The Fastest, Most Fun, and Most Frightening Coasters in Florida

The Sunshine State isn't only known for sandy surf-filled sites and beach-side bliss, there are also several different theme parks throughout this entire state, from Orlando's famous conglomerate of Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld to Tampa Bay's Busch Gardens. That means one thing: ROLLER COASTERS!

We have done our research, both in-person and online, and we think we have come up with the absolute best of the best in Florida, each high-flying option providing you with one of the most fun, fastest, or most frightening coaster experiences in the entire state!

    • Sheikra
      What many consider to be the absolute scariest coaster in all of Florida, our first feature, Sheikra, tops our list as one of the most frightening in the state! This 5G force ride will raise you 200 ft in the air, dangle you over the edge, then drop you down at a 90-degree angle, the entire experience designed to mimic the flight pattern of the ‘shikra’, the Asian-African hawk that dives vertically from great heights to get their prey.
      Park - Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
      Height - 200 ft
      Speed - 70 mph
    • Kraken
      We personally think this next coaster is one of the absolute fastest ones in all of Florida, this SeaWorld classic ‘lifting you higher, dropping you longer, and spiraling you faster than any other in Orlando’, according to SeaWorld. Loop, dive, and corkscrew at top speeds, the entire ride floorless, allowing your feet to dangle as the mythological underwater beasts takes you up 15 stories and then drops you back down at blazingly fast speeds. Don't blink, you'll miss it!
      Park - SeaWorld
      Height - 145 ft
      Speed - 65 mph
    • Manta
      Shaped just like a manta ray, predictably, this next coaster allows you to encounter different species of rays while waiting in line, travel through the air the exact way a Manta would through the water, and enjoy being face first in the wind during the entire ride. It’s not hard to see why we consider this to be one of the most fun rides in the Sunshine State, with several guests calling this their ‘all-time favorite’ coaster experience as they leave.
      Park - SeaWorld
      Height - 140 ft
      Speed - 56 mph
    • The Incredible Hulk
      This is one of the oldest rides on our list, and still one of the fastest, in our opinion. Experience Dr. Bruce Banner’s transformation into the Hulk after a gamma-ray accelerator malfunction, the ride beginning by boosting you 40mph out of the gate in 2 seconds flat. These Jet G-Force speeds lead into several zero-g rolls, with 7 inversions total on this extremely fun ride!
      Park - Islands of Adventure (Marvel Superhero Island)
      Height - 110 ft
      Speed - 67 mph
    • Mako
      One of the newest coasters in all of Florida will end our list, another one of the most frightening in our book! Mako was completed June of 2016, the impressive steel hypercoaster the new tallest, fastest, and longest coaster in all of Orlando. Named after one of the ocean's fastest sharks, this extremely tall coaster allows you to see the entire city skyline before sending you screaming down the first hill, allowing you to feel weightless for much of the ride!
      Park - SeaWorld
      Height - 200 ft
      Speed -  73 mph

 

Honorable Mentions:
We can’t leave out these next three highly popular Florida coasters, each one of them representing another fast, frightening, or fun riding aspect that we just can’t ignore!

    • Expedition Everest
      Welcome to Expedition Everest, Disney Animal Kingdom’s Asian region specialty that is the first in the park to have trains travel both forward and backward, plus the first to hold an audio-animatronic feature (25ft). One of the
      most fun rides in the area, this one will send you 118 ft in the air at speeds of 50 mph as you search for the yeti hiding on Mount Everest.

    • Cheetah Hunt
      This is one of the all-time most-fun rides in Florida, in our opinion! Cheetah Hunt allows you to view animals and ride at the same time, one of the longest coasters in all of Florida. This ride will actually allow you 4 full minutes of roller-coaster action and cheetah viewing! Enjoy a smooth ride at 60 mph, 102 feet at the maximum.

    • Dueling Dragons
      Harry Potter fans will love this last option, the extremely fun, extremely frightening at times, coaster that allows you to choose between two different trains, the trains representing two different Chinese dragons from the novels. The dragons will race around the track at Universal Studios and encounter several near misses as one tries to get to the finish first, the Hungarian Horntail reaching speeds of 57 mph, the Chinese Fireball 63 mph. Which one will you choose?