In part one of this three part series, the Coaster Reviews staff looked at the top ranked wooden coasters in the world. This post will deal with their steel counterparts, many of which are very high up on our ranking as well.
Steel coasters obviously have a different feel from the wooden variety. As I first began
riding coasters on an obsessive basis approximately three years ago, I found that steel coasters heavily populated my top 20. For one thing, there are many more steel coasters than wooden ones. In addition, steel seems to be much easier to keep running as wooden coasters are really bad if not taken care of. Steel was my preferred ride type until this summer after my rides on Phoenix, Cyclone, Boulder Dash and Ravine Flyer II. Now, despite my love for Millennium Force, I prefer wooden coasters generally speaking. That still does not take away from the fact that there are some wonderful steel coasters in existence which I have ridden. The 2008 ranking based on enthusiasts votes are listed below.
1) Superman-Ride of Steel - Six Flags New England in Agawam, MA - 1363 points.
2) Millennium Force - Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH - 1107 points.
3) Nitro - Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ - 838 points.
4) Apollo's Chariot - Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg, VA - 718 points.
5) Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park (not World) in Hassloch, Germany - 651 points.
6) Goliath - Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, GA - 646 points.
7) Magnum XL-200 - Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH - 518 points.
8) Phantom's Revenge - Kennywood in West Mifflin, PA - 428 points.
9) Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH - 366 points.
10) Montu - Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, FL - 343 points.
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Some interesting notes are that 3 of the top 10 are located in Cedar Point with Maverick falling to 12th giving them 1/3 of the top steel coasters in the world. My own Goliath moved up in the rankings finishing only a few points out of the top 5. It ranks as my 4th favorite steel coaster.
GeForce in Germany is the only overseas steel coaster in the Top 10. It is supposed to be a smaller version of the # 1 ranked Superman ride.
Coaster Reviews has ridden all 9 of the U.S. coasters ranked in the top 10 and we definitely agree on numbers 1 and 2. Superman and Millennium Force are far and away the two best coasters we have ridden and the point totals prove this fact.
In conclusion, steel coasters are generally known for their smoothness and those listed above are among the smoothest in the world. Apollo's Chariot and Montu are Busch Gardens coasters which are probably the two easiest to ride coasters in the world due to their silky smoothness. All of them are great though. And if you are interested simply hop in your car, fill it with some liquid gold (aka gas) and take the short 16 hour journey up to Agawam, MA. Then you can say you have ridden the best coaster in the world. That's what we did. And loved every minute of it!!!
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