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Most famous rollercoaster?

nadroJ

nadroJ

CF Legend
I swear I've made this topic before, but can't find it, and I think it's a fun discussion to have.

So, most famous rollercoaster? I'm talking amongst general public kind of famous, not enthusiast famous.

In my opinion it's probably Space Mountain. It's a bit weird, not with any reference to any particular Space Mountain, but the name of the ride is very well known and most people would know that it is a coaster.

And probably something like Cyclone at Coney Island, but again more by name than actually recognition of the ride itself.
 
I think universally most Disney coasters are pretty famous such as Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This is obviously helped by the fame of the brand. Its not a coaster but growing up i've always looked at images of Tower of Terror and thought they looked pretty iconic.

Other than that I would say it varies by country. In the UK I would definitely say Nemesis. For the rest of Europe I would argue that Dragon Khan is the most famous coaster, due to the popularity of the destination amongst non enthusiasts.
 
Id also add the big one to the list - Blackpools a very well known resort, and it's pretty dificult to go there and NOT see it!
 
Generically speaking, "Wild Mouse". :p

But erm, Cyclone, PMBO, Nemesis, Space Mountain, Hulk, Big Thunder Mountain, Millenium Force.

Some of those were Kyle's answers lmao.
 
Having seen the number of people who can't tell where Air ends and Nemesis begins and which is which, I'd say that most people actually really don't have a clue. It's simply unimportant to them.

I doubt even now people could the difference between Grand National, Big Dipper or Rollercoaster (or whatever the eye bleeding monster is called today).

Even as an enthusiastic member of the "GP" ten years ago, I couldn't have named another coaster outside of the UK. 15 years? Nemesis and PMBO; plus from 20 years ago, I could have got the three Blackpool woodies and Corkscrew at Alton but nothing else.

That's as somebody going to parks to ride coasters five or more times a year. Most of the people I work with can't remember names or just don't know that the rides are called - some go to Alton or Drayton once or twice a year.

I reckon if you showed the British GP a picture of PMBO, a lot would know it was in Blackpool, and maybe half of them would get it was called "The Big One" - so that probably would be the UKs most famous. Beyond that? I'll have to ask my boss who went to Orlando last year which coasters he can remember - I'm willing to bet no names and a few vague descriptions.
 
I'm not saying coasters that could be like, identified in a line-up, but if you said the name people would vaguely recognise it and could probably tell you where it is.

Which is why I went for Space Mountain. I've heard it mentioned in loads of American sitcoms, and the fact that they would include the name specifically instead of just referring to a rollercoaster suggests to me that there is something internationally recognisable about the idea of that particular rollercoaster.
 
If I count the Italian ones out, Kingda Ka is probably the most famous with the people around here (in Slovenia)
 
I think you may be right with the Disney stuff as far as American's go, probably more so than PMBO with the UK. World wide though I think it's a hard one. I'll bet there are still a significant number of people (outside of the US) who don't know Pirates of the Caribbean is based on a ride :lol:

I'd seen Jurassic Park a least a dozen times before I realised what Ian Malcolm was on about and only then because I'd been to DLRP in 2001 :)
 
^^Really? That's surprising to me. I've always been surprised at how many people have never heard of Ka, considering it's status.

I just think Disney is like, a must-do destination internationally (again, being totally non-specific to WHICH Disney park I'm referring to), therefore it is the most likely place to have a recognisable ride. Combine that with the fact that they tend to reuse the names of their E-ticket attractions and it really does make sense.
 
I agree, but there is probably a large divide happening here.

In the US, I think it's a cultural thing that people know about. Over here, Disney is a brand name, but only people who have been will know ride names (and I suspect it's similar for a lot of countries).

The divide is simply between the "well off" and the "poor" :lol: I grew up on a council estate surrounded by fellow working class scum and very few ever went abroad apart from the posh ones - who also tended to be the ones who were in the top streams and due a solid academic future.

I still live on a council estate and while I'm not surrounded by scum (I save that for CF-Lives :p ), I still know very few people who go abroad - or even within this country - to visit theme parks. It's certainly something considered very unusual in the area, MMF is one of the few in his school to have been to Alton Towers (let alone anywhere else) and I just know very few people outside of CF who make any effort to go to theme parks at all - let alone travel to Disney. It's simply too expensive.

Of course, that doesn't mean the rest of the world is like that :lol:
 
I would have thought that the Coney island "Cyclone" was pretty famous. Wasn't it in GTA IV or something?
 
TTD or Kingda Ka. When I used to go to college, I've saw a few look at videos of it on Youtube and images on Google, and I hear it mentioned every now and then.

Realistically I think it depends where you live, if I lived in London I'd hear a lot about Stealth and The Swarm, whereas where I'm living now I hear a lot about Oblivion and Nemesis. I think Pepsi Max Big One got a lot of fame from its over-whelming record in this country, and also RCT. :p
 
I disagree re: disney, I think plenty of people know of tower of terror, big thunder mountain, space mountain, small world, pirates, jumbos, etc even if they have never been.
 
Joey said:
I disagree re: disney, I think plenty of people know of tower of terror, big thunder mountain, space mountain, small world, pirates, jumbos, etc even if they have never been.
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You would because you come from an affluent area with good transport links to the US and continent.

I don't think that everyone in the UK is oblivious, but I'm willing to bet that certain areas people know and in others they just don't have the foggiest.

Time for another survey I think :p
 
I think possibly for the UK it will involve Florida parks or Disneyland Paris. Most people can name their rides as its a very (if not the most) common holiday/break destination for average people. Generally everybody is aware of Thorpe/Alton/Blackpool/Chessie, but I'm always suprised at the unknowing of rides. Nemesis is suprisingly more unknown than I thought it would be, but that could be down to location (or an enthusiast raving thing). People seem to be more localized than most of us...

If a theme park topic comes up in convosation, I find Montu, Hulk or Shiekra comes up. Most people seem to think Florida is "the place" for coasters...

I think as a whole you can go to anybody and they will know the name of the Coney Island Cyclone though. So that or the above could be it.
 
None of my friends are especially aware of the Disney rides. And I think generally people in Sweden knows very little of coasters outside the country. Sure, some have heard the name Six Flags. A few have even heard Cedar Point. But there are not a lot of people who could name a "famous" ride abroad. On the other hand everybody knows of Balder! If you would ask a 90 year old auntie what Balder is you would without doubt get the answere "It's the woodie at Liseberg!" :p
 
furie said:
Joey said:
I disagree re: disney, I think plenty of people know of tower of terror, big thunder mountain, space mountain, small world, pirates, jumbos, etc even if they have never been.
Click to expand...

You would because you come from an affluent area with good transport links to the US and continent.

I don't think that everyone in the UK is oblivious, but I'm willing to bet that certain areas people know and in others they just don't have the foggiest.

Time for another survey I think :p
Click to expand...
Fair point actually.

I try and pretend that there's nothing outside of the M25, because it's such a depressing thought.
 
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