Roller Coaster Guide to Disneyland: Every Coaster Ranked

Disneyland's coaster collection is small by numbers and enormous by history. The park that invented the modern steel coaster still runs it daily, plus two more mountains and a Toontown starter coaster. Here is every roller coaster at Disneyland ranked, with the practical details that make each one better.

1. Space Mountain

The best coaster at the resort and it is not close. Space Mountain is a fully enclosed steel coaster in near-total darkness with an onboard soundtrack synced to every dip and turn. The layout is genuinely mild on paper, but darkness multiplies everything: you cannot see a single drop coming.

• Ride experience: about three minutes of swooping turns and sudden dips at up to 35 mph that feel like twice that. The soundtrack and strobing star field do heavy lifting.
• Height requirement: 40 inches
• Best seat: front row. Nothing but black space ahead of you and the full force of the illusion.
• Best time to ride: rope drop or the final hour. Our wait data has it averaging 29 minutes, the highest of any Disneyland coaster, and when the seasonal Hyperspace Mountain overlay runs, tracked waits have averaged 70 minutes. Ride the overlay early or eat the line.

2. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

The wildest ride in the wilderness earns the tagline through personality rather than force. A runaway mine train through goat-topped buttes, bat caves, and a dynamite finale.

• Ride experience: quick, low-to-the-ground turns and three lift hills, each followed by a snappier section than the last. Smooth as glass since its retracking.
• Height requirement: 40 inches
• Best seat: back row, where the train whips through the final helix and the tunnels hit hardest.
• Best time to ride: after dark, when the buttes glow orange and the caves go truly black. Averages about 18 minutes in our data, and the line thins during fireworks and nighttime shows.

3. Matterhorn Bobsleds

The 1959 original: the first permanently installed tubular steel roller coaster, and it still rides like a prototype. That is a warning and a recommendation.

• Ride experience: two different tracks weave through the mountain past Harold the abominable snowman. The Tomorrowland side runs a bit faster and sharper; the Fantasyland side is slightly longer and turnier. Both rattle. Ride defensively and enjoy it for what it is: living history with real speed.
• Height requirement: 42 inches
• Best seat: front of the bobsled for legroom and visibility. Avoid the rear seats if your back is picky.
• Best time to ride: first two hours. It averages 19 minutes in our data, loads slowly, and midday waits are the worst value in the park. A single rider line appears seasonally when staffing allows.

4. Chip 'n' Dale's GADGETcoaster

The Toontown kiddie coaster and many visitors' first coaster ever. Thirty seconds of gentle drops in a giant acorn-and-gadget contraption.

• Ride experience: one lift, a couple of dips, done. Charming rather than thrilling.
• Height requirement: 35 inches
• Best seat: anywhere. If you are an adult without a kid, ride once for the credit and give your knees a pep talk first.
• Best time to ride: right at Toontown's opening or in the evening. It averages 11 minutes but the tiny trains make midday lines crawl.

First-timers guide Order

1. Space Mountain at rope drop 2. Matterhorn Bobsleds immediately after 3. Big Thunder Mountain midday, then again at night 4. GADGETcoaster whenever you pass through Toontown with a short line

Enthusiast Order

1. Space Mountain front row at rope drop, twice if the line holds 2. Matterhorn both tracks back to back before 10 a.m. 3. GADGETcoaster for the credit while Toontown is empty 4. Big Thunder night laps in the back row, the last hour is walk-on territory

Note for coaster counters: Incredicoaster and Goofy's Sky School live next door at Disney California Adventure, so a two-park day gets you six credits and two very different versions of Disney thrills.