A Nearly 100-Year-Old Roller Coaster Reopens This Weekend After Being Shut Down Over Safety Concerns
A Nearly 100-Year-Old Roller Coaster Reopens This Weekend After Being Shut Down Over Safety Concerns
Colson ThayerFri, May 22, 2026 at 4:56 PM UTC
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The Dragon Coaster at Playland Park in Rye, N.Y.
Credit: Shutterstock / Jose F. Donneys
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The Dragon Coaster at Playland Park in Rye, N.Y. is returning this weekend after a $1.4 million investment
The nearly 100-year-old ride last operated in 2024 after safety concerns shut down many of the park's attractions
The coaster famously appeared in Tom Hanks' Big and Mariah Carey's “Fantasy” music video
A beloved New York roller coaster that nearly succumbed to years of wear and tear is reopening this weekend after millions were invested in its revitalization.
Known for sending riders into the mouth of a fanged beast, the nearly 100-year-old Dragon Coaster at Playland Park in Rye, N.Y., is coming back to life when the property reopens for the season on May 23.
Many of Playland's rides — including the coaster, which last ran in 2024 — were forced to shut down last year due to safety concerns. The New York Times cites deferred maintenance and a dispute between Westchester County, which owns Playland, and a private company contracted to operate the grounds.
Once that arrangement ended and the county regained full control of the park, officials got to work on upgrading the ride. They enlisted carpenters to reinforce the structure with marine-grade wood from Georgia and contracted Adirondack Studios in Argyle, N.Y., to build a new dragon head out of fiberglass. After hand painting and hand placing 250 individual plastic scales, the serpent's 13,000-pound head returned.
The park also spent time replacing rotting wood and metal fasteners to update the attraction to modern code. The Times reports $1.4 million was spent on the revitalization, as part of the $150 million invested in the park overall in recent years.
“This roller coaster is a living, breathing wooden ride,” Frank Carrieri Jr., the park's longtime general manager, says.
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Playland Park in Rye, N.Y.
Credit: Ritu Manoj Jethani/Shutterstock
Kenneth Jenkins, a Westchester County executive, tells the outlet many local residents associate the park and its Dragon Coaster with coming of age and staycations. “They weren't going to Six Flags,” he says. “They may not even been going out to Coney Island. They definitely weren't going to Disney World. Their trip was to Playland.”
In conversation with CBS New York, Jenkins said the park remains free to explore and the price to ride the attractions remains the same. Playland's website lists “Big Park Ride Bands” at $27 for residents and $32 for non-residents.
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The ride first opened on May 1, 1929, according to the American Coaster Enthusiasts. The 85-foot-tall attraction features 3,400 feet of track, a 75-foot initial drop and a classic art deco-inspired entrance.
The Dragon Coaster has also been featured widely in pop culture. It appeared in Tom Hanks' 1988 movie Big, the 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction and even in Mariah Carey's “Fantasy” music video in 1995.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
