My favorite coaster based on style alone is De la Terre à la Lune (Space Mountain) at Disneyland Paris. It's modeled after Jules Verne's story "From the Earth to the Moon," and the entire Discoveryland section of the park there is "Vernian" in design. I love it! Even though Space Mountain is a dark ride, inside there are things to look at, including the moon from Georges Méliès' 1909 movie Le Voyage dans la lune (where the moon gets hit in the eye with a rocket headed in its direction) - it distracts you right as you crest the hill before the first drop, I think. The ride even has a soundtrack (and you guys thought Disney's Rock-n-Roller coaster was first with that! :-) ) Plus, when the coaster launches, from outside the building it looks like you're being shot out of the cannon. (This is cool: go to the Disneyland Paris web site and you can hear the cannon fire and the first few bars of the soundtrack: http://www.2000.disneylandparis.com/uk/DiscoverThePark/discoveryland.html ). There's also a video of the ride there.
I almost forgot! Also earning points for this ride: the exit dumps you out near the entrance for Star Tours. (And yes, that *is* Anthony Daniels doing CPO's voice on that Star Tours, even though he's speaking French! Mr. Daniels told me that himself.)
*** This post was edited by xrae on 6/7/2000. ***