If you’ve listened to our podcast even once, you know that I am, in fact, a giant chicken.  Bok bok.  I do not like roller coasters.  They scare me.  I’m not much for thrill rides in general, but sometimes I can convince myself I need to experience something awesome and I need to prepare in advance for that.  I’m going to give you a ranking of the roller coaster rides at Walt Disney World so that you can see in advance what appeals to you and what you’d rather avoid.

We’ll start with the most intense and go down the list from there.

1. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

Location: Hollywood Studios

Max Speed: 57 mph

Height Restriction: 48″

Ok, so it has “roller coaster” right there in the title.  It’s fast.  It has big drops and inversions.  This is a Level NOPE on my chicken meter.

2.  Expedition Everest

Location: Animal Kingdom

Max Speed: 50 mph

Height Restriction: 44″

This one’s a little tamer than the previous but it is fast.  There are some big drops. Probably the most terrifying part of this coaster is that it heads up the mountain at one point, looks like it’s going to plummet over the edge (it’s not, of course), and then sends you screaming back down the mountain backwards.

3.  Primeval Whirl

Location: Animal Kingdom

Max Speed: 29 mph

Height Restriction: 48″

This is not a particularly scary coaster, but there is the added spinning aspect of the car that makes it more than just a standard coaster.  If you’re familiar with Goofy’s Sky School at Disneyland, this is the same track.

4.  Space Mountain

Location: Magic Kingdom

Max Speed: 28 mph

Height Restriction: 44″

It’s not the fastest coaster at Walt Disney World but it is the darkest.  The gimmick here is not speed or drops but that it’s totally dark so you don’t know what’s coming.

5.  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Location: Magic Kingdom

Max Speed: 35 mph

Height Restriction: 40″

This one’s pretty tame as far as coasters go.  Little bit fast, only a couple of small drops.  Rates as a Pretty Fun on my chicken meter.

6. Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train

Location: Magic Kingdom

Max Speed: 34 mph

Height Restriction: 38″

Having just experienced this one for the first time, I have to say that this coaster is FUN.  Personally, I didn’t find it scary at all, but I did find the seats to very cramped and legroom almost non-existent.

7.  The Barnstormer

Location: Magic Kingdom

Max Speed: 25 mph

Height Restriction: 38″

A fun kiddie coaster.  Very tame, no drops. Also, the ride is quite short so if your little one does get a bit spooked, it’s over very quickly.

Of course, the ranking here is totally subjective, but since you have the info, you can decide in what order you would rank them!  If it’s different from mine, I’d love to hear it!  Post it in the comments!