Universal Orlando Resort is known for its impressive blend of thrill and theme. And while the resort has a reputation for being a little screenz-heavy, there’s no doubt that when it comes to wind-in-your-face inversions and high-speed launches, the resort isn’t exactly a slouch. Let’s take a look at how we rank all the coasters at Universal Orlando!
About This Post
This post is a pretty straightforward, subjective ranking of the roller coasters at Universal Orlando Resort. I currently count 13 roller coasters (using a pretty broad definition) between the three theme parks—3 roller coasters at Universal Studios Florida, 6 roller coasters at Universal Islands of Adventure, and 4 roller coasters at Universal Epic Universe.
If you want to learn more about the resort, we’ve got plenty of other posts, but three places to start might be:
Universal Orlando Roller Coaster Ranking
We’ll start with my ranking, if that’s all you’re here for, before going into each ride one at a time.
VelociCoaster
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
Stardust Racers
Revenge of the Mummy
Mine-Cart Madness
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
The Incredible Hulk Coaster
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride!
Curse of the Werewolf
Flight of the Hippogriff
Trollercoaster
Pteranodon Flyers
VelociCoaster
Park: Islands of Adventure
Height Requirement: 51” / 130cm
VelociCoaster is the newest ride at Universal Islands of Adventure and a great, modern coaster. It launches from 0 to 70 mph in 2.4 seconds, is the fastest ride at Universal Orlando Resort, and has four inversions.
Now, personally I prefer Hagrid’s as a ride. These are two very different rides, and both are excellent coasters. But I think VelociCoaster’s speed, intensity, and style set it just a notch above.
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
Park: Islands of Adventure
Height Requirement: 48”/122cm
Hagrid’s is much more of a storytelling coaster than VelociCoaster, but it also has some of the most exciting surprises you’ll find in any theme park anywhere. It doesn’t have any inversions and it tops out at “only” 50mph, but I think most non-experts will walk away thinking “wow, I didn’t know a coaster could do that”!
Also, while I don’t think there’s much of a difference between the two, most people think the motorbike side of the two-seater cars is better.
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
Park: Epic Universe
Height Requirement: 40”/102cm
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is easily the ride that surprised me most at Epic Universe. I expected a slightly-better-than-average family coaster, but it’s way more than that. It’s fun and emotional (leaning on that How to Train Your Dragon score just a bit). It’s got twists and turns, and it’s just so smooth. On our most recent visit we rode it three times in one day, finishing our day with back-to-back rides on it.
Stardust Racers
Park: Epic Universe
Height Requirement: 48”/122cm
The feature thrill coaster of Epic Universe delivers. It’s intense and thrilling. After I rode, Zoe asked how many inversions it has and I just said “I honestly don’t know, there’s just so many thrills you lose track of when you’re upside down and when you’re not.” The answer—and I’m shocked having just read this—is just one! It’s 90 seconds of pure intensity.
Revenge of the Mummy
Park: Universal Studios
Height Requirement: 48” / 122cm
Revenge of the Mummy has won multiple Golden Ticket awards for best indoor coaster. It has no inversions, tops out at 45mph, and uses a mix of screen effects and animatronics to make for an exciting mostly-in-the-dark experience.
This one is roller coaster excellence with just the right amount of Universal cheekiness sprinkled in. It’s probably the best part of the entire “The Mummy” franchise.
Mine-Cart Madness
Park: Epic Universe
Height Requirement: 40”/102cm
You can just look at the above photo and see—Mine-Cart Madness is brilliant, ambitious design. I applaud everyone who was committed to the idea of bringing track-jumping to life, and there’s little in theme parks that makes me as happy as hearing my excited kid recount how cool Mine-Cart Madness is for being able to jump gaps in the track.
Mine-Cart Madness’s position in the middle of this list speaks to how great the rest of Universal’s coasters are. Its only shortcomings in my mind are that the design does result in a bit of an uncomfortable ride (but maybe that’s part of the experience), and it is leaning hard on this one (albeit ingenious) idea.
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
Park: Universal Studios
Height Requirement: 42” / 107cm
Escape from Gringotts is a hybrid 3D screen-coaster ride taking you on a journey through the depths of Gringotts Bank. It’s tons of fun, and I especially love the queue (I’ll voluntarily take a wait of around 45 minutes most visits).
This is definitely more in the experiential category of coasters (or “dark ride with coaster elements”), and it’s the 3D screen portion of the experience that has aged a bit. The visuals are simply not close to, say, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry.
That said, I personally think that from land to queue to ride this experience does such an excellent job that it avoids the lower spots on this list.
The Incredible Hulk Coaster
Park: Islands of Adventure
Height Requirement: 54”/137cm
The Incredible Hulk Coaster is the second fastest ride at Islands of Adventure, topping out at 67mph with seven inversions (three more than VelociCoaster). It’s got a thrilling launch, and it’s honestly pretty surprising how great it remains even at over 25 years old (to be clear, Universal has done a great job maintaining it).
I think it’s thin on story and theming, especially considering the weight that Marvel has taken on in recent decades. But this one really needs to be on any coaster enthusiast’s must-do list.
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride!
Park: Islands of Adventure
Height Requirement: 36”/92cm
Sidenote: The last five rides include two clear “kiddie” coasters and two “are these actually coasters?” coasters. I don’t think coaster enthusiasts will be missing out by skipping them, but I think they technically qualify and wanted to include them.
For kids everywhere, I resent that The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride! has a height requirement. While the ride has some moments that might justify it, you really can come into this one thinking of it as a PeopleMover around Seuss Landing, not a coaster. It’s a great ride to that extent.
Curse of the Werewolf
Park: Epic Universe
Height Requirement: 40”/102cm
Curse of the Werewolf is a spinning coaster that I’d (ironically) describe as one-dimensional. While there is an animatronic Werewolf in the ride, it’s not particularly visible and doesn’t move much (or at all?). The ride is short, but that’s fine because once you’ve gotten the basic idea—you’re going to go back and forth on the track while spinning—you’ve experienced the whole thing.
Flight of the Hippogriff
Park: Islands of Adventure
Height Requirement: 36”/92cm
Flight of the Hippogriff is the true kiddie coaster at Islands of Adventure. It’s a fine ride, particularly if you’ve got small children or if you can hop on it with a short wait while you’re otherwise in Wizarding World.
Trollercoaster
Park: Universal Studios
Height Requirement: 36” / 92cm (under 48” requires supervision)
Trollercoaster is the true kiddie coaster at Universal Studios Florida. The land as a whole is an absolute delight for small kids. The downside to the ride is that it’s just too popular for its quality if you’re not traveling with a small kid.
Pteranodon Flyers
Park: Islands of Adventure
Height Requirement: 36”-56” / 92cm-142cm
There’s a part of me that wants to dedicate a whole post to the question of “Is Pteranodon Flyers a roller coaster?” (my google search immediately returned conflicting answers), but here’s a reddit thread with the basics.
But what you really need to know about this one is that you need to accompany a rider between 36” and 56” in order to ride Pteranodon Flyers. If you’re over 56”, you cannot ride without someone between 36” and 56”.
All Your Other Universal Orlando Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Universal Orlando planning! Take a second to check out our most important content!
Just starting out? Start with our Universal Orlando Resort planning guide! If you’re considering a Universal hotel, read our Guide to the Hotels of Universal Orlando Resort!
You’ll want to know what rides the parks offer, so we’ve got a Universal Studios Florida Rides Guide, a Universal Islands of Adventure Rides Guide, and a Universal Epic Universe Rides Guide.
If you’d like an idea of how to plan a day at these parks, we can help there, too. Our One Day Universal Studios Florida Itinerary covers a full day at the original park, our Universal Islands of Adventure One Day Plan covers Hagrid's, Velocicoaster, and more, and we even have a One Day Guide to Epic Universe covering Universal's newest park.
Want to know how to get on rides without the long waits? Read all about Express Pass at Universal Orlando Resort. Plus, early risers always have the best theme parks days (well, we think so). Read about Early Park Admission at Universal Orlando to learn how to get an extra hour in the parks.