- Best LEGO Play Tables Guide: Good Foundations - June 9, 2023
- Best LEGO Roller Coaster Sets - June 6, 2023
- A Guide to the Best LEGO Creator Sets - June 6, 2023
Introduction
Have you ever wanted to feel like you’re flying?
I think most people have had this dream every once in a while. The urge to feel the wind in your hair as you hurtle forward through empty space is substantial.
I don’t think most people can fly too well without airplanes, and most can’t just take a daily flight. Fortunately, there is a way that the average person can feel like they’re flying without a pilot’s license, and all it takes is a trip to the amusement park.
The Roller Coaster is a miracle of modern design. It’s a twisting dragon of steel that moves at supersonic speeds and carries thousands of parkgoers on its back daily. I can’t stand them personally. As a child, I had a terrible experience with a roller coaster called the “Timber Wolf.”
Still, I occasionally go on them because my friends love roller coasters more than they love me. (I’m Kidding! …I think.)
However, there was always a way that I could enjoy rollercoasters from the comfort and relative safety of ground level. I could build some with LEGO!
Early on, the options were pretty limited. In some ways, they still are. Regardless, the creative mind considers a lack of ready-made pieces part of the fun rather than any problem.
Now we live in a comparatively flush era with Roller Coaster sets. So I want to take a look at the ones that I played with, as well as the ones my children have played with, and pick out the best ways to move people.
Bottom Line Up Front: LEGO nailed this concept with the Roller Coaster set. They knew it too! That’s why they left it at such a simple name. It’s got everything you could want, and it looks exactly like what you’d think it would. It doesn’t get better than that.
Criteria
Roller Coasters come in many forms and varieties. They are constantly innovated and redesigned to reach more impressive speeds and track layouts and configurations. How am I going to choose which of these is the best? I will use five criteria today to decide the highs and lows of the best LEGO Roller Coaster sets.
- Power – Theme parks are beautiful things. The problem is that they can be pretty expensive to get into. LEGO, on the other hand, is a wonderfully accessible toy. If a LEGO set has more pieces for a better price, then it will let people get into more amusement parks, which will earn it a better place on this list!
- Innovation – Roller Coasters are constantly designed and redesigned to reach more impressive heights and speeds. If a LEGO set embraces that spirit of creativity and design, it will ride higher up the list.
- Reliability – Some sets don’t focus as heavily on the roller coaster as others. If the Roller Coaster is the main attraction, it will also earn itself a prominent place on the list.
- Speed – Roller Coaster LEGO sets are pretty unique. Typically, when you build your LEGO set, you must use your imagination to make any action happen. With some sets, the Roller Coaster can move independently after a little push. If it can reliably go very fast without flying off the rails (potentially traumatizing a generation), it will get a better place.
- Rush – There’s a special feeling with Roller Coasters. There’s not a whole lot else that can give you that same rush of speed. I’m human and vulnerable to emotions. If a feeling moves me, I reserve the right to break my rules!
19. Unikitty Coaster Wagon
- Year Released: 2018
- Pieces: 46
- Theme: Unikitty
- Minifigs: 1
- Approximate Skill Level: Beginner
Hot Take: I didn’t like the LEGO movie.
I’m not sure why. I think it had something to do with the main cast. I found most of them to be obnoxious. Emmett was obnoxious. Batman was obnoxious. However, by far the most loathsome of all was the abomination that was “Unikitty.”
I couldn’t stand her. The little creature was one of the worst parts of the film, and I stand by that.
…Unfortunately, I had a daughter who was obsessed with anything pink. Aside from how irritating it was, I didn’t have any moral objections to the thing, so when the option popped up to get this as a promotional item on LEGO.com, I took the opportunity to do so.
However, I CAN put it at the bottom of the list as a form of delayed vengeance.
18. Halloween Hayride
- Year Released: 2020
- Pieces: 148
- Theme: Halloween
- Minifigs: 3
- Approximate Skill Level: Beginner
I look forward to Halloween every year. I spend the season putting on makeup and going to work for different haunted attractions across the area I live. One of the most prominent is a Halloween Hayride. It doesn’t go very fast, but that’s not the point. The fear and tension in this ride come from the fact that monsters tend to jump out at the riders when they least expect it.
So why is it on this list?
Because several years ago, my eldest son was old enough to go on Roller Coasters and wanted to try. However, he’d never done it, and the only other things like it that he’d done had been a mini train ride at the mall. So his mother took him to the Hayride as a sort of test. He complained that it wasn’t fast enough but still enjoyed himself.
At the night’s end, he went through the gift shop, where some of these were available, and left with one. He then took it home and used it and some other pieces to make a little rollercoaster as a form of protest.
It’s a cute little set, but it only makes the list because of what my son did with it (and, if I’m honest, I love haunted attractions.)
17. Curved Track
- Year Released: 1975
- Pieces: 25
- Theme: Trains
- Minifigs: 0
- Approximate Skill Level: Beginner
These tracks were released as part of a train set in the mid-seventies. They’re just part of a much larger system that LEGO released at the time, trying to capture the model train crowd.
They matched up with other tracks LEGO released over several different sets. Technically, they’re part of a system that works with the 4.5/12V engine system. However, no electricity flows to these tracks. They’re just plastic.
That doesn’t mean they have no power. Especially if you have an imagination.
I have it on reasonably good authority that the track pieces have just enough flexibility to be made into an ad hoc Roller Coaster track. If you were careful and didn’t build the attendant train too heavily, you could make a serviceable roller coaster.
…For awhile.
Ultimately, the tracks break because they’re not designed for it. If they had just a LITTLE more flexibility, I would have considered placing these at the top of the list.
16. Diddy Kong’s Minecart Ride
- Year Released: 2023
- Pieces: 1123
- Theme: Super Mario
- Minifigs: 0
- Approximate Skill Level: Moderate
This set has yet to be released. However, it has a lot of promise!
I was never a big fan of the Donkey Kong games (I always fell firmly on the Mario side of that divide.) With one exception!
I absolutely LOVED the old Donkey Kong 64 game. Chunky’s Minecart was a minigame necessary at several points in the storyline. Although Chunky Kong isn’t represented here, Funky and Diddy Kong appear in this set. Funky Kong served as the shopkeeper in Donkey Kong 64, and Diddy Kong was one of the playable characters. Interestingly, Diddy also appeared earlier in the franchise with a minecart.
So why does this set make the list?
Because the way it’s designed looks like it could be used to make an incredible rollercoaster!
It’s modular enough that it wouldn’t just be a static rollercoaster either, but it could be designed to create a Rube Goldberg-esque roller coaster that actually works! The mine cart is both buildable and can be disassembled to make your own roller coaster cart. The pieces are also generic enough that they’ll be helpful in any number of builds that require a solid set of railed tracks.
It would have gone much further on the list if this were more obviously intended to be a roller coaster. Same if it wasn’t a licensed set.
15. Airport Shuttle
- Year Released: 1990
- Pieces: 767
- Theme: Town
- Minifigs: 9
- Approximate Skill Level: Advanced
I hear what you’re saying. “This isn’t a Roller Coaster!” I tell you: “It’s got all the same parts. It has a track and multiple cars that go at high speeds around a loop that will rise and fall several times”.
Also, if you’ve ever been stuck at an airport for an extended layover, you will know how much of a godsend a long monorail can be. Not only does it cut down on your walking time, but it also lets you ride something that kills a few minutes as you go around and around.
Less cavalierly, this makes the list because, if you choose to, you can build it as a roller coaster! These tracks were more sturdily designed than the ones above and with even less give to them. If you were clever, like I find most LEGO builders to be, then you could build it in such a way as to have very dramatic rises and falls. You could then partially disassemble the monorails themselves to make rudimentary roller coasters!
This set, in particular, first fascinated me with pushing a thing up and watching gravity carry it around the rest of the track. One of the more significant problems with this set was how bland it was. It also had many large, singular pieces that weren’t useful outside of that build.
14. Monorail Transport System
- Year Released: 1987
- Pieces: 731
- Theme: Space (Futuron)
- Minifigs: 5
- Approximate Skill Level: Advanced.
Almost everything that could be said about the last set can be said about this one, with a few exceptions.
First, this is from the Futuron subtheme of LEGO’s Space sets. The idea of Futuron was to show a civilization that had reached the stars and how that might affect the lives of the average person. In this case, it imagined a people mover system on the moon. A highly advanced above-ground subway that took people from place to place in comfort and safety.
That theming is the primary reason this set garnered a higher place than number fourteen. Essentially, one of the few things that a monorail doesn’t have that a roller coaster does is theming. Most rides have fun names and themes. Do you know what a very popular theme is?
Space.
If you get creative enough, this set lets you build a futuristic roller coaster with little difference between what you saw and what you had to imagine. Another important thing about this set? It’s designed to move on its own power with a 9V battery!
13. Lava Wave Ride
- Year Released: 2023
- Pieces: 218
- Theme: Super Mario
- Minifigs: 3
- Approximate Skill Level: Moderate
I REALLY Like this set.
It uses roller coaster-like tracks to move a cart back and forth on a minimal track. In reality, it has more resemblance to “swing” rides like the Viking Explorer than a traditional roller coaster. However, it’s close enough that I decided to throw it on the list.
The unique way it was designed and built was a significant factor in that decision.
It’s made so that as you move the Koopa, the track moves with it, causing the cart to move! It’s a small amount of functionality that sets it head and shoulders above other similar sets. It would have made it even further down the list if more “generic” pieces were used in its construction.
12. Space Ride Amusement Track
- Year Released: 2022
- Pieces: 433
- Theme: Town
- Minifigs: 3
- Approximate Skill Level: Moderate
If you’ve ever been to a traveling carnival, then you’ve no doubt seen little rides like this. The nomadic nature of a traveling carnival means that most of them don’t have the ability to break down and assemble full-size roller coasters or other large amusement rides. However, they often have different, smaller modular designs like this one.
Of course, the fact that they’re small doesn’t mean that they’re boring.
One of the reasons I decided to throw this on the list is that it makes use of a bit of track to keep the carts going round and round. Another is that, if you’ve never been, there’s less oversight on traveling carnivals. That means they often make up for their small size by designing their rides to go super fast.
I also absolutely love the creativity in this set! It makes excellent use of standard LEGO bricks in colors we don’t typically get!
11. Monorail Transport Base
- Year Released: 1994
- Pieces: 573
- Theme: Space (Unitron)
- Minifigs: 5
- Approximate Skill Level: Advanced
As time marches on, LEGO loves to update old sets with new systems. It lets new generations of builders play with styles of sets that they may otherwise not have had a chance to experience. Such is the case with the Unitron theme.
Eventually, LEGO discontinued its Futuron line, replacing it with the Space Police for several years. The Space Police replaced the protagonists against Blacktron that Futuron had once served. (I always imagined this as the Futuron society gradually giving way to a more martial system of government until the Space Police became the de facto ruling body.) When the Space Police line was retired, the Unitron line took its place.
The sets under Unitron were designed to have a more militaristic feel than their predecessors. They were also designed with different color schemes than had appeared in most other Space sets before, leaning heavily into the blue, grey, and black color scheme.
Much like its predecessor, this was designed to work off 9v batteries. It was also a little more modular in design, meaning it was even easier to change it into a roller coaster if that’s what you wanted. I also liked the colors on this much better than the other options up until now.
10. Haunted House
- Year Released: 2020
- Pieces: 3231
- Theme: Icons
- Minifigs: 10
- Approximate Skill Level: Iconic Expert
LEGO is sometimes considered to be “for kids.” I think this is fundamentally wrong. The urge to create and build doesn’t disappear at any specific age.
Over the years, LEGO seems to have begun to agree, gradually expanding its targeted demographics. Eventually, they aimed all the way up to adults with their Icons theme. The whole point of these sets is for adults to really test themselves against massive builds with many small pieces.
This one, in particular, also shows LEGO pulling another of their favorite tricks: Pulling inspiration from a place and just sort of filing off the serial numbers.
If anyone’s ever been to Disneyland, this set will probably look pretty familiar to you!
Because it’s an Icons set, it’s built with many standard bricks. It can be used with almost any build you want to make. I also love how you can open and close it!
But wait. There are no tracks here. So why is it on this list? And so High?!
The answer to that is that I recognize their inspiration. The inspiration has tracks that take you through a Haunted Mansion that looks very similar to this. In reality, this set is a secret Haunted Mansion set that needs you to add tracks! (This was also the first time I saw a set include a differently-abled minifig!)
9. Amusement Park Roller Coaster
- Year Released: 2016
- Pieces: 1124
- Theme: Friends
- Minifigs: 4
- Approximate Skill Level: Advanced
FINALLY! We get to a set that’s designed to be a roller coaster!
…and it’s a little disappointing.
The track isn’t even as impressive as some of the ones I put together with less specifically designed pieces twenty years before this was released. Still, it’s meant to be a roller coaster, so it gets to be near the top of the list.
It also loses some points because it’s part of the Friends theme.
The Friends theme was an attempt to market LEGO more exclusively to girls. It used pastel colors and taller, slender versions of minifigs to court a more “feminine” demographic. My problem is that I never knew a girl who wasn’t happy to make things with regular LEGO. It was nice to get an expanded color palette. I just wish it hadn’t done so in a heavily gendered manner.
8. Carnival Thrill Coaster
- Year Released: 2019
- Pieces: 98
- Theme: Toy Story 4
- Minifigs: 2
- Approximate Skill Level: Beginner
This set proves that a set doesn’t need to be complicated to be powerful. Technically, this is a roller coaster in name only. It doesn’t even have rises or falls on its perfectly circular track!
It’s also losing steam for being a licensed property. So why does it take such a high point on the list?
For a couple of reasons. Among other things, I love the clever way they used standard LEGO bricks at several places, like for the turnstile.
I’ll admit, though, the real reason is that this set was the other half of my “Haunted Mansion” LEGO build. The tracks have a surprising amount of flexibility to them and can be arranged in such a way as to wend through number 10 above.
I also love the Little Green Man and Buzz Lightyear minifigs included in this set. They’re very unique and beautiful sets.
7. Tiny Roller Coaster
- Year Released: 2020
- Pieces: 109
- Theme: Promotional (Toys R Us)
- Minifigs: 0
- Approximate Skill Level: Beginner
This set is terrific.
I mean that entirely unironically.
It was only available for a little while in 2020, heading into 2021 as part of Toys R Us’ (RIP, Geoffrey) annual Bricktober event.
It’s a very SMALL build when it’s put together. But it’s nothing but very standard LEGO bricks! There are two or three specialized bricks, and that’s it. That means it does all of this with the same kind of LEGO you could pull out of almost any set under the sun.
It serves as an inspiration for what can be accomplished with a little bit of ingenuity and creativity.
6. Magical Fun Fair
- Year Released: 2021
- Pieces: 974
- Theme: Friends
- Minifigs: 4
- Approximate Skill Level: Advanced
We’re back to the Friends line with this one.
It was released several years after number nine. It includes a more significant number of generic bricks, even though number nine consists of a more substantial number of bricks overall. It also has a more varied and exciting track for the roller coaster. I also love that it is included as part of an onsite Renaissance Faire.
Kind of.
It’s evocative of a Renaissance Faire, even if it is clearly supposed to be more a general “stage magic” theming. Regardless. I think this is a really cool set. It would have gone higher if the individual bricks could have been used in more builds.
5. Space Roller Coaster
- Year Released: 2023
- Pieces: 874
- Theme: Creator
- Minifigs: 6
- Approximate Skill Level: Advanced
This set will release later this year. I don’t have much to say about this one because this seems like a reasonably generic LEGO set, unlike Diddy Kong’s Minecart above. I honestly think that the Unitron mover system made for a better roller coaster set than this one. That one made a set that looked like it could be in Disney Land. This will likely be the rickety knockoff at the park two states over.
However, this one will benefit from being meant to be a roller coaster. It will also benefit from three different layouts included in its instructions.
4. Loop Coaster
- Year Released: 2022
- Pieces: 3756
- Theme: Icons
- Minifigs: 11
- Approximate Skill Level: Expert
This is another Icons set clearly aimed at older audiences. It’s designed to have the cart lifted to the top of the track, and then it lets gravity do the work of bringing it back to the ground. It’s incredible to see. It’s fantastic to do.
Unfortunately, it’s also not what I consider a pure roller coaster. So it lost out on some points there.
This set also ends up with the cart coming off the track a surprising amount of the time.
3. Pirate Roller Coaster
- Year Released: 2018
- Pieces: 983
- Theme: Creator
- Minifigs: 5
- Approximate Skill Level: Advanced
This set captures the fluid nature of the high seas in both its track layouts and its fluid nature.
This set includes three potential layouts, and they’re all incredibly unique! Interestingly, I don’t believe this took any inspiration from a specific famous pirate-themed ride, except maybe as a very loose starting point.
It has five minifigs, some unique to this set, and many creatively used standard bricks. The only reason it didn’t go higher is because some other sets were more daring.
2. Joker Manor
- Year Released: 2017
- Pieces: 3444
- Theme: LEGO Batman Movie
- Minifigs: 10
- Approximate Skill Level: Expert
Is there any supervillain more appropriately associated with a rollercoaster than the Joker?
This is an absolutely staggering set. It has more than three-thousand pieces to create one of the most extensive LEGO villain lairs ever released.
It gets bonus points for including many variations of the same character within a single LEGO set. It’s also wonderful to be able to turn around this gorgeous building and have your LEGO minifigs play inside of it.
What’s more remarkable still is the Roller Coaster Track. This was the very first time I’d ever seen LEGO make a roller coaster track, and as soon as I had it home, I knew what I’d been missing for decades. The Tracks have just enough give to be able to be used in multiple different configurations.
This could have taken the top spot if it wasn’t a licensed property.
1. Roller Coaster
- Year Released: 2018
- Pieces: 4124
- Theme: Icons
- Minifigs: 11
- Approximate Skill Level: Iconic Expert
This one wins because it has absolutely everything. It LOOKS like what you picture when someone says LEGO roller coaster. It’s got a high design with a very complex track, supported by the familiar latticework design we see on most LEGO roller coasters. It was clearly popular as it could be found for over three years, and sets are still widely available on the second-hand market.
It’s also an Icons set, so it uses a ton of typical LEGO bricks to achieve an incredible effect. Most of the lattice is made of pillar bricks that have been around for decades. It also includes the gears and the rods of the typical Creator set from years past to increase the cart’s speed at the top of the track.
Conclusion
These sets have been good and bad. I’m surprised it took LEGO so long to make a “real” LEGO roller coaster set. Honestly, the fact that they had so many “almost” roller coaster sets that came close played with my emotions. It took them high and brought them low.
I’ll admit that this list was kind of an emotional ride for me. Like something that rattled along a specific track and went to the top of notable peaks and then to the bottom of valleys in a very fast way.
You know, like a… thing that does that.
What’s that called again?
Oh! Right!
Just like a train!
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: What was the first Roller Coaster-themed LEGO set released?
Answer: Although multiple sets could be used to build roller coaster sets before it, the first “true” roller coaster was 2016’s Amusement Park Roller Coaster.
Question: What was the last Roller Coaster-themed LEGO set released?
Answer: The Loop Coaster was the last roller coaster set released. There are also two additional sets meant to be released later this year.
Question: Are there any currently available in retail stores?
Answer: Lava Wave Ride is currently in stores! Space Ride Amusement Track and Loop Coaster are both still in stores at this time. Additionally, Diddy Kong’s Minecart and the Space Roller Coaster are set to be released on August 1st.