In 2005, the Kingda Ka roller coaster opened and claimed the title fastest and tallest roller coaster in the world, a title previously held by the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. The Kingda Ka roller coaster is located at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, reaches up to 456ft and accelerates at 128 miles an hour in just over 3 seconds.
The ride is taken in a train capable of seating eight occupants who, once locked in, set off on this thrilling 28-second journey. The train slowly leaves the station until it reaches the launching area. Once there, the hydraulic launch mechanism accelerates the train from 0 to an incredible 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds. The train then climbs the top hat (the main tower) spiralling 90 degrees to reach a height of 456 ft. The train then thunders down 418 ft twisting 270 degrees before climbing a second tower of 129 ft. The train then descends before magnetic brakes are applied to smoothly stop the ride. After performing a U-turn the train returns to the station.
The predecessor of the fastest and highest roller coaster is the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point, and along with Kingda Ka are the only two stratacoasters in the world. A stratacoaster is a roller coaster that reaches in excess of 400 feet in a complete circuit. Top Thrill Dragster was opened in 2003 at a cost of approximately US $25,000,000. Inspired by Top Fuel Drag Racing motor sport, the ride was designed by Werner Stengel and many riders say that the ride feels like a dragster starting to accelerate. The ride begins with acceleration to 120 mph in only 3.8 seconds. The train ascends up an incline of 90 degrees that has a 90-degree counter-clockwise twist that sends the train over and down the 420-foot hill, where riders will experience negative G-force.
The Dudonpa is a roller coaster at Fuji-Q Highland, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan and opened in 2001. It is a steel roller coaster with a compressed air launch that accelerates the ride to 107mph in less than 2 seconds. Riders ascend the hill straight up to a height of 170 feet, then down a hairpin curve before descending straight down. When the Dudonpa opened in 2001 it was the fastest roller coaster in the world. In 2010, the Kingda Ka took that crown, but the Dudonpa still has the highest launch acceleration at 2.7g.
In 1997, the creative team of Magic Mountain created Superman: The Escape, a roller coaster in Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. The ride is almost identical to the Tower Of Terror, a ride that opened two months previously in Dreamworld, Australia. The two rides were the first to employ Linear Synchronous Motors, LSM, technology to propel the cars to high speeds. When Superman: The Escape opened, it was the tallest roller coaster in the world and tied with Tower of Terror as the fastest. Riders are launched horizontally at a speed of 100mph in about 7 seconds, and then climb up the hill at an angle of 90 degrees to a height of 415 feet before starting their descent down the vertical of 328 feet, becoming weightless for just over 6 seconds. The length of the circuit is 1235 feet and the duration of the ride takes 28 seconds. Another Superman ride, Superman: Krypton Coaster is a steel roller coaster located in Six Flags Fiesta Texas and boasts the world’s tallest vertical loop at 145 feet. It reaches a maximum speed of 70mph and a helical drop extending over a nearby cliff. The ride is 168 feet, incorporates six inversions and lasts 2.35 minutes over its 2000-foot length.
Although steel roller coasters can go faster, many people believe that the only truly roller coaster sensation is the one you get when riding a wooden roller coaster. The fastest wooden roller coaster in the world is Son of Beast located at Kings Island, Mason in the state of Ohio, USA. When it opened in 2000, Son of Beast made it into the top ten fastest roller coasters in the world, the only wooden ride to do so.
Son of Beast was the only wooden roller coaster to incorporate a vertical loop, a feature that was removed in 2006 after an accident in which 27 people were injured. The loop was not the cause of the accident but could not accommodate the lighter trains that were then introduced. The train climbs a 218 foot hill, turns left and drops 214 feet before rising 168 feet, into a helix known as the Rose Bowl and then dropping into a straight line of track. The ride is constructed mainly of southern yellow pine while Douglas fir was used for the track piles. It has a capacity for 1000 riders per hour who can enjoy the 3-minute ride with a maximum g-force of 4.5.
One of the fastest wooden roller coasters in the world not to be located in the US is Colossos a ride at Heide Park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany. This therefore makes Colossos the fastest as well as the highest wooden roller coaster in Europe. The Colossos was the first wooden ride to have prefabricated tracks, slotting together so precisely that it gives riders a smooth ride such as one would experience on a steel roller coaster. But of course, it is this lack of smoothness that appeals to traditional wooden roller coaster lovers. Colossos is over 196 feet high with a drop of nearly 160 feet. It reaches a speed of 74.6mph and the ride lasts 2.25 minutes. The maximum g-force is 3.8 for its riders.