Best Types of Amusement Park Rides
These are the REAL reasons amusement parks stay in business. Please note: if you want to vote for roller coasters, just vote for the item already there. Please don't pile up this list with things like, "Inverted Coaster, Flying Coaster, Stratacoaster"... We get the point.
The most famous type of ride. The monument of every amusement park. Towering over every other ride, casting shadows on them. No other ride can compare to the thrill and adrenaline rush of a roller coaster. Examples: Millennium Force, Kingda Ka.
I've only ever been on a kiddie one when I was 9 because I am not the bravest person in the world. But one day, I'd like to ride a roller coaster with a loop in it. It sounds like fun!
You gotta love those roller coasters that make you feel so sick before you get on, and then while you're riding it you still feel sick. I love the giant roller coasters that go upside down.
Not the longest of rides, but very few other rides can compare to the airtime feeling of a drop tower. Examples: Six Flags' Zumanjaro, Kings Island Drop Zone, Disney's Tower of Terror.
I love them a lot, and I mean A LOT. I'm in the UK, and I think the best drop tower I've been on is Detonator at Thorpe Park.
I'll go on one when I'm older, but they look fun!
Some of them get you really drenched. The ones I got drenched on were at Six Flags in NJ, Dorney Park, Hershey Park, and Jurassic Park at Universal Hollywood. (Do the last three even count as flume rides?)
Creates a buildup throughout the entire ride, then a climactic plunge, followed by a huge splash! Examples: Disney's Splash Mountain, Cedar Point's Shoot the Rapids.
Gets you a little wet but not drenched. Examples: Splash Mountain, Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Falls, Timber Mountain Log Ride, and Coal Cracker.
The best Ferris wheel I've ever been on was the one at Disney California Adventure back in May 2014. I loved how it would swing you back and forth.
Peaceful, and anyone can go on one - babies, children, teens, adults, and older people.
So calm, so peaceful... yet so giant. They look beautiful at night. Examples include the London Eye and Singapore Flyer.
I love these. I prefer the ones with a 70+ foot straight drop.
Packed with amazing scenery and special effects. A successful dark ride is an artistic masterpiece. Examples: Disney's Haunted Mansion, Universal's Transformers 3D.
Awesome and thrilling, but there are mild dark rides too. Examples: Star Tours, Forbidden Journey, Spiderman, and Test Track.
Just overall fun. A little dizzy at first, but you can get used to them.
I used to love every bumper car ride and thought they were amazing, but after Knoebels, I would consider theirs a real bumper car ride and the other ones as lame kiddie rides.
I like these because I get to practice driving, even though I will never be driving a real car in my life.
There are a few where you can grab brass rings. I've ridden only two of those: the one at Gillian's Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, NJ, and the one at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. The one in OCNJ didn't have the brass rings displayed last time I rode it, but the one at Santa Cruz did. I had a lot of fun grabbing the rings and throwing them into the hole, even though I missed all the shots.
I have ridden them at Dorney Park, malls, Disneyland, Disney World, Hersheypark, Six Flags Great Adventure, the NJ Shore, the Santa Monica Pier, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Pier 39 in San Francisco, and Ocean City, MD.
They were lots of fun, and I am looking forward to riding many more in the future!
For sure, some of the scariest rides ever built!
The Newcomers
It's been my favorite carnival ride since September 2018.
Spinning and swinging thrill rides. Examples include Maxair, Black Widow, Delirium, and Riddler Revenge.
The feeling of fear consuming you is a little addictive.
They create a sense of no control that not many other rides can give.
I love these! Not only riding them, but also standing on the bridges and soaking other riders with water guns!
Soaks riders with waterfalls and rapids. Examples: Grizzly River Run, Kali River Rapids, Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges.
Soaks you to the bone. Examples include Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, River Quest, Grizzly River Run, and Kali River Rapids.
Whoever thinks the train is boring does not know the real purpose of this kind of ride. It gives you a scenic view of the park and a relaxing ride after the adrenaline rush of the roller coasters. Every park should have a train ride.
Whatever The American Adventure, Derbyshire, England, R.I.P. June 1987 - January 4, 2007, it had The Runaway Train, which looked like a cool ride. Shame I never went there when I was a kid, but I went to Camelot, Lancashire, England.
A great ride to take a break from the gut-wrenching roller coasters and enjoy a classic ride on a steam train traveling across the park!
Swinging tower rides might not be everyone's cup of tea, but to me, they are a great thrill ride.
A type of ride synchronized to a movie, such as Star Tours or Back to the Future: The Ride.
These are awesome! One of the best ones is a 7D simulator at Pier 39 in San Francisco.
The feeling of no gravity is quite the sensation!
I went on this ride on May 5th, 2019, at a carnival my family took me to.
These rides have always been my favorite. Blasting music while riding through a track, especially if you're with your friends!
One of the most classic rides around and the grandfather of the modern Tilt-A-Whirl!
These rides are common in the UK but extremely rare in the US. However, you can find one at Knoebels in Elysburg, PA.