amusement park in
Laukaa,
Finland Roller coasters are divided into two main categories:
steel roller coasters and
wooden roller coasters. Steel coasters have tubular steel tracks, and compared to wooden coasters, they are typically known for offering a smoother ride and their ability to turn riders upside-down. Wooden coasters have flat steel tracks, and are usually supported with a
lattice or truss. The vast majority of roller coasters operating today are made with steel. RMC has notably redesigned wood coasters that have either deteriorated from age or been deemed by parks as too costly to maintain. RMC often replaces the wood track with their patented steel I-Box track design, while reusing much of the ride's wooden structure, resulting in a smoother ride with the incorporation of new design elements, such as inversions, sharper turns, and steeper drops. Although the term "hybrid roller coaster" wasn't used until the 21st century, one of the oldest examples is
Cyclone at
Luna Park, which opened in 1927. It features a wood track and steel structure. Other older examples include
mine train roller coasters, many of which were built by
Arrow Dynamics. The term
hybrid became more prominent after the introduction of
New Texas Giant at
Six Flags Over Texas in 2011. Many in the industry, however, continue to classify coasters strictly by their track type only, labeling them either steel or wood. Modern roller coasters are constantly evolving to provide a variety of different experiences. More focus is being placed on the position of riders in relation to the overall experience. Traditionally, riders sit facing forward, but variations such as
stand-up and
flying models position the rider in different ways to change the experiences. A flying model, for example, places riders lying down and facing forward with their chests and feet strapped in. Other ways of enhancing the experience involve removing the floor beneath passengers riding above the track, as featured in
floorless roller coasters. Unique track elements, such as new inversions, are often introduced to provide entirely new experiences. One variation, a
shuttle roller coaster, reverses at some point throughout the course of the ride to traverse the same track backwards. Parks have also experimented with
using virtual reality to augment the coaster experience.
By train type •
Bobsled •
Floorless •
Flying •
Fourth-dimension •
Inverted •
Mine train •
Motorbike •
Summer toboggan, also known as Mountain/Alpine coaster •
Pipeline •
Side friction •
Single-rail •
Spinning •
Virginia Reel •
Stand-up •
Steeplechase •
Suspended •
Water coaster •
Wing •
Wild mouse By model •
Accelerator Coaster •
Boomerang •
Dive Coaster •
El Loco •
Galaxi •
Euro-Fighter •
Giant Inverted Boomerang •
Impulse •
Infinity Coaster •
Invertigo •
Launched Loop •
Polercoaster •
SFX Coaster •
Shuttle Loop •
Sky Rocket II •
SkyLoop •
Suspended Family Coaster •
Suspended Looping Coaster •
Thrust Air 2000 •
Toboggan •
Vekoma Junior Coaster By track layout •
Dual-tracked •
Figure 8 •
Out and back •
Shuttle •
Terrain •
Twister •
Wild mouse By mechanics •
Lift hill •
Launched •
Powered By height at
Dutch Wonderland in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a coaster that reaches a top speed of at
Six Flags Great Adventure, a
Bolliger & Mabillard out and back coaster. is a
Intamin designed roller coaster at
Cedar Point in
Sandusky,
Ohio. at
Six Flags Great Adventure closed in 2024. Several height classifications have been used by parks and manufacturers in marketing their roller coasters, as well as enthusiasts within the industry. One classification, the
kiddie coaster, or
family coaster, is a roller coaster specifically designed for younger riders. Following World War II, parks began pushing for more of them to be built in contrast to the height and age restrictions of standard designs at the time. Companies like
Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) developed scaled-down versions of their larger models to accommodate the demand. These typically featured lift hills smaller than , and still do today. The rise of kiddie coasters soon led to the development of "junior" models that had lift hills up to . A notable example of a junior coaster is the
Sea Dragon – the oldest operating roller coaster from PTC's designer John Allen – which opened at
Wyandot Lake in 1956 near Powell, Ohio.
Hypercoaster A
hypercoaster, occasionally stylized as hyper coaster, is a type of roller coaster with a height or drop of at least .
Moonsault Scramble, which debuted at
Fuji-Q Highland in 1984, was the first to break this barrier, though the term
hypercoaster was first coined by Cedar Point and
Arrow Dynamics with the opening of
Magnum XL-200 in 1989. Hypercoasters have become one of the most predominant types of roller coasters in the world, now led by manufacturers
Bolliger & Mabillard and
Intamin.
Giga coaster A giga coaster is a type of roller coaster with a height or drop of at least . The term was coined during the construction of the
Millennium Force roller coaster built by
Intamin on
Cedar Point amusement park in 2000.
Morgan and
Bolliger & Mabillard have both also produced roller coasters in this class.
Strata coaster A strata coaster is a type of roller coaster with a height or drop of at least . As with the other two height classifications, the term
strata was first introduced by Cedar Point with the release of Top Thrill Dragster, a roller coaster that opened in 2003.
Kingda Ka was the second strata coaster, and it opened at
Six Flags Great Adventure in 2005 as the tallest roller coaster in the world with a height of . Top Thrill Dragster closed in 2021 following an incident in which a guest was severely injured while standing in line. The ride was subsequently refurbished and modified, and it reopened in 2024 as
Top Thrill 2. Kingda Ka was permanently closed on November 10, 2024, and was later demolished in February 2025.
Superman: Escape From Krypton, a coaster, operated at
Six Flags Magic Mountain from 1997 to 2024. It was not typically classified as a strata coaster due to its
shuttle coaster design, where trains do not travel a complete circuit.
Exa coaster An exa coaster is a type of roller coaster with a height or drop of at least . The term
exa was first introduced by Intamin for Falcons Flight, a coaster that opened at
Six Flags Qiddiya City in December 2025. Upon opening, it became the tallest, fastest, and longest coaster in the world, surpassing the previous records once held by
Top Thrill 2,
Formula Rossa, and
Steel Dragon 2000. ==Major roller coaster manufacturers==