Wild Rides: The World's Best Rollercoasters

A data-driven approach to choosing the best roller coaster for you

Emily on a roller coaster
Emily circa 2012 on Farenheit in Hershey Park, PA.

I've been a rollercoaster enthusiast for a long time, and I'm always on the lookout for my next thrill.

Using Kaggle's Rollercoasters dataset , which contains information on the winners of the Golden Ticket Award for best steel rollercoaster, I've created a visual guide to help fellow thrill seekers pick their next ride. With over 1,000 rollercoasters to choose from, there's something for everyone, whether you identify as a:

  • Scaredy cat
  • Middle-of-the-pack rider
  • Ultimate daredevil
  • For each metric, I've highlighted a rollercoaster or park that best suits each thrill-seeking level. Personally, I'm trying to get to Ferrari World!

    Legend

    Each triangle represents a rollercoaster along a horizontal axis representing its speed in km/h.
    Each square represents a rollercoaster positioned on a height v. speed Cartesian plane.
    Each bar represents a park. The height of the bar corresponds to the average speed of the park's rollercoasters.