While amusement parks typically try to keep their lineups refreshed with new attractions, some older rides seemingly fly under the radar and remain at parks longer than one might think.
Growing as someone fascinated by but incredibly afraid of roller coasters as a young child, it blew my mind just how much things changed in the industry within a short period of time when it comes to pushing limits and boundaries.
Merely 11 years separated the industry from its first 200-foot roller coaster in Magnum XL-200 in 1989 to its first 300-foot roller coaster in Millennium Force in 2000 – both of which are located at Cedar Point.
The industry-wide battle to etch certain parks’ names into the record books was also accompanied by much-needed technological advancement, as roller coaster design started to move towards the standard computer-aided design that is used today.
This made the 1990’s an incredible decade of innovation across the world of coasters, with inverted coasters and dive coasters both making their debuts during the decade while stand-up coasters reached their height in popularity.
Yet in the 20 years or so since the so-called coaster wars finally ended, parks have drastically reshaped their lineups – prioritizing attractions that appeal to wider audiences as opposed to simply trying to get into the record books.
In this time, many coasters that were previously viewed as premier thrill attractions in their heyday have been removed in favor of newer, smoother coasters, especially at larger parks that attract significant crowds each year.
While it’s not particularly surprising when an outdated ride has a long lifespan at a smaller regional park without many coasters (such as Thunderhawk at Michigan’s Adventure), there are a few instances where a seemingly past-its-prime ride continues to operate at a large park, even if it doesn’t attract the largest crowds and takes up a good deal of space.
There are a few of these coasters scattered across the U.S., and they’ve always fascinated me quite a bit. Their days always feel numbered, and every ride you get on it feels like it could be your last. Still, several of these rides have defied the odds and stayed open long past what many have expected.
Here’s a look at four roller coasters in the United States that I’m surprised remain in operation – rides I’m sure to keep a close eye on as the years go by to see when they finally do reach the end of their service life.
1. Kong – Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, California)
Vekoma, 109.3 ft tall, 49.7 mph, 2,260.5 ft length, 5 inversions
While many larger regional theme parks in the country were getting flashy new Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coasters, parks with less investment often received the Great Value brand version of those rides – the infamous Vekoma SLC (suspended looping coaster), derisively nicknamed “hang-and-bangs” by enthusiasts due to their rough nature and bulky harnesses that lead to headbanging.
Across the Bay Area in Santa Clara, California’s Great America received one of those B&M inverts in Flight Deck several years prior to Kong‘s 1998 opening, making the coaster a comparatively inferior attraction from the jump.
Although Discovery Kingdom is not a park that attracts all that much attention from Six Flags, the park has added several solid thrill coasters since Kong‘s opening, including their headline attraction in Joker, a hybrid coaster from Rocky Mountain Construction that was a conversion of the former wooden coaster Roar.
Today, Kong is an overlooked supporting coaster that also operates relatively sporadically – and it was closed during my visit to the park in September 2024. Now my home park, I’ll be visiting Discovery Kingdom again in just a few weeks – and I’ll be curious to see if it’s open.
While Discovery Kingdom likely wouldn’t remove a ride without an addition in place due to its already limited lineup, Kong‘s removal could be on the horizon after the expected closure of California’s Great America next year, with RailBlazer a prime candidate for relocation.
2. Woodstock Express – Kings Island (Mason, Ohio)
Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, 38.6 ft tall, 35 mph, 1,350 ft length
A junior wooden coaster that has been operating at the park since its opening in 1972, I got my ride on this all the way back during my first visit to Kings Island in July 2002, when it was known as Beastie – paying homage to The Beast and Son of Beast, two massive wooden coasters at the park.
A small woodie indicative of what a junior coaster looked like at the time it was built, Woodstock Express has a basic figure eight layout and is a solid step up from a small kiddie coaster, giving young thrillseekers a good preview of what to expect on a wooden coaster.
Despite theming changes to the kids area in the park and the addition of scores of other children’s attractions that have come and gone, Woodstock Express remains in operation – despite being of a model that appears to have largely gone extinct in the junior wooden coaster.
I wouldn’t expect this coaster to be closing anytime soon either, with its presence getting a vote of confidence with the opening of Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers in 2024, a family coaster located in a different part of the kids area – as opposed to replacing Woodstock Express.
3. Viper – Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California)
Arrow Dynamics, 188 ft tall, 171 ft drop, 70 mph, 3,830 ft length, 7 inversions
I’ll never forget thinking during my ride on Viper in March 2013 that I was lucky to get a ride on the last remaining Arrow mega-looper, especially under the assumption that this coaster’s days were also numbered.
I never would have guessed that nearly 11 years later, I would be riding Viper yet again on my most recent visit to Magic Mountain in January 2024.
Despite being placed at one of the world’s most stacked amusement parks with a constantly evolving lineup that routinely features new additions, Viper has repeatedly defied the odds and remained in operation – despite having a relatively large footprint and routinely short lines.
This coaster is very polarizing among enthusiasts and the general public, with many calling it far too rough and jerky of a ride, while others (myself included) believe it’s an excellent ride with several uniquely intense moments and elements you simply don’t encounter on coasters today.
The permanent closure of X2 (and likely addition of ArieForce One) probably means that Viper is safe – although I wouldn’t rule out the park removing Viper to both cut costs and create more space near where X2 currently is.
4. Demon – Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, Illinois)
Arrow Dynamics, 103.7 ft tall, 90 ft drop, 50 mph, 2,130 ft length, 4 inversions
A classic Arrow looper, this coaster initially opened with the park in 1976 as Turn of the Century, a more basic coaster that simply featured the double corkscrew at the end of the ride. Four years later, the ride had its two signature loops added after the first drop, receiving a black paintjob and the Demon moniker it holds to this day.
This coaster will always be special to me, as it was a bit of a hump to get over due to my fears of coasters that eclipsed 100 feet in height – and finally riding it was unlocking the confidence to ride the larger coasters in the park.
An old coaster from an extinct manufacturer that frequently has very short lines, Demon appears to be a ripe candidate for removal – something I thought was almost certain before the official announcement of Wrath of Rakshasa, a nearby dive coaster that opened last year.
Beyond the sentimental attachment many parkgoers have for the ride, it also is a benefit of having a very small footprint – there isn’t all that much possible when it comes to transforming the plot of land that Demon sits on outside of perhaps a shuttle coaster, something that feels unlikely given the investment put into other areas of the park in recent years.
Still, Demon won’t last forever – and it’ll be interesting to see how much longer the juice is worth the squeeze for Six Flags and this iconic coaster.
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