2026 is turning out to be a great year for kids and ‘thrill-seekers in training’ in the UK, with no fewer than four new coasters opening, targeting this market across the country.
Merlin is focusing on IP-themed coasters, with the new World of Paw Patrol, featuring ‘Chase’s Mountain Mission’ kids’ coaster, and Alton Towers Resort also opened the world’s first Bluey coaster – ‘Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies’.
The name alone probably brings a smile to Bluey fans, and credit to the teams involved for bringing the IP's storytelling, humour and ‘heart’ to life through the attraction. It’s already proving to be a big hit for CBeebies Land and will hopefully help recruit a new generation of thrill seekers.
Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies! at Alton Towers is the world's first coaster themed to the much loved TV dog and her family Image courtesy of Alton Towers
Paultons Park has a massive investment with the new ‘Valgard: Realm of the Vikings’ land. Anchoring the expansion is Paulton’s first looping roller coaster, ‘Drakon’ (a custom Gerstlauer Euro-fighter).
The coaster looks to be a great, themed addition to the line-up, and an exciting step-up for guests from the park's strong line-up of existing kids and junior coasters.
Drakon, Paultons Park's latest roller coaster ride is ready for riders Image courtesy of Paultons Park
Finally, ‘Spinning Racer’ has been brought to Lightwater Valley by new owners, Mellors Group, as part of its plan to broaden the appeal of the park to the full family.
Whilst we’re seeing some new coasters launch, it comes alongside the news that one of the oldest operating coasters in the UK has closed “for good”.
The 100-year-old Scenic Railway at Dreamland in Margate last had extensive restoration work completed in 2015, but spent most of 2025 shuttered with issues.
One of this author’s favourites in the UK, the Scenic Railway offered a nostalgic, fun and repeatable ride for the whole family, complete with a traditional onboard brakeman.
Dreamland's Scenic Railway, wtih its traditional onboard brakeman, will be much missed Image courtesy of Dreamland
With several well-loved, classic coasters closed over the past few years, including the Wild Mouse at Pleasure Beach and Megafobia at Oakwood, it raises the question of how long others may have left before maintenance and economics make them unviable.
Ten of the UK’s best roller coasters
‘Top roller coasters’ can be a subjective topic, and part of the fun is debating your favourites and comparing with other thrill seekers.
So, before we start, a few disclaimers: Firstly, I’m a big roller coaster fan. I’ve ridden over 450 coasters across the globe, but this pales in comparison to some.
Secondly, I love tall, fast, intense coasters, but with my professional background, I can’t help but also appreciate how parks build for their specific locations and audiences and work to creatively bring to life brands, stories and experiences.
Thirdly, I have two daughters who love a roller coaster; one of my scientific measures when pulling together this piece has been how much each makes us smile!
10.Stealth - Thorpe Park
Riders scream as the Stealth roller coaster gets ready for some extreme acceleration at Thorpe Park
Image courtesy of Thorpe Park
Stealth is one of the world’s only remaining Intamin hydraulic launch coasters, known for their punchy, intense launches. They are now something of a rarity, with many newer launch coasters being LSM-powered.
Celebrating its 20th season this year, we’re lucky to have a good original model gracing our shores!
Stealth launched (literally) at Thorpe Park back in 2006 and continues to be one of the world’s fastest accelerating coasters. Propelling riders from 0 to 80mph in 1.8 seconds straight up over 200 feet into the iconic top hat that graces the London-park skyline.
Look quickly, and you can see the city from the top before dropping vertically back to earth.
Short but sweet – and one of a dying breed of impressive coasters.
9.Gold Rush - Drayton Manor
Another great ‘thrill-seeker in training’ coaster can be found at Drayton Manor in the form of Gold Rush. Central to the recently opened western-themed area, Frontier Falls, this unique ‘lift and launch’ was created by Intamin.
For a roller coaster of its size and scale, it has an incredibly low height restriction of 1 metre, allowing young thrill seekers to join the adventure with the rest of their group.
A surprise for many riders, the coaster utilises switch tracks and has two modes, meaning that you never know which version you’ll get before leaving the station. Sometimes you’ll crest the first lift hill, but on other occasions, you will stop, roll back and have a backwards element first.
Alongside the lift hill, there are launch sections, well-themed show scenes, airtime moments and tunnels, making this a really re-rideable coaster for the whole family (Drayton Manor’s refocused target market).
8.Mandrill Mayhem - Chessington World of Adventures
A family is excited to arrive at Chessington's Mandrill Mayhem coaster, which includes detailed Jumanji theming
Image courtesy of Chessington World of Adventures Resort
This B&M coaster must be given credit for taking elements from big, intense rides and making them accessible for a younger, junior thrill-seeking audience.
This is thanks to its 1.2m height restriction and ‘wing-coaster’ style, with launches (initially backwards out of the station), and a forward/backwards floaty inversion over the entrance to The World of Jumanji.
Layer onto that some ‘weird’ manoeuvres, like the spiral around the 55ft jaguar shrine, and the result is a fun, family thrill coaster.
With the train layout and track design, it’s worth trying Mandrill Mayhem in different seats to experience a totally different ride.
Partnering with Sony Pictures, the Jumanji IP provides inspiration for impressive themed elements, including the atmospheric station, mandrill-shaped trains, and the jaguar shrine.
Showing nice attention to detail, the retail, games, and F&B areas have been impressively themed as well.
It’s also great to see that a few years on from opening, this Chessington attraction has continued to develop, with the vegetation in the area making the space much more jungle-like.
I expect that in a few years’ time, a ride on Mandrill will be even more thrilling!
7.Grand National - Pleasure Beach Resort Blackpool
Grand National invites visitors to enjoy a fun race to the finish line
Image courtesy of Pleasure Beach Resort
Having opened in 1935, the Grand National is one of the only remaining classic woodies, and the UK’s only wooden racing coaster.
Whilst it’s not going to win any awards for the smoothest, it more than makes up for this with the excitement of racing (and the opportunity to heckle) another train full of riders vying to cross the finish line first.
Now designated a Grade II listed building, Pleasure Beach's Grand National is one of only two remaining coasters in the world with a Möbius loop. This means the ride is actually one track, with each ride taking you around half of the total circuit.
For the past few years, the Grand National has opened later in the season than the rest of the park, with additional maintenance requirements.
Hopefully Pleasure Beach continues to invest in the future of the Grand National – but maybe plan a trip sooner rather than later – just in case!
For a slightly smoother ride, grab a ‘non-wheel’ seat and brace yourself for a classic out-of-control coaster experience.
6.The Swarm - Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park's The Swarm roller coaster features a unique apocalyptic theme
Image courtesy of Thorpe Park
An apocalyptic battle may not be the cheeriest theming for a roller coaster, but luckily, this coaster is so much fun that there are plenty of smiles to be seen wandering around beneath it.
The upside-down view of Central London from the crest of the lift hill is one of the highlights, before riders plummet into the rest of the course, full of near misses, impressive set pieces, and interactions with guest areas.
It's a fun ride, both to experience and watch (especially the slow inline twist directly over the station!).
5.Sik - Flamingo Land
Riders enjoy intense thrills and loops on the high-speed Sik roller coaster
Image courtesy of Flamingo Land
One of the more intense roller coasters on this list, Sik opened at Flamingo Land in 2022 and features 10 inversions over its course.
Being very similar in layout to Colossus at Thorpe Park and trumped by the world-record-holding The Smiler at Alton Towers for the number of loops, it has lap-bar-style restraints that, for me, make the ride experience more comfortable and enjoyable.
At the crest of the lift hill, you are treated to stunning views over the North Yorkshire countryside before being flung into the relentless, high-speed layout.
Sik joins a nice collection of coasters at the often-forgotten park, including Kumali (possibly the world’s smoothest Vekoma SLC), Mumbo Jumbo (once the world’s steepest roller coaster) and a Vekoma Motorbike launch coaster.
4.Icon - Pleasure Beach Resort Blackpool
It’s amazing how the teams at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Mack Rides managed to create a coaster like Icon and fit it in around all the existing classic rides.
Being launched under the Big One’s structure, and diving around the Big Dipper and other great attractions at the Pleasure Beach, makes this smooth, dual-launch coaster truly unique.
Giving a nice long ride for a UK coaster, the drop-down into the second launch and the hanging over the top of the non-inverting loop are the highlights for me. Seeing the beach, a stone’s throw away from that angle, is pretty spectacular!
This isn’t the most intense coaster in the UK, but you can’t help laughing all the way round and jumping straight back in line. It’s no wonder this regularly polls as a UK favourite of many enthusiasts.
3.Nemesis Reborn - Alton Towers
Nemesis Reborn invites a new generation of theme park fans to enjoy a classic thrill ride at Alton Towers
When it opened in 1994, Nemesis immediately won the hearts of roller coaster fans worldwide. Not only was it brand-new technology (the world’s 2nd inverted roller coaster), but also totally unique in its setting and theme.
Dug into a pit in the ground, with track diving through tunnels, over blood-red water, and flipping over the Nemesis creature. It was a true themed, one-of-a-kind experience. Fast forward 28 years and 50 million thrill-seekers later, and Alton Towers announced that Nemesis would be closing.
That would be the end for many coasters. Not Nemesis, though. It returned with a brand-new tentacle-painted track, disorientating new smoke effects, state-of-the-art theming elements, an enhanced storyline, and the same world-class track layout.
Many people have fond memories of riding Nemesis as their first ‘big’ coaster in the UK, and so it’s fantastic that Nemesis Reborn now allows them to share those memories with new generations of coaster fans.
It may not be the biggest, it may no longer be the most intense, and unfortunately, it came back with a bit of a rattle (!) – but it’s a full ‘only in the UK’ package. For the ultimate experience, a front row, night ride is a must.
See also: Leveraging a theme park IP: the next chapter of the legend of Nemesis
2.Hyperia - Thorpe Park
This dramatic sunset shot of Hyperia's track shows how many different thrill elements it offers
For over 30 years, The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach had a phenomenal run of holding the crown for the tallest roller coaster in the UK.
But in 2024, standing at 236 feet tall and travelling at speeds of over 80 mph, the ‘golden goddess’, Hyperia, became the new owner of the bragging rights for being the UK’s tallest and fastest.
And there’s a lot to brag about. This Mack Rides hyper coaster is crazy from start to finish.
The lap bar restraint and open train design leave you feeling very free as you go beyond vertical diving down from the first drop into the Immelmann element, the crazy outer-banked airtime hill (insane!), and the ever-so-slow, hanging upside down, stall turn.
Pretty much every smiling face that comes back to the station has a ‘I’m not sure what just happened, but let’s do it again’ look to it…which I think is a measure of a great coaster!
A couple of years in, Hyperia may be riding a little rough, but it has deservedly rocketed to the top of many UK coaster fans’ lists.
It may have been 12 years since Thorpe Park added its last coaster, but Hyperia is certainly worth the wait.
1.Wicker Man - Alton Towers
With its flaming wicker sculpture, the Wicker Man coaster is a thrill to look at as well as to ride
Image courtesy of Alton Towers
Opening in 2018, Wicker Man was a long-awaited new wooden roller coaster for the UK (the first for over 20 years).
Wooden coasters, with their dense structures, often rely on the ride experience alone, so Wicker Man really ups the ante with its immersive theming and storyline (including the huge, flaming Wicker Man centre stage). Who’d have thought of combining fire effects and a wooden roller coaster?
Set in the beautiful Staffordshire park, and bringing guests into the story of the Beornen and the Wicker Man, this is a fun, smooth, re-rideable coaster experience that generations of thrill seekers can enjoy together.
With the return of ‘Alton After Dark’ this year, in addition to Alton Towers Resort’s annual ‘Scarefest’ event, there are even more opportunities to ride Wicker Man at its best…in the dark!
A few honourable mentions
Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach may have lost its crown as the tallest roller coaster in the UK, but over 30 years later, it is still an icon on the seafront at Blackpool.
Over the past few years, the park has invested in retracking parts of the ride – and it still delivers a fun, thrilling coaster experience. The views from the lift hill are spectacular, and the first drop towards the North Sea remains one of the most visually stunning.
Munich (or Olympia) Looping may not be permanently in the UK, but it has called London’s Winter Wonderland home each year since 2016.
This Anton Schwarzkopf classic is the largest transportable roller coaster in the world (requiring over 50 trucks to move it), has 5 inversions, and offers stunning views of Hyde Park and the London skyline.
Helping roller coaster enthusiasts through the closed season, it’s a must-ride coaster!
Guests at Greenwood Park take a self-propelled ride through the trees on The Green Dragon Image courtest of Greenwood Park
The Green Dragon at Greenwood Park is the world’s only ‘human-powered’ coaster. Using a unique funicular system, its passengers help transport the roller coaster train to the summit of the lift hill, making it the most environmentally friendly coaster anywhere in the world!
Blue Flyer at Blackpool Pleasure Beach opened in 1934 and, with no height restriction, is the perfect, classic first roller coaster for kids (It’s a special one for me, as the first coaster for both of my girls!).
At 15ft tall, credit goes to the teams at Blackpool for keeping this traditional wooden coaster operating, giving many children their first taste of a classic coaster.
So, what are we missing in the UK?
Whilst we are lucky to have a great collection of coasters here, I’d love to see an impressive indoor, immersive coaster (if the rumour sites hold true, we’re looking at you, Chessington (and Alton… maybe) and hopefully Universal Studios a few years down the line).
From my own travels and having reviewed Vince Kadlubek’s list of top coasters in the USA, we’re also missing a great big RMC hybrid coaster, or a nice smooth Intamin multi-launch…now where could one of those fit nicely?!
It’s about to get better
I realise there may be many people’s favourites missing from this list, including The Smiler, Nemesis Inferno, Odyssey, and many that are unique, or changed the face of coasters in the UK, for example, Great Yarmouth’s Roller Coaster, Steeplechase or The Revolution.
This goes to show just how many special coasters we have on these shores.
And we’ve got more to come. With rumours from many parks about upcoming investments, and of course, the Universal GB project, which will hopefully come to fruition.
It’s an exciting time to be a roller coaster fan!
