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Roller Coaster

Lagoon · Operating · 1921

Roller Coaster

62 ft · 45 mph

Photo: Jeremy Thompson · CC BY 2.0

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Roller Coaster at Lagoon — Hero
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Photo: Jeremy Thompson · CC BY 2.0

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Lagoon logo
Thrill rideLagoonOfficial park siteSouth MidwayPhiladelphia Toboggan Coasters62 ft · 45 mph

Simply named Roller Coaster, this 1921 wooden out-and-back is one of the oldest continuously operating roller coasters in the United States and a designated National Historic Landmark. Built during the peak of the classic wooden coaster era, the ride climbs to 62 feet before a sequence of drops and airtime hills carries trains across roughly 2,500 feet of track at speeds up to 45 mph, using a traditional out-and-back layout largely unchanged since it opened. Its plain, unbranded name reflects an era when Lagoon's wooden coaster was simply the park's roller coaster, long before newer steel rides required more distinct identities. More than a century after opening, it remains one of the crown jewels of Lagoon's historic ride collection.

Specifications

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Ride profile

Scaled against Lagoon's operating coasters

Wood

Height

62 ft

#5 of 10 at Lagoon

Height62 ft
Speed45 mph
Length2,500 ft
InversionsNone

Ride experience

  • Ace Landmark
  • Wood

Specs from lagoonpark.com

History

Sourced timeline and background for Roller Coaster.

Timeline

  1. 1921

    Roller Coaster opens

    Among the oldest operating coasters in the United States.

    Source

Background

Lagoon built its wooden coaster in 1921, near the peak of the classic American wood-coaster boom, giving the resort a genuine thrill ride decades before the rest of the park's modern steel lineup existed. Unlike later additions with distinct names and branding, this ride has always simply been called Roller Coaster — a plain, unadorned name reflecting an era when Lagoon needed only one, and it didn't need a name to stand apart from anything else.

The traditional out-and-back layout climbs to 62 feet before a sequence of drops and airtime hills carries trains across roughly 2,500 feet of track at speeds up to 45 mph, a design largely unchanged from its original 1921 construction. Its longevity and structural integrity later earned it recognition as a National Historic Landmark, one of only a handful of roller coasters in the country to receive that designation.

Generations of Utah families have ridden the same wooden circuit for more than a century, making it one of the oldest continuously operating roller coasters anywhere in the United States.

Today, Roller Coaster sits alongside Lagoon's much newer steel thrill rides as the park's most direct link to its 19th-century origins as a lakeside resort.

History primarily sourced from lagoonpark.com. See also our data policy.

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