Get your thrills: These are the 10 best roller coasters of 2022

Photo courtesy of iStock / Jacob Ammentorp Lund

While amusement park rides come in all shapes and sizes these days, nothing beats the adrenaline rush of a well-designed roller coaster.  To find the best, we asked a panel of experts to partner with 10Best editors and choose the top 20 nominees. Then, the 10 best roller coasters were determined by popular vote.  Here are the amazing winners.

Photo courtesy of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

No. 10: The Voyage at Holiday World

Head to the aptly named Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana for one of the nation’s most highly regarded wooden roller coasters. Highlights include one of the steepest drops on a wooden coaster, a world record of five underground tunnels and a whopping 24.3 seconds of weightlessness. This is no quick ride, either. The Voyage adventure is more than a mile long, earning it the honors of one of the world’s longest and fastest wooden roller coasters.

Photo courtesy of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

No. 9: Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Reopened in March 2022 after a seven-year closure, this attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay was initially built as a wooden dueling roller coaster named for a fabled creature with the body of a lion and the head of a tiger. It is billed as “North America’s tallest and world’s fastest and steepest hybrid coaster.” Thrill-seekers are plunged from a 206-foot-tall peak into a 91-degree drop and will experience three inversions and a dozen airtime moments during this ride with a maximum speed of 76 mph. 

Photo courtesy of Universal Orlando Resort

No. 8: Jurassic World VelociCoaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure

Universal’s Islands of Adventure invites you to “feel the rush of the hunt” as you board a vehicle for a high-speed race through the theme park’s Jurassic World raptor paddock. The VelociCoaster features a maximum speed of 70 mph, with four inversions and a signature 155-foot-tall top hat, 90-degree ascent and 90-degree descent element. 10Best panelist Nikida Metellus raves, “It’s fast, it’s unpredictable, it’s wild, but it’s AMAZING!” 

Photo courtesy of Dollywood

No. 7: Lightning Rod at Dollywood

Lightning Rod, the world's fastest wooden coaster, launches Dollywood thrill-seekers from zero to 45 miles per hour – a thrilling start to one of the park's most adrenaline-pumping attractions. Themed after a 1950's hot rod, the roller coaster tops out at speeds of more than 73 miles per hour.

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Photo courtesy of Jantzen Simko / Kennywood

No. 6: Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood

The 3,365-foot track of Phantom’s Revenge in Kennywood brings visitors frighteningly close to another of the park's coasters, Thunderbolt. A hair-raising highlight is the second drop – a 230-foot thriller at 85 miles per hour.

Photo courtesy of Cedar Point

No. 5: Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point

The world record-breaking Steel Vengeance debuted at Cedar Point in May 2018 as the world's tallest and fastest hybrid coaster with the steepest drop (90 degrees), longest drop (200 feet), most inversions (four) and most airtime (27.2 seconds) on any hybrid coaster. At 5,740 feet, it's also the world's longest hybrid coaster and has quickly become a guest favorite.

Photo courtesy of Six Flags Magic Mountain

No. 4: Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain

The Twisted Colossus is where old meets new, wood meets steel and traditional thrills meet modern, high-tech innovations. This hybrid roller coaster is iconic, perched on the edge of Six Flags Magic Mountain, as it brings riders through a 360-degree zero-g roll, a 116-foot drop at 80 degrees and many hills. The thrills are long-lasting, too. The 5,000-foot track makes the Twisted Colossus one of the longest hybrid coasters in existence.

Photo courtesy of Six Flags Over Georgia

No. 3: Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia

The world record-breaking Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia features one of the world's tallest and steepest drops, plus plenty of curves, turns and twists along the track. When it debuted, this roller coaster was the world's fastest at 70 miles per hour.

Photo courtesy of SeaWorld Orlando

No. 2: Mako at SeaWorld Orlando

Guests looking for thrills at SeaWorld Orlando will find them aboard one of the park's newest roller coasters, Mako. Orlando's tallest, longest and fastest coaster gets its name from one of the world's fastest sharks – appropriate for a thrill ride reaching speeds of 73 miles per hour.

Photo courtesy of Six Flags Great Adventure

No. 1: El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure

This wooden roller coaster in Jackson, New Jersey is known as “the bull” for its powerful and shaky train. It is also one of the tallest and fastest wooden roller coasters in the world. But this is no ordinary wooden coaster; it’s built with some of the highest-tech engineering, which contributes to a totally unique, old-school-new-school experience.