Coney Island (Luna Park / Deno's) Development Discussion Thread

[SharkTums]

^I've been on the newest, the first, the middle...they all seem pretty terrible.

[larrygator]

^I've been on the newest, the first, the middle...they all seem pretty terrible.

 

 

I've been on the middle and last, so I can't imagine how much worse this one could possibly be.

Edited October 17, 2010 by larrygator

[davisal771]

I surely hope they take that POS Flying Coaster off our hands...

[larrygator]

For anyone in the area, the Halloween Event at Luna park is awesome in that the scare actors terrorize little kids. I'm not talking about 8-9 year old kids. They sneak up and scare the living poop out of 2-3 year old kids.

 

Simply Amazing!

[rider-x]

so Zamperla sells the POS's to parks they dont own, but if they own the park they do whatever it takes to make their rides operate smoothly? Someone should have told Knotts that

I would think that they would do whatever improvements even to a prototype that need to be done so that companies will continue to buy their rides. How their rides operate is a direct reflection on the company.

[Homer]

I've been on Flying Coaster at Elitch Gardens.

 

I personally think the reason why Flying Coaster has been SBNO at Elitch's the past few years is probably the park trying to save money by not operating it.

 

But I rode it in 2006. It felt like I was in some sort of screwed up torture machine since you're in a prone position. It hurt my back a little bit and it was VERY bumpy. While the spiral lift and stuff is cool, the rides themselves just plain suck.

[themeparkman25]

post removed by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25

[Gutterflower]

This is great news. I hope to visit Coney Island when i fly into NY for the "Road to Cedar Point" trip next year.

If I ride this first it will make every other ride on the trip seem that little bit better

[SharkTums]

^LOL! That's a great idea! We should start all TPR Trips with a Volare and have the slogan "It only gets better from here!"

[coastercrutchfield]

Here's a video that I filmed on Labor Day Weekend of the coaster in it's current state. I felt bad for it just being there all by itself in the corner of the park, boxed away from all of the other rides. I'm very glad it found a new home even though it wasn't the best coaster.

[nay]

For anyone in the area, the Halloween Event at Luna park is awesome in that the scare actors terrorize little kids. I'm not talking about 8-9 year old kids. They sneak up and scare the living poop out of 2-3 year old kids.

 

Simply Amazing!

 

Yes!! I saw at least two kids in tears. So great.

 

And there were no lines at all for the rides. Definitely a great time to check out the park.

[CHILLERLC1]

I remember at Rye the restraint just wasn't comfortable with the upper chest. With that in mine I wanted the face grills away from myself. I wanted that ride to be over quick. The spiral lift was pretty cool. I didn't have the Elitch flying coaster either.

[Zack44]

Sweet, now New York has the "misfortune" of having 2 Volares within a 50-mile radius. I say "misfortune" because I've never ridden one so far, and since I'm a sucker for new coasters and I haven't had time to go to Coney Island this year, chances are that I will go next year and ride this thing. I actually have confidence that it won't be as much of a metal deathtrap as everyone says, and if my hopes will be shattered, they'd might as well be shattered after I ride it than from reading some opinions off of a few roller coaster forums.

[Ace Of Spades]

^To be honest, I loved Elitch's Volare. It's a very, very aggressive ride, don't get me wrong, but it can be quite fun if you remember to just hold on tight!

[the ghost]

For anyone in the area, the Halloween Event at Luna park is awesome in that the scare actors terrorize little kids. I'm not talking about 8-9 year old kids. They sneak up and scare the living poop out of 2-3 year old kids.

 

Simply Amazing!

LOL! Thats so messed up, but so funny. I bet there parents get REALLY pissed,lol.

[krazekiddd]

^LOL! That's a great idea! We should start all TPR Trips with a Volare and have the slogan "It only gets better from here!"

 

Please please please!

[Goliath513]

In a few months, you all in New York will have a newly refurbished, freshly painted Volare! In other words, removal of Flying Coaster has now begun and is coming down very fast. The cars were shipped out last month. Shouldn't be long now until we see this rise up at the new park!

 

 

The workers were dismantling it all day!

 

Track awaiting shipment back to Zamperla.

 

 

More pictures of Flying Coaster removal from today here.

http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg208/sfjohnson3000/Elitch%20Gardens%2010-23-2010/

[CorkscrewFoley]

I haven't ridden a Volare yet, but from POV footage and off ride, the track's transitions look horrible...like RCT limitations horrible (I do love RCT before anyone attacks me lol).

[Carnage]

I found the one at Canada's Wonderland to be bad, but bearable.

 

The one at Rye was a complete piece of crap.

 

It's the rattling and face smashing in the turns that get you. Plus a completely uncomfortable restraint system.

[larrygator]

Zamperla has made a decision on which existing Boardwalk business' fit into Zamperla's vision. Shoot the Freak doesn't make the cut.

 

 

nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/11/let_us_now_mourn_the_loss_of_c.html

 

A few years ago, city planning commissioner Amanda Burden assured New York that both she and Mayor Bloomberg "love" "Shoot the Freak," that slightly sick carnival game out on Coney Island where visitors shot paintballs at an actual human being. The "freak" himself wasn't really a freak, in the way that the stars of Coney Island's freak shows of yore were truly bizarre — it was really just a guy wearing some pads and, in a move some would complain lessened the thrill of the game, carrying a metal shield. But it took the old target-practice fairground games to a new level: You really were shooting at a person, one who couldn't shoot back. As Brian Moylan at Gawker observes, "New York City is not always an easy place to live, and Shoot the Freak was one of the things that was cruel on the surface ... For a change you were the hunter rather than the hunted." It was also something that was truly ugly — and that was the problem.

 

It wasn't just that you were shooting a weapon at a human being — it was that the whole setup was really ragged. The "Freak" sometimes gave you a run for your money, weaving and diving, but other times he just waddled out and took it, more pathetic than provocative. The "booth" was actually just a vacant lot filled with various piles of detritus behind which the freak could duck and cover. And the whole thing was covered with messy paint splotches — the colors were of the rainbow, but the effect was of mud.

 

Now Shoot the Freak is one of nine Coney Island institutions — also including Ruby's Bar and Grill, Cha Cha's Bar, Gregory & Paul's, Grill House, Coney Island Souvenirs, and Gyro Corner — whose leases were not renewed under the new management. Less gritty icons like Nathan's, of course, will stay, as will the Beach Shop. "I'm devastated," Ruby's owner Melody Sarrel told the Post. "[New management Zamperla Rides] wants everything new, but that's not what Coney Island's about — it's about nostalgia. People in the summer love to come in for a drink in their bikinis and bathing suits. It won't be the same when they're told to dress up because it's a 'high-class place.'"

 

It's probably a stretch to imagine Coney Island will ever be a "high-class place." But the charm of it was that it was so purposefully low-class. With this not-so-subtle whitewashing, that era of freakdom has obviously passed.

Edited November 2, 2010 by larrygator

[cal1br3tto]

Damnit! I had so been looking forward to playing Shoot the Freak!

Or at least, I would have looked forward to it if I had known about it previously.

[larrygator]

Damnit! I had so been looking forward to playing Shoot the Freak!

Or at least, I would have looked forward to it if I had known about it previously.

 

Don't worry Laura. Seaside Heights New Jersey still has a Shoot the Guido game.

[beatle11]

I found the one at Canada's Wonderland to be bad, but bearable.

 

To me it's just as bad as the SLC Flight Deck/Top Gun. I was so looking forward to the new flying coaster when it was announced but then it ended up being the painful Zamperla Volare. Just the way the "restraint system" is designed I guess. You have no padding and move like crazy especially going into the banked curves. It's definitely not a fun experience. I got the credit, but it ain't on my list to ride again.

 

 

^^^Gees, really too bad. Thank God they stopped short at Nathan's though.

[sixflagsguy5]

I should have done this!! I didn't do Shoot the Freak and I got a lemonade at Nathan's... Who gets lemonade at Nathan's? Hindsight is 20/20

[CardCraze]

http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/evicted-coney-island-mainstays-lawyer-up-1.2448966

 

Meet “The Coney Island Eight,” a defiant group of longtime business owners who won’t be shoved off the boardwalk without a fight.

 

The shops, along with a ninth that isn’t fighting, were given a Nov. 15 deadline to vanish by Central Amusement International, the developer overhauling the storied boardwalk.

 

But the Coney stalwarts have other plans.

 

“I’ll tell you right, now they’ll be there for a while, longer than they expect,” Marc Aronson, lawyer for the Coney Island Eight, told amNewYork. He plans to meet with the businesses this weekend to form a strategy.

 

Aronson expects to be in court in December, saying the businesses will stay at least until then unless a deal is reached, which he doesn’t expect. He didn’t say whether they planned to sue then.

 

Last February the city gave CAI, which operates Luna Park, permission to develop on Coney Island as part of a revitalization plan.

 

The company didn’t return calls for comment.

 

Anthony Berlingieri, who owns booted summer favorites Shoot the Freak and Beer Island, has said that CAI asked them to come up with business plans to justify renewals, “even though [parent company] Zamperla already decided to kick them out,” he told the Post.