What are some of the best roller coaster rides in the world?

Some folks used to run a poll on rec.roller-coaster and published the results. They ranked woodies and steelies separately. (in part to avoid religious wars). I'm not sure what happened to it. (here's a typical post from 1993: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.answers/browse_thread/thread/557f1093ee89e32e/203cd59025f82b51?lnk=gst&q=top+10+list#203cd59025f82b51 ) American Coaster Enthusiasts (http://www.aceonline.org/default.aspx ) now has lists of coasters worth seeing Classic (http://www.aceonline.org/CoasterAwards/?type=1 ) Golden age (http://www.aceonline.org/CoasterAwards/?type=2 ) Landmark (http://www.aceonline.org/CoasterAwards/?type=3 ) If you are just seeking some good coasters to ride, those would all be good choices. There are also current lists of 10 best coasters, several different sites have their views. http://UltimateCoaster.com - http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/resources/tv/topten/topten_list.shtml top 10 http://CoasterFanatics.com http://www.coasterfanatics.com/sec_coasters/top50_overall.asp About.com's  list http://themeparks.about.com/cs/coasterbooks/a/bestcoasters.htm This Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_roller_coaster_rankings ) has some information that may be helpful. What makes a good coaster for a particular person is very much personal preference... do they like fast? Scary? Inversions? Lots of air time? Long rides? Good theming? Visual trickery?  using RCDB (http://www.rcdb.com ) to search for what you like might be a good approach. Myself I like classic woodies, especially fast ones, with good airtime, a long ride and some visual trickery, so my personal fave is Beast at King's Island (which bit me once but that's another story) with Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Shivering Timbers at my local park, Wildcat at Lake Compounce, and Thunderbolt at Kennywood all being in my top 5. If you like classic woodies and you could only go to one park, Kennywood is it, since it has Racer (a moibus coaster), Jackrabbit, and Thunderbolt.

In the 2012 edition of Amusement Today's prestigious Golden Ticket Awards these are their winners: Best Amusement Park: Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio Best Wood Coaster: El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, N.J Best Steel Coaster: Millennium Force at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio If you love roller coasters most people agree that Cedar Point in Ohio is the best place on the planet. Although I can't speak for Cedar Point having never been there, if you are ever in New Jersey, Six Flags is definitely a must visit, especially for El Toro (the best roller coaster I have ever been on) and Kingda Ka, the world's fastest and tallest.

The wooden coaster 'Voyage' at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana (they have 3 wooden coasters) is badass and scared the hell out of me. http://www.holidayworld.com/news/voyage-named-worlds-1-wooden-coaster-again

I would list my favorites as: Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster  at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio Nitro and Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey Montu and Sheikra at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida Goliath and Scream at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California The Incredible Hulk and Dragon Challenge at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida

I haven't ridden them all, but I know what I'm partial to: 3 wooden roller coasters at Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, PA: The Jackrabbit, featuring a fun, fly-out-of-your seat double dip; The Racers - double-tracked, racing coaster; and the Thunderbolt -- very fast, very steep drops along the hillsides overlooking the Monongehela River.  These are the coasters I grew up on, and as much as I love all coasters, none could exceed them for me!

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, I'd have to put in a strong endorsement for The Voyage at Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN.  I'm sure you might be thinking "Santa what?" -- but Holiday World (at one time called Santa Claus Land) is a modest family-run park in southern Indiana, just over an hour from Louisville.  In the past 15 or so years the park has grown substantially and now has three very good wooden coasters, but The Voyage is among the longest and fastest wooden rides in existence, and it's my overall favorite wooden coaster (I've been on over 140 coasters myself). The ride is a great combo of out-and back speed with crazily banked turns and is engineered so that the ride actually seems to pick up speed during the second half.  There are some eight tunnels, one of which has a double-down drop in the dark. So... while it's a bit out of the way, Holiday World is worth the journey. As far as steel coasters go, my favorite is Millennium Force at Cedar Point, followed by SheiKra at Busch Gardens Tampa, Top Thrill Dragster, Alpengeist at Busch - Williamsburg, and Diamondback at Kings Island. But my real favorite coaster?  The one I happen to be riding at the time.

I am going to have to disagree with all the answers that said "Kingda Ka". It's incredibly boring - you go through about 3 seconds of possibly painful wind hitting your face as you ascend, then you gaze down for about half a second before going over one smaller hill. Then finish. I personally nominate Nitro - not quite as fast, but with an uber-fast line, a ride long enough to really enjoy it, and an ascension that is quite a thrill for anybody with a fear of heights. It also has a great lag time at the top of the first hill to build up. It's just overall a smooth, efficient, thrill ride. El Toro is also great, although it kinda hurts your neck sometimes.

Dodonpa – Fuji-Q Highland, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan Dodonpa opened in 2001 and is a steel sit-down roller coaster with a compressed air launch. It is 52 metres (170 feet) tall, and has a launch speed of 172 km/h (107 mph), which is reached in less than 2 seconds. The launch is followed by a huge, sweeping, overbanked curve, giving riders a chance to catch their breath back, before they hit the 170 foot top hat; an element with some extreme negative G forces. The name ‘Dodonpa’ comes from the musical sound which is played to customers waiting to board it. Travel to Fiji with http://www.travelopod.com

Some of my favorites are Sheikra at Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, Florida, El Torro and Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey and Maverick and Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio