Roller Coasters in New York

The Empire State has it all – big parks, historic parks, mountain coasters, arcades, small-town parks – so much more than I was expecting! Take a look at three parks in Coney Island, two Six Flags’ (not to mention the biggest Six Flags in New Jersey nearby), and the longest mountain coaster in North America. (I’m writing this at the end of the 2023 season so my prices may be out of date by the time parks reopen in 2024.  Always check hours and prices online before your visit.)

Click on each coaster’s name below for a video of the ride! Ride all the roller coasters in New York from your house!

Luna Park in Coney Island

I’ll start with the iconic Coney Island park in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Luna Park is where you can ride the historic 1927 Cyclone, as well as 7 other (and much newer) roller coasters. That ties it with Six Flags below for the most coasters in any park in New York State. The Cyclone is the only wooden coaster in the park. Otherwise, there is Thunderbolt with a straight-up and straight-down lift hill and four inversions. Soarin’ Eagle is a flying coaster with a weird spiral lift hill. You straddle a horse on Steeplechase. Tickler is a wild mouse with spinning cars. And Circus Coaster, Mini Mouse, and Tony’s Express are all on the gentle side of things.

Other rides include a log flume, several flat rides that look fun, many classics, and lots of kids’ rides. There are 27 rides in total, with an additional 14 just for kids.

(Note that there is another amusement park right next door, Deno’s Wonder Wheel. It features a large Ferris wheel even older than the Cyclone! There are three more roller coasters here, so I’ll talk about it further down the list.)

Admission

Onsite, you can buy credits to ride individual rides. The Cyclone and most of the bigger coasters are 10 credits each. And best I can tell, 1 credit = $1. There are some “extreme” 2-rider attractions that can cost as much as 22 credits. Or you can buy a wristband online for 4 hours of unlimited access, including one ride on the Slingshot – one of the more extreme rides. These cost $65 for adults and $43 for those under 48″. (Those prices might be outdated – since it’s past the season, the official website doesn’t list them for sale anymore. As always, make sure to check hours and prices before you visit!)

There are some parking lots and garages around Coney Island, all paid lots. Or you can take the subway to the Coney Island-Stillwell Ave station via the D, F, N, or Q trains.

Six Flags Darien Lake

Six Flags Darien Lake is in western New York, between Buffalo and Rochester, and not far at all from Toronto. The park has 8 roller coasters, all much more on the extreme side than you’ll find in New York City. Here, we’ve got Ride of Steel topping out over 200 feet, the Mind Eraser inverted coaster, the Viper looper, Tantrum with an over 90-degree first drop, the Predator wooden coaster, and a Boomerang. The Motocoaster is a little tamer, with riders sitting astride a motorcycle ride vehicle, and the Hoot N Holler is the kids’ coaster in the park.

Other thrill rides include a blast tower and high swings, and one of those coaster-like, “fire ball” rides. On the tamer side are lots of fun flat rides, including “Moose on the Loose“, which looks hilarious, a go-kart track, and lots of classics. Nine more rides are just for littles. An attached water park is open during the summer for an additional fee.

Admission

Admission to Darien Lake can be as much as $75 at the gate. Right now, they are selling late-season tickets for $40-50, or you can bundle with their haunted house pass for $70-90. Parking costs an extra $25-35.

Six Flags Great Escape

Six Flags Great Escape is just above Saratoga Springs in the eastern part of upstate New York. This Six Flags has 5 more roller coasters, with one more to open next season. These aren’t quite as thrilling as the other New York Six Flags, with the classic Comet wooden coaster, Flashback boomerang, and Steamin’ Demon corkscrewer. The Canyon Blaster is a gentler mine train and Frankie’s Mine Train as the kids’ option. I am SO sad to see that the mostly-trackless Alpine Bobsled just closed! But the wooden Bobcat family coaster is set to open next year.

Other thrill rides include a fire ball-style looping flat ride, a pendulum ride, drop tower, and some other active spinners. Family rides include a log flume, river rapids, a sky ride, train, swan boats, and even an old-school Alice in Wonderland storybook walkthrough. 8 more rides just for small kids and a robust water park round off the attractions.

Admission

Tickets at the gate can cost as much as $70. Buying online almost always saves you a good bit. Right now, daily tickets are $38-45 for the remainder of the season. Bundles for the Halloween haunted houses are also available for $25 more. Parking is an additional $30-40.

Playland

Playland in Rye, near New York City almost to the Connecticut border, is mostly aimed at kids and young families. They have 5 roller coasters, one of which is almost as old as the Cyclone in Coney Island! The 1929 Dragon wood coaster features a dragon tunnel that swallows riders, Crazy Mouse is a typical wild mouse coaster, and the Family Flyer and the wood Kiddy Coaster are options for the youngest riders.

Other rides include a you-will-get-wet boat chute, drop tower, log flume, and lots of spinning and bouncing flat rides. They’ve got a “racing” style carousel that I’ve only seen at Cedar Point, two dark rides, and a house of mirrors. a solid 19 attractions are just for smaller kids. There’s also an arcade, pool, and beach access, but I can’t tell if there are any water slides.

Admission

General admission and rides pass is $40 for adults and $30 for anyone 48″ and under, though you can save if you buy online or if you’re a Westchester County resident. Right now, tickets are $25 for the rest of the season, and only $20 for residents. Parking is an extra $20, or $30 on holidays.

Seabreeze Amusement Park

Seabreeze in Rochester is a family-operated park on the shore of Lake Ontario. They have 4 roller coasters, all on the tamer side. Starting with the oldest, the Jack Rabbit was built in 1920! The steel Bobsleds are from the ’50s, Bear Trax is from the ’90s, and Whirlwind is a spinning coaster added in 2004. Other rides include lots of spinning attractions, an upside-down swinger, a log flume, a train, and 7 rides just for kids. A water park is attached to one side.

Tickets cost $41 for adults, $27 for kids under 48″, as well as seniors age 60 or over. Parking is free and it looks like there are lots on the water park side and on the amusement park side. It looks like a nice wooded park between a pier and marina on one side, and a park and golf course on the other.

Niagara Amusement Park

Niagara Amusement Park & Splash World only has one operating roller coaster, but there are two more on the way for 2024. The Silver Comet looks like a solid wooden coaster (when it’s working.) To come, it looks like we have a Galaxi-style Serpent and a Miner’s Mike kids’ coaster. Otherwise, they have one adjustable-wing spinner, a train, bumper cars, a carousel, scrambler, and 10 kids’ rides.

I can’t tell in the after-season what the regular price for tickets is, I see a Groupon for as much as $30 and end-of-season tickets for as little as $20. Again, as always, double-check hours and prices before you go.

Adventureland

Adventureland is a little slice of an amusement park in the middle of a Long Island shopping district. As in, it’s right next to a Target. This tiny park has 3 roller coasters, Turbulence, a spinning coaster, Fireball with a completely vertical track, and the Rattlesnake Coaster for smaller kids. Otherwise, we have a mix of the usual and the unusual. Common flat rides like a Musik Express, pirate ship, frisbee pendulum, train, swings, and even a couple of log flumes, mix with little towed boats on a lagoon and a haunted dark ride with a suspended track.

I also find it amusing that instead of using a height-based ticketing system, it’s based on age, and the child/adult cutoff is age 25! Ages 25 and over cost $32, ages 2-24 are $42. those are online prices – in the park it costs $5 more. Parking seems to be free, though there is a strict no-food policy in the park or parking lot.

Deno’s Wonder Wheel

Back to Coney Island and the park next to Luna Park. The area around Deno’s Wonder Wheel features three more roller coasters, the suspended Phoenix, the steel Sea Serpent, and the kiddie Skyflyer. The rest of the rides look pretty basic – and mostly for kids. But there are rides called Stop the Zombies and Spook-A-Rama. The Wonder Wheel itself looks pretty exciting, with stationary and swinging cars.

Admission is free, but the rides are all separately ticketed. Tickets are 1=$1, with discounts for buying more at once. The Ferris wheel is 10, the Phoenix is 10, and the other two coasters are 5 each. (Spook-A-Rama and Stop the Zombies are each 8.) Again, parking is where you can find it and there’s a subway stop nearby.

LEGOLAND New York

LEGOLAND in Goshen, a couple of hours from New York City, has 2 small roller coasters. There’s the family-appropriate Dragon coaster/dark ride, and the kiddie Dragon’s apprentice. Most of the rest of LEGOLAND is for young kids, with lots of build stations and smaller rides. The two biggest rides at the park seem to be dark rides – the LEGO Factory Adventure Ride, and Ninjago The Ride.

LEGOLAND tickets seem to always be expensive. At the gate, the New York Resort costs $94, but you can save online with tickets from $49-64. In October, there will be two “after school” dates for just $39. Their Halloween Brick-or-Treat event includes all-day admission as well as the after-hours party, for $74. Parking is an additional $30 per car.

Sylvan Beach Amusement Park

Sylvan Beach Amusement Park is on Oneida Lake on the far side from Syracuse. It hosts a classic collection of rides, including some real blasts from the past, like an old stick-to-the-wall Rotor, a Rock-O-Plane, and what looks like a Roll-O-Plane too. In the lineup is the Galaxi steel roller coaster, more thrilling for its ricketyness than perhaps its drops.

Admission tickets right now cost $31.52 for any day next year, or $21.27 for just the 10 kiddieland rides. But it looks like unlimited rides cost as much as $36.95 normally. There is a beach-side parking lot, but I can’t tell if it’s free. There *are* ghost tours in the evenings, however. I knew I liked this place! It makes me think of Lakeside Amusement Park in Denver, Colorado.

Adventurer’s Park

There’s a third seaside park in Brooklyn, kinda near Coney Island, with one more roller coaster in it. Adventurer’s Park Family Entertainment Center is a proper little amusement park, with 21 rides all for smaller kids. There are some interesting options in here, including the TL*3 Roller Coaster, kind of an oversized, double-decker wacky worm. It might not exactly be the most thrilling, but it’s more than just a wavy oval of a track, for sure.

You can pay per ride – the roller coaster is 1 ticket, which costs $4. Discount ticket books are available, as are wristbands, but the website doesn’t say how much the “pay one price” option is. A go-kart track and mini-golf course are extra on the wristband option. The bigger deal might be that there’s a free parking lot attached!

Fantasy Forest Amusement Park

The Fantasy Forest at the Flushing Meadows Carousel in Queens in New York City is the remains of the 1964-65 World’s Fair – the one where Walt Disney premiered it’s a small world and an animatronic Abraham Lincoln. Now, there’s the carousel from that fair plus 7 other kids’ rides, including the Corona Cobra Coaster.

Each ride costs one ticket and each ticket costs $4.25. The more tickets you buy, the more of a discount there is, or you can get a $27 wristband for unlimited rides (but only on weekdays.) Make sure to check out the rest of the park’s fountains, gardens, and paths, including the Queens Zoo next door. Parking is where you can find it, including a large lot next to the Queen’s Museum.

Huck Finn’s Playland

Huck Finn’s Playland in Albany is a small kiddie park with one small kiddie Roller Coaster. The only “adult” rides in the park are a scrambler, paratrooper, tilt-a-whirl, Ferris wheel, and octopus. Those rides take two tickets each, everything else (including the roller coaster) takes one. Tickets are $2.75 each, or get a book of 8 for $20, or a book of 25 for $40.

The whole thing is attached to a Huck Finn furniture store and it looks like there is plenty of free parking.

Midway State Park

Midway State Park on Bemus Point, near Maple Springs and Chautauqua Lake, is one of the oldest operating amusement parks in the country, having opened as a trolly park in 1898. Considerably newer is the Little Dipper steel kiddie coaster. The collection of 20 classic rides are on the simple side, and at least 7 of them are just for small kids.

Kiddie rides take 1 ticket to ride. The rest of the rides take 2 tickets each, and tickets cost $1.25. Discount ticket packs are available (10 tickets for $11) and an unlimited-ride wristband costs $15. Go-karts and mini-golf are $5 extra. Parking is free.

Santa’s Workshop

Santa’s Workshop in the Adirondack Mountains near Wilmington looks like a carbon copy of the amusement park of the same name at the base of Pike’s Peak in Colorado! It turns out this one is the original (though no peppermint slide.) The rides are almost identical, down to Santa’s Sleigh Coaster. All the rides are for small kids here, though an adult might be able to squeeze on some, including the coaster.

Admission costs $40 for everyone age 2 and above. There are also upgrades to have breakfast or dinner with Santa and a “Village of Lights” after-hours event in December. Parking looks free.

Holiday Valley

Now we get into some mountain coasters in upstate New York’s ski areas. First up, is Holiday Valley in Ellicottville with the Sky High Mountain Coaster. It only costs $12 to ride so that makes me think it’s not very long. There is a package deal for $35 that includes a small ropes course and gem mining, but that’s primarily aimed at kids.

Mount Van Hoevenberg

A much bigger mountain coaster is the Cliffside Coaster at Mount Van Hoevenberg near Lake Placid. This is where the 1980 Winter Olympics were held and the coaster track actually follows the bobsled run! You even get a little bobsled-like car to ride in and they pipe in the sounds of the race right into your car.

It’s the longest mountain coaster in North America at 7600 feet long, but judging by the videos, it might not be the fastest. I guess you can get up to some “unhealthy” speeds with a track that long! They’re certainly proud of it – it costs a whopping $55 to ride!

UPDATE: I was in the area and rode Cliffside Coaster – I couldn’t resist the longest mountain coaster in North America! It’s *not* the fastest, but there is one corner with some great speed to it. The biggest appeal during the ride is #1, see the bobsled track under you, and #2, the narration during the ride. The commentator points out interesting Olympic sights on the way up and on the way down makes you feel like you’re doing the bobsled run yourself. It’s great fun, but I could stand for it to be about $10 cheaper.

Castle Fun Center

Next, we get into some of those arcade/go-kart/mini-golf family fun centers with one kids’ coaster each. First up is Castle Fun Center in Chester, not too far from Legoland. Here, they offer all of the above, plus a roller skating rink and some outdoor rides. The rides include the Dragon Coaster, a cutely-themed kid’s ride.

Other outdoor rides include bumper cars, swings, a drop tower, and a banana-themed Dumbo-style ride. It costs $6 just to ride the coaster. Everything at Castle Fun Center is priced individually, though you can add money to a card and tap to pay at each attraction. Parking is free.

Kids ‘N Action

Kids ‘N Action is an indoor playplace in Brooklyn, NYC. Inside, there is an arcade and net climbing playground, plus a few rides. Included in the rides is a Miner Mike kiddie roller coaster. For ages 1-14, it costs $24 to ride everything on a weekday, $26 on weekends and holidays. For adults, it’s $7 to accompany.

Water Parks in New York

Again, there’s a lot to choose from in water parks in New York! For a surprisingly big park on Long Island to up in the Adirondack mountains, and three Six Flags properties, there are a lot of ways to cool off in the summer all over the state.

• Splish Splash Water Park near the end of Long Island has 17 slides including one water coaster, 4 kids’ areas, two wave pools, a lazy river, and a lagoon pool. It looks like it could be as much as $75 at the gate, though discounted tickets are available online. Not right now – they’ve closed for the year, so I can’t quite tell. Parking is an extra $30.
• Enchanted Forest Water Safari in Old Forge in the Adirondacks has 14 slides, a wave pool, a lazy river, and second lazy river with waves. There are also some amusement rides here (just no roller coasters.) Online tickets were $41 for adults and $38 for kids 3-11 last season, a bit more at the gate. Parking is free.
• Six Flags Great Escape’s water park near Saratoga Springs has 11 slides, 3 kids’ areas, a wave pool, an “adventure river”, and even a water battle ride. The water park is included with admission. Parking is $30-40. Great Escape also has a lodge with an indoor water park with 3 more slides, 2 kid’s areas, a lazy river, FlowRider, hot tub, and waterfall pool. Tickets for that are $25 online or as much as $60 on site.

• Splashdown Beach in Fishkill has 10 slides, 3 kid’s areas, a wave pool, a lazy river, a regular pool, and a sandy beach area. “America’s biggest little water park” isn’t listing daily prices now that the season is over, but there are half-day options as well as all-day admission.
• Six Flags Darien Lake near Buffalo has a water park with 8 slides, a wave pool, and a heated lazy river. Access to the water park is an add-on to the daily ticket, but here in the after-season, it doesn’t say how much. Other parks have been $10ish . Parking is an extra $25-35.
• Zoom Flume in East Durham below Albany has 7 slides, 4 areas for kids, a wave pool, and a lazy river. Regular price for ages 8 and up is $40, ages 3-7 are $33. Save $2 by buying online. I don’t see a charge for parking.

• Roseland Water Park in Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes region has 6 slides, a splash tower, a wave pool, and a lazy river, plus beach volleyball and water balloon fights
• Thunder Island Water Park above Syracuse has 6 slides and 2 kid’s attractions. They also have go-karts, mini-golf, a seated zip line, and an arcade room.
• Seabreeze in Rochester has an attached water park with 4 slides, 3 kids’ areas, a wave pool, and a lazy river. The water rides are included with park admission. Parking is free.
• Splash World at Niagara Amusement Park has 4 slides, 2 kids’ areas, and a small lazy river. Parking is free.

• Greek Peak Indoor water park in Cortland in the Finger Lakes region has 4 slides, 2 kid’s splash areas, a wave pool, an activity pool, an outdoor pool, and hot tubs. It’s attached to a resort, but anyone can visit for $37 if over 42″ or $32 if under. I don’t see any charge for parking.
• Palm Island Indoor Waterpark in Batavia has 2 body slides, a kids’ splash tower, an activity pool, and a “lava cove” hot tub. Day passes are $15 and are based on availability. Bring your own towel.
• LEGOLAND New York in Goshen doesn’t have a proper water park, but they do have a new water playground splash area. Its included in the ticket but you need to reserve a slot ahead of time. Parking is an extra $30.

Did I miss anything? Have you been to any of these parks? What are you looking forward to doing this summer? Let me know in the comments below!