Top 5 UK Roller Coasters

Oblivion at Alton Towers

Oblivion opened in March 1998 with a height restruction of 1.4 metres. It’s maximum speed is 68 mph and it is the third fastest roller coast in the UK, and the fastest and tallest in Alton Towers!

Nemesis at Alton Towers

Once the train is locked and checked, it makes a 45-degree, right-hand turn towards the lift hill. Once at the top of the hill, the train makes a quick dip and turns around 180 degrees to the left. The train then descends down the drop into the first inversion, a right-handed corkscrew. The train then makes a right-handed, 270-degree downward helix, with 90 degree banking and a tight radius, achieving the maximum G-force of the ride, this is also where the on-ride camera is located. Then the train rises up into the second inversion, a zero g roll. It then makes a 180-degree right-handed stall turn into the third inversion, a vertical loop. After another stall turn, but this time to the left, the train makes the final inversion, another right-handed corkscrew. The train then passes through an underground tunnel, and through one more 180-degree turn, before being stopped by the brakes and entering the station.

The helix following the first inversion is one of the most intense elements of any rollercoaster in the world. The section of track as well as the train wheel assemblies undergo stresses far higher than what is typical for a modern rollercoaster. No inverted rollercoaster has since been built that takes an element at such a high speed.

Colossus at Thorpe Park

Colossus is a ten loop rollercoaster reaching speeds of 45 mph and a max G-Force of 4.2. It is in the Lost City area of Thorpe Park.

Stealth at Thorpe Park

Stealth reaches a maximum height of 62.5 m (205 ft). When the ride opened in 2006 it previously accelerated from 0-80 mph in 2.3 seconds, but in 2007 the ride’s acceleration was upgraded and became capable of accelerating to 80 mph in 1.9 seconds. For the start of the 2010 season, the trains were upgraded and stripped of weight to enable it to accelerate from 0-80 mph in 1.8 seconds. It is the fastest accelerating and also the tallest launch coaster in the UK. At the base of the top hat on each side, G-forces of up to 4.7G are produced. The coaster is thought to have cost £12 million to manufacture and construct.

Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures

Vampire is an Arrow suspended swinging roller coaster at Chessington World of Adventures theme park in London, England. It opened in 1990 in the new Transylvania area, and was designed by John Wardley. It originally featured bat-themed trains, which were later replaced with floor less models. The trains hang from the track, and swing freely as the roller coaster completes the course. It has two lift hills, featuring many dives and turns throughout. Towards the end, the ride has a sudden drop into a sharp banked curve through a tunnel before entering the break run.

The ride station is heavily themed as a very gothic abbey, using dim lighting and dramatic music. The queueline takes riders through a graveyard, before heading through a crypt and dark corridor which leads to the loading platform. Of particular note is the animatronic organist within the station which ‘plays’ a large pipe organ along to the theme music.