When they say life is like a roller coaster, all you can imagine is the feeling of being weightless before rolling down at breathtaking speeds. The twist and turns make you yell at the top of your lungs and your heart racing while your hands wave in the air.
One thing that makes roller coasters amazing is their high speeds. And to attain such speeds, they must be high enough, especially for non-launched coasters. Some of these coasters have underground tunnels with multiple twists and turns.
To get you started on what makes these structures special, here are the 25 tallest roller coasters in the world.
1. Twisted Colossus (121 feet)
The Twisted Colossus is a steel and wood hybrid roller coaster, the longest in the hybrid category. It is located at Six Flags Magic Mountain Park in Valencia, California. The 121-foot steel structure features a 128-foot drop at an 80-degree angle.
2. American Eagle (127 feet)
The American Eagle is another impressive roller coaster with two tracks. It is located in Six Flags Great American in Illinois and is the fastest and tallest racing coaster globally. Its main climb is 127 feet tall, with both tracks descending at 62 miles per hour.
3. Wodan Timbur Coaster (131.2 feet)
The Wodan Timbur roller coaster borrows features from Old Norse statues with special effects like fire, water, and mist. Its tallest hill is over 131 feet tall and takes passengers through tunnels and weaves around other parts and park rides. It can reach speeds of up to 62 mph.
4. Le Monstre (130.9 feet)
Le Monstre is a two-track wooden roller coaster in La Ronde in Montreal, Canada. It is the tallest double-track wooden roller coaster in the world at 130.8 feet. It is also the most massive wooden Coaster in Canada and can reach over 60 mph.
5. Hades 360 (136 feet)
The Hades 360 is among the tallest roller coasters at 136 feet, featuring a drop over 140 feet. In addition, this wooden roller coaster gives a thrilling experience since it has the longest underground roller coaster tunnel in the world.
6. The Voyage (159 feet)
The Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari is a theme/waterpark found in Santa Claus, Indiana. This location is where the 156-foot Voyage roller coaster is found and is among the best in the United States. It is 1.2 miles long and features five underground tunnels, banked turns, and a 163-foot hill.
7. El Toro (181 feet)
El Toro is a gigantic wooden roller coaster found in Six Flag Adventures in New Jersey. The wooden structure built with modern engineering technology is 181 feet tall, with a 176-foot drop at 76 degrees. It falls at speeds of 70 mph with a series of hills, bucks, and sideways movements.
8. Wildfire (183 feet)
The Wildfire is a special roller coaster in Sweden, popular for its solid wooden structure. Although wooden, it features modern innovations and can reach speeds of 70 mph with a drop of 160 feet at 83-degree angles. The coaster was built in 2014 and is the fastest European wooden coaster and the second tallest wooden coaster globally.
9. T Express (183.8 feet)
The T Express roller coaster is found in Everland, the biggest amusement park in South Korea. This wooden structure is the fourth steepest in the world and is built on a hill. It is 183.8 feet tall and has a 150-foot drop with a 77-degree downward slope.
10. Titan (200 feet)
The Titan roller coaster is found in six flags, Texas, USA, and is among the unique roller coasters globally. It is a full circuit with a drop exceeding 200 feet and takes the fun a step further with the twists in a 540-degree spiral. It can reach speeds of up to 85 mph.
11. Phantom’s Revenge (228 feet)
The Phantom was constructed in the 1990s and is among the world’s tallest and fastest roller coasters. After Kennywood Park announced the park’s closing, they built the Phantom’s Revenge, which stretches 228 feet high. It can reach speeds of 80 mph with high-speed turns and twists.
12. Coaster Through the Clouds (242.8 feet)
The Coaster Through the Clouds is a hypercoaster located in Nanchang Wanda Park in Xinjian, China. The 243-foot behemoth is the tallest and tallest coaster in china, clocking speeds of up to 85 mph. It is constructed with a cable lift to get the trains up the hill.
13. Hyperion (253 feet)
The Hyperion opened in 2019 and is one of the tallest roller coasters on this list. It is 253 feet tall, and its 84-degree vertical drop takes you on an 88 mph ride. It is found in Energylandia, a Polish park where it beats other roller coasters by speed.
14. Shambhala (256 feet)
The Shambhala in PortAventura, Spain, is the 13th tallest roller coaster in the world. It is among Europe’s fastest and longest drop hypercoasters, with a 256-foot drop. It reaches speeds of over 83 mph. It is built like an 8 and splashdown as the ride dives under another coaster at the park.
15. Fujiyama (259 feet)
The Fujiyama roller coaster was once the tallest in the world when it was built in 1996. It was the world’s fastest, with a high drop of over 259 feet, reaching speeds of 81 mph. It was named after the famous Japanese Mount Fuji. It has a 230-foot drop, sending riders plummeting toward the ground.
16. Orion (287 feet)
Orion is another Giga roller coaster that ranks among the tallest coasters in the world. It is 287 feet tall and even ranks higher with its massive 300-foot drop. It is among the 14 roller coasters you will find at Kings Island.
17. Intimidator 305 (305 feet)
The Intimidator 305 is a gigantic roller coaster in Virginia’s King’s Dominion theme park. The red and yellow steel structure stands at 305 feet above the ground. The first drop reaches over 300 feet at an 85-degree incline. This drop gives it room to reach speeds of over 90 miles per hour.
18. Leviathan (306 feet)
Leviathan is the tallest roller coaster in Canada at 306 feet and is the epitome of the Canadian wonderland in Toronto. It can reach speeds of up to 92 mph, with riders traveling over 1 mile, including an 80-degree drop from the top. It takes riders on a twisting journey that flips them upside down and whips them around.
19. Millennium Force (310 feet)
The Millennium Force is a popular roller coaster found at Cedar Point, the Roller Coaster Capital. Upon its building, it was the first Giga coaster with a drop exceeding 300 feet. It reaches speeds of over 93 mph, giving breathtaking views of Lake Erie before dropping 90 degrees downward.
20. Steel Dragon 2000 (318 feet)
The Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan is the longest roller coaster in the world and among the tallest. Riders can be taken over 318 feet into the sky before rolling down at speeds of 95 mph. With a drop of 306 feet, it is the tallest roller coaster in Asia.
21. Fury 325 (325 feet)
Fury 325 ranks as the tallest Giga roller coaster globally, with its full-circuit roller coaster that can reach a drop height of 400 feet. It is 325 feet tall and can reach speeds of up to 95 miles per hour. It has an 82-degree drop, and 91-degree turns with loops, twists, barrel rolls, etc.
22. Red Force (367.2 feet)
The Red Force vertical accelerator is in Ferrari Land amusement park in Spain. It is the fastest European coaster and the fourth tallest globally at 367.2 feet tall. Within 5 seconds, it can accelerate from 0 to 11 mph.
23. Tower of Terror II (377 feet)
The Tower of Terror II is located at the Dreamworld theme park in Queensland, Australia, and was the first to reach over 99 mph. It was initially launched in 1997, but after modern improvements, it was relaunched in 2010. It is 377 feet high, and the vehicle can reach 99 mph in 7 seconds.
24. Superman: Escape from Krypton (415 feet)
Superman: Escape from Krypton is a steel roller coaster in Six Flags Magic Mountain. It shoots up 415 feet into the air before rolling downwards in a thrilling acceleration. While it operates like every other roller coaster, Superman: Escape from Krypton sends riders onto the track backward.
25. Top Thrill Dragster 420 feet
The Top Thrill Dragster is located in Ohio’s Cedar Point Amusement park and is one of the two strata coasters worldwide. It is 420 feet tall steel rack with a 90-degree angle clocking up to 120 mph. The total ride time on this massive roller coaster is 17 seconds.
26. Kingda Ka (456 feet)
Kingda Ka is the tallest roller coaster in the world, at a breathtaking height of 456 feet above the earth’s surface. It has a 416-foot drop which ranks it the fastest roller coaster globally, with speeds of 0 – 128 mph in 3.5 seconds.
While there are newer roller coasters in the making, these are so far the tallest roller coasters globally. The tallest structure in planning is 570 feet tall, but the project is now defunct. So, as it seems, the United States has the tallest and fastest roller coasters, both steel, wooden, and hybrid.
The dimension of stuff has been an interest of mine ever since I was a child. What I believe is most fascinating about the dimension of stuff is how extremely long, tall and wide some objects are both on earth and in the universe.