Many parks in the northeast US opened on April 4th, but I got my first taste of theme parks in 2009 on Sunday the 5th with a visit to Coney Island, NY. It was pretty nice out, probably around 65F with only wispy clouds decorating the sky. The drive to Coney Island was hectic as always with annoyingly narrow road lanes, aggressive drivers, and sudden lane changes.
Upon arriving on Coney Island, I drove down Surf Ave, hoping to find street side parking, but to no avail. I then ended up on Brighton Beach Ave, which is this sucky, crowded, pedestrian filled road that travels under an elongated subway overpass; I eventually managed to escape down side street to turn around.
I finally pulled into the Keyspan Park parking lot, resigned to paying whatever to park there. However I found no one manning the gates or patrolling the lot so I just pulled into a spot and hoped that I was allowed to do so for free!
The boardwalk was fairly crowded with everyone enjoying the unusually great weather. I strolled down the boardwalk, past the vacant lots that are Sitt-land, past Deno’s Wonderwheel Park, and past the remains of Astroland on my way to the Cyclone.
I took a few pictures of the Cyclone before purchasing a ticket to ride which cost $8.00 bucks; expensive but then again it is the Cyclone. Hey, it’s better than paying $10 bucks to cross the Verrazanno Bridge! The Cyclone was great as always with it’s abrupt drops, turns that toss you to the side of the seat, and its out of control style.
[nggallery id=17]After riding I scoped out the old Astroland site to see what was left…which isn’t much. The Water Flume sat there in pieces, some parts stacked neatly with others seemingly strewn about. All of the flatrides like Breakdance and Scrambler were gone, stored somewhere in Staten Island. The only remaining ride is the AstroTower, which is probably very tough to remove. To be honest, the AstroTower is practically a Coney Island icon along with the likes of Cyclone, Wonderwheel, and Parachute Jump; I can’t imagine seeing the Coney skyline without it!
Here’s some theme park and amusement related openings in the Northeast US for April 2009. Many of the parks open on a weekends only schedule in April so I urge you to check the park’s official site for hours.
-Six Flags unveils their 2008 financial report showing that they’ve tripled their operating income, netting …
I found a Flickr gallery entitled “The Destruction of Coney Island and Astroland” linked at the Coney Island Message Board documenting the removal of rides at Astroland Amusement Park in Coney Island, NY. As we all know …
“You really are a heel…”
