’s “The Incredibles” franchise.
Today, the newly revamped roller coaster uses the same track and basic framework, although the line and other experience elements have been totally redesigned to incorporate this new theme. It’s the fastest Disney Park roller coaster at the Anaheim complex, reaching a top speed of 55 miles per hour and arriving at this pace in just four seconds. The Incredicoaster’s span makes it the third-longest steel roller coaster in the U.S. and the eighth-longest in the world. The track takes riders on an inversion, and its launch-start allows for the ride to quickly hit its top height before delivering a breathtaking drop of 108 feet. In total, the ride lasts roughly two and a half minutes, ample time to consider jumping back in line for another dash around the track.
Steel Vengeance: An instant classic amid iconic thrills
Cedar Point is renowned for its amazing roller coasters and Steel Vengeance, opened only in 2018, is a big part of that momentum. The ride’s first drop is a massive 200 feet, and its first run-throughs with riders broke a number of records, including a 205-foot peak height for the hybrid construction design. The plummet back to Earth is done at a 90-degree angle, further adding to the legendary status of the thriller. Upon opening, the coaster also gave riders the longest airtime of any roller coaster (regardless of construction type), coming in at 27.2 seconds!
This instant classic offers a ride time of about two and a half minutes, across which you’ll be flung 5,740 feet from the coaster’s start to where it returns to let you off. This whirlwind experience also includes four inversions and fires the cars down the track at a record-breaking (for the hybrid rollercoaster category) 74 miles per hour. Steel Vengeance fits right at home among Cedar Point’s catalog of classic thrillers. While incredible roller coasters coming out will always push boundaries, Steel Vengeance’s record-breaking debut will remain part of coaster lore.
Steel Force: A laundry list of gigantic hills
Steel Force entered the scene in 1997, opening in Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Its track runs 5,600 feet from start to finish, placing it firmly among the longest racers in the world. Steel Force offers riders a 205-foot drop that cuts a swath from 200 feet up in the air through a tunnel cut into the ground. Riders are then treated to a series of hills that continue to send hearts pounding. The next hill drops a towering 161 feet, while a third drops from 100 feet. Riders hit a curve around halfway through the coaster’s track that brings them back around to return through another series of jostling altitude changes and a second tunnel.
The ride lasts about three minutes in total and doesn’t feature any inversions. Still, the distance covered makes for a quality volume of hills and severe drops. Moreover, the 75-mph speed and Steel Force’s mammoth drops are sure to excite even the most hardcore roller coaster fanatic.
Mamba: A slithering whirlwind of tight drops
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Mamba was one of the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the whole world when it opened at Kansas City’s Worlds of Fun park in 1998. The coaster lifts riders up to a height of 205 feet in the air before dropping them in a series of rapid-fire hills. The second drop will bring you back up almost all the way to the first height, turning back toward the Earth only after quickly ascending back to 184 feet above the ground. Mamba is true to its namesake and seemingly slithers along the ground, first in a G-force-inducing arc and then up and down toward the end of the ride, as the track returns back to the home station and leaves riders raring to go another round.
Mamba’s journey is around three minutes in duration, and it sends riders on a 75-mph rush that hits a max force of 3.5 Gs and traverses 5,600 feet from start to finish. The roller coaster even got a refit in 2019, with new wheels being installed on the trains. This is sure to make the ride even smoother and more exciting for those planning a visit to Worlds of Fun in the near future.
[Featured image by Tkexb173 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]
T Express: A uniquely smooth, wooden rollercoaster
Jeremy Thompson
Rather than building the track piece by piece at the park, T Express is a prefabricated wooden roller coaster that uses laser-cut segments. These pieces snap together and are bonded to create a more steel-like riding experience, even as the track is built from a more traditional wooden frame. This made the construction process a much faster endeavor and allowed Everland, a theme park in Yongin, South Korea (just south of Seoul), to open the ride much quicker.
The track began thrilling riders in 2008, and its design of high-speed turns and hills gives riders the feeling of being lifted out of their seats. There are three trains that run on the track’s 5,384-foot expanse. The massive roller coaster reaches speeds of 65 miles per hour and sports a drop angle of 77 degrees from a top height of 184 feet. It’s set against Everland’s European Adventure-themed area and streaks over canal houses built to resemble the aesthetic of Amsterdam. While riding, the jagged mountain peaks that reach skyward around the park’s perimeter further enhance the rider’s experience.
[Featured image by Jeremy Thompson via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]
