10. Taron (Phantasialand, Germany)

Image: Phantasialand

Manufacturer: Intamin
Type: LSM Launch Coaster

Intamin has built many launch coasters over the years, but Taron looks like it will be one of the most unique and ambitious. It will certainly be one of the most beautiful - the amount of rockwork being used to create the new Klugheim area that will house it is truly stunning.

Image: Phantasialand

Taron is being billed as "Europe's fastest multi-launch coaster", and the circuit will indeed feature multiple Linear Synchronous Motor launches, putting it in the same bracket as the likes of Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens Tampa.

Image: Phantasialand

It won't be the only coaster to occupy the new area, either - Phantasialand is also squeezing in a Vekoma Family Boomerang coaster dubbed Raik. The two circuits will intertwine in places, making this a staggeringly complicated construction project and one of the most impressive new lands at any theme park in the world this year.

9. Storm Chaser (Kentucky Kingdom, USA)

Image: Kentucky Kingdom

Manufacturer: Rocky Mountain Construction
Type: Steel-Wood Hybrid Coaster
Top speed: 52mph
Height: 100 feet

Following its painful and protracted rescue by former owner Ed Hart - the park remain closed for nearly five years following its closure by Six Flags - Kentucky Kingdom is beginning to get into its stride. Storm Chaser will be the second new coaster to be constructed at the park in a period of only two years, adding a fifth coaster to the park's line-up.

Image: Kentucky Kingdom

To replace the former Twisted Twins wooden coasters, which had been standing but not operating since 2007, the park has commissioned flavor-of-the-month manufacturer Rocky Mountain Construction. Parts of Twisted Twins' wooden structure will be reused, but the coaster will receive an all-new iBox steel track - only the fifth coaster in the world to do so. This is designed to create the "feel" of a wooden coaster, but with the benefits of a steel superstructure to support it.

Image: Kentucky Kingdom

Standing at 100 feet tall, Storm Chaser will be the first coaster in America to feature a barrel roll drop from a 10-story lift hill, with the drop being a very steep 78 degrees. Other elements includes a stall dive, airtime hills and a corkscrew, making this very different from a traditional wooden coaster.

8. Mission Ferrari (Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

Image: Holovis Attractions

Manufacturer: Dynamic Attractions
Type: SFX Coaster

Perhaps the most intriguing of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi's new additions for 2016 is Mission Ferrari, an SFX Coaster manufactured by Dynamic Attractions. That's the same firm behind Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts at Universal Studios Florida, and this will be a similar construction, even if it may lack the astonishing level of theming of the Universal ride.

SFX Coasters are capable of a wide range of impressive maneuvers.
Image: Dynamic Attractions

Relatively little has been confirmed about Mission Ferrari, but the few leaks and sneakily-captured construction photos so far suggest that it will feature at least two inversions, along with Gringotts-style elements such as a drop track, tilt track, 3D movie screens and a launch or two.

How impressive will the final product be? We'll have to wait until later in the year to find out.

7. Pulsar (Walibi Belgium)

Image: Walibi Belgium

Manufacturer: Mack Rides
Type: PowerSplash
Top speed: 62mph
Height: 148 feet

Is Pulsar, Walibi Belgium's world-first addition for 2016, a water ride or a roller coaster? It's perhaps open for debate, but the ride receives a listing in the Roller Coaster Database, which is good enough for us. The attraction will be the first Mack Rides PowerSplash, and carries a price tag of nearly $10 million.

Image: Walibi Belgium

The boats/trains on Pulsar will rush backwards and forwards through a huge splash zone, with two vertical sections of track standing either side of the splashdown lake. The boats will hit a top speed of 62 miles per hour, making this a very intense experience. The video below best illustrates the ride experience:

Mack will be hoping that Pulsar proves to be a hit, sparking a rush from other theme parks around the globe to install their own clones.

6. The Flying Dinosaur (Universal Studios Japan)

Image: Universal Studios Japan

Manufacturer: Bolliger & Mabillard
Type: Flying Coaster
Top speed: 62mph
Height: 151 feet

Universal Studios Japan's major new addition for 2016 is The Flying Dinosaur, rumored to have cost as much as $90 million to build. It made its debut in March, allowing the park to cash in on continuing interest in the Jurassic Park franchise following the box office success of Jurassic World last year.

Image: Universal Studios Japan

The storyline behind the attraction is that the owners of Jurassic Park have long dreamed of creating a ride that would allow guests to fly through the sky with wild pteranodons. Finally, they managed to train the pteranodons - but their behavior is still unpredictable.

Image: Universal Studios Japan

In reality, guests board the longest Bolliger & Mabillard Flying Coaster in the world, featuring a 124-foot first drop and a 3,688 feet circuit. They then soar over much of the Jurassic Park area of Universal Studios Japan, making this a ride that's almost as fun to watch as it is to experience.