Spring is here at last: Coney Island’s Luna Park is officially open for the 2026 season.
The annual egg cream christening of the Cyclone will take place Sunday, March 29 at 11 a.m.
The rickety old rollercoaster turns 99 this year, and to celebrate the first 99 guests will ride the landmarked icon for free. While supplies last, they’ll also receive a free, classic egg cream.
Mere feet away, the fiscally separate but spiritually conjoined Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park will also be opening this weekend. Its 41st Annual Blessing of the Rides will take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday, with Pastor Mary Smith of Coney Island’s Salt & Sea Mission leading the ceremony and the FDNY Ceremonial Unit leading a singing of the National Anthem. In celebration of the slightly older Wonder Wheel’s 106th birthday, the first 106 guests will ride for free.
(While it costs to ride, admission to both parks is free.)
This season’s reopening comes on the heels of two significant developments for the People’s Playground: the end of a bid to build a controversial casino in the neighborhood and the launch of a fundraising campaign for the Mermaid Parade by its producer, nonprofit Coney Island USA.
The event is facing “an urgent financial crisis,” the group wrote in its GoFundMe, and “Without immediate support, one of New York’s most iconic and beloved summer traditions for over 40 years could disappear.”
