This might seem like an unusual topic for an edition of Coaster Questions, but I probably don’t give flat rides and other non-roller coasters enough attention. Let’s face it, a theme park that had nothing but roller coasters wouldn’t be complete. Every park needs a nice supporting cast of smaller thrill and family rides.
For me, drop rides have always been a favorite. They can really get the adrenaline going even more than some roller coasters. The long slow climb, ride ops that tease before dropping riders, and that exhilarating fall all add up to a memorable experience.
I’m not a huge fan of flat rides that spin too much. So, I wasn’t sure I’d like Dollywood’s Dizzy Disk ride when I decided to ride it last summer. Consisting of a half-pipe of coaster-like track, a round carriage that has riders facing outward, the ride spins the carriage as it rolls back and forth on the track. Thankfully, I didn’t get dizzy at all and I got a little pop of air at the top of half-pipes every once in a while. I’ll definitely ride one of these if I happen to see one again.
California’s Great America has an extended version in Tiki Twirl (Formerly Survivor: The Ride). It has a small hill in the middle of the half pipe that likely provides another opportunity for some airtime. It’d be great to see one of these at Carowinds.
What’s Your Take?
What are your favorite non-roller coaster rides? Leave a comment below.
Coaster Critic 
43 responses to “What’s Your Favorite Non-Roller Coaster Ride?”
I’m a fan of Space Shot at the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center.
I love Maxair at Cedar Point, it has a great mix of spinning and airtime. I also like any ride that has a unexpected free fall drop, those get me every time.
Well answering this question technically, I’d easily say Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man at IoA (sorry Harry Potter). But if you’re talking more traditional flat rides, them I’ll have to second MaxAir and other Giant Frisbees. I also love the combination of spinning, swinging, and airtime.
Harry Potter & the forbidden journey
I’d go with Skyhawk at Cedar Point. It has more air time than most coasters. However, I have not been on any good dark rides.
LOVE LOVE LOVE Deja Vu at Six Flags Great Adventure. Although it’s just any other scrambler, it plays awesome 70’s music!
The flyers (er, Woodstock Gliders) at Carowinds!
Any Frisbee ride!
I am not a fan of freefalls at all, but do like the ‘giant frisbee’ rides. Have been on The Claw at Dreamworld Australia, La Revolucion at Knott’s Berry Farm and Psyclone at Canada’s Wonderland. All essentially the same ride, but still scary enough!! Looking forward to MaxAir at Cedar Point when we’re over in June!!
My favorite drop tower ride is Acrophobia (SFOG). I also like Swing Shot (Kennnywood). But my favorite flat ride are the Windseekers.
I love story driven, hyper themed rides like Potter,Spider Man, Star Tours, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, etc. If no good dark rides are around though I’d say drop towers, Intamin’s in particular. Weather permitting, I am partial to some water ride action as well, especially rapids rides.
For me, at this point at least, are good water slides (been on at least 42), while i know that they aren’t actually amusement park rides, they aren’t roller coasters and are rides, so they technically do count, but they can be lots of fun, one of my all time bests has to be Black Anaconda at Noah’s Ark in the dells, which is a REALLY good waterpark BTW (honestly the best place in the entire Dells, I HIGHLY recommend going there BTW, it’s well worth the price), plus they have a Hopkins Shoot-the-Chutes there as well,
Though in cold weather I would never go on one if it isn’t at an indoor waterpark (which are much more common then indoor theme parks, especially in the dells which has 5 of them). But overall, it’s out there, but it fits and they’re year-round (if in an indoor waterpark) and rather fun,
I prefer Intamin droptowers. The S&S ones don’t do it for me. I haven’t done the Magic Mountain one, so the best one so far is the one at Kings Dominion. Amazing drop!
I really enjoy drop towers, and my favorite would have to be the one at Cedar Point, where you can launch or drop. They’re both awesome!
I love to flip and spin, so MaxAir, SkyHawk and Enterprise top my list. Being a kayaker, I also enjoy good water rides, like flumes and rapids. (Thunder Canyon at Dorney wins this category hands down!) If I want to relax and unwind, it’s a Cedar Fair Windseeker or Soarin’ at Disney World.
my favorite is.was the first gen Intamin drop tower Demon Drop. Bring it back to OH!
Good one Lily. I forgot about the Woodstock Gliders. I had an eye-opening experience on them a few years ago at Coaster Stock.
Scramblers are great family rides. I rode one with my 5 year old and it was probably her first non-kids only ride. She loved it. The 70s theme sounds fun.
Agreed. That ride completely blew me away last year.
I was thinking flat rides, but anything “non-coaster” works Mike. I loved Spider-Man too, but I haven’t been on the updated version yet.
Giant Frisbees – MaxAir at Cedar Point, Delirium at Kings Island. They’re better than many coasters. Both of them are surrounded by tall towers which are at weird angles when the swinging is at its peak.
Intamin giant drop tower at Kings Island. (Much better than S&S).
S&S Screaming Swing at Cedar Point. The mini version at Knotts isn’t as good and the mid-size version at Dollywood has a very short cycle.
Thunder Canyon at Dorney is amazing. I should have known I was in for a soaker when I saw EVERYONE else in line wearing a bathing suit.
Also the best theming/landscaping I have seen on a fake river ride.
I’m not sure if you’d classify Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain as a non-roller coaster ride, but it is probably my favourite ride of all time. Have been on the equivilant – Tower of Terror at Dreamworld in Australia a few times, both forwards and backwards. Just love the feeling, although prefer backwards. Looking forward to riding Superman: Escape from Krypton again in June!!
I like the ‘giant’ swings the best. Surprisingly, I didn’t like Skyhawk as much as the Great Barn Swing. I think because its longer, it doesn’t get as ‘intense’…Same for Delarium and MaxAir.
Lex Luthor Drop of Doom is definitely my favorite. The feeling of looking at Goliath across the park at eye level and knowing you are only halfway to the top is unrivaled. The drop takes forever and is by far the best drop I’ve experienced on a drop tower. And if Superman happens to launch during the ascent, the tower shakes substantially, which makes for an even more thrilling ride.
I’ve always loved Jurassic Park (Orlando and Hollywood) because it’s always been one of my favorite movies and the ride is so unique and well themed.
Gotta go with the Intamin drop towers. I’m a sucker for tower rides, and while the S&S variations are nice, nothing beats a natural free fall for me. The towers at Kings Island and Kings Dominion are awesome rides. Skyhawk at Cedar Point and the recently removed Catapult at Six Flags New England are also pretty fun (Sad to see Catapult go. Probably the most forceful ride I’ve been on and there was never a line.)
I love Skyhawk too. S&S Power swings provide great airtime and are extremely fun. Also drop towers are the only kind of rides that give me that nervous feeling in my stomach. I can do all kinds of coasters easy but for whatever reason drop rides really make me nervous.
The bumper cars (Skooterz) at Knoebels are a must-do!
I enjoy the zipper, I get school girl happy whenever a carnival comes through town just to ride it. Haha. But I think I’m gonna have to give it to lex Luthor as favorite non-rollercoaster ride, as of late at least. It’s the only ride at MM that turns my stomach into knots when standing in line. Ps the west facing drop side of the S:EFK tower is definitely better than the east facing side for drop of doom. And yes if you score a ride when superman just shot up the tower, it sways and it’s probably the most thrilling experience at the park. 400ft in the air, anticipating a drop back to earth, a swaying tower, and California sun in your face.
By far SkyHawk at Cedar Point. Dorney Park’s Screamin Swing is a good one for the not insane people at half the size.
Log flume rides and non-shooter Dark Rides are always at the top of my list right after roller coasters. I’m not a big fan of shooter dark rides because unless you hit a target, nothing good tends to happen. Plus they’ve brought about the downfall of the classic dark ride, which has always been something I enjoy. I don’t want to have to shoot things to activate the scares and surprises in the ride.
Definitely Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney World. The accelerated drop in the dark, along with the great thematic elements, make this a ride I dread… but LOVE!
maXair is my favorite too!
Have to say Big Shot in Vegas is a favorite and Harry Potter isn’t too bad either. Thought Transformers was too much like Spidy.
My favorite is a WaveSwinger. Then my second is probably Giant Swings like Skyhawk at CP or SlingShot at Kennywood.
No wait Enterprise rides are my second favorite. Giant Swings are third. Non-roller coaster ride.
let’s see
Disneylands Star Tours was always a cool experience
i like flume rides, log jammer, jet stream, splash mountain,that one mining ride they had at knotts
i love the zipper and the kamikaze at the fair. i dunno what’d you classify them as.
carousels are some of my favorites. never too old for them.
Either the gliders or a disk’o coaster like the one at kings island. CEDAR POINT IS GETTING BOTH IF THOSE (screams)
I like a lot of rides that are quite sedate–probably held over from my childhood when those were all I would ride!
Skyrides are great; the ski-lift-type ones are OK, but I really love the old Von Roll gondola-type ones that would go really high and often actually serve as transit between different areas of the park.
Many parks have been removing these in recent years, and it makes me sad. Hersheypark and, I think, the Disney parks used to have them, and don’t any more (Hersheypark still has the little ski-lift-type one). I think Busch Gardens Williamsburg still does.
I also miss Hersheypark’s Giant Wheel, a weird variant on a Ferris wheel that had two wheels on the ends of a colossal seesaw lever, as a solution to the problem of rapid loading and unloading. The riders were in hanging gondolas, and one wheel would be on the ground in a horizontal position loading riders while the other was operating vertically. You could also make the gondola turn if you wanted to. (I think the Great America parks had a variant with three wheels!) Now they’ve got an ordinary Ferris wheel instead, which I’m sure is fine, but I haven’t ridden it.
I don’t like violently spinning rides, in general, but Wave Swingers are nice. And I’m also fond of flumes and rapids rides.
for me Frisbees like MaXair (Cedar Point) and Delirium (Kings Island) are the best. I wish carowinds would build one. Also I like the top spins like the Crypt at Kings Dominion. Even the old school wave swingers and himalyas ride give me life. As far as my home park screamweaver is it for me I can ride that back to back. lol
For me MaXair and Delirium the giant frisbees are the best. Im also a fan of the top spins like the crypt. For spinning type the old school himalyas and wave swinger are awesome. For my home park screamweaver does it for me i can fall asleep on that ride from the breeze lol
I wish carowinds would get a S&S swinger and a giant frisbee!!!!!!! UGH