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

[CardCraze]

There's a new way to make a splash on the Coney Island beach this summer.

 

A Water Slide Beach - with three inflatable water slides and bungee jumping - is coming to the spot next to Steeplechase Pier.

 

The main attraction is the Steeplechase Slide, a three-story blowup water slide, said Anthony Gach, owner of Party Magic USA, which was tapped by the city Parks Department to run the attraction.

 

"It's a giant inflatable water slide," Gach said. "You've never seen anything like it. It's really a treat."

 

After a grand opening Fourth of July weekend, Water Slide Beach will be open every day through Labor Day, complete with lounge chairs and food.

 

The other two blowup slides are the kid-sized Big Cahuna and the Niagara Falls, which shoots riders out onto a slip and slide landing.

 

Less adventurous visitors can lounge on rental beach chairs with umbrellas in a tropical-themed cabana area and snack from food stands that will include a mini-Nathan's franchise.

 

The third time was the charm for the Parks Department, which launched previous searches for a "beach adventure" concession in 2005 and 2007, but didn't get any takers.

 

Gach said he jumped at the chance when he heard about it last year.

 

"What's better than having a water slide at the beach?" he said.

 

SOURCE: Ny Daily news

Artist's rendering

[DBru]

Looks and sounds fun!

 

I love slip 'n slides.

[MrTwister]

Have Coneys Island Opening Days, or is it open the hole year? I´m in New York mid May 2011, and first want to eat at Nathans and want to visit Coney Island / Lunar Park

[let1gre]

If by Coney Island you mean Astroland, and by Astroland you mean the Cyclone, then it is open from May 14 to September 6 daily and throughout September on weekends. That was for this year, but I imagine next year will be mostly the same. I couldn't imagine riding any coaster in a NYC January. Brrr!

 

Have fun!

[coastermoosh]

Have Coneys Island Opening Days, or is it open the hole year? I´m in New York mid May 2011, and first want to eat at Nathans and want to visit Coney Island / Lunar Park

 

What is a "hole year"? Does it have 365 daze and 52 weaks?

[thrillrider]

Can you "leap" over a hole year?

[gisco]

Can you "leap" over a hole year?

 

Every 4 years!

[larrygator]

Luna Park open for for the last three weekends in October with a Halloween event

 

Luna Park drew 400,000 people this year, the best year for an amusement park at Coney Island in 50 years. Luna Park opened Memorial Day weekend. During the past few years, the old Astroland park generally opened in early April.

 

The city announced Tuesday it will extend Luna Park's summer season on Coney Island by three more weeks through Halloween due to popular demand.

 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says more than 400,000 people visited the park this summer -- the most visitors to a Coney Island amusement park in nearly 50 years.

 

In addition, 14 million people visited Coney Island's beach and boardwalk.

 

Elected and city officials gathered at Luna Park to celebrate the record season.

 

"This season proved clearly that there is a great need for an urban amusement park to be present and to grow in the days ahead. There are hundreds of thousands of families throughout Brooklyn, and in New York, and the region, that look forward to this type of family entertainment for their lives, for bringing their families together that is affordable and accessible," said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

 

The park will get into the Halloween spirit starting October 15 with a haunted maze, costumed characters, and much more

Edited September 22, 2010 by larrygator

[larrygator]

For those considering Luna Park's Halloween event, it is $30 for rides and admission to the "Night or Horrors" maze that is being designed by Timothy Haskell. Haskell has desgining temporary haunted houses in Manhhattan for the past few years during Halloween. $5 discount if pre-purchased at lunaparknyc.com

 

 

Another article on Coney Island's revival

 

Coney Island’s roller coaster ride to recovery just got a shot of adrenalin.

 

This summer, nearly 14 million people visited the beach at the People’s Playground, and the city says it’s opening of Luna Park played a major roll in the uptick in business around Brooklyn’s amusement area.

 

Since Astroland’s replacement opened on May 29, the city says 400,000 visitors rode 1.7 million rides at the new Luna Park — and those in the know say it may have been Coney’s best season since the beachfront’s downward spiral began in the 1950s.

 

“I saw more people in Coney Island than I have ever seen on Memorial Day,” said Carol Albert, who runs the Cyclone and used to be in charge of Astroland before she closed it down two seasons ago.

 

The surge in visitors to the area resulted in a boon for local businesses.

 

“We’ve seen a 40 percent increase in business from last year — largely because of the weather,” said Maya Haddad, the owner of the Coney Island Beach Shop on Stillwell Avenue. “But we’ve noticed a big increase in sales of tourist items — which is probably because of people going to Luna Park.”

 

Still, Coney Island has a long way to go before it starts reeling in beach-goers to the new amusement attractions, which will be expanding next summer.

 

The 400,000 visitors may seem like a large number, but 13,961,158 people hit the beach at Coney Island between Memorial Day and Labor Day of this year, according to the Parks Department.

 

Hopes are high now that business owners’ wallets are a little bit fatter.

 

“It’s been my best summer in 10 years,” said Dianna Carlin, the owner of Lola Star Boutique, which has stores on the Boardwalk and in the Coney Island subway station.

 

ADVERTISEMENT“People from Brooklyn and Manhattan are coming back — [in previous years] they had the misconception that Coney Island had closed.”

 

The “new” Coney Island came about in true roller coaster fashion. Developer Joe Sitt, a local businessman best known for buying dilapidated properties and flipping them for a hefty profit, sold the majority of the amusement area to the city last year after years of promising to revitalize the area himself. Once the city took over, it rezoned a large portion of the amusement district as parkland, then brokered a deal with Zamperla, an Italian manufacturer of amusement park rides, to set up shop there.

 

For now, it seems that move has paid off for local businesses.

 

Carlin, who had a store in the old Child’s Restaurant west of MCU Park last year, said that business was up 50 percent — though this is in part due to her store reopening on the Boardwalk this summer.

 

Elected officials touted the high attendance and hyped a new haunted maze called “Nights of Horror” that will be designed by Timothy Haskell, the frightmaster behind a gory and popular haunted house in Manhattan.

 

The success of Luna Park has led to the extension of its season by three weeks. Beginning on Oct. 15, the new haunted maze and will be open on the weekends. Admission to the maze — and all the rides — will cost $30 at the gate, or can be bought online for $25 at www.lunaparknyc.com.

 

Councilman Domenic Recchia (D-Coney Island) also plugged a Halloween parade down Surf Avenue.

 

“We want kids from all over the borough to come to the parade!” said Recchia.

 

Borough President Markowitz was even more pumped, and said this year’s successes were only the beginning of Coney Island’s resurrection.

 

“This is all a prelude to Coney Island becoming a year-round destination,” boomed Markowitz.

[milst1]

Uh, two things. First, NY1 is reporting new developments at the empty amusement-zoned lots at Coney Island. Apparently it will be called Scream Zone and it looks like they're putting up a Zamperla Volare and a skyscraper for 2011. NY1 calls it an "extreme coaster". While I remain supportive and even joyful regarding the best year for Coney Island in many many decades, as an enthusiast I'm disappointed by the middling product offered by Zamperla and I'm still unhappy with the city's Zamperla decision. Of course I have no idea who else submitted bids for operating Coney Island, so it's certainly possible that the City didn't have much of a choice. I'm not a fan of the Zamperla flying coaster model, and there's already one in the region at Rye. Heck, if Rye Playland goes on the chopping block they can just move that one down to Brooklyn. Wouldn't the MotoCoaster have made more sense? They would have added an attraction that you can't find on the entire East Coast. And that's the only half-thilling coaster Zamperla currently offers. In my fantasies, Mack got the Coney Island contract. They build better rides and they know how to run a park.

 

Here's the story and a video: http://brooklyn.ny1.com/content/top_stories/127184/ny1-exclusive--extreme-coaster-coming-to-coney-island

 

The other item is this year's Halloween haunt produced by Coney Island USA, known as Creepshow at the Freakshow. This year's theme is "The Ride Inspector's Nightmare" and here's a description below. Sounds awesome. There's more at Coney Island USA.

 

CREEPSHOW AT THE FREAKSHOW 2010 - THE RIDE INSPECTOR'S NIGHTMARE!

 

THE RIDE INSPECTOR'S NIGHTMARE is an interactive show (allow 45 minutes for the complete experience) that tours various rooms at the Coney Island Sideshows by the Seashore building generally not available to the public such as the damp creepy basement, back stairs, etc.

 

Audience members will take a "tour" of several amusement park ride "NYPD Crime Scenes" including a deadly collapsed roller coaster and will meet living-dead performers along the way including drunken incompetent ride inspectors, creepy ticket sellers and lots of dead and decapitated bodies of innocent tourists. At the conclusion of the show, the audience will also get to partake in a courtroom trial of the negligent ride inspector and will be sworn in for horrific jury duty.

 

 

CREEPSHOW AT THE FREAKSHOW is Coney Island’s original Halloween extravaganza and one of the best haunted tours in all of New York City. This year, the rides at new Luna Park will be open weekends during the October run of the show. Come see what the New York Press called "not only the best and wildest haunted house in town, but the smartest as well."

[Homer]

^Odds are, it could be the Flying Coaster from Elitch Gardens since Screamscape reports that it will finally be taken down and refurbished this year.

[themeparkman25]

post deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25

[rider-x]

I dont know if I'd be so fast to get a motocoaster until Zamperla figures out the demolition derby thing.

[larrygator]

Regarding the Flying Coaster, I'm not surprised as it was in the original animation that Luna Park released. I agree the coaster blows and a Moto Coaster would have been a better choice for the same size footprint. I still hold out hope for the 4th coaster.

 

As for the Freakshow Event, I'll do it Saturday for only $10.

Edited October 15, 2010 by larrygator

[milst1]

I dont know if I'd be so fast to get a motocoaster until Zamperla figures out the demolition derby thing.

 

Ha, good point. Presumably that will get worked out. Maybe they could put in a Vekoma motorbike temporarily to tide people over.

[deathbydinn]

If you watch the video here,

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=53236&start=60#p886916

 

The Volare you see at the end is far from an ordinary one. So perhaps they're planning (or planned) to but in one with a whole new layout.

[rider-x]

New Volare Custom Flying Coaster "Now with Extra Death" = Ride op kicks you in the nuts when you get back to the station!!!

[beatle11]

^ Zamperla Volare translates to Jack Bauer's torture machine.

[kenshinmac]

I'm gonna defend this because I feel that the Volare concept is good. The problem with the Volare rides so far is that the track layout is really far too aggressive especially in the transitions into corners. With a more relaxed layout the ride could really shine IMHO. I really thought that the first dip out of the station on the Volare was a better sensation than that you get on the Vekoma and B&M flyers. If they could give riders more of that without the insane transitions which rattle your head it could be a fun ride.

 

Of course all of this is assuming they don't make the same mistakes again... Well and that it is a custom design verses the standard layout.

[SoCalCoasters]

People are saying that they are hoping there will be a motocoaster...but if you watch the animation, at the end, intertwined with the Volare, it shows one. So it seems the motocoaster is a done deal. If I recall correctly, Screamscape had a link to a video that showed the construction of the actual cars for the motocoaster. I'll try to find it.

 

EDIT:

Seems EG's The Flying Coaster is moving to Coney Island...sorry no new model.

http://www.screamscape.com/html/elitch_gardens.htm

 

 

Here is the link that shows the motocoaster cars. Lets hope it's not a Pony Express Clone

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/business/global/24coney.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

[A.J.]

If Zamperla themselves bought the Flying Coaster from Elitch Gardens, then they have to have plans to improve it somehow...

[larrygator]

If Zamperla themselves bought the Flying Coaster from Elitch Gardens, then they have to have plans to improve it somehow...

 

Why? What is your basis for this statement?

[A.J.]

Why? What is your basis for this statement?

 

Doesn't Zamperla technically own Luna Park?

 

Since they bought back their own coaster and are going to put it in their own park, they would be able to make modifications to the track or trains fairly easily without having having to go through all the legal action that comes from modifying it in someone else's park.

 

...Right?

[larrygator]

Why? What is your basis for this statement?

 

Doesn't Zamperla technically own Luna Park?

 

Since they bought back their own coaster and are going to put it in their own park, they would be able to make modifications to the track or trains fairly easily without having having to go through all the legal action that comes from modifying it in someone else's park.

 

...Right?

 

Correct, Zamperla is contracted to run the park.

 

If improvement can be made to the ride, why would they have not developed such improvements already. Yes, it is possible, but doesn't seem probable.

[Goliath513]

^Because Flying Coaster was a prototype. Inevitably, the problems with this ride led it being shut down in the first place. Newer models were more refined and operate more smoothly. Chances are, they will just bring Flying Coaster up to current standards. Thank god they are taking back the ride for Luna Park to get it off our hands here.