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Europe's Best Coaster Line-Up

D4n

D4n

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Zadra
I thought this could be one to rock the boat a bit and, especially considering all of the (fair) criticism of Alton Towers in recent years on these forums, I'm very interested to know what the consensus is on this.

I think we can all agree that Alton Towers has an extremely strong line-up of roller coasters; any enthusiast living in the US or Asia would be extremely excited by the prospect of visiting a park with 3 B&Ms, an Intamin launch, one of the only freefall coasters in the world, and a record breaker for the most inversions.

But in terms of actual quality, putting all else about the way the park is run aside... is that Europe's strongest coaster line-up?

Here are a few contenders with their headliners listed (because I know how y'all love a poll...)

Alton Towers - 10 - Nemesis, The Smiler, Wicker Man

Thorpe Park - 7 - Stealth, Saw, The Swarm

BPB - 10 - Icon, The Big One, Grand National

Energylandia - 15 - Zadra, Hyperion, Formula

Europa Park - 13 - Blue Fire, Silver Star, Wodan

Phantasialand - 6 - Black Mamba, Taron, Winjas

Liseberg - 6 - Helix, Balder, Valkyria

PortAventura - 7 - Shambhala, Dragon Khan, Stampida

Walibi Holland - 7 - Lost Gravity, Goliath, Untamed


For me it's between Alton Towers and Europa Park, with the latter admittedly being a bit of a left field option in terms of it being a 'coaster haven' as that really isn't where their focus is.

Nonetheless amongst Europa's 13 coasters there are very few weak links (looking at you Poseidon) and all of the top coasters are very consistent and re-rideable. Wodan, Blue Fire and Silver Star all rank amongst the best of their type.

Alton Towers boasts a strong variety of coasters but a lot of them (Oblivion, Wicker Man) are too short whilst others (Smiler) are inconsistent and yet more (Galactica, Rita) just a bit rubbish.

Nonetheless it's a strong coaster line-up and undoubtedly *one of* the best in Europe.
 
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It’s certainly an interesting debate. I suppose to some extent it comes down to how you’re categorising a lineup. For me it’s about variety. That’s what attracts me to a park.

Towers is pretty spoilt in my opinion. There’s very few parks out there where you can find such a varied lineup. In one park you have:
  • An inverted coaster
  • A flying coaster
  • A dive machine
  • A launch coaster
  • A freefall drop coaster
  • A spinning coaster
  • A woodie
  • A multi-inverting sitdown coaster
  • A family powered coaster
All of which were at least bespoke at the time of installation, and, in general, aren’t “the cheap option” in the marketplace. The most “run of the mill” it gets really would be Octonauts, which is still a step up from the Big Apple a lot of parks offer to that audience (and I believe is still a unique layout at present).

That’s not to say that I’d consider every ride there best in class (I can think of many launch coasters I’d sooner ride than Rita). But there’s certainly a well-rounded lineup of different experiences. Towers alone offers more variety than some whole US states!

The UK in general is pretty fortunate really when it comes to variety, considering it’s size and the fact its industry is dominated by a handful of larger parks. In addition to the above we still have a standup coaster, a wing coaster, a hyper coaster, a multi-launch, a bobsled, a collection of vintage woodies as well as some more instances of those listed at Towers (E.G other inverted coasters, other spinners, etc.). You may not find best-in-class rides, but you can certainly find different experiences for all tastes.

I think as @D4n says, Europa is a similar contender. You’ve got a solid mix of ride types, all at different scales.

I’d also throw Walibi Holland into the mix. You don’t have the consistently high quality hardware (El Codor.), but you have Goliath, Lost Gravity and Untamed as solid contenders (and my guilty pleasure, Speed of Sound - proof you can polish a turd).

I’d even say Phantasialand offers good variety. While it doesn’t have as many coasters as AT or EP you’ve still got an invert, a multi-launch coaster, two unique trick-track spinners, a fantastic mine train, and soon a flying coaster, as well as a family boomerang (let’s not speak of Temple of the Snowbat).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I don’t consider other parks to have a good lineup, and some of my favourite coasters can absolutely be found at other parks. But in terms of mixing it up with different styles I really think Towers and Europa lead the way.
 
I think Alton Towers and Europa Park are definitely candidates, and I also think that Walibi Holland is a good shout. But I also think that Energylandia deserves a mention.

Even though a number of their coasters are more on the off-the-shelf end, once Abyssus opens, the park will have an absolutely outstanding top 3 with Hyperion, Zadra and Abyssus, and Formula also looks like a fantastic support coaster alongside these 3.
 
When I visited again back last year I thought Walibi Hollands top 3 was excellent with Untamed, Goliath, and Lost Gravity. Then you can add speed of sound, and express platform 13 as well. (and El condor).

Towers is probably the best for the variation. Europa Park have plenty of good, if not great (except for Wodan) coasters.

Liseberg as well with two fantastic rides (helix and Baldur), plus a good dive machine, and an excellent family coaster in Lisebergbanan.

Phantasialand as well, every coaster except nighthawk offers a all round great experience.

Pleasure Beach as well for the historic nature of the rides, if the mouse was still their you could make a much stronger argument for them.

I'll add in Parque Warner, coaster express needs some work doing to it, but the two b and ms are excellent (only Batman clone in Europe), and stunt fall is certainly a unique experience.
 
The only major class of coaster we miss that isn't just height (Unless someone fancies beating 235ft here) is a hybrid. We are rather spoilt for a country this size in reality, especially considering how many world records we've held here or currently hold (length, height, inversions)
 
If airtime is your thing then Walibi Holland doesn't fail to deliver. Goliath, Untamed and Lost Gravity all provide several moments of ejector airtime. Absolutely brilliant.
 
I'd be tempted to put Asterix right up there.

Oz'Iris - best invert in Europe? Probably.

Zeus - best woodie in Europe? Probably not for most but for my taste, yes.

Next year - is this still happening? If so one of the best multi launchers anywhere? Probably.

Hourra - not everyone's favourite, but I love a bobsled and this one is particularly great.

Pegasus - a great fun larger scale family coaster. Seems to have been quite unfairly overlooked since it opened.

SOS - decent family filler

Goudurix - OK, I might be undermining my own argument now as it was rough beyond words and downright unpleasant, but if the retracking has been as successful as I've read maybe it is at least an ok coaster now?

While not the hugest selection, of the places I've been it's probably the overall selection of like to get back on, and try the new one, the most. I would imagine Poland overall has the objectively best selection though.
 
Er, going back to the original post...would that be the eleven coasters at Blackpool?
Not ten.
Someone is perhaps forgetting the Ghost Train.
 
Mirabilandia has iSpeed and Katun which a lot of people rate both very highly. I guess the 3rd best coaster there is Divertical?
 
Towers does actually have the best coaster line up in Europe tbh.

Nemesis, Oblivion, The Smiler and to a lesser extent Wicker Man are all stand-out coasters; the first three are some of the best in their class too.

Then you think of other parks, and Europa only has Wodan which is really 'stand-out'. Phantasia has Taron and Black Mamba, although Nemesis > Black Mamba. Walibi has Goliath and Untamed, then the rest are trash. I guess Liseberg puts up a fight? Although still, less variety.

Towers really does have one of the most eclectic park coaster line-ups out there. Just a shame it comes at the price of totally lacking any solid family selection
 
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I would agree with the idea of Asterix being very high on the list if not top, not only do they have great rides, the level of themeing on them is also of a high quality.
 
It’s certainly a tough question.

In terms of thrills, I’d say Walibi Holland has (possibly) the best top 3 in Europe. However it’s supporting lineup somewhat lets it down.

That title will surely go to Energylandia when Abyssus opens. Potentially Europe’s best hyper, hybrid and multi-launch all in one park. There’s also a wealth of supporting coasters - but probably not of the same quality as those in, say, Europa Park.

Europa has both quality and quantity when it comes to roller coasters, but it certainly lacks a stand out thrill ride.

Alton Towers is probably a dark horse - as is Heide Park too. Both have some a great variety of really thrilling coasters.
 
Burbs said:
Asterix has a great Vekoma madhouse..............
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When working. My last visit it was borked worse than Hex. As was Villa Volta.

A strange time for Madhouses.

The problem with parks with a large number of coasters it often results in some mediocre ones which let the line up down considerably.
 
A hugely unpopular opinion I know, but I’m going to say PortAventura. I love their four main coasters.

Toverland and Heide Park both deserve a mention too, just a shame neither has an amazing launch coaster. Both have a very good coaster line up though.
 
Walibi Holland has by far the strongest top 3 with Untamed, Lost Gravity and Goliath.

Towers is best for both quantity and quality I guess. Rita is my least favourite of their coasters but even that has a 60mph launch.
 
Rob said:
I think we take it for granted but Towers has one heck of a coaster line-up. If you were coming to visit for the first time as a coaster enthusiast then there would be so much to be excited about!
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I say this all the time. Towers is a bit boring in a strange way when you've been 1000 times. Imagine being there for first time and seeing Nemmy, Wickerman or Smiler for first time. All brilliant coasters and all visually incredible too.

We do take it for granted.

The guy who runs Coaster Studios on the old youby tubey couldn't speak highly enough of the place. That says it all.

I'd take Towers over a boring and bland Six Flags park any day. In fact I'd take it over any of the cedar fair parks too apart from Cedar Point.
 
Alton Towers has the most diverse rollercoaster line up in Europe.

It's the one thing it really does have.

Thorpe Park, PortAventura, Walibi Holland and Heide-Park are also pretty stellar, too. Energylandia is getting there but the issue there is half the coasters are dross.
 
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