- 6 weeks ago
These coasters have seen generations come and go, but they’re still delivering thrills today. Join us as we look at historic rides that refuse to retire, from scenic railways with brakemen to classic wooden icons featured in movies and beloved by coaster fans worldwide. Which of these legendary rides would you dare to brave?
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00:00The great-grandparent, the grandparent, the parent, and the child have all been on this same ride.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the oldest roller coasters that are unbelievably still
00:11in operation.
00:13Kennywood Park, the undefeated roller coaster capital of the world.
00:19Number 10, Dragon Coaster, Playland, Rye, New York, USA.
00:24This wooden roller coaster was featured in two popular 80s films, Fatal Attraction and Big,
00:28but its history goes back several decades before that.
00:31If Sultar granted Tom Hanks' character a wish to attend the Dragon Coaster's grand opening at Playland,
00:36he'd be back in the year 1929.
00:51Along the nearly 3,400 feet of track, the coaster features a tunnel resembling a dragon.
00:57At the top of the ride, you get a glimpse of the Long Island Sound.
01:00You know, for the people who grew up and still live in Westchester County,
01:03they hold a special place in their heart for Playland Park, especially that iconic Dragon Coaster.
01:08While the ride was closed for over a year between 2024 and 2025,
01:12the Dragon Coaster was back up and running in May 2026,
01:16and it's still using a manual brake system just like the good old days.
01:20The flagship Dragon Coaster is once again racing high above Rye's Playland Park.
01:26Number 9, Montaña Suiza, Montaigueldo Amusement Park, San Sebastian, Spain.
01:31This roller coaster is one of the most picturesque amusement park rides you'll find.
01:35It's a ride where man-made engineering conjoins with natural topography to create something breathtaking.
01:46Montaña Suiza is located on the coast of San Sebastian, Spain, offering stunning cliffside views of the ocean.
01:54It was built into the edge of the mountain, with the rails and a trow resembling a typical scenic railway.
02:07To this day, Montaña Suiza maintains that old, historic feel as a brakeman rides on board each of the two
02:13trains to control the speed.
02:15Opened in 1928, Montaña Suiza is the oldest steel roller coaster still operating in the world.
02:20Change, I can change, I can change, I can change, but I'm here in my mold.
02:26I am here in my mold, but I'm a million different...
02:29Number 8, The Cyclone, Luna Park, Coney Island, New York, USA.
02:33This is how Coney Island usually looks.
02:36Thousands of people enjoying the rides at Luna Park and its famous roller coaster, The Cyclone.
02:41Part of what makes Coney Island an amusement icon is its rich history.
02:45And as far as roller coasters go, The Cyclone is its most historic.
02:49It opened in June of 1927.
02:51By the early 70s, it seemed as though its time was about to be up, as the city planned to
02:56get rid of it.
02:56But then, the owners of the Astraland Amusement Park entered an agreement with New York City to operate the ride.
03:01So the Cyclone was refurbished and kept going strong.
03:05It reaches a maximum speed of 60 miles an hour and carries 24 passengers.
03:09It has a total track length of 2,640 feet.
03:13The Coney Island Cyclone is the second steepest wooden roller coaster in the world.
03:18Even after Astraland closed and the site became Dreamland in 2009 and then Luna Park in 2010, The Cyclone remained.
03:25This ride is not just a New York designated landmark, but an international amusement landmark.
03:30You hear the noise.
03:32Alexis Gabriel is talking about riding The Cyclone, the almost 100-year-old roller coaster, some argue, Coney Island is
03:39known for.
03:39Number 7, Giant Dipper, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, California, USA.
03:45Opened in 1924, the Giant Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has won multiple awards,
03:51including the American Coaster Enthusiast's Golden Age Coaster Award for its great historical significance.
03:56The Beach Boardwalk attractions draw crowds from around the world, with the Giant Dipper by far the most popular.
04:02This helps Santa Cruz County see a 135% tourism spike in 2023.
04:07The Giant Dipper in San Diego's Belmont Park, the other of two remaining wooden coasters on the West Coast designed
04:13by Frank Pryor and Frederick Church,
04:15also won the Golden Age Coaster Award.
04:17This ride is so beloved by so many of our guests.
04:20Since 1924, 16 million people have coasted down this half mile of tracks, including some very famous individuals.
04:28However, that ride opened in 1925, so we're giving a nod to Santa Cruz's Giant Dipper for being slightly older.
04:34Santa Cruz's Giant Dipper is still powered by its original 70-horsepower motor.
04:38Not even the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which caused a lot of destruction in the area, could damage, let alone
04:45stop, this roller coaster.
04:46How do you keep a roller coaster running, or rolling, for 100 years?
04:50Well, we take great care of this coaster, we have for 100 years.
04:54We have a dedicated team of coaster mechanics who work on the Giant Dipper roller coaster.
04:58Number 6, Big Dipper.
05:00Blackpool, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, England.
05:02Once the scenic railway closed in early 2026, Big Dipper took the mantle as the oldest operating roller coaster in
05:08the UK.
05:09Here we go!
05:14It was built in 1923 and expanded 13 years later.
05:18In the late 2000s, it underwent months of refurbishment, which brought a new water fountain and repaired and repainted trains.
05:24Big Dipper wasn't going anywhere.
05:26It's been a mainstay at Blackpool Pleasure Beach for over a century.
05:30It's even referenced in the 1976 Jethro Tull tune titled Big Dipper.
05:42Who knew that all these years after the song came out, this iconic roller coaster would still be up and
05:46running?
05:47Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the roller coaster capital of the world.
05:51How long have you got?
05:53Number 5, The Roller Coaster.
05:55Lagoon Amusement Park, Farmington, Utah, USA.
05:59Its generic name makes it sound old, and indeed it is.
06:02To be fair though, the roller coaster, as it's commonly called, has had a variety of other names over the
06:07years,
06:08including Lagoon Dipper, Pippin' Dips, and Giant Coaster.
06:11The roller coaster's aging parts are constantly replaced to keep it in tip-top shape.
06:16Most of this work is above ground, but when the soil is disrupted...
06:20You can dig a small hole here and come across a whiskey bottle from the 40s, 50s.
06:24Located at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah, the roller coaster opened in 1921.
06:29Just two years later, flood damage prompted the replacement of multiple foundation blocks.
06:33B-O-H, so B-O-H means clean up on the midway for that.
06:38B-O-H?
06:39B-O-H.
06:40What does the acronym stand for?
06:41Bucket of Hurl?
06:43In 1953, a fire damaged the ride, but didn't destroy it.
06:47The roller coaster was repaired once again and has withstood the test of time ever since.
06:51The fire in 1953.
06:53He said he got calls, you know, he looks outside and the sky was just black.
06:58But the fact that they rebuilt the coaster, it means so much to all of us.
07:02Number 4.
07:03Jackrabbit.
07:04Kennywood Park, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, USA.
07:07Opened in 1920, Kennywood Park's Jackrabbit is a coaster classic.
07:11One of its notable early features was a tunnel covering the turnaround section after the first
07:15drop, but that was removed in 1947.
07:18In 1991, though, a slightly shorter tunnel was built, bringing back that piece of original
07:22feel that had been missing for over 40 years.
07:25Come and have fun.
07:26Come on, everybody, let's go on too high.
07:28And ride the big coaster right up to the sky.
07:31As if still having this historic roller coaster operating at your amusement park wasn't cool
07:35enough, Kennywood claims that a video of Jackrabbit is the oldest coaster POV video in existence.
07:41They've been rebuilt many times over the years, but it's that same funky classic basic train
07:46and Kennywood continue to operate it and the way they do is just really special because
07:51there's not too many places on earth where you can experience something like this.
07:53Another noteworthy historic ride at Kennywood Park is Racer, the oldest still operating wooden
07:58coaster with a Mobius Loop layout, meaning one continuous track.
08:02But we're giving the nod to Jackrabbit because it's seven years older.
08:06He spent about four hours on the ride today.
08:09Vic has been to many amusement parks, ridden maybe a thousand different coasters, but nothing
08:14compares to Kennywood, he says.
08:15Number three, Jackrabbit, Seabreeze Amusement Park, Arundacoit, New York, USA.
08:21The heart of the 1920 Seabreeze Amusement Park expansion was Jackrabbit.
08:25Using the natural topography to its benefit, Jackrabbit was built as a terrain coaster.
08:29Take a break, relax, and have some fun at Seabreeze, a classic amusement park.
08:35At the time of opening, it was the fastest roller coaster on the planet.
08:38John A. Miller's under-friction wheel design, which locks the coaster trains to the track and
08:43enables bigger and steeper drops at greater speeds, was ahead of its time.
08:47John Miller devised to lock the roller coaster to the track so it could not come off.
08:51That transformed roller coasters from mild-mannered scenic attractions to true thrill machines.
08:57Jackrabbit is the oldest running coaster in the world with such a design, and it's the
09:01oldest of any coasters still operating in the United States.
09:04It has a timeless appeal to it.
09:06The drops, the hills, the tunnel, it's something that just doesn't get old.
09:10It's a thrill that can be passed along from generation to generation.
09:14Number 2.
09:14Ruchabain.
09:15Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark.
09:18This historic gem is located at the second oldest operating amusement park in the world.
09:22It is the oldest operating roller coaster in Europe, and the third oldest in the world.
09:26Ruchabain, which some call Bjarbain, or the mountain coaster in English, opened in 1914.
09:31Like many classic, old, scenic railways, aboard this mountain-themed ride is a brake operator
09:37who controls the speed of the train.
09:38There are not many brakemen left in the world where you have somebody riding with you who's
09:43making the ride the way you want it.
09:46Like some other structures within Tivoli Gardens, parts of Ruchabain were bombed during
09:50World War II, but the government called for it to be restored, and so it was in short time.
09:55That was a big sign of its staying power.
09:57For the ride's 100th anniversary in 2014, mountaintops from the original version were added back,
10:02symbolizing the timelessness of what is the oldest operating roller coaster in Europe.
10:06For the ride's 100th anniversary, the mountaintops were added back in 2014,
10:12restoring the original vision and theming for the remarkable attraction.
10:22Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's Adia, Songs from Iran,
10:27reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs.
10:31Check out the full track and album below.
10:47Number 1, the Great Scenic Railway, Luna Park, Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
10:53Opened in 1912, Luna Park, Melbourne's Great Scenic Railway holds the crown for oldest continuously
10:58operating roller coaster in the world.
11:10That crown previously belonged to Leap the Dips at Lakemont Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania,
11:15a coaster that opened in 1902 and remained standing but has not been in operation since 2023.
11:21The Great Scenic Railway is one of the few roller coasters still left that require a brakeman to stand on
11:26the train.
11:26Soak up the spectacular carnival atmosphere and ride all day on 18 rides and classic attractions
11:31with an unlimited ride pass.
11:33Live it up at Melbourne's Luna Park!
11:35The ride takes you up a cable lift hill, above Luna Park's entrance, and on a sort of journey through
11:40time,
11:41allowing you to feel as close as possible to the early days of roller coasters.
11:49Have you ridden any of these roller coasters?
11:51And which is the highest on your bucket list?
11:53Let us know in the comments.
11:55Let us know in the comments.
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11:57Let us know in the comments.
11:58Let us know in the comments.
11:58Let us know in the comments.
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