My Top Ten Rollercoasters

I can't believe that I've never done a post on this before. In the enthusiast world, we like to keep lists: favourite parks, best inversions, but the most prestigious of all of these lists are the notorious top ten, the source of pretty much every petty arguments ever to happen over coasters on the good ol' Internet, something that at the end of the day comes down to personal taste - to an extent. I am a big believer that those whom one experiences a rollercoaster with has a massive effect on the way we perceive it. For instance, when I visited Lake Compounce back in 2012 the overwhelming reaction from my group was that Boulder Dash - notoriously the 'best' rollercoaster in the world according to a lot of enthusiasts - wasn't very good, and in my opinion not even top ten worthy. So we can argue until we are blue in the face that it's 'just our opinion' but so many other external factors contribute to what we might think of a coaster.

So firstly, my top ten. They're not ranked as such because I feel that a lot of coaster experiences are incomparable, how can you judge something like The Voyage against Helix? They're too different, yet both excellent in their own way, so my top ten is essentially just a bunch of coasters I like a whole lot.

1) Skyrush - Skyrush gets the coveted number one spot because it is one of those rare coasters that I did not want to get off and the ride was just relentless, you almost can't breath until you hit the break run, literally a breathtaking coaster. The only reason I stopped riding this is because the park closed.

2) El Toro - this coaster started my love affair with airtime, I think it was the first coaster where I experienced a combination of prolonged floaty airtime and ejector simultaneously. It was just ridiculously good, I couldn't believe what I was riding. I went to ride this again in 2012 but unfortunately it was down due to maintenance so I haven't had a chance to ride it since 2010! I'd love to go back and see how it holds up seeing as I've ridden so many excellent coasters since!

3) Bizarro - The example of a perfect coaster, OK it doesn't have many elements of surprise or breathtaking elements but it does exactly what it says on the tin and it does it well. Plenty of lovely sustained airtime, fab colour scheme and awesome soundtrack and bonus points for the tunnel action towards the end.
4) Outlaw Run - 1 and a half minutes of pure adrenaline and insanity, the elements are so packed in and each one packs a more thrilling punch than the last. Not the longest coaster by a long way but compact, precise and expertly executed. I was sceptical about the RMC trend before I visited the US last year but having now ridden three of them I can agree the with general consensus that they are excellent rides. I have a problem with them being called wooden coasters though because they ride nothing like the classics.

5) Nemesis - where would a top ten be without Nemesis? For me Nemesis is the full packed: the setting in Forbidden Valley sets up the premise perfectly for this beast, who knew building a coaster in a pit could be so effective! It literally runs alongside a river of blood! Saw called itself the first 'horror themed rollercoaster' but I would argue that Nemesis held that title long before. And the ride itself, the speed that comes out of nowhere, the forces that hit you from every angle, the sense of total disorientation without any of the nauseousness. And then you ride it at night. At night Nemesis is probably my number one coaster of all time, nothing can beat that thrill.

6) Shambhala - I do generally feel like B&M Hypers are much of a muchness, but also they are all pretty excellent coasters, so I couldn't not have one in my top ten! Shambhala pips it for me because it doesn't have any of the gross grey-out inducing helixes, it has the awesome exposed V-formation seating arrangements that make you feel like you're literally flying and also the ampersand turnaround. The combination of these elements make Shambhala the stand out hyper for me, although I have enjoyed every one I've been on!


7) Helix - Having not been overall impressed with blue fire Megacoaster and Alpina Blitz I wasn't really looking forward to Helix, which is one reason why it blew me away so much! A fantastic combination of launches and inversions sprinkled with little pops of airtime, set on the side of a hill that contributes to a maintained sense of height throughout. A perfectly paced, comfortable and exhilarating coaster.

8) The Voyage - This was another one that kind of crept up on me, I'd never really heard anyone rate it and wasn't really expecting anything much. The Voyage is an intimidating mountain of wood. It isn't the most airtime packed or forceful ride, but what I love about The Voyage is how raw of a wooden coaster it is. You travel the track at such speed and you feel every bolt and join, but not in a painful or rickety way. It is full of sneaky dips and turns and drops and the length means that you can ride it again and again and still not memorise the layout, so there is something on every ride that catches you off guard.


9) Oz'Iris - OK, I have included this mainly for the flawlessly executed zero-g and the stylish use of landscaping and theming. The pacing impeccable and each element is forceful and purposeful. But most because the zero-g is just so perfect, I rate this coaster for that element alone.

10) Stealth - This is usually the coaster that causes the most controversy in my top ten, but I've been on over 650 coasters now and I'm still yet to experience a launch as gut-wrenching as Stealth's, and I love it for that alone. If only it had lapbars!

I love getting my list out there at the beginning of the season as it will be good to look back at it at the end of the year and see if any changes have been made. My trips this year don't really contain many potential knockout coasters, the only ones that come to mind are Kawasemi at Tobu Zoo and Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland. Hopefully something will take me by surprise though!

What do you guys think of my list? What changes would you make? Feel free to comment below or on Twitter and Facebook.