The World's 50 Best Amusement Parks, Ranked and Compared

Methodology

33%

Thrill factor

Coaster count, launch speeds, record-holders and the intensity spread across the lineup.

33%

Family friendliness

Rides for under-10s, stroller logistics, shade, live shows and seasonal events, and how well the park handles a long day.

19%

Value for money

Published gate price plus parking against the rides you can realistically get through in a typical visit, adjusted by a bounded lineup-quality multiplier built from sourced coaster, dark-ride and marquee counts. The resulting rides-per-dollar ratio is placed on a logarithmic scale before comparison, so the cheapest parks stay separable rather than bunching at the top of the range.

15%

Crowd management

All-ride annual mean posted wait from Queue-Times.com, first-season attractions excluded, judged against the park's attendance.

Scores are standardised across all 50 parks before weighting, with an allowance for parks that specialise in one strength over another. Read the full methodology →