Five best rides on the planet

Biggest, longest, fastest, tallest? Read on...

Longest and highest: the Steel Dragon 2000 in the Nagashima Spaland park in Mie, an hour and a half's train journey west of Tokyo. Its one-and-a-half-mile-long waves of steel, peaking at around 320ft, take five-and-a-half minutes to travel and win the prize for endurance fans. Admission (day pass): adult 4,100 yen (£23.50), child over two 3,100 yen (£18); child under two 1,300 (£7.50); 00 81 594 45 11 11; www.jnto.go.jp

Fastest: The Dodonpa at the Fujikyu Park in the Fujikyu Highlands, an hour and 40 minutes' train ride south-west of Tokyo. This takes you to 107mph in 1.8 seconds, with G-forces (of 4.3) and a 90-degree fall that would make a stunt pilot blanch. Admission (day pass): adult, 4,500 yen (£25.80), child 3,300 yen (£19); www.city.fujiyoshida.yamanashi.jp).

Most expensive: Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris cost $100 million to create, based on an idea by Jules Verne. Looping in the dark through stars and meteorites, you can calculate how many day tickets it would take to pay off the mortgage on the place, before being halted by the Electro-De-Velocitor. Admission (one day ticket): adult £23, child £18; (08705 030303; www.disneylandparis.com)

Tallest: The new Colossus at Thorpe Park (yes, we have one record holder). Blackpool's Pepsi Max Big One encompasses practically the entire Pleasure Beach resort. To get the speed - a gut-wrenching 85mph - you need the height: 235ft, which will give you two minutes to admire the Tower and the Irish Sea. Admission: free to the Pleasure Beach; family of four day pass to all rides £85; individual day pass £25 per person; (0870 4445566; www.bpbltd.com)

(With thanks to Paul Ruben of Park World magazine)