A few weeks back, I identified my picks for the ten most anticipated roller coasters opening at U.S. parks in 2026. Let’s turn our sights to some of the other notable rides that will be (or, rather may be) debuting on midways this year. As with the previous list, a few of the following honorable mention coasters are holdovers that were supposed to have opened and started thrilling passengers in 2025. Will they actually click-clack-click up lift hills this year? Beats me.
A surprising number of the rides have animal themes. Let’s start by diving underwater with barracudas at SeaWorld.
Barracuda Strike at SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas
The seventh roller coaster at SeaWorld San Antonio will be a family inverted ride from the Swiss manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard. It will climb 90 feet and send passengers on a journey in cars that are suspended beneath the tracks. There won’t be any inversions, but with a perky-ish top speed of 44 mph and a serpentine layout featuring banked turns, Barracuda Strike should have at least some teeth for adrenaline junkies while remaining accessible to a wide swath of riders. Big Bad Wolf: The Wolf’s Revenge, which opened last year at sister park Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Phoenix Rising, which debuted at Busch Gardens Tampa in 2024, are similar coasters that have garnered positive reviews. It might be nice to think that Barracuda Strike would actually plunge passengers underwater as depicted in the rendering above (perhaps with pre-dive signage imploring riders, “Take a deep breath!”), but alas, that’s just a marketing image to hype the ride.
NightFlight Expedition at Dollywood in Tennessee
Geared to a family audience with a height of about 30 feet and a top speed of 29 mph, NightFlight Expedition won’t be an extreme roller coaster. In fact, some (including the authoritative rcdb.com) don’t even consider the attraction to be a roller coaster at all. But the $50-million, indoor, highly anticipated, E-Ticket ride, which will incorporate both a roller coaster track and a water-filled flume, would seem to qualify to me. Whatever its designation, NightFlight Expedition surely looks like it will be a compelling addition to Dollywood and one of the 2026 park highlights.
Flying Fox at Kentucky Kingdom
Another suspended family coaster is on the way in 2026. Flying Fox will climb 65 feet and max out at 37 mph. The custom Vekoma coaster will use a booster wheel lift hill to get its trainload of passengers flying.
Shootout and Unknown at Oasis Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri
Oasis Lake of the Ozarks is another delayed project, but construction is underway and developers say the new amusement park and parts of the resort will open fall 2026. Among its rides will be Shootout, a family boomerang coaster from Vekoma. Like similar rides, such as Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers at Kings Island, its train will head backwards out of the loading station using a tire lift system, and then release into a course that will include a 75-foot-tall spike. After dead-ending on the spike, Shootout will retrace its route backwards before returning to the station. The new park’s second coaster, which has yet to be named, will be a suspended family coaster like Flying Fox at Kentucky Kingdom.
Hot Wheels Bone Shaker: The Ultimate Ride at Mattel Adventure Park in Arizona
As I wrote when I included Hot Wheels Twin Mill Racer, the other coaster that’s supposed to open at Mattel Adventure Park, in my roundup of the ten most anticipated U.S. coasters for 2026, I am dubious whether the long-delayed toy-themed park will, in fact, finally open this year. If it does, however, passengers will get to climb 84 feet and navigate a 540-degree helix on the Chance family coaster, Hot Wheels Bone Shaker.
Jurassic World: Cretaceous Coaster at Universal Kids Resort in Texas
As its name makes clear, Universal’s new park will be aimed squarely at kids, so don’t expect any major thrills. Jurassic World: Cretaceous Coaster will be similar to the modest Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal Studios Hollywood. The park’s other coaster, Rhonda’s Trollfest Express, will dial down the thrills even more.
Are any of these new rides (and new parks) on your radar for possible visits in 2026?