The 15 Most Iconic Roller Coasters in America

For all that America has done to makeroller coastersour own , we really owe the innovation to adventure - attempt Russians . The original coaster is thought to be a 16th - hundred St. Petersburg ice swoop that took riders on a high - speed journeying through a series of colorful lantern . Over the years , as the technical school make headway ever so slightly , coasters were used as mine shaft transportation , sublime railroad , and , towards the end of the 19th 100 , existent entertainment ride . Today the bang-up coaster evolution has lead us to wait in line for three hours to have our venter yanked into our throats for 87 seconds .

Even if we did n’t invent rolling wave coasters , Americans are hard at work perfect ‘em . Throughout the country we have some prominent specimen of the form , be they jittery wooden reminders of yestercentury or masochistic steel monsters with 300 ft drop . Some are fast , some are scary , but all are rides that give us three or four minutes deserving the slip . Here are the 15 most iconic coasters in the land .

Lightning Rod

Dollywood ; Pigeon Forge , TennesseeWooden coaster , typically known more for retro scare than pure speed , have to bow down to the Lightning Rod . With a top speed of 73 mph , it ’s the fastest wooden curler coaster in the world , edging out Magic Mountain ’s Goliath by 1 mph . After an initial 20 - story ascent , rider knock off 165 ft before heading up an quick 2nd summit ( here come the Dolly Parton jokes ) and subsequent second drop . The up - and - down turbulence collapse riders about 20 seconds of airtime throughout the drive , another greatest physique for a wooden coaster .

Goliath

Six Flags Magic Mountain ; Valencia , CaliforniaSo close to Hollywood , Goliath of course has the most photo - friendly signage of any drive on this list . Once rider take their requisite snap with the 165 ft rise , concrete sign , and palm Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , they ’re sent on one of the best first drops in the man . Heralded as the longest and fastest when it opened in 2000 , Goliath ’s first drop takes rider up 165 ft , then shoot them down 255 foot into an underground burrow at a hot 72 miles per hour , blasting through the 120 ft tunnel in less than a second . The coaster has no inversion , but because of the high focal ratio and flex frequency it ’s notorious for making rider " gray out , " when blood drains from their heads from the 4.5 G ’s . And when motor to Magic Mountain on the 101 Freeway , nothing screams " we ’re here " like Goliath ’s welcoming violent and gentle peaks .

Millennium Force

Cedar Point ; Sandusky , OhioThis definitive coaster is kind of like the Draymond Green of Cedar Point . Anywhere else , it ’s probably the skilful coaster in the Mungo Park , but surrounded by such all - world natural endowment , it might not even be the third - best at Cedar Point . That allege , the coaster leverages height , f number , and duration well than possibly any other in America , combine nearly 6,600 ft of track with a 300 ft drop and speed past 90 mph . It ’s the most noticeable coaster here , a tower icon in the best coaster park in the demesne . If nothing else it makes for a nice , farsighted , fast , and bumpy ride .

Leap-The-Dips

Lakemont Park ; Altoona , PennsylvaniaIt is the oldest operating roller coaster in the world , and even if it appear on no other list of impressive statistics , that at least warrants some regard . Built in 1902 , this National Historic Landmark is what ’s known as a side - detrition coaster , which think it ’s basically held on the caterpillar tread by somberness and physic , with nothing clasping onto the rails . Do n’t worry too much , though : the coaster goes only about 40 ft up and wo n’t exceed 18 mph , so you ’re probably pretty good , even if the whole tripsounds like you ’re masticate a handful of crushed rock . Leap - The - Dips actually fill up from 1985 - 1999 , but reopened after a massive fundraising campaign . And even though it ’s more story than thrills , it ’s in spades deserving a drive .

Fury 325

Carowinds ; Charlotte , North CarolinaThough it might not be conversant outside the Carolinas , this gamey - speed brand coaster is the tallest and riotous giga - coaster in the world , soaring 325 ft up and prompt guests at speeds up to 95 mph . The football game flying field - duration first drop gets the momentum go , plummeting riders at the very beginning , comply by intimately two minutes of ungoverned speed and painful turns . All that probably made it deserving the $ 30 million Mary Leontyne Price tag , and is definitely why it wonAmusement Today ’s 2015 Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride .

The Cyclone

Luna Park ; Coney Island , Brooklyn , New YorkCharles Lindbergh was once to have say a ride on the Cyclone was scarier than flying an airplane – and back then , that meant something . The wooden coaster , built in 1927 during Coney Island ’s heyday , is the only entertainment ride with a minor - conference baseball squad named after it . And if those facts do n’t scream " iconic " to you , perhaps you should re - analyse your definition . Other coasters have occur along – like Coney Island ’s spiffy fresh Thunderbolt pictured at the top of this fib – but the Cyclone is the endure classic , a relic that never feel out of date , even after see Coney Island ’s raise and shine and rise . Gosh , if this ol’ gal could spill , right ? Except hump her , she ’d sound like the deafening clatter of onetime metal careening along rickety quality , probably pretty hard to understand .

Magnum XL-200

Cedar Point ; Sandusky , OhioThat unremitting roller - coaster arm race – of who ’s the truehearted , tall , or most puking - inducing something – effectively began in 1989 with Magnum ’s debut . This blade coaster was comport as the tallest , fastest , and steep in the world , and the first coaster to top 200 foot in tiptop . Its top speed of 72 mph seems like some serious correct - lane driving in 2016 , but at the time this twisting , turning coaster with three clear-cut drops helped Cedar Point set up attendance disk . Now a lawful classic in its own rightfulness , Magnum remains a top attraction at America ’s hair curler - coaster mecca .

The Beast

Kings Island ; Mason , OhioThe paradox of high-pitched - speed rolling wave coasters is obvious to anyone who ’s stood in line for an time of day , only to finish the actual drive in less metre than a hockey penalty . Not The Beast . The world ’s longest wooden crimper coaster has about a mi and a one-half of track , and takes over four instant to complete . In that gauntlet , you ’ll jet through an underground tunnel , meander through the treetops of rural Ohio , race skywards for outstanding aspect of the countryside , and broadly speaking enjoy every one of the 35 landed estate this behemoth covers .

Thunderbolt

Kennywood ; West Mifflin , PennsylvaniaKennywood ’s open ! And now that the yinzers among you have terminate examining your zippers , it ’s prison term to climb nostalgic about a coaster that is equal parts engineered flush and literal - life terror . This old - school woods coaster does n’t bother with seat dividers , intend you full - on consistency slam your seatmate when you hasten into the first hard turn after the initial plunge into a ravine . As if the adept of being crushed to death were n’t enough , the Thunderbolt then dips perilously close under Phantom ’s Revenge , inhale a momentaneous fear of decapitation . Though it ’s the ripe roller coaster at America ’s best park for woodies , the attraction built as Pippin in 1924 is n’t even the oldest one at Kennywood ( Jack Rabbit dates to 1920 ) . But it ’s still the sixth - oldest roller coaster in America .

Giant Dipper

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk ; Santa Cruz , CaliforniaCali does n’t quite do beach - town boardwalks the path the East Coast does , but its shining example is in Santa Cruz , where the Giant Dipper headlines the entertainment park in one ofAmerica ’s best beach metropolis . This historic 1924 wooden coaster , construct over just 47 day , has cradled more than 60 million butts since it first opened , and has appeared in commercials , TV show , and movies ( Dangerous Minds , Sudden Impact ) . It ’s as much a part of the California coastline as Big Sur or Santa Monica , and in a DoS full of melodic theme car park it ’s still the most recognized drive around . And while it ’s not go much over a city - street speed limit at 45 mph , it ’s still a Graeco-Roman part of a twenty-four hour period on the beach in Santa Cruz .

Mean Streak

Cedar Point ; Sandusky , OhioCedar Point impart the passion in every family of hair curler coaster . You like timber ? Well , here ’s 1.7 million board metrical foot of pine , reaching 161 ft high . It ’s got the sixth - largest pearl of any wooden coaster in the creation at 155 foot , and despite its larger-than-life size still do to push along at an impressive 65 mph ( eighth - fast in the world ) . When lit up at Nox , it ’s one of the grandest sites in Ohio , a retro drive that stands up against its high - fastness steel neighbors . While it might not be the nasty coaster in the parkland , it add up a little bit of throwback charm among the brand carving , and gives the place a woodie that ’s just as iconic as the rest .

Phobia Phear

Lake Compounce ; Bristol , ConnecticutThe young coaster on this list , Phobia Phear has a passenger experience that flat - out has n’t been seen much before . It holds no records or distinctions , and its go influence has yet to be influence , but it may well change the way interior decorator approach roller coaster in years to descend . The ride utilizes momentum – not unlike the galleon rides at older small - townspeople carnival – to accelerate the fear on this one . Riders first creep up one side and are momently held weightless , then dash to the bottom and fawn up the other side , not quiiiiiiite making the top , held weightless again . The cycle continue until the coaster finally construct enough momentum to tumble over the first drop , and into a serial of corkscrew turns that spread out the memory of your departed stomach across four directions . novitiate , you ’ve been warn . Everyone else , this is the summertime ’s must - ride .

The Incredible Hulk

Universal ’s Islands of Adventure ; Orlando , FloridaRoller - coaster prig may roll their eyes at the inclusion of a comic - rule book paper - commons drive , muttering something along the lines of , " It ’s not even the fastest coaster named after a SUPERHERO . " ( Magic Mountain reserve that distinction with Superman : Escape From Krypton . ) But it is the icon of the coaster enclave in America ’s idea - park capital , and for that , it go squarely on this inclination . It was one of the first US coasters to utilize a launching system of rules , speed rider from 0 to 40 mph in only a couple of seconds . And while the drive does n’t last two minutes , it ’s a round-the-clock series of fall and twists , the roar of which can be heard through nearly the entire theme park . alluring .

Kingda Ka

Six Flags Great Adventure ; Jackson , New JerseyAs if people from New Jersey needed more reason to blow about being from Jersey , since 2005 their state has been home to world ’s the long , tall steel roller coaster . This catalyst coaster holds you at the bottom for a painfully foresighted metre – so long you lead off to wonder whether the ride has misfunction . Just as you ’re wondering whether you ought to call up someone , you ’re shot back into your seat , and at once up a terrifying 456 foot lift . Just as quickly , you ’re shot flat down 418 ft , at speed reaching 128 mph . It ’s intemperate to say what ’s scary – that expectancy itself or the expression - peeling speed – but insofar as knowing how to vibrate your encephalon , this is the good coaster in America .

Top Thrill Dragster

Cedar Point ; Sandusky , OhioTop Thrill Dragster really was the first coaster to employ the bowel - turn expectation , play along by breakneck f number construct , which Kingda Ka hone upon open up two years later . This pull race - themed ride at Cedar Point uses almost the same successiveness of chill ( not surprising , since they partake in a manufacturer ) , and held all those records Kingda Ka does now from 2003 to 2005 . But such is the biz of roller - coaster competition , and even though this ride is 36 ft shorter and 8 mph slower , it ’s still taller , quicker , and freaky than almost every other ride in America .

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