Link to Spotify if you're interested

Photo 1 in HD (3947 × 5263)

Photo 2 in HD (5528 × 7371)

*The only ones I'm still missing that could potentially get into my top 10 are Taiga and Expedition GeForce. Keep that in mind.

1. Ride to Happiness 🇧🇪

What can I say? Is it predictable? Yes, very much so. To me this is the one that simply brings me the most joy that I've ever had on a rollercoaster. Ride to Happiness therefore is the perfect name for it. Since it's a spinning ride every lap feels different. Sometimes you get the craziest angles when going through the inversions. I love this coaster dearly.

2. Wildfire 🇸🇪

Yes, it's this high. This is one of the best coasters I've ever been on, hence it's at number two of course, but this coaster's experience extends beyond just having a very good layout. For one, I like wooden coasters and despite being an RMC you still get that wooden coaster feeling of being out of control - though it's not shaky, rattly or painful at all. The reason I've put this so high is because of the location. When you're at the top of the lifthill, going around that 270 degree panoramic turn, you can look so far into the Swedish landscape before plunging back down into the rock work and forest. The fact that it's at a zoo makes it an even better story. The overall experience of my day at Kolmården was excellent and I like to reward that by placing Wildfire at number 2.

3. Voltron 🇩🇪

A masterpiece. I love so much about this coaster. It could easily be my number 1, but in the end I also think about the overall experience and for that reason it gets the number 3 spot. Don't get me wrong, the entire Croatia section of Europa Park is gorgeous and I really like that queue and station building, but Ride to Happiness gets the edge because of the onboard audio, which Voltron doesn't have. Wildfire is above it because of the aforementioned insane location its placed in. It's nitpicking at this point, because the top 3 are all a 10/10 to me. I really like Voltron and it does some very cool things. The story around it is great and the vertical launch is awesome. The entire layout is perfect and I even like the turntable. It gives you a moment to reflect on what the hell just happened before going full beans again. I also like that it launches backwards first after that moment.

4. Toutatis 🇫🇷

The first one where I feel it's not a clear 10/10, though it's still elite of course. I'm considering all of these in my top 10 to be of elite status. The only thing on Toutatis that takes maybe half a point away is its length. It's one or two elements too short. I don't mind the trims on the top hat by the way, even though that's a common complaint. I kinda like it even. The very best part of the coaster is the multipass launch section. Those airtime hills are serious thigh bruisers! I really like the airtime hill, the Zero-G stall and the rolls. Just, like I said, it could have been better if it did one more thing and THEN end with the bunny hills.

5. Batman Gotham City Escape 🇪🇸

Very hard for me to rate this one, because the pre-show is pretty cool! (which I do count towards my ratings by the way, I rate coasters on my overall experience) The layout is excellent as well - very intense and whippy at times. The only reason I rank it lower than Toutatis is the strange ending. I liked it at first, but after riding it a few times I changed my opinion on it. It's a bit underwhelming. You're coming out of that scary hangtime filled stall and it just goes into that vertical brake spike? Sure, you got a conclusion to the story, but I feel it could've been done differently. Goes without saying, but BGCE is still a 9.5/10. The airtime is great, the launches are punchy, the inversions all hit and like I said, that stall is straight up scary. Such a good coaster, but not perfect.

6. Zadra 🇵🇱

Usually people's favorite European RMC, and I thought it was freaking incredible, but just a little bit behind the other 5 above it. The sense of speed on Zadra is unbelievable. This thing absolutely rips over the tracks in the smoothest way possible. The stall is one of the best in the world and the Step-Up Underflip that goes through the supports is incredible. I just feel that it ends way too quickly, similar to Toutatis. (and another coaster that's coming up!) There's still so much speed when you slam into the brakes that it feels like a missed opportunity. However, the real reason that it's "only" at 6 are the idiotic operations, the insane length of the queue and the unbearable amount of queue jumping that happens at Energylandia. Again, I rate my coasters on overall experience.

7. Untamed 🇳🇱

One of the harder coasters to rate objectively, because it's at one of my home parks. I've ridden it the most of any coaster in this top 10, by far, so my judgment gets cloudy. However, I never get tired of Untamed. The only thing it lacks are height and speed and even though it doesn't need it, it misses it compared to the ones above it. Layout wise it's near perfect. No dead spots in my opinion. Great first drop, incredible unique inversion and overal an airtime and inversion filled course. I think 7 is a great spot for it.

8. Kondaa 🇧🇪

I've read some negative comments about Kondaa lately on how the final half feels like Planet Coaster auto-complete and I just don't agree with that. The first half is beyond perfect, make no mistake there. Incredible first drop, insane ejector on the camelback and outerbank and yes, I like the non-inverting cobra roll. It gives the coaster character. After that is where the critiques come in, but the wave turn is great and the bunny hills to close the ride out are excellent. Reminds me of Steel Vengeance. (my overall global number 1 by the way.) Normal visitors also get thrown off by those hills, because their reactions are always great to see. I place it at 8 because I'm not calling that second half perfect. I think it's very good, but personally I would have love to see an inversion or something, but they wanted to keep it inversion free and I respect that. It's very good, but clearly a tier lower than all 7 above it.

9. Helix 🇸🇪

One of the best terrain conforming launch coasters out there. If only those launches had a bit more punch. But, they do the trick! Those are the things that place it a bit lower, though. That said, the inversion filled layout is spectacular. It has great moments of airtime as well, starting right away dropping out of the station. I also think that Helix has one of the better finales of any coaster out there. It does ride a bit on the rattly side and the queue was not great. (Awesome soundtrack though!)

10. Hyperia 🇬🇧

And finally, my latest entry into the top 10 and the reason for me to write all of this up. Hyperia is a monster. The first drop is no joke. The whip you get when you're in the back row is scary. Scary good! This layout is just hit after hit, until it suddenly isn't. You have that first drop, the Immelman, the bonkers outward banked curve into the roll (Kremer Roll) and the everlasting hangtime filled stall. And then... trims, a weird outer bank and a hill. That's such a shame. The coaster truly is a 10/10 before those trims. I know it's supposed to have a water splash effect, but apparently that hasn't been running all year. I also thought the music in the queue was too loud. Still, definitely a top 10 worthy coaster. Very re-ridable as well. It's just a damn shame it's so short.

Get your pitchforks out and start roasting me!

Keep it nice though, love y'all!

Like Wicker Man, El Toro (no not that one), Joris en de Draak, Twister, Nickelodeon Streak, Wild Buffalo, Heidi the Ride etc.

Of course I also like the bigger woodies, and some
of them are obviously better, but I just think that the level of intensity, laterals and g-forces are perfect for me.

I've just returned from the longest coaster trip I've done to date and I wanted to write a trip report about it! We've travelled all over the UK to visit the following parks: Thorpe Park (2x), Legoland Windsor, Chessington World of Adventures, Drayton Manor, Pleasure Beach and of course Alton Towers (2x)

I want to start off by saying that our experience in this country has been absolutely wonderful. Literally everyone we've met or interacted with has been so kind, friendly and helpful. I love the Brits!

As for the reviews on each park, you can find detailed ones on my Instagram, so in this post I will only talk about the highlights.

Thorpe Park

Obviously Hyperia is a world class coaster. I was going on it with low expectations, seeing how I've read things about it being too short or having a rattle etc. While some of those criticisms are kind of true, it didn't bother me personally. The first drop is spectacularly insane and every element hits. I only find the trim-brakes to be a real negative. It's supposed to have water effects there, but locals told me it hasn't been turned on for a while. Hyperia is a very re-ridable coaster and after going on it through the single rider queue I've experienced almost every seat. I've still not decided if I like front row or back row best. What do you prefer?

Another highlight was Nemesis Inferno. I don't think I've ever experienced a B&M with such a long prelift section. Didn't expect that and I thought it made the ride unique, since B&M Inverts tend to look and feel similar to each other, in my opinion. The coaster itself was very good. Basically the first 1/3 feels like a Batman clone, but after that it really winds around itself with those iconic whippy corkscrews and roll-overs. Liked this one very much!

Stealth was also great, though it didn't blow me away like I expected. I honestly don't really buy into the fact that this is supposedly the fastest accelerating coaster on the planet. But, front-row on this is a fun experience!

Legoland Windsor

Lovely park with a large, terrainy layout. They definitely know their target audience and cater to them very well. Mini Land is always a good time and Flight of the Sky Lion might be the best flying theatre I've ever done. The latest addition to this park is Minifigure Speedway and though it looks tame it really does pull some strong positiives, especially on the blue side on the way back. Pretty intense stuff for a family coaster, but I thought it was great! Haunted House Monster Party is also a must-do if you're ever visiting. It was very charming and usually these madhouses have stories explaining why something is evil or spooky. This one sort of turns that around and shows how Vampyre turns his haunted house into a disco. Lovely stuff.

Chessington World of Adventure

Busy day here, because of the May bank holiday weekend, so we didn't have time to ride everything. It was okay though, because I only really wanted to ride Mandrill Mayhem and Vampire. Both are a lot better than they look and especially Vampire is a coaster they should keep for as long as possible.

Drayton Manor

We spent our morning in Oxford because the park was open til 9pm that day, but in the end we were 'done' after three hours. It's a nice park, and Gold Rush is a great addition to it, but in the end this park was not for us. The Wave was cool, but the egregiously slow operations made us not wanting to ride it anymore after two laps.

Alton Towers

A park I've wanted to visit ever since 1999 when Rollercoaster Tycoon came out. It has changed a lot since then of course, but in the game it was always a massive scenario with tons of space to work with. Well, that part is still the same. This park is huge! I thought the Efteling was big, but wow, put on some walking shoes for this one. Anyway, the rollercoasters here are awesome. The Smiler was a bucketlist coaster, due to its inversion record, and it blew me away. The only downside to it are the restraints, but that's just a personal thing. When it rolled out of the station I started to count the inversions, but after four or five I've already lost count. How on earth did Gerstlauer manage to design and build this. What an outstanding engineering feat.

Not the best coaster here though! For me it's hands down Wicker Man. I love GCIs, and especially family woodies, so this was right up my alley. Back row on it is the best laugh I've had on a coaster in a long time. The whole ride is perfect in my eyes and the pre-show is fantastic. My most ridden coaster of the park.

Nemesis Reborn is also incredible. It's so different from other B&M Inverts. The whole idea and thought behind the ride is so well done. From the design and engineering to the theming, it does it all really well. Not as smooth as Inferno (new age B&M!!11 blah blah blah) but still very, very nice to ride. Good forces and relentless pace, just like you want on these.

All other coasters are fun here as well!

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

And finally, the last park of the trip. Went in with zero expectations seeing how dated most of the rides are here, but honestly, this is a great park! Icon is the best coaster here, which shouldn't be a surprise. It's kind of a hybrid between Star Trek Operation Enterprise and Blue Fire. Nice airtime and hangtime, Mack is great at that. Also tried Enso and that made it even better!

All wooden coasters here run very well (Grand National was closed) and especially Nickelodeon Streak has a really fun out and back layout. Big Dipper was also a lot of fun.

Another thing Pleasure Beach does very well is darkrides. You can clearly see where Chris Sawyer took his inspiration from when designing some of those for RCT by the way. Both the Ghost Train and Alice in Wonderland are super old by now, but are still very well done in that classic darkride way. Wallace and Gromit was also great. Very well made and it's quite lengthy too, which is always nice.

I said I was only going to mention highlights, but I have to talk about The Big One. In the words of the ride op at Big Dipper: "oh it's shit, innit?" Yes. Yes, it's not good. Honestly, it's straight up scary. If you like that, good for you, seriously. But I didn't. It's also pretty painful. Every turn gave an unpleasant jolt. I know the comments will be full with how that's what you want or that classic Arrow coasters are great. Nah mate, even the employees dislike it. Iconic? Yes. Shit? Also yes.

Conclusion

I know I just ended on a negative there, but don't let that change your mind about how I feel about the week I've spent in England. Like I said earlier, the people here are great. Also quick shoutout to Nando's. We liked it so much that we ate there three times. Oops.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the photos!