Theme Park Insanity reveals our official Top 10 Bucket List Coasters and explain more about what puts them at the top of our list!
As thrill seekers we all have our own individual ‘must ride’ attractions, therefore when it comes to Roller Coasters every passionate enthusiast has their own very definitive ‘Top 10’ coasters they want to ride before they ‘kick the bucket’ and here at Theme Park Insanity we’re no different!
Therefore sit back and pour yourself a cuppa (or open a bottle of beer etc. depending on what time of day you’re reading this) as we count down our very own Top 10 and let you know exactly why we have chosen the way we have and the reasons for the rank in which they have been placed!
10 - The Swarm located at Thorpe Park, UK.
Now then, The Swarm (Thorpe Park’s B&M Wing Coaster) has been on our radar since it first opened at Thorpe park back in 2012, however as great as this coaster looks the truth is – there are now much bigger and better coasters out there across the world to ride, and you only have to look at the likes of some of the creations by industry leader RMC (Rocky Mountain Construction) to realise this is the case!
The matter still remains however that we have still yet to ride this for ourselves and coupled with that and the constant positive feedback this ride has received we are desperate to find out what makes this coaster as popular as it currently is!
We will therefore be making the trip down to Thorpe Park as soon as possible to get this cred and experience this brilliant coaster for ourselves!
9 - Formula Rossa located at Ferrari Land in Abu Dhabi.
Formula Rossa still to this day holds the official world record for the world’s fastest roller coaster launching riders hydraulically from 0 – 149 mph in just 4.9 seconds, however other than the launch it’s fair to say that the rest of the layout looks a little dull in our opinion.
We would love to experience this coaster for ourselves just to say that we have ridden the world’s fastest coaster, however other than that we are not the biggest fan of launch coasters as a rule and to be honest this is the main reason for this coaster being in the position it has been placed.
That being said it still looks a very fun ride and having spoken to people who have actually ridden this for themselves it’s fair to say that we still remain drawn to want to ride this for ourselves! It has been said that you get some phenomenal airtime over the first airtime hill after the launch and if we’re honest we would ride it for this alone!
8 - Hagrid's Magical Motorbike Adventure located at Universal Studios Orlando Resort, USA.
Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure in our opinion looks to be one of the best and most immersive roller coasters to open across the world to date! Combining the perfect mixture of themeing, special effects and cutting edge technology this awesome looking Intamin Thrill coaster certainly looks to be an absolute must for any enthusiast, however here at TPI we are more about the thrill aspect and this is the reason we have ranked this as far down the list as we have! Other than the launches and the drop track we still don’t feel the immediate urge to go and experience this for ourselves just yet!
The truth is there are still coasters out there we would much rather jump on a plane and go ride tomorrow given half the chance! We do however want to get out to Orlando and experience this in no later than the next 5 years and this should also give the park chance to open up further investments in the meantime (hem hem, Jurassic Coaster)!
7 - Taron located at Phantasialand, Germany.
When it comes to this coaster there is one fact that remains at the forefront of every arguement and that’s this – nearly everyone who has experienced Taron has come off hailing it as the ‘perfect’ roller coaster!
This therefore only makes us want to experience this for ourselves even more and when you take a closer look at what this ride actually offers, well we have to admit it really does make our mouth water with anticipation!
Swooping and diving through rocky ravines and coming in close contact with surrounding medieval period buildings Taron looks to deliver nothing short of pure adrenaline! With everything from eye watering launches, some mind blowing g-force and a bounty of constant near misses Taron is a strong contender when it comes to one of our must ride attractions, however again as mentioned previously there are still coasters which remain higher up our list and for that Taron sits comfortably at number 7!
6 - Yukon Striker located at Canada's Wonderland.
Officially the world’s tallest B&M Dive Machine Yukon Striker at Canada’s Wonderland near Ontario, Canada looks to deliver just the type of intense and jaw dropping experience we look for when it comes to finding the next biggest and best coaster to ride, however after hearing that this monster of a Dive Coaster is apparently ‘force-less’ we have to say, this doesn’t deter us one single bit!
In our opinion this fantastic looking ride can only be described accurately in one word, and that word is this – ‘intimidating’! When you take into account the ride’s height, the speeds it reaches and the fact this ride boasts the world’s tallest Immelmann it’s only fair that this coaster is given the respect it demands! After all, who doesn’t want to dive vertically from a total height of 245 ft in the air?!
For those reasons this firmly places Yukon Striker at the spot of number 6 on our list of Top 10 bucket list coasters!
5 - Untamed located at Walibi Holland.
Well, we’ve made it! We’ve officially reached the Top 5 coasters on our must ride list of coasters to do before we die!
Now, buckle up (literally haha!) because we have officially reached RMC territory and this is where things really start to get fun!
At number 5 then is Untamed which has been likened to a European mini Steel Vengeance due to the ride’s design and the elements it includes! Untamed also boasts the most inversions on any RMC Ibox Hybrid to date!
At the end of the day we have yet to experience one of these industry leading coasters for ourselves, however with Untamed we followed this from the announcement the conversion was happening right up until the day it officially opened to the public and sat salivating over our laptop when the pov dropped gutted that we had no feasible way to get out there and ride it for ourselves!
This therefore puts Untamed firmly at number 5 given the fact that when it comes to experiencing this type of coaster for ourselves for the first time it seems the most practical park to reach in order to do so! Untamed looks to deliver everything from bundles of airtime to a whole host of hangtime to boot and sets a bench mark which we feel the UK’s parks really need to learn from and rise above in the years to come!
4 - Shambhala located at Portaventura World, Spain.
Stepping away momentarily from the onslaught of IBOX Hybrids we take a moment to marvel and appreciate the majestic B&M masterpiece that is Shambhala!
This phenomenal looking European B&M Hyper coaster has fastly become a firm must do favourite with nearly every enthusiast I have the pleasure of calling friends, therefore the fact we haven’t yet experienced this for ourselves makes us a little green with envy to say the least!
Dropping riders from 249 ft into a 255 ft eye watering dive Shambhala looks to deliver one of the top coaster experiences located within Europe! Not only will riders reel in a phenomenal amount of airtime but they will also get to experience a crazy 3.8 Gs and will reach speeds of up to 80 mph as well!
Overall it’s fair to say that Shambhala has become a real ‘right of passage’ for any serious enthusiast and as such we fully intend on getting out to PA to get this cred for ourselves as soon as physically possible!
3 - Zadra located at EngeryLandia, Poland.
And, back to the IBOX Hybrids haha! Next up and taking the place of Number 3 is Zadra – Poland’s very own answer to the perfect roller coaster and world’s first ground up IBOX Hybrid Hyper!
This absolute Goliath of an RMC sits extremely close to the top of our list as an absolute must ride, however there are still two which just about out-rank this ride and as you will see, rightly so!
Dropping riders vertically from a whopping height of 206 ft before propelling them through the perfect mixture of twisted banks and turns and an enormous amount of airtime and hangtime in equal measures Zadra delivers an experience that most riders have claimed to be ‘outstanding’ to say the least! The Zero-G Stall has been expressed as a common highlight of their experience as well.
This therefore puts it firmly on our radar for the next 2 years as we are desperate to visit EnergyLandia alone, however given the fact that this monster is thrown into the mix, well, now we have to go!
2 - Iron Gwazi located at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Florida, USA.
After years of speculation the wishes of those wanting to see an RMC come to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay finally came true! Enter Iron Gwazi – a complete overhaul and conversion of the park’s former GCI duelling coaster Gwazi to a single footprint Hyper Hybrid!
Iron Gwazi can only be accurately be described again in one word, and that’s INSANE!!! This absolute monster of an RMC boasts the first ever ‘beyond vertical’ drop on any Hyper coaster in the world at 91 degrees! Not only that but this ride is set to be the tallest Hybrid coaster in the entirety of North America. It’s very fair to say that Iron Gwazi is definitely the one to watch in the years to come and will for the first time ever present Steel Vengeance over at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio with some very real competition in being crowned as the US’s top RMC Hybrid!
This therefore makes this brand new coaster an absolute must for us here at TPI and even though we have yet to see any official pov we can already tell from the off ride footage exactly what type of experience this beast will inflict upon it’s victims, and that’s one of pure insanity!
Honourable Mentions!
Fury 325 located at Carowinds, USA.
Fury 325 deserves an honourable mention for one main reason – it provides over 300 ft of pure adrenaline!
This fantastic coaster looks to put riders on the edge (literally) when it comes to the perfectly intense, thrill driven experience that you look for as an enthusiast! This therefore puts this coaster firmly on our radar, and with the fact it also reaches a total speed of 95 mph who doesn’t want to ride this for themselves when it comes to finding the next big thrill?!
Stealth located at Thorpe Park, UK.
Stealth at Thorpe Park has been firmly on our radar ever since the ride opened back in 2006! The main reason being this ride looks to deliver the nearest we’re going to get to an american coaster experience here in the UK!
Stealth is the second tallest coaster in the UK standing proudly at 205 ft and remains to this day the tallest coaster at the park! The ride also propels riders from 0 – 80 mph in an eye watering 1.9 seconds and for this reason Stealth remains an absolute must for us here at TPI!
For that reason Stealth deserves an honourable mention!
By this point you may well have already guessed our official number one, however that being said we feel like we have drawn the suspense out long enough! Therefore, without further a do……….
1 - Steel Vengeance located at Cedar Point, Sandusky Ohio, USA.
Well then, this behemoth of an RMC Ibox Hybrid coaster firmly cements it’s spot at the top of our list as our number one absolute ‘MUST RIDE’ coaster to experience before we die, and for one simple reason – have you seen this ride?!!
This gigantic labyrinth of steel, wood and tangled supports looks to deliver one of the most disorientating and unique experiences you are ever likely to find on any coaster out there to date! There are points within this ride (mainly after the mid-course brake run) where you can’t actually tell whether or not you’re inverted! That alone stands testament to the sheer genius that Alan Schilke commands!
When it comes to searching for the perfect mixture of intensity and uniqueness it’s clear that Steel Vengeance has taken into account every angle! This is because from what we can tell every enthusiast who has ridden this for themselves has expressed the same sentiment – it’s been unlike anything they have ever experienced on any roller coaster worldwide! Now, this sounds like a bold statement to make, however this ride truly was a ground breaking moment for Rocky Mountain Construction and really showed to the world just what this up and coming company were cable of! As such a trend was set and the previous two Hyper Hybrids mentioned were born!
For that reason we are proud to proclaim that Steel Vengeance stands firmly at the top of our list as our number one bucket list coaster!
So, there you have it! Our Top 10 Bucket list coasters, however what are yours? What stands at the top of your top 10? Let us know in the comments below!