20. Lightning Run (Kentucky Kingdom, USA)

Several years after it was abandoned by Six Flags, Kentucky Kingdom is finally set to reopen in May 2014. It will do so with a selection of new rides (alongside many of the old ones), with Lightning Run being the headliner. The steel coaster, manufactured by Chance Rides, will stand at 100 feet tall, with an 80-degree first drop. The 2,500-foot track promises to include a series of banked turns and "airtime" elements.

19. CBeebies Land (Alton Towers, UK)

Following a deal with BBC Worldwide, a variety of kids' favourites will be joining the line-up of Alton Towers' new CBeebies Land area (which will replace the former Old MacDonald's Farmyard). One of the headline attractions in CBeebies Land will be Postman Pat's Parcel Post, which will be an updated version of Old MacDonald's Tractor Ride. The tractors will be gone, replaced by miniature versions of Postman Pat's iconic red van. These will travel around Greendale, the village where Pat lives with Jess the Cat.

18. Ihu's Breakaway Falls (Aquatica Orlando, USA)

Something BIG is coming to SeaWorld Orlando's Aquatica water park next season. Ihu's Breakaway Falls will tower some 105 feet over the park, and is promised to be the steepest (and only) ride of its type in Orlando. The exact nature of the attraction is yet to be revealed, but we can deduce that it won't be a standard body slide: Summit Plummet over at Disney's Blizzard Beach stands at 120 feet tall, which would negate SeaWorld's claim that its new addition is the "tallest ride of its kind" in the area.

The slides will be named after Ihu, Aquatica Orlando's gecko, who it is claimed searches for the "biggest thrills, steepest hills and coolest spills in the water park".

17. Extreme Supernova (The Great Escape, USA)

The Great Escape will open Extreme Supernova, a unique new flat ride. Suspended from an overhead axis, 16 riders will fly head over heels up to 50 feet in the air as land and sky become one through dual swinging and spinning motions. Once the outward facing riders are secured and the floor drops from below, Extreme Supernova will swing back and forth while guests are spun in endless circles delivering maximum G-Forces and high-flying sensations.

16. Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem (Universal Studios Hollywood, USA)

The shuttered Terminator 2: 3-D at Universal Studios Hollywood will be replaced by near-identical clone of Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem at Universal Studios Florida in 2014.

Based on the $540-million grossing Universal Pictures movie, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem is the first ride at any of Universal's theme parks to be based on a Universal-produced animated movie. It replaced Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast at Universal Studios Florida, and reuses the previous attraction's simulator-style ride system.

15. Once Upon A Time (Tokyo Disneyland, Japan)

A new nighttime extravaganza dubbed Once Upon a Time will be based around Tokyo Disneyland's iconic Cinderella Castle. It is expected to borrow elements from the popular Disney Dreams show at Disneyland Paris, using projection mapping technology to display footage from classic Disney movies including Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland on the castle itself.

The plans for the 15-minute show appear to be lacking the spectacular water effects of Disney Dreams, but it will still cost some 2 billion yen ($20.5 million) to install. Once Upon a Time is due to debut in spring or summer 2014.

14. Flight of the Demons (Heide Park, Germany)

Heide Park will open Germany's first Bolliger & Mabillard Wing Rider roller coaster in April 2014. The ride will be installed at a cost of €15 million.

The coaster's trains will feature "wings" that protrude over the sides of the track. This enables the creation of "near-miss" experiences, and the ride is likely to interact with the surrounding scenery.

Flight of the Demons will feature a relatively short 2,532 feet circuit, but will pack in five inversions including an Immelmann loop, a zero-g roll and a pretzel loop. Riders will hit a top speed of 62 miles per hour, with the coaster's lift hill standing at 131 feet tall.

13. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Universal Studios Japan, Japan)

Universal Studios Japan will open its own version of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2014, complete with a clone of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure. It's not confirmed as yet, but it is believed that the ride will feature elements and effects that were not included in the original at Islands of Adventure.

12. Arthur - The Ride (Europa Park, Germany)

Mack Rides is not just one the world's leading ride manufacturers - it's also the owner of Europa Park, Germany's most popular theme park resort. No surprise, then, that it's testing out its latest concept at the park in Rust. The Suspended Powered Coaster is a new evolution of a Mack classic, the powered coaster (seen in rides such as Alton Towers' Runaway Mine Train). As the name suggests, the trains hang underneath the track, rather than on top of it, and are powered by motors rather than gravity.

Mack is billing the new system as ideal for hybrid roller coaster-dark rides, due to the ability to control the speed of the train. It'll aim to prove that the Suspended Powered Coaster is ideal for this role by launching Arthur - The Ride, a new attraction based on Arthur and the Invisibles, at its home park in April 2014.

Riders on the new addition to Europa Park will be suspended beneath a steel track in one of nine, 12-person vehicles. The track will be relatively short at 1,800 feet, and guests are expected to pass through seven scenes after climbing up a spiral lift hill, many of them packed with audio-animatronic characters and 4-D effects.

11. Firechaser Express (Dollywood, USA)

Gerstlauer-manufacted roller coaster FireChaser Express will debut at Dollywood in 2014, boasting two launch sections - one forwards, and backwards.

The ride will feature a 2,427-foot circuit, stand at 79 feet tall and hit a top speed of 34.5 miles per hour. The first launch section on the mine train-style coaster will see riders fired from 0 to 16 miles per hour in 1.1 seconds, while the second will take them up to 20 miles per hour in 2 seconds. There will be six "airtime" hills, two helices and a "trick track" section in a ride that is squarely aimed at families.

The theme for the new coaster will be based around a major fire, with riders playing the role of "heroes" who have answered the call. Dollywood claims that guests as young as 4 years old will be able to experience the ride, billed as "the nation's first dual launch family coaster".