5 Roller Coasters for Thrill-Seekers Only

The first roller coasters were quite tame by modern standards. The earliest iteration was an icy slide in St. Petersburg that led riders past colored lanterns. Catherine the Great eventually added wheels to keep the fun going all summer. The French borrowed the idea, and it wound its way to America where the roller coaster started to take off. These days there are amusement parks worldwide with rides that reach outrageous speeds and heights! We’re going on a journey to check out the scariest roller coasters on the planet, so strap in and hold on tight!

1. X2

First, we’re heading to Six Flags^® Magic Mountain in Los Angeles, CA. Reaching a top speed of 76 mph and dropping from a height of 200 feet, X2 is not for the faint of heart. Add in the 360-degree spinning seats and you have a recipe for thrill. Riders are cantilevered away from the track and their feet and faces dangle freely in space. X2 features several exciting twists, inversions and two “raven turns” – half loops that stop and become abrupt drops – that make this ride as unique as it is terrifying.

2. The Oath of KÄRNAN

Next, we are traveling across the Atlantic to check out The Oath of KÄRNAN at Hansa Park^© in Sierksdorf, Germany. The coaster begins in the dark as riders take off vertically up the lift before plunging backward down a 200-foot reverse free fall. As if the ride wasn’t already scary enough, in 2017, the park increased the speed of the free fall from 11 mph to a thrilling 25 mph. From there, riders shoot into the daylight and take on a series of epic twists and turns before entering back into the dark at the end of the ride.

3. Kingda Ka

We’re back stateside, but this time on the East Coast to check out the indomitable Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. Lasting only 50 seconds, Kingda Ka packs a huge punch in a short amount of time. No roller coaster on earth is taller than the king. Riders take off from the start and head straight up the 90-degree, 456-foot drop while accelerating from 0 to 128 mph in only three seconds. There’s no time to think before plunging back down the other side of the drop and spinning 270 degrees.

4. Formula Rossa

Maybe big drops aren’t your thing and you’ve got a need for speed. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Ferrari^® World’s Formula Rossa in the United Arab Emirates is our next stop. While Formula Rossa drops from a mere 170 feet, it reaches a top speed of 149 mph making it the fastest coaster on Earth. Hitting 4.8Gs throughout the ride, riders glimpse how intense it is inside a Formula 1^® racecar.

5. Takabisha

We’ve seen the fastest and the tallest, but what about the steepest? For our last roller coaster on the list, we head to Japan. Takabisha at Fuji-Q Highland is the world’s steepest coaster with a maximum drop angle of 121 degrees. As riders approach the top of the intimidating drop, the track disappears and tucks back underneath the car. The world inverts, and riders teeter on the edge of reality before plummeting down at an impossibly steep angle.

The roller coaster has come a long way since its humble beginnings. It’s hard to believe that a ride as tall as Kingda Ka or as fast as Formula Rossa has its origins in a simple ice slide. As technology advances, roller coasters will only get taller, faster, and scarier! Who knows what’s around that next bend!

References: A Century of Screams: The History of the Roller Coaster | X2 | The Oath of Kӓrnan | Kingda Ka | Formula Rossa | Takabisha