I think we need a sequel for steel coasters as well

All of Conneaut Lake Park felt like a safety hazard. That's what made it so special.

I will always prefer wooden coasters, I like the roughness, the noise the aesthetics, the engineering feat that they are, it's all so beautiful.

Blue Streak was the most sketch coaster I ever rode. Even as a kid riding it in the late 80s it was sketchy. It's crazy that I actually miss it though. I would head to Conneaut once a year to reunite with the coaster that began my love of coasters. The first "big" coaster I ever rode. Now it's gone. I have great memories of that place with my friends and family.

The retracking done on goldstriker absolutely fixed it, it’s SO smooth now and running super well! I went to CGA (which is my home park) like 20-30 times this year and marathoned goldstriker getting an amazing ride every single time

Thunderhead is hilarious because the transition from old track to new track was so huge. Went from a jackhammering mess to a flying carpet. It always managed to be just bearable for me, as by the time I was ready to talk out the ride went into the new track.

I rode Thunderhead in June of this year and it was INSANELY smooth, the entire thing. My absolute favorite wooden coaster. I rode that thing at least 10 times in a single day and never had a bad ride, front center and back. They were great rides!

Love seeing comments from people who had a soft spot for Blue Streak. That was my mom's first coaster when she was a kid, and me and my brother's first coaster, too. Started my love for coasters, but I was terrified every time I rode that ride lol. My mom passed away recently and we spread her ashes at Conneaut. The piles of Blue Streak wreckage were still there, walked around most of the layout, pretty insane to see. Helped myself to a piece of the ride that I keep out on display now.

I love rough wooden coasters. Alot of the ones you ranked on here like Mineblower Hades and New Mexico Rattler are some of my all time favorite rides. Their definitely not for everyone but I love how rough and unhinged Gravity Groups and CCI'S feel.

Ah yes, the Blue Streak at CLP. I think that coaster is the very reason I have a high tolerance for wooden coasters. My aunt used to have a cabin that was a short walk away from the park, so I spent many summers riding it. Of course, it was only during the years that the park actually opened since they had so many years of dealing with bankruptcy. RIP!

Rest in Peace Blue Streak, you were an awesome ride. I marathoned that ride once, 6 times in a row. Airtime was nice and you learn to stop caring about the roughness after a while.

The roughest wooden Coaster of all time to me is Mean Streak. You never know how long that coaster really was until you get whiplash after the 2nd hill lol. Seeing this list makes me want to give so much love to Kennywood for keeping their old-school woodies buttery smooth after all these years.

Grizzly at Kings Dominion got refurbished last year (2023) on the 1st half of the ride. It is smooth enough to cause you to let your guard down, and then...WHAM! WELCOME TO PAIN TOWN!

Hades 360 was the biggest surprise of my coaster road-trip this year. It definitely was rough, but that may have enhanced it for me. A night ride on Hades 360, especially the section under the parking lot, is unbelievable. Top 5 coaster for me.

Great video! I've ridden Son of Beast and the Beast. I rode on Son of Beast in 2001 about a year after it opened and didn't think it was too rough. I've ridden the Beast a lot of different years and never thought it was too rough. It's nice to hear about the improvements on it. Ive thought for years the Racer was rough and thought of it as a one and done ride for the trip anytime I rode it.

I know I'm late to the party, but Beast is running SO much better this year! 👍

Raging Wolf Bobs at Geauga Lake was the roughest I have ridden, but somehow I loved it for that. I was young, and it was fun seeing your friends get bashed around on it.

As much as I do love Hades I’ll admit it does run really rough! But I don’t let that get in the way of the amazing ride experience

Haven’t watched yet but Grizzly at Kings Dominion and Thunderhawk at Dorney Park

The Beast was very smooth and great when I rode it in July of this year.

Good topic. Me and my family seem to have a special love for wooden coasters. What's funny is that we also rode Renegade this year but we had a different experience. We didn't find it that rough and it made it into all of our top 20. I wonder if we just caught it on a good day. We did find High Roller (the other ValleyFair woodie) to be absolutely terrible and extremely rough. I do agree Outlaw at Adventureland is getting rough and I hope now that the park is owned by Palace it will get some of the love the old Kennywood woodies got. Because when it was smoother I thought it was a hidden gem. Love your channel. Thanks for all the content!

Son of beast was too rough on opening day...

Mean streak was my roughest coaster ever, actually the worst coaster I have ever ridden. If you have ever snapped a flyers ride and you get the seat rest to slam into your back, do that about 79 times a minute for the duration of the prime ride time on Mean Streak. I never wanted off a coaster as bad as I wanted off of Mean Streak.

Oh ok this will be a fun video to watch. I love listening to other enthusiast picking on coaster haha and the roughest wooden coaster I have been on was Wolverine wildcat but the titan track part was good

The video I wanted and needed! Thanks Chris!

I went to Dollywood for my first time this year, and as much as I absolutely adored Thunderhead (so much so that it's still in my top ten), I can agree that it's pretty rough. While I could stomach three consecutive back row rides on it, it's definitely a difficult ride to marathon (especially if you're dehydrated) in the state it's currently in. Like you said, a little bit of retracking on the first half would do wonders for it.

Hurler at Kings Dominion was the roughest roller coaster I've ridden. Thank goodness RMC fixed the whole thing. The roughest ride I've ridden that's currently operating is Wildcat at Lake Compounce.

Correct! The Beast retracking is incredible. I used to skip this ride and now I can ride 3 in a row. The trick is also to not sit in a car on top of a wheel.

Only three rides stand out to me as super rough: 3. Thunderhead (2021) - Jackhammering through the entire layout. Called it ‘thump your head’ afterwards. Rode it again this year and the second half was much smoother. 2. The Beast (2021) - I have a lot of respect for this coaster but my god. After the first drop it bounced all the way to the brake shed. It definitely needed that retracking. 1. Grizzly (KD) (2022) - What an awful coaster. Not only is the layout boring and stupid but whenever it goes above 10 miles per hour it just knocks you around like you’re in a dryer. Currently stands as my least favorite coaster. Surprised to see Renegade on here, got a few rides on it last month and thought it ran pretty well. Great video!

Nice list! For me, the most painful experience ever on a wooden coaster was on Ghostrider before the re-track. At some point along the way, the jackhammering caused a nerve to pinch in my back. I was in so much pain that I had tears in my eyes when the train rolled back into the station. What a contrast from the early '00s when it was my #1 wooden coaster.

Great video as always! You had all of my worst wooden coaster rides on your list except one. I’m surprised that Mean Streak didn’t make the list!

I've only ridden a little over 60 coasters but I know the pain Great American Scream Machine gives very well. I rode it around in 2017 when I was around 12 years old and it made me cry because it hurt so bad!

Beast 2021 was HORRIBLE. Beast 2022 on the other hand was AMAZING. So glad they fixed it up!

As I've gotten older, I'm less likely to ride known rough wooden coasters (unless I need the credit, of course). One ride that did me harm was Screamin' Eagle in 2019. I could only do a single lap, while my group did re-rides. Probably a good thing Boss wasn't operating that day.

I'm so glad I stumbled on your channel looking at Knoebels rides, I'd somehow never heard of Kennywood before now! Next time we head to Pittsburgh I know where we have to stop, 100 year old wooden coaster sounds like a must-ride.

Recent memory: Grizzly, for sure. Ancient memory: the original Texas Giant

My dad has odd wooden coaster preferences. It basically comes down to, "If it's a wooden coaster and it DOESN'T toss you around like a ragdoll throughout the entirety of its runtime and make you feel like you need to go to the emergency room, then it fails as a wooden coaster."

Awesome video! Although I’ve not ridden most of the coasters on the list, based off of general opinions in the coaster community, I agree with your points. However, I rode Thunderhead earlier this year and though it was very smooth, given that it’s a gci from 2004.

Great American scream machine: oh it’s my time!

The only coaster I ever came off of in pain was Mean Streak.

Tale of two Cyclones: The Psyclone at Magic mountain was truly painful. It would hurt you with all the track discontinuities. The Coney Island Cyclone was a pleasant surprise. It wasn't smooth, but it didn't have the broken track feeling of some of the bad coasters. I think it was smoother than the subway I took to get there.

I've heard Gold Striker was bad before. But 2021 was fantastic, and this season it was running better than it ever had before. I think it just shows how intense the coaster is. It's already getting some of it's rough spots back, not terrible at all, but you can start to feel them again. It just runs so aggressively. I compare it to Voyage's spaghetti bowl and return trip. It's just straight, pedal to the metal speed, airtime, and intensity.

When I was a kid, I thought Renegade (Valleyfair) was the roughest thing ever, and didn't like it... I got re-rides and it's much better, even though the roughness was probably the same Also if you want a back row experience without the pain, do row 11, it's the same but smoother

Just the fact that Chris experienced all this deserves a like. No video needed, but much appreciated, of course. I've ridden 12 woodies so I guess I'll rank them from smoothest to roughest: 13. Lightning Rod - Not much of a woodie anymore, but if you want to count it, here you go. Very smooth. (roughness: 1) 12. Cannon Ball - Now THIS is how a PTC should feel! Despite being over 50 years old, it still runs very smooth. (roughness: 2) 11. The Racer - Apparently they retracked this recently, and it shows. Sucks that the ride auto-staples you, though. (roughness: 2) 10. Mystic Timbers - When you aren't thinking about the roughness on a woodie, you know it's smooth. (roughness: 2) 9 & 8. Woodstock Express (KI and Carowinds) - They're pretty comparable. They shake but run slow so it's not nearly as bad as it would be if it were a full-size woodie. (roughness: 3) 7. White Lightning - It got a bit rougher, but not enough to make it any less enjoyable. (roughness: 3) 6. Thunderhead - Definitely some roughness, but the couch seats help. (roughness: 5) 5. The Beast (2022 retrack) - It's VERY bouncy in a few sections, but otherwise is decently smooth. Props to KI! (roughness: 5) 4. Hurler - Quite rumbly. Definitely takes away some of the fun. (roughness: 6) 3. Mine Blower - Actually gives me a headache now. Very fun otherwise, however its roughness is the reason I prefer White Lightning. (roughness: 7) 2. Scream Machine - This was 2021 before they closed it for the retrack. Hopefully that makes it better because this ride is terrible. They trimmed it so hard the airtime is minimal, and it still runs rough. It could be so much better, look at The Racer! (roughness: 9) 1. Cheetah - Roughness that felt illegal. Roughness that would've had lasting effects had I been 20 years older. Roughness that felt like the train would fall off the tracks. Sad, because it seemed to be fun if it wasn't rough. RIP Cheetah, but also good riddance! (roughness: 10)

Nice vid! I have to agree, Hades360 to-this-day is by far the roughest coaster I've ever been on. I felt like I was in a car accident afterwards. I see no need to ride it again! That being said, I found the Beast to be not-so-bad...riding at night was amazing.

Big Updates. The Beast after the 2022 retrack is amazing! Grizzly had a major retrack overhaul during the winter, including rebuilding the lift hill , can't wait to ride it this summer. MineBlower at Fun Spot Kissimmee is getting RMC Ibox retracking! Great American Scream Machine was fun, rode it a few weeks ago. The last quarter of the ride coming back to the station was a bit janky but I was kinda like that's ok.

The only two wooden coasters that come to mind for roughness to me are Racer at Kings Island in 2018 (the retrack did make it a lot smoother) and KD's Grizzly. That darn near snapped my spine.

Chris, please tell me you never rode Mean Streak? If so, I can't understand why that isn't number 1 😂. Worst ride I've ever been on!

Man, Six Flags St. Louis deserves some love. The Boss was the last truly major coaster built for the park. They need to do us all right and give it the RMC treatment.

Mean Streak was ghastly by the end. We used to call it the "bad chiropractor"

Seeing how Grizzly is now gonna be retracked by the Gravity Group, it’s in good hands

I think some of this has to do with expectations changing over time. If you put me on a wooden coaster and it feels smooth as a steel coaster, I'm not going to be thrilled. My favorite coaster personally is the grizzly at Kings Dominion and that has a lot to do with how rough it is.

I miss the Blue Streak at CLP and I despise what was done with the park (don't get me started on Cedar Fair and Geauga Lake). As for my roughest, Son of Beast is the only coaster to give me chest pains. Mean Streak was like riding in an earthquake. Coney Island Cyclone beat me to a pulp.

I rode Renegade not that long before your return to ValleyFair and I will agree that it was pretty rough in the back. But when I went around for a reride later I took the front and it was a lot more enjoyable. Still definitely the best ride in the park. Another one that is polarizing for me is Timber Wolf at Worlds of Fun. I've had bad rides on that one and recently one of my better ones over the summer. All that GCI retracking and the banked turn midway through have made it pretty solid.

I'm surprised that American Eagle wasn't on here. It was genuinely unenjoyable last year because of how rough it had gotten.

LETS GO NEW UPLOAD

I can confirm that the new Titan track on Predator at Darien Lake has made the ride WAY more enjoyable. It's still bumpy but far from "painful" like it was before

Just came here to see if The Beast was on your list :) I just came back from Kings Island and just like you I was super thrilled to experience this legendary coaster but I got so beat up I could not enjoy any of the ride. I wish it could be RMC’d that would be such an awesome ride!!

Speaking of Kennywood, Racer is getting repainted and it’s getting some retracking! We take such good care of our ancient woodies, although Thunderbolt was rough a few years back but it was addressed and fixed.

I live in Albuquerque! The New Mexico Rattler was the only rollercoaster I had been on! But I visited Magic Mountain last month and WOW I can't wait to visit more park and ride all the rollercoasters! Also a huge fan of your channel now ha!

Buy or Sell: Six Flags will shut down/sell Frontier City in the next 10 years

I remember riding Thunderhead when I was 17 and loving the hell out of it. I am dying to go to Dollywood for a reride. My husband generally hates woodies because of the rattle. I love woodies because there are generally no inversions. It’s a struggle. I had to sweet talk him onto Texas Stingray when we were in San Antonio this year.

Regarding Psyclone at Magic Mountain: 1. It already had a strike on it for being a Dinn creation. 1a. Which is odd because Charles Dinn was responsible for creating The Beast (how he got that right and his other projects wrong, I don't know). 2. Ah yeah, the ONLY time B&M ever associated with a wooden coaster (those bulky fiberglass trains). But hey, it was early in their career so .... they did what they could. 3. Northridge Earthquake did damage the structure and afterwards, trim brakes were added which slowed the ride significantly. In fact, they would have to wait until a full train was loaded (2 x 2 x 6) so the train would have enough momentum to complete the course.

You have to experience the Montezum in Brazil, it's a RCCA rough as hell. Pain doesn't define the experience.

Blue streak was incredibly rough when I rode it as a kid back in the 80s. I loved it and miss it to this day though.

I go to Holiday World every year, and I agree, usually the Legend was the rough coaster that I rode to "check it off the list", but the last couple years, it's been noticeably smoother and is SO much more enjoyable for it!

The layout for Psyclone at MM was great, but so rough! That was the 1 coaster I knew would be on this list, lol

I went to CGA on a Friday night about 2 weeks ago and got 10 rides on Gold Striker, most of them back to back. It was a little bumpy, but nowhere as bad compared to Dec 2021. The off season trackwork totally paid off. As for Grizzly as KD, yeah. I like that coaster, but it's definitely rough and needs some help

As of yet I have only ever ridden one woodie, but that's Le Monstre at La Ronde, and... let's say I'm looking forward to you roasting it. I cannot ride that coaster without laughing the entire time about how hilariously rough it is

It's a shame you didn't get to ride the beast this year when you visited, because it wasn't open yet, but the Beast is now SUPER smooth. Actually so smooth is lost some of its anger through the woods. Thanks to the ride being silky smooth now there is actually a line to ride it.

I attended Holiwood nights this year (thanks for your recommendation!). Raven was by far the bumpiest ride in the park. It was a one-and-done for me. Legend on the other hand was running great. I marathoned it 10x in a row without leaving my seat at the end of the day. Voyage was (of course) the star of the show, but it was certainly a rough ride (in the very best way). It's the only car-crash simulator I'm willing to marathon.

I live in Florida, so sadly I haven't gotten to experience many wooden coasters, but I rode the OG Gwazi (both sides) in it's last year of operation. Man, Gwazi beat the hell out of you, my knees and hips in particular. It was awful

yoooo new airtime thrills video!

The retrack of the Grand National has it running acceptably, it’s never going to be butter smooth (conversions aside) but it did show up how rough Big Dipper has become, I would hope for a 100th anniversary retrack but they’re open so late and then so early in the year now (weekends only for a lot, but Feb to Dec) there’s not enough time.

Agree with most! Predator was also one of the worst experiences I've ever had on a coaster. The only one I'd add might be Raging Wolf Bobs.

my no 1 roughest coaster is also a woodie, it's bandit at movie park germany (2010), it was so incredibly painful i swear it could leave guests with a hernia. For steel coasters it's Draken at Energylandia, I know it's a kiddy coaster but it's so incredibly rough it genuinly leave you in pain. I was crying of laughter on how painful it was. I have heard that the wildmouse there is worse, glad i didnt ride that. For the bigger it'd be the original SLC Condor, but they recently got new restraints so it isn't as bad, but it still hurts my back. Limit at Heide Park does not have these new restraints yet so you get backpain and headbanging. I think if you'd make a steel variant of this list it's gonna be filled with arrow and vekoma coasters ngl.

Roughest I’ve experienced was Mean Streak in 2009. Knocked the wind out of me lmao.

Fun story. My roughest woodie experience is hurler at carowinds. If we are talking about worst experience on a woodie, that hands down goes to thunderhead at dollywood. I was in the station waiting to get on the ride; sat down in the back row, lap bar went down and locked and then i got stung by a bee. Me having allergies, i was starting to roll out of the station wondering if i was about to get jackhammered all over the placed while also entering anaphalaxis 😂. A ride op starting their shift and riding next to us looked back and went "you gonna be ok?" I said: "LETS HOPE SO" That was also the day i discovered my allergies do not include bees.

My home park is SDC and Outlaw Run is absolutely on my do not ride list because the first drop almost breaks my neck every time. The Boss as SF STL and Timber Wolf at Worlds of Fun are also a big NO for me. I could ride the Voyage and Legend at Holiday World repeatedly and never get tire of them.

The Beast was given over 2,000' of new track, and the first drop reprofiling. If you've never rode it before, you'd really never know it was ever that bad. Except for that covered straight track section, where it still jumps around, it's not rough at all.

Great American Scream Machine was my favorite as a kid back in the 70's and 80's, but the last several years I was only able to tolerate it once a year. I've ridden it several times this year since the retrack and it is running much better.

Wildcat sneaks up on you, because it's so pretty and iconic in the middle of the park and the first drop is fine, but the rest of the ride is like Mike Tyson punching you in the stomach nonstop until the brakes. It was hilarious.

Great American Scream Machine before the retracking felt like a trainwreck itself. Huge improvement and way less rough. Definitely try it

Lake compounce is my home park. Wildcat is absolutely awful. The first drop and pullout are miraculously fine, but after that, it's terrible. The retracking didn't help it at all, I think it made it worse actually. I would suggest riding it once for the credit and then never again.

I’ve marathoned Renegade many times this season. The only rough section I really notice is the bottom of the first drop, though I tend to tolerate roughness more than others. It’s definitely smoother in the front of the train but the back is so much better it’s worth the extra roughness.

Congrats on the SOB credit

I'm surprised ghostrider pre-refurb didn't make it. It was beyond brutal when I rode it the first time. Thank god for gci for fixing it and making it run like a dream.

I miss mean streak so much, I miss riding it over and over getting beat up, it used to be waaay more rough until about 2012. Blue streak at cedar point is still rough enough to give me a headache after 10 rides in a row! I love wooden coasters and all the bumping around. I didn't think roar at six flags America was rough enough 😭

Believe you me, before SFoG introduced Twisted Cyclone, Georgia Cyclone was so much rougher than great American scream machine. I was only 11 (2001) when I rode it and that bone rattling memory has stuck with me to this day. I tried again a few years after the first experience and it was identical. Glad it’s gone lol.

The absolute worse and most painful coaster I have ridden was Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa, fortunately it has the ultimate redemtion in being completely rbuilt and turned into a hybird. Iron Gwazi is the best coaster in the state of Florida, it won the award of being the best new coaster for 2022. It gives plenty of air time, never slows down and with a 91 degree drop it is awesome!!!

Combine your coaster and baseball interest and do a “What Local Player is like Every Park’s Coaster” series. like “What Red is like each coaster at Kings Island”. You did this for SRS one time but would be cool to do this for your main channel.

Monstre at La Ronde with the yellow train is straight up dangerous because of how rough it is (but again, only the yellow train, red train and green train are way better, somehow)

Hurler at Carowinds (June 2022, in the front row), made me question whether or not it was ever actually designed or just thrown together with scraps from other coasters. I’d compare the experience to when you hit a speed bump going too fast and don’t expect such a harsh jolt, but sustained throughout the second half of the ride. My brother was in the row behind me and described me as a “bobble head”, and that is exactly how I felt. The next day I rode Great American Scream Machine and it was awesome! Great layout, good airtime, quite smooth.

As a Darien Lake home parker, I love Predator it has like 5 ejector moments in the back & it's smooth!

Wildcat at compounce is a home park and it's torture. I grew up going on it, and genuinely enjoyed it. It was rough but nothing too bad. It had buzz bars. I hadn't been to compounce in about 10-15 years, and within that time, to my pure horror,,,it had been retracked and is the most painful ride I've ever been on

How did Boss not make this list? I thought for sure you'd have it high on the list.

goldstriker is pretty smooth now because it got retracked in April. When I went during the time it was getting a retrack, the ride was down for an extended amount of time. the first time I got back on I immediately noticed the difference on the bottom of the first drop. it’s seriously feels like it’s running way too fast now

I road the Beast yesterday in 2022 and I expected the worst and found it SOOO amazing. It surpassed my expectations

I’m really surprised Twister from Knoebel’s and Ravine Flyer II from Waldamere haven’t been mentioned. Both were very rough this year and absolutely man handled me. Both are really great coasters but I couldn’t get over how rough they were.

Rode Grizzly a few weeks ago and is was fairly rough...Didnt think it was anywhere near as bad as Mineblower though.