Written by: KarlFabricius Monday, September 20th, 2010 .

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Roller Coasters. If you’ve got a head for heights and can stomach huge drops, there’s no greater thrill in the theme park. First patented in 1885, these wonders of modern engineering and design quickly became the most popular rides at amusement parks across the globe.

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As history rode its course through the 20^th century, roller coasters just got bigger, and bigger, and their designs ever more inspired. In 1989, the first Mega or Hyper Coaster, over 200 feet-tall, was created in the shape of Cedar Point, Ohio’s Magnum XL-200. And still those coasters got bigger…

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As Giga and Strata Coasters were built, with heights topping 300 and 400 feet respectively, even coaster fans quietly gulped. Here are the top 10 tallest roller coasters currently gracing the face of our planet. Vertigo sufferers have been warned…

10. Titan, Six Flags Over Texas, Texas, USA

Image: Chris Hagerman

Height: 245 feet (75 m)

Designer: Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmgH

The mighty Titan of Six Flags Over Texas rides it at number ten. Like the Greek elder gods it derives its name from, this mind-blowing roller coaster can lift men up like matchsticks. It doesn’t waste time in doing so, either, hauling riders up a 245 foot (75 m) hill before hurling them into a 255 foot drop – one of the largest in the US – which runs straight into an abyssal tunnel. As if this were not enough, passengers are then subjected to the intense g-forces of dizzying carousel turns, sustained for nearly six seconds at the finale. A giant among most other coasters on the planet, Titan made its debut in 2001, topping out its twin, Goliath of Six Flags Magic Mountain, CA, by just 10 feet (3 m). They say size isn’t everything, but in the Herculean world of roller coasters some may beg to differ.

9. Eejanaika, Fuji-Q Highland, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan

Image: Vantey

Height: 249 feet (76 m)

Designer: S&S Arrow

Kudos to Japan’s Fuji-Q Highland, which features two Mega Coasters in the world’s top ten tallest. Opened in 2006, the smaller but arguably more interesting of these is Eejanaika, a “4th Dimension” roller coaster whose design allows the seats to swivel forward or backward 360 degrees as the massive trains run their hair-raising course. For passengers, a huge vertical drop, 249 feet (76 m) in the air, is followed by 14 inversions – more than any other coaster and enough to make you dizzy for a week – with the spinning seats playing their part. Pronounced “Ee ja nai ka”, this coaster’s name has various meanings relating to festive 19^th century celebrations, or more simply translates as, “Ain’t it great!” We’re sure it is – unless of course you’re of a queasy disposition. Then it most definitely isn’t.

8. Fujiyama, Fuji-Q Highland, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan

Image: Geomr

Height: 259 feet (79 m)

Designer: Morgan

Standing indomitable over the surrounding landscape like its iconic namesake, Mt Fuji, Fujiyama reaches a vertiginous 259 feet (79 m) at its highest point, ten feet more than Eejanaika, its neighbor in Fuji-Q Highland. When it opened in 1996, Fujiyama was the tallest roller coaster on Earth at 259 feet (79 m) and boasted the world’s biggest drop – 230 feet (70 m). Named after Japan’s most famous peak, Fujiyama’s moniker means words to the effect of “king of mountains” – and this traditional styled coaster certainly brings mountainous terrain to mind with its none-too-gently meandering bunny hills, which arrive after the famously massive 23-story first drop. As they say, it’s not getting up the mountain but getting back down it. Pure white-knuckle excitement from beginning to end.

7. Thunder Dolphin, Tokyo Dome City Attractions, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan

Image: Tanki

Height: 262 feet (80 m)

Designer: Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmbH

The brilliantly named Thunder Dolphin is a Japanese leviathan of a roller coaster – but don’t be fooled by the serene marine connotations. Despite its smooth ride and aesthetic grace, the emphasis here is on thunder – and frightening elemental forces certainly spring to mind as the coaster soars to the summit of a 262-foot (80m) hill before an incredible first plunge. The 3,500-foot (1,066 m) long track takes riders, eyes wide shut, through a hole in a nearby building plus straight through the middle of the neighboring Big-O ferris wheel. Velocities of up to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) ensure speed freaks don’t go home hungry either. The world’s tallest Hyper Coaster, Thunder Dolphin nevertheless concedes to the 300 and 400-foot plus peaks of the so-called Giga and Strata Coasters.

6. Intimidator 305, Kings Dominion, Doswell, Virginia, USA

Image: emily_mcdonald

Height: 305 feet (93 m)

Designer: Intamin AG

Climbing to a maximum height of 305 feet (93 m), Intimidator 305, in Kings Dominion, Virginia muscles its way to sixth on the list of world’s tallest roller coasters – the ‘smallest’ of the Giga Coasters but a hugely frightening prospect nonetheless. Completed in early 2010, this speedway inspired ride takes passengers to the crest of its first hill – a giant structure with just three support points – care of a cable lift. Then it’s down, down, down the 300-foot (91 m), 85 degree drop at speeds of almost 80 miles per hour (128 km/h). Speed is the name of the game here, as Intimidator 305 is themed after the late NASCAR racing ace Dale Earnhardt. Two trains, colored silver and red, add to the feeling of being in a stock car on steroids. Entertainment design doesn’t come much more menacing.

5. Millennium Force, Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, USA

Image: Nick Nolte

Height: 310 feet (94 m)

Designer: Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmbH

One of two coasters in the top ten to be found in Cedar Point, Ohio, Millennium Force towers a colossal 310 feet (95 m) tall at its apex, offering scenic views over lovely Lake Erie. Still, there any tranquil associations stop with a vertigo-inducing lurch – followed by a scream. Opened, as its name implies, at the turn of the 21^st century, this award-winning coaster scores consistently high in fan polls. The ride experience starts with a cable lift pulling the train up the first hill at a crawling 15 miles per hour (24 km/h), but by the time passengers reach the top of their climb, this slow start is long forgotten as they plummet into a 300 feet (91 m) drop, reaching phenomenal speeds of up to 93 mph (150 km/h). “The future is riding on it,” says the coaster’s tagline. Who are we to argue?

4. Steel Dragon 2000, Nagashima Spa Land, Nagashima, Mie, Japan

Image: Ivan Lucas

Height: 318 feet (97 m)

Designer: Steve Okamoto

Aptly opened in 2000, Asia’s Year of the Dragon, Steel Dragon 2000 is Nagashima Spa Land’s star attraction – a beast of a roller coaster that climbs to 318 feet (97 m) before its 95 mile per hour (153 km/h) first drop – enough to strike fear into the hearts of even seasoned coaster fanatics. When it was first unveiled, it held the title of world’s highest complete circuit roller coaster and is still the tallest to use a chain lift – as well as the longest, with a track snaking for just over 8,133 feet (2,479 m). A metal behemoth among coasters, Steel Dragon 2000 needed more steel than other rides of its ilk as a precaution against the earthquakes to which the Land of the Rising Sun is prone. Silhouetted against the sky, this curve-backed monster might indeed be mistaken for a dragon of our times.

3. Tower of Terror II, Dreamworld, Coomera, Queensland, Australia

Image: Licence libre

Height: 377 feet (115 m)

Manufacturer: Intamin AG

“Face gravity, face first,” says this ride’s tagline. Opened in 1997, then re-launched in 2010, Australia’s Tower of Terror II is the only top ten tallest roller coaster not located in Japan or the US. This steel shuttle adrenaline rush is what it says on the tin: pure fear. After shooting down the launch tunnel at 100 miles per hour (160.9 km/h), riders are sent rocketing to the summit of a gigantic tower that dominates the skyline of Queensland’s Dreamworld, ready – or not – for the hair-raising 330 feet (100 m) descent. Seated in an electro-magnetically powered (and ironically named) car called the ‘Escape Pod’, passengers are made weightless as they’re pitched up and then back down the vertical track. Those waiting in line must pass inside a giant skull, an unnerving addition to the ride’s primal theme of terror.

2. Top Thrill Dragster, Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, USA

Image: Ryan Brietzke

Height: 420 feet (130 m)

Designer: Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmgH

One of only two Strata Coasters in existence, Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster boasts a jaw-dropping height of 420 feet (130 m). Riders better hold on tight when they reach the crest of this ride’s tower as it’s a heck of a way down. When it opened in 2003, this high octane coaster broke records as the tallest, fastest and steepest on Earth, before conceding to Kingda Ka, which shares its design. Top Thrill’s fear factor is defined by the ascent up a vertical slope before the twist at the top and crash to sweet oblivion. The theme rocks too. Based on Top Fuel Drag Racing, the ride features motor revving sound effects, three-yellows-to-a green Christmas tree lights like those at a drag strip starting line, and it even feels like a dragster as it rockets from 0 to a blazing 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) in 3.8 seconds.

1. Kingda Ka, Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, NJ, USA

Image: Pablo Costa

Height: 456 feet (139 m)

Designer: Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmgH

Kingda Ka, situated in Six Flags, New Jersey, has been the king among coasters since it debuted in 2005 – literally towering over its rivals at a terrifying 456 feet (139 meters). Not only the tallest but also the fastest roller coaster on the planet, this bad boy leaves riders with faces whiter than sheets and knuckles all but transparent. Launched by a hydraulic mechanism that takes it from 0 to 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) in just 3.5 seconds, the train climbs the top hat tower, twisting on its side before the stomach-churning big drop. So tall it was struck by lightning in 2009, Kingda Ka is themed as a mythical tiger and named after the real 500 lb big cat that lives in the pen next door. Bamboo surrounding those queuing and appropriate music top off the Indian jungle motif. A truly wild ride.

Image: Dusso Janladde

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