What's the Best Wooden Roller Coaster in the World?

The annual Golden Ticket Awards were handed out last month in a special ceremony at Kennywood in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The awards were founded back in 1998 by Amusement Today and, annually, they celebrate the Best of the Best in amusement park rides, attractions and innovations. The Golden Ticket Awards hand out prizes in categories like Best New Roller Coaster, Best New Attraction, and Best New Water Park Ride.

The Golden Ticket Awards also provide annual rankings of roller coasters around the world. If you're a coaster enthusiast, that guide is an excellent resource. You can check out lists like The Top 25 Steel Coasters and The Top 25 Wooden Coasters.

It's that particular list that features two roller coasters from Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. As a matter of fact, Holiday World snagged a Golden Ticket Award this year for Best Innovation. The park was recognized for its amazing drone show- Holidays in the Sky.

During the 2024 season, the park added an "audience participation" element to the show. Each day, park guests were allowed to vote for what they wanted to see during a certain portion of the show.

Holiday World's water park- Splashin' Safari- also snagged an award. The Wildebeest- a water coaster- was again named Best Water Park Ride!

The park also snagged the award for Best New Theme Concept for its family coaster Good Gravy!

As a coaster enthusiast myself, I was drawn to the Top 25 lists and noticed that my favorite wooden roller coaster ever- Holiday World's The Voyage- made the Top 10.

Here's a look at the Golden Ticket Awards' Top 10 Wooden Coasters in the World.

#10- RAVINE FLYER II (Waldemeer)

#9- WODAN (Europa Park)

#8- GHOST RIDER- Knott's Berry Farm

#7- BOULDER DASH (Lake Compounce)

#6- EL TORO (Six Flags Great Adventure)

#5- MYSTIC TIMBERS (Kings Island)

#4- THUNDERHEAD (Dollywood)

#3- THE BEAST (Kings Island)

#2- THE VOYAGE (Holiday World)

#1- PHOENIX (Knoebels Amusement Park)

By the way, Holiday World's coaster- The Legend- ranked #18 on the list.

To see more of the 2024 Golden Ticket Award winners, CLICK HERE!

Gallery Credit: Stacker