Tallest coaster you've been on.

I'm gonna be honest, you guys are really going way over my head saying Kingda Ka isn't a coaster or that you need a lift hill to count a drop. I'm not one to say that "anything that wants to be a coaster, is!" but seriously?

I know. Where did this crap come from?

^ right? By that logic are Storm Runner and Xcelerator not coasters either?

Top Thrill Dragster.

Kingda Ka, but I consider that a thrill ride. . .

This seriously makes no sense. How can you not consider a roller coaster, a roller coaster??

High Speed Thrill Coaster

I'm gonna be honest, you guys are really going way over my head saying Kingda Ka isn't a coaster or that you need a lift hill to count a drop. I'm not one to say that "anything that wants to be a coaster, is!" but seriously?

 

Side note--the twist on Dragster/Ka doesn't slow the train. Those would be the brakes. It's just a cool visual effect, basically.

There is no "you guys". Only one guy said KK and TTD weren't coasters and it wasn't me. As far as I'm concerned if it has a track with two rails and is gravity driven then it's a coaster. The launch or lift hill is just the mechanism that puts the train in a position for gravity to take over.

Also I didn't say the twist acted as the braking system. I said it slows the descent. A change in track direction always acts to slow momentum. I maintain that straight drops like Fury324 or Int305 or even Xcelerator are more intense than the twisted drops on KK and TTD. That's all I was saying.

^ right? By that logic are Storm Runner and Xcelerator not coasters either?

Well, considering that they "coast" on ""rollers" then I'd say they are roller coasters.

^^I wasn't referring to you about calling it not a coaster.

I'm really having a hard time understanding where you're coming from with the vertical twist thing though. I'm not an engineer (I'm an engineering student, actually) but the train is still descending 90 degrees. The added track length from the twist maybe adds like 0.2 seconds to the total time of descending. If something reduces momentum it slows the train, in this case, so I disagree.

Let's move on though because it's a meaningless discussion. No hard feelings.

Kingda-Ka as a launch. Fury 325 as a chain lift.

I can't speak for anybody else, but as for me personally, the twist on the drop of both Kingda Ka and TTD, while fun, DOES take away from the "Wow! I'm hurting headlong towards the ground!" excitement, and feeling, I get on more traditional lift hill coasters. Personally, I find the 100 foot drop on Maverick more exciting than the 400 foot drop on TTD. But that's just me. That's why coasters like KK and TTD, while fun, aren't super high up in my rankings. "Gimmick" is a term that is way overused by enthusiasts in reference to coasters, and coaster elements, but I'll be honest... That's kind of what the Height/Speed records on those coasters feel like to me. Just my .02, however, and it certainly doesn't have to be that way for anybody else, or offend anybody!

10 Tallest Ridden:

1. Fury 325 325'

2. Intimidaor 232'

3. Wild Eagle 210'

4. Grifon 205'

5. SheiKra 200'

6. Goliath (SFOG) 200'

7. Mako 200'

8. Alpengeist 195'

9. Apollo's Chariot 170'

10. Tennessee Tornado 163'

(#5-#7 is a 3-way tie and I ranked them in order ridden)

Steel (and overall): Kingda Ka

Wood: El Toro

1. Kingda Ka

2. I305

3. Nitro

Steel: Top Thrill Dragster (420 ft.)

Wood: Screamin' Eagle (110 ft.) or Outlaw Run (168 ft.)

I put two for wood, because technically Outlaw Run is only 107 ft. tall. The drop is 168 ft. tall though, so it comes down to which part of the ride you're counting.

(I'm only count the height that the train reaches, not necessarily the structural height.)

1. Superman Escape from Krypton 328 feet

2. Goliath 255 feet

3. Xcelerator 205 feet

4. Viper 188 feet

5. Aftershock/Deja Vu 177 feet

Top 5 tallest:

Kingda Ka

Dragster

Millennium Force

I305

Nitro

Looks like I need to update this one, too.

1. Top Thrill Dragster - 420

2. Superman: Escape from Krypton - 415

3. Millennium Force - 310

4. Goliath - 235

5. Diamondback - 230

6. Valravn - 223

7. Mr. Freeze - 218

8. Wicked Twister - 215

9. Wild Thing - 207

10. Magnum XL-200 - 205

10. Mamba - 205

10. Xcelerator - 205

1. Red Force

2. Shambhala

2. Schwur des Kärnan

4. Silver Star

5. Colossos

Steel: Red Force (Next month it will be replaced by Superman: escape from krypton)

Wood: Colossos

Kingda Ka! After I ride both Fury 325 and Intimidator 305 for the first time here in a few weeks, I will have ridden the top 6 tallest roller coasters in America.

Given that X-Scream on top of the Stratosphere is something Six Flags would build on ground level and count as a coaster... doesn't that make it the tallest coaster in the world??

^ No. It may be the highest, but not the tallest.

Ten Tallest Coasters

1. Top Thrill Dragster (420 ft)

2. Millennium Force (310 ft)

3. Valravn (223 ft)

4. Wicked Twister (215 ft)

5. Magnum XL-200 (205 ft)

6. Raging Bull (202 ft)

7. Deja Vu (192 ft)

8. GateKeeper (170 ft)

9. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (167 ft)

9. Banshee (167 ft)

5) Nitro @ 230 Ft

4) Intimidator 305 @ 305 Ft

3) Millennium Force @ 308 Ft

2) Top Thrill Dragster @ 420 Ft

1) Kingda Ka @ 456 Ft

1) Kingda Ka- 456 ft

2) Fury 325- 325 ft

3) Leviathan- 306 ft

4) Intimidator 305- 305 ft

5) Intimidator- 232 ft

6) Nitro & Behemoth- 230 ft

8) Wild Eagle- 210 ft

9) Griffon- 205 ft

10) Sheikra, Skyrush, & Mako- 200 ft