Roller Coasters of the World

Intensity and "G" Force are what it's all about when you are looking for the ultimate thrill ride, and there is no better way to get these two sensations then to hop on a roller coaster that was made to give you the ride of your life. There are literally hundreds of roller coasters around the world that attract visitors from all over who are hunting for two to four minutes of heart stopping action, and the majority of these thrill seekers who easily walk on the wild side are looking for the fastest, tallest, and highest roller coasters that they can get their hands on. These types of coasters do in fact exist, but you have to be an adventuress who is willing travel around a bit to find them. Below is a list of some of the tallest, fastest, and most popular roller coasters in the world.

Tallest & Fastest Steel Roller Coasters:

Kinda Ka
Location: Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, New Jersey
The Grand-daddy of roller coasters with a height of 456 feet, a drop of 418 feet, and a speed of 128 mph in 3.5 seconds. http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/

Tower of Terror
Location: Dreamworld, Coomera, Queensland, Australia
The Tower's electromagnetically powered 'Escape Pod' accelerates to a massive 100 mph in seven seconds before it climbs to 377 feet high, followed by a 328-foot drop, with a speed of 100 mph. http://www.dreamworld.com.au/content/home_v4.asp?name=Home

Top Thrill Dragster
Location: Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
This roller coaster has a height of 420 feet, and a maximum speed of 120 mph. Riders are twisted 270 degrees during the Earth shattering drop of 400 feet. http://www.cedarpoint.com/

Steel Dragon 2000
Location: Nagashima Spa Land, Nagashima, Mie, Japan
Once the tallest roller coaster with a height of 318 feet, the Steel dragon is still the world's longest roller coaster at a length of 8,133 feet. It has a drop of 307 feet, and wild tunnels that offer a unique ride. http://www.nagashima-onsen.co.jp/

Superman: The Escape
Location: Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, California
Passengers escape through a special effect's tunnel before experiencing the thrill of climbing 41 stories, and then plummeting at 100 mph, followed by a backwards climb and descent. http://www.sixflags.com/index.asp

Phantom's Revenge
Location: Kennywood, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
Fast, smooth, and quite intense, this coaster has a drop of 228 feet, and a speed of 82 mph. There is some serious air time toward the back of the ride, and the view in the front is like no other. http://www.kennywood.com

Tallest & Fastest Wooden Roller Coasters:

Son of Beast
Location: Paramount Kings Island, Kings Mill, Ohio. The Tallest, Fastest and looping Wooden Coaster on the Planet will have you screaming down its 214-foot hill at speeds more than 78 mph. Then you soar through a 118-foot tall loop more than 7,032 feet of twisted wooden coaster track for the ultimate coaster ride. http://www3.paramountparks.com/kingsisland/visit/visit.cfm

Colossos
Location: Heide Park, Soltau, Niedersachsen, Germany
One of the smoothest wooden coasters you will find with a drop of 159 feet, angled at 61 degrees that travels to ground level at 75 mph before rising back up into another large hill. http://www.heide-park.de

Voyage
Location: Holiday World, Santa Claus, Indiana
A truly awesome wooden coaster that travels through five tunnels, and takes you to a height of 163 feet. It drops you from 154 feet above at a speed of 67 mph. http://www.holidayworld.com/index.html

Boss
Location: Six Flags St. Louis, Eureka, Missouri
With 5,051 feet of track and a drop of 150 feet, this is your typical wooden coaster, complete with all of the rougher turns and drops. The track layout is great, and the laterals are majorly intense. This coaster will give riders 24 seconds of total weightlessness, more than any wooden roller coaster in the world. http://www.sixflags.com/parks/stlouis/

The Worlds Oldest Amusement Park:
Bakken Amusement Park
Location: Klampenborg, Denmark, opened in 1583 and still operating today.
Roller coaster: Rutschebanen is a wooden coaster that has a height of 102 feet. http://www.themeparkreview.com/photos/bakken/bakken.htm

Facts About Roller Coasters:
The world's oldest operating roller coaster is Leap-the-Dips in Lakemont Park, Pennsylvania. It first began operation in 1902.

Some riders on extreme roller coasters report graying out or momentarily losing vision. In even more extreme G-force environments, such as in centrifuges used for fighter pilot training, blackouts are caused by a loss of blood flow to the brain.

The world's oldest operating roller coaster is Leap-the-Dips in Lakemont Park, Altoona, Pennsylvania. It first began operation in 1902. The coaster was out of commission for 14 years, but has been running again since 1999. http://www.ridezone.com/parks/pa/lakemont/

Lateral G's -Give the sensation of being forced to either side of the train. Laterals occur on sharp bends, turns, and helices.

Positive G's -Give the sensation of being forced into your seat. Usually occurs at the bottom of drops and during inversions.

Negative G's- Give the sensation of being raised up out of your seat, also referred to as air time.

Roller Coaster rides are designed for maximum fun and excitement and minimal risk of danger. However, roller coasters account for approximately 200 injuries per year according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Studies of the roller coaster have found that the gravitational force felt on extreme roller coasters is no greater than that of a sneeze or a child's play swing, and nowhere near the force of a shuttle liftoff or flying aboard a supersonic jet. The safety data on roller coasters conducted by experts concluded that in terms of annual injuries, roller coasters are actually safer than injuries obtained from playing in a child's wagon. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/21/health/main537406.shtml

The most famous roller coaster is quite possibly the Cyclone at Coney Island. The Cyclone resides at Astroland Park on Surf Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. Adjacent to the Coney Island beach and boardwalk, the Cyclone is truly a part of New York history, and it is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.