Europe's Best Coaster Line-Up

[Danny]

Energylandia is far from having one of the best coaster line-ups in Europe; it has two headliners out of 15 products. I think the funds will dry up before they make it to having five really solid coasters.

 

[Benjsh]

Energylandia is far from having one of the best coaster line-ups in Europe; it has two headliners out of 15 products. I think the funds will dry up before they make it to having five really solid coasters.

To be fair the 3rd one is already finished albeit not yet open and they are opening a 10m Euro mine train coaster in 2021 also. Their line up will be much better by then.

Forget the 7/8 kiddie coasters and just whore the main ones. I don't count credits either so I couldn't care less about riding 1000 caterpillar coasters.

 

[MattyH]

Bumping this old thread. With a few additions around Europe over the last few years. Where would you say the best coaster lineup in Europe is?

What about top 3 coasters?

Parc Asteric, Phantasialand and maybe Parque Warner Madrid certainly have to be contenders surely?

 

[NuttySquirrel]

Bumping this old thread. With a few additions around Europe over the last few years. Where would you say the best coaster lineup in Europe is?

What about top 3 coasters?

Parc Asteric, Phantasialand and maybe Parque Warner Madrid certainly have to be contenders surely?

Parc Asterix has a lot of coasters, but many of them are mediocre / downright painful. I think only Toutatis and OzIris are top-tier for me.

On the other hand Phantasialand has Taron, FLY, Black Mamba and a couple of hidden gems like Colorado Adventure and Winja's Fear.

Not been to PW yet so can't comment, I suppose it depends if you consider the GIB a top-tier coaster or not...

 

[John_P]

So from my trips since I last posted on this thread...

All new parks for me

Energylandia - Zadra, Hyperion, Abyssus

Parc Asterix - Toutatis, Oziris, Tonnerre 2 Zeus

Plopsaland De Panne - Ride To Happiness, Anubis, Heidi The Ride

Adjusted for new coasters since my last visit.

Phantasialand - Taron, FLY, Black Mamba

Parque Warner - Batman Gotham City Escape, Shadows Of Arkham (the batman clone), Superman


Upcoming -
Think in 2024 with Hyperia Thorpe Park will have a much stronger top three.
Same at Europa Park with Voltron that looks like it could be genuinely world class, so adding that to Wodan and Silver Star makes a very good top 3.

 

[Zeock]

Bumping this old thread. With a few additions around Europe over the last few years. Where would you say the best coaster lineup in Europe is?

What about top 3 coasters?

Parc Asteric, Phantasialand and maybe Parque Warner Madrid certainly have to be contenders surely?

On paper, probably either Parc Asterix or Parque Warner Madrid.

 

[Poisson]

For a Top 3? Parque Warner Madrid

For overall? Phantasialand.

EP will be getting a 3rd good coaster soon by the looks of it to go with Wodan and Euro-Mir

 

[D4n]

I’m confused every time this type of thread is brought up.

People naming parks like Phantasia, Energylandia, Parque Warner….

Towers genuinely has a significantly better coaster line up than any of these.

Not their fault that we’ve all done their rides to death . If it was a novelty then a line up of Nemesis, Oblivion, Wicker Man, Smiler plus Thirteen, Spinball, Rita as second tier coasters is absolutely outstanding. Way ahead of anywhere else in Europe.

Top three is a different matter to be fair. Parque Warner and Energylandia have to rank highly for this. Phantasia not so much because they only really have Taron that’s anything better than mediocre

 

[Matt N]

I do agree with @D4n in thinking that UK enthusiasts often take Alton Towers for granted. Even though it may not have many rides that are widely considered “elite” (for lack of a better term) compared to some other parks in Europe, the park has an incredibly expansive and varied coaster lineup with mostly really solid quality throughout!

I also feel that Thorpe Park is another one taken for granted by UK enthusiasts. Once Hyperia opens, I think Thorpe could be a really strong contender. For me, at least, Hyperia, Stealth and Inferno should be one heck of a top 3! (This does depend on how revered Hyperia ends up being, of course, but I have very high hopes in that regard!)

Even still, I think Thorpe has quite a respectable lineup.

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I don't think it's just that we've done them to death. Many of AT's coasters were essentially prototypes, because it was felt that having the ---est coaster was more marketable. Prototypes are usually followed by enhanced, refined versions that provide a better experience. Doesn't help either that AT have run their coasters into the ground and many are in a real state. The height restriction has always been a challenge for creating world class coasters as well.

Nemesis - arguably still the best B&M invert in Europe due to its setting, however others like OzIris have a better first drop.

Oblivion - A dive coaster that doesn't do anything at all after it's first drop. There are better dive coasters in Europe such as Valkyria at Liseberg.

Wicker Man - I do like this ride and it's been hugely successful for the park, but for me Wodan is far superior due to its increased height and faster top speed. It has also suffered from lack of maintenance and degraded theming lately - the lighting pack for Scarefest and fireworks this year was pathetic.

Smiler - Ok it's good, but it's essentially a ton of inversions all mashed together and lacks airtime, and it hasn't aged well. Setting-wise, that pit is literally a hellhole.

Galactica - A very poor example of a flying coaster, now superseded by newer, slicker designs. Even if you don't love FLY, it definitely represents a new generation of 21st century flying coasters. Personally though I think the enthusiasm for flying coasters in general is waning.

Thirteen - Really nothing standout here, I think I found Pegase Express at Parc Asterix just as enjoyable if not more so.

Spinball - A good Maurer spinner, but probably not even the best in the UK. I think I rated Dragons Fury slightly higher - if you overlook the usual 90-minute queue. Neither come close to the likes of Ride to Happiness, EuroMir and Tarantula.

Rita - Probably the worst Intamin launch coaster in existence. Accelerators were designed to have top hats. The new LSM launch coasters like Taron, Toutatis and Gotham City really show up just how dated these older models feel.

RMC is still one of the best mine train coasters, at least since the destruction of Alpenexpress.

If you are going purely by top threes, I think AT would lose out to a lot of European parks which have invested in newer, smarter models. However I do struggle to think of a park that has as many 'decent' coasters in one place, so perhaps that's where its enduring appeal lies. Increasingly though, I find myself preferring to go to parks in Europe with arguably poorer lineups but better theming, better reliability and better presentation. That stuff matters.

 

[Rob]

With Voltron opening next year, Europa-Park also now has to be considered as having one of the best coaster line-ups in Europe. You'll have Voltron, Wodan, Silver Star and Blue Fire as stand outs, with the likes of Euro-Mir and Eurosat CanCan Coaster sitting below as well as a solid range of family and water coasters.

 

[ScottishChris]

I don't think it's just that we've done them to death. Many of AT's coasters were essentially prototypes, because it was felt that having the ---est coaster was more marketable. Prototypes are usually followed by enhanced, refined versions that provide a better experience. Doesn't help either that AT have run their coasters into the ground and many are in a real state. The height restriction has always been a challenge for creating world class coasters as well.

Nemesis - arguably still the best B&M invert in Europe due to its setting, however others like OzIris have a better first drop.

Oblivion - A dive coaster that doesn't do anything at all after it's first drop. There are better dive coasters in Europe such as Valkyria at Liseberg.

Wicker Man - I do like this ride and it's been hugely successful for the park, but for me Wodan is far superior due to its increased height and faster top speed. It has also suffered from lack of maintenance and degraded theming lately - the lighting pack for Scarefest and fireworks this year was pathetic.

Smiler - Ok it's good, but it's essentially a ton of inversions all mashed together and lacks airtime, and it hasn't aged well. Setting-wise, that pit is literally a hellhole.

Galactica - A very poor example of a flying coaster, now superseded by newer, slicker designs. Even if you don't love FLY, it definitely represents a new generation of 21st century flying coasters. Personally though I think the enthusiasm for flying coasters in general is waning.

Thirteen - Really nothing standout here, I think I found Pegase Express at Parc Asterix just as enjoyable if not more so.

Spinball - A good Maurer spinner, but probably not even the best in the UK. I think I rated Dragons Fury slightly higher - if you overlook the usual 90-minute queue. Neither come close to the likes of Ride to Happiness, EuroMir and Tarantula.

Rita - Probably the worst Intamin launch coaster in existence. Accelerators were designed to have top hats. The new LSM launch coasters like Taron, Toutatis and Gotham City really show up just how dated these older models feel.

RMC is still one of the best mine train coasters, at least since the destruction of Alpenexpress.

If you are going purely by top threes, I think AT would lose out to a lot of European parks which have invested in newer, smarter models. However I do struggle to think of a park that has as many 'decent' coasters in one place, so perhaps that's where its enduring appeal lies. Increasingly though, I find myself preferring to go to parks in Europe with arguably poorer lineups but better theming, better reliability and better presentation. That stuff matters.

I love Alton Towers, but you absolutely hit the nail on the head. Towers without Nemesis wouldn't be worth visiting for a coaster enthusiast.

The one ride above all that frustrates me the most at Towers is Wickerman. The theming is spot-on and world-class... but why is THAT theme attached to an average family woodie? For me, it doesn't even hit the top-3 wooden coasters in the country. I feel that it is such a missed opportunity for a quality coaster. Remove Bob and if it was in any other park in the country I don't think it would be mentioned nearly as much.

If you break towers rides (not theming) into categories:
Family/ JR coaster:
- Spinball
- Octanoughts (have no idea how to spell it!)
- Thirteen (not family themed) (world's first - surpassed)
- Wickerman (not family themed)
- RMC

Gentle/ introductory thrill
- Galactica (world's first - surpassed)
- Oblivion (if that hole wasn't there, the trill level would be so low) (world's first - surpassed)
- Rita (fast but doesn't do anything)

Thrill
- Nemesis
- Smiler

On paper, for a coaster enthusiast a place like Thorpe or BPB in the UK (in my opinion) is a better day out. What Towers has, is the experience of the gardens, grounds etc. which makes it a unique park to visit.

 

[Poisson]

With Voltron opening next year, Europa-Park also now has to be considered as having one of the best coaster line-ups in Europe. You'll have Voltron, Wodan, Silver Star and Blue Fire as stand outs, with the likes of Euro-Mir and Eurosat CanCan Coaster sitting below as well as a solid range of family and water coasters.

Silver Star and Blue Fire are poor though.

Shambhala and Hyperion and even technically not hypers in Piraten and EGF are far superior in doing what Silver Star tries and fails to do. Gotham City Escape and Taron make Blue Fire irrelevant as well, along with Star Trek being a better coaster of the same model and the Intamin cable launchers being better as well.

Outside of that, Can-Can and Matterhorn are dull and Schweizer Bobbehan is absolutely terrible. ASS and Poseidon are okay with Wodan and Mir the only coasters that are up there rubbing shoulders with other great European rides.

 

[Rob]

Silver Star and Blue Fire are poor though.

Shambhala and Hyperion and even technically not hypers in Piraten and EGF are far superior in doing what Silver Star tries and fails to do. Gotham City Escape and Taron make Blue Fire irrelevant as well, along with Star Trek being a better coaster of the same model and the Intamin cable launchers being better as well.

Outside of that, Can-Can and Matterhorn are dull and Schweizer Bobbehan is absolutely terrible. ASS and Poseidon are okay with Wodan and Mir the only coasters that are up there rubbing shoulders with other great European rides.

I believe your opinion of the coasters at Europa-Park differs from the majority! You are of course entitled to that, but the sustained success of both Silver Star and Blue Fire suggest they are not poor.

I think if you were based in the US for example and saw that a park had a GCI woodie, B&M hyper, Mack launch, Mack Stryker, a very unique Mack spinning coaster as well as a whole host of decent family coasters, you'd be thinking that's a great coaster line-up that I need to go and experience!

 

[Ted]

I don't agree that Energylandia has one of the best coaster lineups in Europe on the basis that they have duplicates of kids creds, off the shelf stuff from Zamperla and the like, and I will die on the hill of that I think Hyperion is the most overrated coaster in the entire continent. It's solid for sure, but definitely not great when you consider the number of quality and quantity of them

I do agree that Towers actually has a very good lineup. 3 great B&Ms, Nemesis is a classic and I think Oblivion and Galactica are some of the best in their respective lineups. From next year Thorpe will have a solid lineup too when Hyperia opens, not many parks in the world have 2 200ft+ coasters!

Europa has great lineup too, especially when you take into account how much the themeing adds to the ride experience with the track and train. Wodan is already great on its own, but the themeing gives it that extra spice!

Other mentions include Parque Warner, Phantasialand, Liseberg, Mirabilandia (they have an excellent 1-2 punch!), Hansa Park and from 2025 Walibi Holland

 

[Poisson]

I think if you were based in the US for example and saw that a park had a GCI woodie, B&M hyper, Mack launch, Mack Stryker, a very unique Mack spinning coaster as well as a whole host of decent family coasters, you'd be thinking that's a great coaster line-up that I need to go and experience!

On the face of it, the idea of the coasters sounds great but the actual hardware can be lacking in the flesh. The park suffers like Towers from having lots of prototypes. On paper yes, in reality no. Outside of the hardware the themeing, the operations etc are stunning and the park is great, but when it is down to hardware only it does suffer.

Voltron looks like it will massively strengthen the lineup though which is a big bonus.

 

[Adam H]

Towers is a park full of average coasters, with one great one in Nemesis. I'd rather go to a park like Energylandia or Plopsaland with a world class coaster, or a couple of really great ones. Compared to a park like Towers, even when Nemesis is back open. I've been shot down before but Towers doesn't even make top 10 for me.

 

[Matt N]

See, I don’t think that Alton Towers’ coaster selection mostly being prototypes necessarily makes them any worse. I’d say that Alton Towers does have my overall favourite coaster selection in the UK.

Of the ones mentioned in the opening post, I've done Alton, Thorpe, Blackpool and Europa. If I look at my spreadsheet, I'd say that for me personally, Europa has the strongest top 3 but Alton has the strongest overall selection.

If I rank them by top 3, the results are as follows:

Ranking	Park	Total Number of Coasters Ridden	Mean Rating of Top 3 (out of 10) (1dp)	Mean Overall Ranking of Top 3 (out of 111) (1dp)	Coasters in Top 3
1	Europa Park	12	9.7	8.3	Silver Star (#3/111, 10/10) Wodan (#6/111, 10/10) Blue Fire (#16/111, 9/10)
2	Alton Towers	10	9.3	13	Wicker Man (#10/111, 10/10) Oblivion (#11/111, 9/10) Nemesis (#18/111, 9/10)
3	Thorpe Park	7	8.7	19	Stealth (#12/111, 9/10) Nemesis Inferno (#17/111, 9/10) The Swarm (#28/111, 8/10)
4	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	10	7.7	31.7	Icon (#9/111, 10/10) Avalanche (#33/111, 7/10) Nickelodeon Streak (#53/111, 6/10)

And if I rank them by the quality of the overall selection, the results are as follows:

Ranking	Park	Number of Coasters Ridden	Mean Rating of Whole Selection (out of 10) (1dp)	Mean Overall Ranking of Whole Selection (out of 111) (1dp)
1	Alton Towers	10	6.5	43.4
2	Thorpe Park	7	6.4	45.9
3	Europa Park	12	6.3	44.6
4	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	10	4.5	69.3

So for me, Europa wins on the basis of the top 3, but Alton Towers wins on the basis of the overall selection strength. Thorpe Park holds its own against Alton Towers and Europa in terms of the strength of its overall selection, being roughly level-pegged with Europa and only ever so slightly weaker than Alton by this barometer, but in terms of its top 3, the park comes out a little weaker than Alton or Europa. Blackpool Pleasure Beach is the weakest of the 4 by quite a considerable margin for both overall selection strength and top 3 strength.

 

[ScottishChris]

See, I don’t think that Alton Towers’ coaster selection mostly being prototypes necessarily makes them any worse

The issue with them being 'prototyes' is as soon as you go and ride the next generation, they become irrelevant as the manufacturer has taken a step forward. For example - I like Oblivion purely for the tunnel... but that ride doesn't need to be a coaster. It would have the exact same ride experience if it was a face down drop-tower.

By biggest frustration with Towers has always been the theming. Wickerman is the perfect example - what is that ride? On paper it's a family coaster (fine). But before people go on it, you tell the riders that they are all going to be burned alive(!?). Thirteen, again a fairly tame family coaster - but you tell everyone that unspeakable things are going to happen to them. I love the theming of these rides, but they don't match the ride experience. It just seems 'muddled' to me.

But, like everything, it's all subjective.

 

[Benjsh]

I’m confused every time this type of thread is brought up.

People naming parks like Phantasia, Energylandia, Parque Warner….

Towers genuinely has a significantly better coaster line up than any of these.

Not their fault that we’ve all done their rides to death . If it was a novelty then a line up of Nemesis, Oblivion, Wicker Man, Smiler plus Thirteen, Spinball, Rita as second tier coasters is absolutely outstanding. Way ahead of anywhere else in Europe.

Top three is a different matter to be fair. Parque Warner and Energylandia have to rank highly for this. Phantasia not so much because they only really have Taron that’s anything better than mediocre

It's only because most people on here have probably ridden AT coasters more than any others in the discussion. After a while they can become a bit boring even though objectively they are very good coasters of course.