Amusement parks have been a huge part of America's pastime ever since the famous and iconic Coney Island. Ever since their creation, the largest thrill and biggest attraction in many theme parks have been the rides, and more specifically, the roller coasters. Consisting of hills, drops, and inversions, the intimidating roller coaster has become the symbol for amusement parks around the world. The last 40 years have seen an incredible increase in the design and construction of evermore advanced roller coasters, which now reach speeds of up to 128 miles per hour, dizzying heights of over 450 feet, and numerous inversions bound to make rider's heads spin.
While the age of the wooden roller coaster is no more, these nostalgic brutes still pack an enormous punch in the form of classics like the Colossos in Germany, and the more recently built Beast and Son of Beast located at King's island. These two giants of the wooden coaster world are perhaps the biggest hits of their type, featuring colossal heights, steep drops, white knuckle speeds and turns, and amazingly a wooden loop on the incredible Son of Beast, which is perhaps the greatest wooden coaster of the modern era.
Wooden coaster may capture memories and offer a certain sway that the more modern steel rides cannot match, but the sheer might which engineers can create with steel means that the greatest coasters were soon those made of steel. Many great feats such as the world's first loop, part of the Six Flags Magic Mountain classic, Revolution, have ushered in the age of the steel coaster. The great steel coasters are innumerable, and fill many different niches for types of coasters which were not possible with wooden such as inverted, and shuttle style.
Steel coasters became hugely accepted with the creation of Magnum XL-200, the first coaster ever to top the 200 foot mark. The coaster is still popular as the first coaster ever to be classified as a "mega coaster", reaching speeds of 72 mph, the Magnum was a force to be reckoned with, adding on the already and still great Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio, home to many other greats of the roller coaster world.
Another great creation was the inverted coater Alpengeist located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, which since 1997 has been the largest and fastest inverted coaster, and truly packs a punch. Reaching speeds of 67 mph and reaching a height of 195 feet, truly incredible for an inverted coaster. This is truly one of the greatest coasters ever.
When it comes to innovative design the truly exceptional X and later remolded to become X2 roller coaster is one fo the most creative and high dimensional roller coasters ever, including sound effects pyrotechnics, fog, and most importantly trains which rotate 360 degrees, independent of the path of the track (though the track controls how the cars flip). This extra dimensional feature is not the only aspect of this Six Flags Magic Mountain great, though. The coaster also features an 88 degree drop from over 200 feet and speeds of over 76 mph. This coaster remains one the world greats to this day. This Coaster is sure to gain a spot as one of the world's greatest coasters.
While the shuttle style strato-coasters dwarf it, the Cedar Point giant Millennium Force, debuting of course in 2000, is one of the greatest coasters ever, at more than 310 feet. While fairly new, Millennium force was the greatest of the many coasters that marked the new millennium, and is such an amazing feat of engineering that it must be included. Offering both staggering height and 93 mph speeds, the coaster is one of the tallest coasters that is based on the chain lift (or in this case the improved cable lift) theory, which certainly adds an element of suspense to the ride.
Xcelerator, the Knott's Berry Farm classics, and the first of the accelerator type, though belittled by the increasingly huge and advanced coaster such as Kingda Ka, is a classic. The first coaster to use a hydraulic engine and cable to pull the car, the 200 foot 82 mph, 90 degree up and down coaster was an engineering breakthrough when it was unveiled in 2002, and still is a captivating, and thrilling ride of surpassing popularity.
It's time for a blast from the past, with the greatest roller coasters you grew up with. These are the true classics. They are rides that may not compare in size and speed, but make up for that in memories. They are roller coasters that still last in the high tech theme park world of today.
Coasters like The Great American Revolution, later shortened to just Revolution, and possessor of the first ever loop on a closed circuit roller coaster.
And the still impressive Loch Ness monster the 1970's Busch Gardens creation whose loops took riders for a ride unlike anything in the world at that time.
And of course the previously mentioned roller coaster christened "The Beast" which is one of the most impressive coasters of all time.
While roller coasters continue to improve, some well designed classics retain both sentimental value, and many can still compete even in today's increasingly advanced world. These coasters are the classics, both wood and steel, which made up the basis for today's diverse coaster world.