The 25 Most Significant Theme Park Rides This Century

Honorable Mentions

Many honorable mentions have already been noted throughout this video article, but here are a few more—listed in chronological order by opening date.

Men in Black: Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida was not the first interactive dark ride when it opened in 2000, but it elevated the genre. Men in Black is a great dark ride on its own; the gameplay makes it that much better.

Vild-Svinet at BonBon-Land was the first coaster to feature a beyond-vertical drop. That was significant in 2003, but this Gerstlauer coaster is upstaged in its own park by a dog-fart-themed roller coaster; yes, you heard read that right.

Finally, Falcon’s Flight at Six Flags Qiddiya City is a record-smashing coaster with a 640-foot total height difference throughout its layout. Its 535-foot free-standing camelback hill is the tallest coaster element in the world by more than 100 feet. The fact this 155-mph coaster was built and made operational was a tremendous accomplishment; it’s a triumph of coaster engineering, which was probably astronomically expensive. However, Falcon’s Flight just opened in late 2025. It needs more time to establish itself, but until then, Falcon’s Flight is the most impressive honorable mention.