Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Roller coasters have grown ever taller in height over the years, but the story of how they reached these heights is quite a fascinating one. This video essay covers the evolution of the world's tallest roller coasters over time, from coasters such as the Loch Ness Monster at Busch gardens Williamsburg, all the way up to the current world's tallest coaster, Kingda Ka, at Six Flags Great Adventure. The world record passes around between america, japan and europe and there’s some really interesting rare coasters featured here. There’s plenty of controversy as well, as not every coaster that claimed to have the world height record actually had it legitimately.
At the end I also take a look at what the future of roller coasters holds for us, with a couple of proposed coasters that may smash the world record which has now been held by the same coaster for 15 years.
Making this video has taken a lot of research, from trawling abandoned websites and some manufacturer websites that are only accessible using the Wayback Machine internet archives, to trying to find good footage available from other youtube creators that are happy for me to use it.
I’ve used my own footage and photos as much as possible, and where I haven’t, I’ve done my best to credit the original sources. If I’ve missed anyone, or the wrong credit is listed, let me know and I’ll edit this description to give full credit where it is due.
Special thanks go to the following sites for their fantastic footage of these coasters.
16BitCoaster youtube.com/user/BlueFireGuyVids
Airtime Thrills Raw Footage youtube.com/channel/UCeCn_H8vPrtvSLrNkg-H6Ww
Coaster Hipster youtube.com/channel/UCuPba5ILyza2T_i3tweOg2Q
Coaster Jeff youtube.com/channel/UC_f7VYbcpv-mKp_o89sxtMA
Coaster Maniac coaster.fc2web.com/index.htm
ElToroRyan youtube.com/channel/UCQkXKcvJmEnCh5nHaGk_W4g
Hikawa Rides youtube.com/channel/UCAahe6R0gvT60A_5I-cx0Iw
Santa Clarita Drone youtube.com/channel/UCzO6WjdIgcqNZlcA2zP3gag
Thanks for watching this video!
-Rollercoaster David
Roller coasters have grown ever taller in height over the years, but the story of how they reached these heights is quite a fascinating one. This video essay covers the evolution of the world's tallest roller coasters over time, from coasters such as the Loch Ness Monster at Busch gardens Williamsburg, all the way up to the current world's tallest coaster, Kingda Ka, at Six Flags Great Adventure. The world record passes around between america, japan and europe and there’s some really interesting rare coasters featured here. There’s plenty of controversy as well, as not every coaster that claimed to have the world height record actually had it legitimately.
At the end I also take a look at what the future of roller coasters holds for us, with a couple of proposed coasters that may smash the world record which has now been held by the same coaster for 15 years.
Making this video has taken a lot of research, from trawling abandoned websites and some manufacturer websites that are only accessible using the Wayback Machine internet archives, to trying to find good footage available from other youtube creators that are happy for me to use it.
I’ve used my own footage and photos as much as possible, and where I haven’t, I’ve done my best to credit the original sources. If I’ve missed anyone, or the wrong credit is listed, let me know and I’ll edit this description to give full credit where it is due.
Special thanks go to the following sites for their fantastic footage of these coasters.
16BitCoaster youtube.com/user/BlueFireGuyVids
Airtime Thrills Raw Footage youtube.com/channel/UCeCn_H8vPrtvSLrNkg-H6Ww
Coaster Hipster youtube.com/channel/UCuPba5ILyza2T_i3tweOg2Q
Coaster Jeff youtube.com/channel/UC_f7VYbcpv-mKp_o89sxtMA
Coaster Maniac coaster.fc2web.com/index.htm
ElToroRyan youtube.com/channel/UCQkXKcvJmEnCh5nHaGk_W4g
Hikawa Rides youtube.com/channel/UCAahe6R0gvT60A_5I-cx0Iw
Santa Clarita Drone youtube.com/channel/UCzO6WjdIgcqNZlcA2zP3gag
Thanks for watching this video!
-Rollercoaster David
