The top steel roller coasters in the world are increasingly not-American. In this year’s Internet Coaster Poll, Superman Ride of Steel retained it’s title for another year, but it was the only U.S. coaster in the top ten. Korea’s Eagle Fortress which had a controversial 3rd placing last year with only 6 riders moved up to 2nd, now with still only 13. Germany’s Expedition GeForce was bumped out of the top 2 for the first time in eight years. Three roller coasters that debuted in 2008 stormed into the top ten.
Japan’s Kawasemi (Tobu Zoo) and Denmark’s Piraten (Djurs Somerland) are two Intamin Mega Lite coasters that placed 4th and 5th respectively. To me, Intamin Mega Lite’s seem to have similar layouts to hyper coasters only that they don’t break the 200′ barrier as hyper coasters do. Walibi World’s Goliath is an Intamin coaster with similar dimensions. While they don’t look all that impressive, they must be a lot of fun to have placed so high in this prestigious poll.
Two inverted B&M coasters came in at 6th (Nemesis) and 9th (Katun). Canada’s Wonderland’s acclaimed Behemoth B&M hyper coaster came in at a strong 7th and former looping coaster record holder Dragon Khan moved up from 20 to round out the top ten at 10th.
Here’s the complete top ten along with their places in last year’s poll:
1 Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England (Mass.) Intamin Hyper Coaster (1st)
2 Eagle Fortress at Everland (South Korea) Arrow Suspended Coaster (3rd)
3 Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park (Germany) Intamin Mega Coaster (2nd)
4 Kawasemi at Tobu Zoo Park (Japan) Intamin Mega-Lite Coaster (New)
5 Piraten at Djurs Somerland (Denmark) Intamin Mega-Lite Coaster (New)
6 Nemesis at Alton Towers (UK) B&M Inverted Coaster (6th)
7 Behemoth at Canada’s Wonderland (Canada) B&M Hyper Coaster (New)
8 Goliath at Walibi World (Netherlands) Intamin Mega Coaster (8th)
9 Katun at Mirabilandia (Italy) B&M Inverted Coaster (5th)
10 Dragon Khan at PortAventura (Spain) B&M Looping Coaster (20th)
See the complete 2008 steel roller coaster poll results.
One has to wonder if Superman Ride of Steel will retain its title next year in its new form. Especially considering how close the top coasters were in the polling. See where top U.S. coasters like Maverick, Nitro, and Millennium Force placed in the full 2008 Steel Roller Coaster Poll rankings.
What’s Your Take?
Do you agree with the top steel coasters list? Have you ridden any of these coasters? Leave a comment below.
January 18, 2009 at 04:41
That's really hard to believe that we only have 1 of the top 11. When Maverick was being built, it had a barrel roll after the launch and banked turn over the water but they removed it because of excessive g-forces. I think that would have been a great place for that inversion and though Maverick is in my top 3 favorite rides (of my limited list), I think that barrel roll may have kicked it up on this list. Still a great ride though. Also, B&M better watch out because Intamin took 4 of the top 5 and B&M hypers (except Behemoth) have been moving back.
January 18, 2009 at 07:29
I agree Stephen, Intamin's taking over. They've been dominate on the steel poll for a while, but now their dominating both polls. Check out the wooden coaster poll results.
With regards to the poll, I'm a bit surprised too. I've never ridden any coasters oversees, but I do wonder if there are Americans who go abroad and have these great experiences that might affect how great they think these rides are. We'll never know if these voters are completely objective, but I guess the same could happen here in the States.
I remember seeing an animated video of Maverick before it opened with that sick barrel roll. That would've been very cool, but I can see why it was removed. You don't want to put a hurtin' on the riders.
January 18, 2009 at 17:35
Yeah i guess it would have been a rough barrel roll though i wish i could have tried it first
. Also, may i make a coaster review request? Could you do Tatsu at SFMM for your next one? I'm not sure why the face on my last post was crazy looking, it will probably be such on this one as well lol
January 22, 2009 at 19:55
The blog's generating those funny looking avatars on its own. I'll make Tatsu my next coaster review. I should have it up in the next few days. Thanks for reading!
July 3, 2009 at 08:37
only 1 american? man that sucks now i have seen of those coasters in action on youtube man they earned a spot on that list im bummed because we only have 1 up there but it seems accurate now my problem is montu was 10th last year(yes) but this year nemesis just flys outta nowhere and takes 6th and nemesis is just as old as montu i just dont feel that it was equal treatment but the theming does blow montu out of the water
December 13, 2010 at 02:27
I think it really matters what poll is conducting the rankings. While Mitch Hawker's has a very international focus, the Golden Tickets are USA-focused, and this year 9/10 steel coasters were American (with Expedition GeForce being the exception).