Australia’s coaster scene is small and spread across a handful of cities, but it’s unusually varied for its size: a genuine hypercoaster and a growing cluster of launch and shuttle coasters on the Gold Coast, a brand-new wooden coaster at Sea World, a Eurofighter in Perth, and heritage wooden coasters in Sydney and Melbourne that are among the oldest ride types left in the world. The best of the lot is DC Rivals HyperCoaster at Warner Bros. Movie World, and it isn’t especially close.
This ranking is judged on how the rides actually feel to ride — airtime, pacing, intensity, and how each one compares to its peers — not just height or top speed. It covers a range of roller coasters we verified are currently operating at Australian parks; plenty of smaller family and kids’ coasters exist beyond this list. Alongside the ranking, you’ll find a quick comparison table, honest advice on which park to pick depending on who you’re traveling with, and a plan for visiting the country’s coaster parks without wasting a day on logistics.
Stats at a Glance
- Top Pick: DC Rivals HyperCoaster — Warner Bros. Movie World
- Tallest: DC Rivals HyperCoaster, 202 ft (61.6 m)
- Fastest: DC Rivals HyperCoaster, 71.5 mph (115.1 km/h)
- Best Park for Coasters: Warner Bros. Movie World
- Best Time to Go: April, May, August or September, outside Queensland school holidays
The Ranking: Best Roller Coasters in Australia
These are ranked by how they ride, best first, not by height alone.
1. DC Rivals HyperCoaster — Warner Bros. Movie World
DC Rivals HyperCoaster is a steel hyper coaster built by Mack Rides, standing 202 ft (61.6 m) tall with a top speed of 71.5 mph (115.1 km/h). It opened in September 2017 and is defined by the world’s first non-inverted loop, an element that twists the train through a loop-shaped track without turning riders upside down.
The ride spends most of its layout chasing airtime off a run of hills rather than leaning on inversions, so it feels closer to a classic hyper coaster than a looping machine — long stretches of weightlessness, a drop that holds nothing back, and a pace that barely eases up before the brakes. It suits riders who want sustained, big-coaster intensity over tricks, and it tops this list because nothing else in the country combines that scale with that smooth a ride.
2. Steel Taipan — Dreamworld
Steel Taipan is a steel launched coaster from Mack Rides, 128 ft (39 m) tall with a top speed of 65.3 mph (105 km/h). It opened in December 2021 as the first triple-launch coaster in the Southern Hemisphere, and its defining element is a launch sequence that fires the train forward, then backward, then forward again before the full circuit begins.
The three launches keep resetting the rhythm of the ride, so riders never settle into one kind of motion — the back-and-forth start alone is disorienting in a good way before the coaster even reaches its inversions. It rewards people who like launch coasters for the unpredictability rather than one big drop, and it sits just behind DC Rivals because the layout, while intense, is shorter and more compact.
3. Abyss — Adventure World
Abyss is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter coaster, 98 ft (30 m) tall with a top speed of 53 mph (85 km/h). It opened in November 2013 and is defined by a 100-degree first drop — past vertical — that was among the steepest in the world when it opened.
The drop is the whole point: a vertical lift hoists the train up a narrow spike before tipping it over the edge into a near-freefall, and the rest of the ride packs multiple inversions into a short, forceful circuit. It’s built for riders who want intensity over length and can handle a rough ride, and it ranks this high because, size for size, nothing else in the country hits as hard.
4. Leviathan — Sea World
Leviathan is a wooden coaster designed by Martin & Vleminckx with Gravity Group, 105 ft (32 m) tall with a top speed of 49.7 mph (80 km/h). It opened in December 2022 as the first new wooden coaster built in Australia in over three decades, and it’s defined by a set of track crossovers.
It rides like a modern wood coaster rather than an old one — quick transitions, a few genuine airtime moments, and the crossovers give it a sense of motion that’s unusual for timber construction in this country. It suits families who want a real coaster credit without Abyss-level forces, and it ranks in the top tier because it’s one of the newer major additions to Australia’s lineup and rides better than its modest height suggests.
5. The Flash: Speed Force — Warner Bros. Movie World
The Flash: Speed Force is a steel multi-launch halfpipe shuttle coaster built by Intamin, 98 ft (30 m) tall with a top speed of 43.5 mph (70 km/h). It opened on 13 May 2024 inside the footprint of Superman Escape’s track, after being relocated and repainted from Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast, where it had run as Surfrider from 2007 until it stopped operating in 2020; the ride then sat dormant before being physically removed from the park in 2023 for the move. It’s defined by its halfpipe layout — the train launches up one near-vertical wall, falls back through the station, then launches up the opposite wall, repeating with no inversions.
Each pass delivers a hard shove followed by a second or two of hang time at the top of the wall before gravity takes over again, so the ride feels like a repeating pendulum rather than a single circuit. It suits riders who like short, sharp bursts of force over a long layout, and it ranks mid-list because the sensation is strong but the ride is compact and over quickly.
6. Green Lantern Coaster — Warner Bros. Movie World
Green Lantern Coaster is a steel coaster built by S&S Worldwide (the El Loco model), 108 ft (33 m) tall with a top speed of 41 mph (66 km/h). It opened in December 2011 and is defined by a 120.5-degree first drop, one of the steepest of any coaster in the world.
The ride is short, but the drop alone delivers a few seconds of real free-fall sensation before a quick, snappy circuit that’s over almost as soon as it starts. It’s best for riders chasing one intense moment rather than a long ride, and it ranks mid-pack because the drop is memorable but the rest of the layout doesn’t sustain that intensity.
7. Big Dipper — Luna Park Sydney
Big Dipper is a steel single-rail launched coaster built by Intamin — the prototype of its Hot Racer model — standing 82 ft (25 m) tall with a top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h). It opened on 26 December 2021 as the world’s first launched single-rail coaster, seating riders one-across in a line down the train with two inversions packed into a compact layout.
The single-file seating changes how every turn feels, since there’s no one beside you and the car snaps through its two inversions with less visual reference than a normal train provides. It’s a novelty ride for people who want to try something genuinely new rather than go fast or high, and it ranks here because it’s compact and over quickly, but the gimmick works.
8. Superman Escape — Warner Bros. Movie World
Superman Escape is a steel accelerator launch coaster built by Intamin, 131 ft (40 m) tall with a top speed of 62 mph (100 km/h). It opened on Boxing Day 2005 and is defined by its launch — 0 to 100 km/h in about two seconds — straight up a near-vertical top-hat tower.
Once the launch is done, the ride is mostly the float at the top of the tower and a short return circuit, so it reads as a one-trick coaster rather than a sustained experience. It suits riders who want the pure sensation of a hard launch without inversions, and it ranks mid-list because that single moment is excellent but everything after it is brief.
9. Flight of the Wicked Witch — Warner Bros. Movie World
Flight of the Wicked Witch is a steel suspended family coaster built by Vekoma, 62.3 ft (19 m) tall with a top speed of 41.6 mph (67 km/h). It opened on 20 December 2024 as part of the park’s Wizard of Oz land, and it’s defined by its fixed-train layout, in which riders sit in open cars suspended directly beneath the track with their legs dangling free, themed around flying alongside the Wicked Witch’s monkeys.
The sensation comes from that open, legs-hanging seating position and the way the fixed train banks through turns, rather than from any side-to-side swing — this model is built with minimal lateral movement, so it rides smoother and more predictably than a true swinging suspended coaster. It suits families who want more than a toddler ride but aren’t ready for Abyss, and it ranks here because it’s a genuinely well-built example of a family coaster rather than an afterthought.
10. Kansas Twister — Warner Bros. Movie World
Kansas Twister is a steel twin-track racing shuttle coaster built by Vekoma, 72.2 ft (22 m) tall with a top speed of 36 mph (58 km/h). It opened on 20 December 2024 alongside Flight of the Wicked Witch, and it’s defined by its two parallel tracks, which send trains forward, pause them, then pull them backward along the same track in a side-by-side race.
The racing format is the appeal: riders on one track can see the other train rising and falling in parallel, which adds a competitive edge that a single-track boomerang coaster doesn’t have. It’s aimed at families and groups riding together rather than solo thrill-seekers, and it ranks here because the novelty of racing backward and forward works better than the modest height and speed suggest.
11. Jungle Rush — Dreamworld
Jungle Rush is a steel switchback coaster built by Vekoma — the first of its kind in the world — with a track length of about 1,509 ft (460 m). It opened on 23 December 2024 as the centrepiece of Dreamworld’s Rivertown area, a roughly A$35 million investment, and it’s defined by an inclined triple-switch turntable that lets the train run the layout forwards, then physically switches the track so it runs the same layout backwards.
Running the course twice, once each direction, means the ride’s 12 airtime moments all land differently the second time through, since riders can’t anticipate what’s coming the way they could on a normal out-and-back layout. The park doesn’t publish an official height or top speed for it, and it’s rated a moderate thrill rather than a hard one, so it suits families and riders curious about a genuinely new mechanic more than those chasing stats, and it ranks here on novelty rather than raw intensity.
12. Scenic Railway — Luna Park Melbourne
The Great Scenic Railway is a wooden coaster built in 1912, 52 ft (16 m) tall with a top speed of 37 mph (60 km/h). It’s defined by its brakeman, who rides in the train and manually controls speed on the way down — one of only a handful of coasters left in the world still run this way.
The ride itself is gentle by modern standards, with wide, sweeping curves above the park and views out to the bay, but riding the world’s oldest continuously operating coaster with a brakeman on board is something no other ride in the country offers. It suits anyone who cares about coaster history as much as speed, and it ranks mid-list because its appeal is heritage and novelty rather than raw thrill.
13. Gold Coaster — Dreamworld
The Gold Coaster is a steel looping coaster built by Arrow Dynamics, 131 ft (40 m) tall with a top speed of 53 mph (85 km/h). It originally opened at Luna Park Sydney in 1995 before relocating to Dreamworld in 2001, and it’s defined by its multiple inversions threaded through the park’s Ocean Parade area.
It rides like the classic looping coaster it is — rattly, abrupt transitions, and inversions that hit you rather than flow — which is part of its charm for enthusiasts who want to feel coaster history rather than a smooth modern layout. It’s not for anyone sensitive to rough rides, and it ranks here because its age shows, even though it’s one of the last of its kind still running in the country.
14. Storm Coaster — Sea World
Storm Coaster is a steel water coaster built by Mack Rides, 92 ft (28 m) tall with a top speed of 43 mph (70 km/h). It opened in December 2013 and is defined by its splashdown finish, where the boats leave the track and hit water, soaking riders in the front rows.
It’s a hybrid of a flume ride and a coaster, with a couple of drops and turns before the water landing, so it’s more about the combination of speed and getting wet than any single thrilling element. It’s a good fit for families and anyone cooling off on a hot Gold Coast day, and it sits in the lower half of this list because the thrills are mild next to the park’s own Leviathan.
15. Wild Mouse — Luna Park Sydney
Wild Mouse is a wooden wild mouse coaster that first opened at Luna Park in 1963, standing roughly 40 ft (12.2 m) tall with a top speed of around 28 mph (45 km/h). It reopened on 14 March 2025 after an extensive offsite restoration and is defined by the tight, zig-zagging turns typical of the wild mouse design.
The sharp, unbanked turns throw riders side to side in a way few modern coasters replicate, since most wild mouse coasters of this type have disappeared worldwide. It’s a short, rough-edged novelty ride best suited to riders chasing a rare ride type rather than height or speed, and it closes out this list because its appeal is historical rarity rather than thrill.
Quick Comparison
Same ranking, same numbers, side by side.
| Rank | Coaster | Park | Type | Height | Top Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DC Rivals HyperCoaster | Warner Bros. Movie World | Steel hyper coaster | 202 ft (61.6 m) | 71.5 mph (115.1 km/h) |
| 2 | Steel Taipan | Dreamworld | Steel launched coaster (triple launch) | 128 ft (39 m) | 65.3 mph (105 km/h) |
| 3 | Abyss | Adventure World | Steel Euro-Fighter coaster | 98 ft (30 m) | 53 mph (85 km/h) |
| 4 | Leviathan | Sea World | Wooden coaster | 105 ft (32 m) | 49.7 mph (80 km/h) |
| 5 | The Flash: Speed Force | Warner Bros. Movie World | Steel multi-launch halfpipe shuttle coaster | 98 ft (30 m) | 43.5 mph (70 km/h) |
| 6 | Green Lantern Coaster | Warner Bros. Movie World | Steel coaster (El Loco) | 108 ft (33 m) | 41 mph (66 km/h) |
| 7 | Big Dipper | Luna Park Sydney | Steel single-rail launched coaster | 82 ft (25 m) | 45 mph (72 km/h) |
| 8 | Superman Escape | Warner Bros. Movie World | Steel accelerator launch coaster | 131 ft (40 m) | 62 mph (100 km/h) |
| 9 | Flight of the Wicked Witch | Warner Bros. Movie World | Steel suspended family coaster (fixed train) | 62.3 ft (19 m) | 41.6 mph (67 km/h) |
| 10 | Kansas Twister | Warner Bros. Movie World | Steel twin-track racing shuttle coaster | 72.2 ft (22 m) | 36 mph (58 km/h) |
| 11 | Jungle Rush | Dreamworld | Steel switchback coaster | Not published | Not published |
| 12 | Scenic Railway | Luna Park Melbourne | Wooden coaster | 52 ft (16 m) | 37 mph (60 km/h) |
| 13 | Gold Coaster | Dreamworld | Steel looping coaster | 131 ft (40 m) | 53 mph (85 km/h) |
| 14 | Storm Coaster | Sea World | Steel water coaster | 92 ft (28 m) | 43 mph (70 km/h) |
| 15 | Wild Mouse | Luna Park Sydney | Wooden wild mouse coaster | 40 ft (12.2 m) | 28 mph (45 km/h) |
Which Australia Park Should You Pick?
Serious riders should head to Warner Bros. Movie World. It has the country’s widest spread of thrill coasters under one roof — DC Rivals HyperCoaster, the multi-launch The Flash: Speed Force, Green Lantern Coaster, and Superman Escape — and you can ride all four multiple times in a single day without the park feeling thin on other attractions.
Families with younger kids are better off at Sea World. Leviathan is a real coaster but an approachable one, and the park’s other rides are mild enough for most kids who’ve outgrown kiddie rides, while the marine shows and animal exhibits give the day a different pace than a straight thrill park.
For a mixed group with a range of ages and nerve levels, Dreamworld is the best single-park choice. Its coaster range runs from Steel Taipan at the intense end down to the family-friendly Jungle Rush and Kenny’s Forest Flyer at the gentle end, and the wildlife park and other rides give non-coaster riders plenty to do while the rest of the group laps the thrill rides.
Planning a Coaster Road Trip in Australia
The Gold Coast cluster — Dreamworld, Warner Bros. Movie World and Sea World — sit within about 15 to 20 minutes of each other on the M1, so all three are realistically doable over two or three days without much driving at all. From there, Luna Park Sydney is about 9 to 10 hours’ drive south down the Pacific Motorway, though most visitors fly instead, since it’s roughly a 90-minute flight. Luna Park Melbourne is a further 8 to 9 hours’ drive from Sydney, again usually covered by a short flight. Adventure World in Perth is a trip of its own — thousands of kilometres and well over 40 hours by road from the east coast — so it’s best treated as a separate leg flown in and out of rather than part of an east-coast loop.
A sensible order is Gold Coast first, then Sydney, then Melbourne, saving Perth for whenever a Western Australia trip lines up on its own. Avoid the summer school holidays (mid-December to late January) and Easter, when Queensland parks are at their hottest and most crowded; April, May, August and September give milder weather and shorter lines. One tip that still holds in 2026: Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World, Wet’n’Wild and Paradise Country are sold as a bundled Village Roadshow multi-park pass that works out cheaper than buying single-day tickets to each park separately, while Dreamworld, being independently owned, is ticketed on its own.
Explore more: Roller Coasters guide.
Keeps your phone strapped to you, not in a loose-article bin. Zip it before the lift hill and walk straight off the exit ramp.
Rapids, log flumes and splash zones without the rice-bag aftermath. The touchscreen still works through the window, so you can still take photos.
Cheaper than the $15 poncho at the gift shop and you get a whole bag. Toss one in every backpack for water rides and pop-up storms.
Best Roller Coasters in Australia FAQs
What is the best roller coaster in Australia?
DC Rivals HyperCoaster at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast. It’s the tallest and fastest coaster in the country and sustains its airtime-heavy pacing over a longer layout than anything else in Australia.
What is the tallest roller coaster in Australia?
DC Rivals HyperCoaster at Warner Bros. Movie World, at 202 ft (61.6 m).
Which park in Australia has the most roller coasters?
Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast has the widest spread of roller coasters of any Australian park, ranging from the hypercoaster-scale DC Rivals HyperCoaster and the multi-launch The Flash: Speed Force down to family coasters like Kansas Twister and Flight of the Wicked Witch in its Wizard of Oz land.
When is the best time to visit Australia theme parks?
April, May, August or September, outside Queensland school holidays and Easter. Summer (mid-December to late January) brings the heaviest crowds and the hottest, most humid conditions on the Gold Coast.
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Photo: Benjamin “Jeffrey” Powell / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.