The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.
Seven Epic Rides Coming to US Theme Parks in 2026 — Including the Fastest-Ever Dive Coaster
Rides that push thrillseeking to new frontiers are on their way. Ted Thornhill, US Travel Editor, Saturday 24 January 2026 00:21 GMT.
It’s set to be a stomach-lurching 2026 for theme park-goers in the United States, with major new rides opening across the country. Thrillseekers in Texas can test their nerves on the world’s fastest and highest-ever dive coaster, while a ride that spins occupants through 360 degrees as they’re flung upside down is coming to Los Angeles.
Adrenalin will also be spiking in Massachusetts with the arrival of a dual launch coaster boasting 11 "airtime" moments. There are also two new inverted coasters on the way, in Texas and Kentucky, where riders sit with their legs freely dangling.
In Tennessee, meanwhile, ride technology is being pushed to a new frontier, with an attraction that’s part log flume and part rollercoaster. And in Legoland’s Florida and California parks, visitors will be able to blast off in a new space-themed attraction they can digitally customise beforehand.
These are seven of the most exhilarating rides coming to U.S. parks in 2026.
1. Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift — Universal Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
"Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift" will be the first-ever high-speed outdoor rollercoaster at Universal Studios Hollywood, reaching speeds of up to 72mph. Riders will be catapulted along a 4,100-foot-long track in ride vehicles designed to look like the cars from the Fast & Furious movies — and they’ll experience 360-degree spins to mimic the sensation of drifting, as well as multiple inversions.
The park is located in the Hollywood Hills across two tiers, with the ride set to change its skyline. It’s being constructed on the "Upper Lot" — home to "The Wizarding World" of Harry Potter — and will wind over pathways and the multi-level escalator that takes park-goers to the Lower Lot, home to "Transformers: The Ride-3D, Jurassic World: The Ride", and indoor coaster "Revenge of the Mummy".
There are other spinning rollercoasters in America, such as "Time Traveler" at Silver Dollar City in Missouri and Six Flags’ "Pandemonium", but they operate at 50mph or below.
2. Galacticoaster — Legoland Florida and California
A brand-new space-themed rollercoaster is set to blast off at Legoland Florida Resort in Winter Haven — around an hour from Orlando — and Legoland California Resort in Carlsbad, near San Diego. Legoland has revealed that it has spent $90 million developing the indoor family-friendly ride "Galacticoaster". It will reach speeds of up to 40mph and riders will be able to customise a spaceship that flies alongside them on the 1,500-foot-long ride via screens and projections.
The ships are "built" in a pre-ride briefing room, with riders using interactive touchscreens to construct a nose, tail, wings and "special features" from more than 625 possible combinations. The ship is then assigned to the rider via an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) wristband and makes appearances throughout the experience.
3. Tormenta Rampaging Run — Six Flags Over Texas
Texans never do anything by halves — so Six Flags Over Texas unveiling a multiple record-breaking rollercoaster should come as no surprise. If built to spec, "Tormenta: Rampaging Run" will trample six world records: the tallest dive coaster at 309 feet; the highest beyond-vertical drop at 285 feet and 95 degrees; the fastest dive coaster at 87mph; the highest "Immelmann inversion" at 218 feet; the tallest vertical loop at 179 feet; and the longest dive coaster at 4,199 feet.
The characteristics of the Arlington theme park ride have been publicly stated by the Swiss firm engineering it, Bolliger & Mabillard, who don’t have a tendency to make wild claims – meaning we can believe the hype. Parkgoers can expect an experience that may even be scarier than the one it’s inspired by – the "Running of the Bulls", an event most famously linked to Pamplona in Spain.
4. NightFlight Expedition — Dollywood, Tennessee
Forget two-in-one deals, "NightFlight Expedition" at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, will offer four distinct experiences in one, without anyone leaving their seat: family rollercoaster, gentle boat ride, whitewater thrills and multimedia scenes. Uniquely, the $50 million indoor attraction features an amphibious vehicle built by Mack Rides that can float like a boat and lock onto a rollercoaster track.
The story theme of the five and a half-minute hybrid ride — the park’s biggest-ever attraction investment — is a journey through the Smoky Mountains to search for bioluminescence, with the rollercoaster mimicking a mountain ridge and the boat section landscape based around a surging river and the mysterious Secret Lake. Riders will be helped along the way by twin scientists Cora and Jasper Oakley, who have invented the Bioluminator, a device designed to detect and amplify bioluminescence.
5. Barracuda Strike — SeaWorld San Antonio, Texas
When "Barracuda Strike" launches at SeaWorld San Antonio in spring 2026, it will become the first family-friendly inverted coaster in Texas — meaning riders sit suspended beneath the track, with their legs dangling freely. Guests can expect speeds of up to 44mph, a 90-foot drop, and sharp turns and swoops inspired by the movement of a barracuda — but no inversions.
The 1,800-foot-long track is designed to give riders the sensation of gliding above the park’s water ski lake. Barracuda Strike will be the eighth rollercoaster in SeaWorld San Antonio’s line-up.
6. Quantum Accelerator — Six Flags New England, Massachusetts
"Quantum Accelerator" is the first new coaster at Six Flags New England since "The Joker" in 2017 — and it looks like it will be worth the wait. Riders will straddle the seats motorbike-style while sitting side by side, and experience two punchy launches — one at 30mph from the station and the second at 45mph partway around — 11 moments of airtime, and get tipped sideways as they hurtle along overbanked turns.
There is also a "Stengel dive" (named after Werner Stengel, who invented it), where the track crests a sharp camelback hill, then immediately dives at over 90 degrees. The 2,604-foot-long ride will last a little over two minutes.
7. Flying Fox — Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville
Kentucky Kingdom’s first new rollercoaster since 2019 is taking off in 2026 — an inverted ride with suspended seating called "Flying Fox". The attraction is themed around crop-dusting pilot Jeb Fox, with a barn-inspired queue and riders swooping over a Kentucky farmland setting at speeds of up to 37mph.
Flying Fox has a track length of 1,380 feet and a ride time of just over a minute. Other coasters at the park include "Lightning Run", which has an 80-degree drop, and wooden coaster "Thunder Run".
