Rye Playland Discussion Thread

^ I was just there in July and let me say, the park needs a lot of help in a lot of different areas before they should even consider adding new attractions.

^ I was just there in July and let me say, the park needs a lot of help in a lot of different areas before they should even consider adding new attractions.

It is really sad seeing the condition Playland is in. So much potential just being pissed away, if this Legoland business ends up happening then RIP Playland.

This was the latest information/article from October, 2015.

Standard Amusements has a deadline date on March 31st, 2016 to bow out of their current arrangement or to move fully steam ahead. Standard Amusement has already paid the count over $500,000 which another $1.7 million due is the arrangement continues.

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2015/10/19/standard-amusements-gets-extension-playland-option/74220314/

Standard Amusements gets extension on Playland option

Richard Liebson, rliebson@lohud.com 9:26 p.m. EDT October 19, 2015

The management company hired by Westchester County to run Playland has been granted a five-month extension of its option to bow out of the deal.

Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino approved the extension to Standard Amusements Inc., on Friday — the original deadline for the company to terminate the agreement or make a $2.25 million payment to the county and begin taking over full management of the aging amusement park.

In exchange for the extension, Standard Amusements made a $25,000 payment, saying the extra time was needed to continue its study of Playland and develop a management plan.

"If Standard Amusements wasn't interested in Playland, we wouldn't have asked for the extension," said Nicholas Singer, a partner in the company. "We simply need more time to conduct the due diligence necessary to ensure that our development and completion of the project will be successful."

The extension gives Standard Amusements a new deadline of March 31. Until then, it will continue to co-manage the Rye park with the county.

In addition to the $25,000, the company has already paid Westchester $500,000 of the $2.25 million it was supposed to pay up front as part of the agreement negotiated by the Astorino administration and unanimously approved in June by the county Board of Legislators.

The deal calls for Standard Amusements to invest an additional $22.75 million during the first five years of the 15-year agreement to refurbish the park.

The county is planning a number of capital improvements at Playland, and Astorino said the extension for Standard Amusements gives the company more time to integrate its plans with those improvements.

"One of the strengths of the deal is that it is a public-private partnership, but that also adds a layer of complexity that requires adequate time to be managed successfully," said Astorino, a Republican.

Saying that the county's agreement with Standard Amusements "required some very detailed explanations of how capital improvements would be made at the park, and who would be responsible for them," Board of Legislators Chairman Michael Kaplowitz, a Democrat, said the company's extension request is "an indication that those complex issues are being addressed."

"After years of working on a plan that will literally save Playland, I think the addition of a few months to the transition process is reasonable and in fact prudent," he said.

Legislator Catherine Parker, D-Rye, said that while she was OK with the extension, she criticized the administration for approving it unilaterally.

"The Board of Legislators should have been informed," she said. "We're partners in this agreement and we shouldn't be cut out of any part of the process."

If the final deal comes to fruition at the end of March, Standard Amusements will manage the park, parking lot, beach, pool area and boardwalk at Playland. The facility is expected to open on schedule in the spring for the 2016 season.

So we actually have some proposed expansion news on this park and they might include a new steel coaster. Standard Amusements is interested in making some changes that look pretty spectacular. I'm not holding my breath but I'm really hoping this happens. New renderings appear to show a new patio dining area, a KMG Fireball, a Breakdance and Fury 325 (though I'm pretty sure that'll end up being some piece of crap portable coaster, lol). For anyone familiar with the park it looks like the Fireball would block the entrance near the Old Mill and everyone would enter near the fountain.

lol is that Fury 325?

Images from the Journal News.

The other day I made a lovely discovery. Chance Rides posted this picture on their Facebook page:

It's yet again a different track style than Lightning Run or Family Roller Coaster at Wildlife World Zoo...

And then I was wandering throught their Youtube channel and found the Hyper GT-X 2125, basically a Lightning Run re-arranged... with a twist-ending. See:

To me, the piece at the factory can be the section between 0:49 and 0:53 (turn and first mini S-hill). And the layout definitely matches the one on Rye's site plan (9 & 10)!

I'd sh*t if this comes to frutation. It would be amazing for this place.

Wow this would be amazing. But I'm also taking it with a few grains of salt, so we'll see.

Thanks for the news coasterbill

For those that don't want to click through to the Journal News website here is the article

Standard Amusements would invest $30 million in addition to Westchester County's $58 million of capital work.

RYE - The company set to manage Playland wants to build a new steel roller coaster and a second marquee ride that would be visible to parkgoers as soon as they step from their cars in a refurbished parking lot.

Standard Amusements shared renderings this week with The Journal News showing the company’s vision for the future of the embattled and financially neglected county-owned park.

“This place is going to be a gem, it’s going to be an absolute gem and a huge asset to Westchester County for generations to come,” Nicholas Singer, the investor behind Standard, said in a telephone interview.

A plan is in place to hand over management of the park to Standard, pending approval by the county Board of Legislators of an amended contract that includes a promise that Westchester, as the landlord, will invest $58 million into the park's deteriorating infrastructure.

Price tag a focus

Some legislators expressed “sticker shock” at the county’s contribution — Standard will invest $30 million in addition to that figure — but a spokesman for County Executive Rob Astorino said it shouldn’t be a surprise.

“These are the county’s capital projects,” spokesman Ned McCormack said. “These are things we contemplated on our own.”

The $58 million represents 11 different projects, including redoing the parking lot and removing the miniature golf course from a refurbished fountain plaza, where Standard plans to open a boardwalk-fronted new restaurant. Two projects totaling nearly $20 million would repair the colonnades and towers in the park — but lawmakers and the company can opt to put off that work to reduce Westchester's price tag.

Aspects of the plan, including a proposal to replace the public pool with a waterfront vista, have drawn some scrutiny as the review gets underway. Legislature Vice Chairman Jim Maisano even said he wasn’t prepared to vote for an amended plan that would raze the pool.

The company is amenable to keep the pool and have it repaired, but prefers to keep it as a vista. Representatives have expressed concern that repairing the pool, which has low average daily attendance and leaks tens of thousands of gallons of water a day, could cost the county more than $10 million rather than the $4 million needed to make the area a Sound-view vista.

Deadline approaching

The company has an opt-out clause in the deal that expires at the end of this month, after it was extended from the fall. Although the legislature is reviewing the amended deal and associated construction projects, the deadline might need to be extended again.

Astorino has sought a company to take over management of the park since he came into office in 2010. Standard was chosen last year after a nonprofit set to run the park backed out of the deal.

Singer said his company has "never been more excited" and is aiming to take over as sole operator by October 2017.

“We just can’t wait to get going,” he said. “We need to get through this last hurdle and we’re off and running to make this place great.”

I am intrigued about a potential steel coaster, but not sure if they would be able to put much more in than perhaps a Wild Mouse or maybe a Eurofighter due to space constraints and possible height concerns (not that that would be a bad thing)?

I thought that this park had some decent charm to...it just needed some TLC. I'm happy to hear that it finally might be getting it.

^ The park already has a Wild Mouse, which right now is the best coaster in the park. A Eurofighter or Mega-Lite could fit on the grounds, and would be welcome with open arms.

I am intrigued about a potential steel coaster, but not sure if they would be able to put much more in than perhaps a Wild Mouse or maybe a Eurofighter due to space constraints and possible height concerns (not that that would be a bad thing)?

 

I thought that this park had some decent charm to...it just needed some TLC. I'm happy to hear that it finally might be getting it.[/quote

 

On the plans there is a coaster in front of the park in which a Chance Morgan Hyper GT-X could fit.

Thanks for the news coasterbill

For those that don't want to click through to the Journal News website here is the article

lol thanks, I don't know when the Journal News became such a minefield of clickbait and landing pages so this is pretty helpful.

I am intrigued about a potential steel coaster, but not sure if they would be able to put much more in than perhaps a Wild Mouse or maybe a Eurofighter due to space constraints and possible height concerns (not that that would be a bad thing)?

A Eurofighter or Mega-Lite could fit on the grounds, and would be welcome with open arms.

On the plans there is a coaster in front of the park in which a Chance Morgan Hyper GT-X could fit.

Do you guys even read my post? I basically proved that it will be a Hyper GT-X 2125 based on the plan and the fact there is one currently under construction at Chance's factory.

^ I did read your post, but I didn't sift through all of the articles and videos to prove your theory.

If they get a Chance Hyper, that would be great, but I wonder if height and size would come into play given the park's close proximity to neighborhood houses? I would expect complaints from nearby neighbors if they propose to build a big hyper-coaster at the park, but then again, they probably already complain about the noise from the park anyway. lol

And I apologize in that I forgot that the park already had a Wild Mouse. I recall looking at it during our visit, but we didn't ride it.

^^ I read your post as well, but although the evidence adds up, you didn't "prove" anything. This plan still has to be approved. The Chance under construction could be going anywhere.

^ I did read your post, but I didn't sift through all of the articles and videos to prove your theory.

 

If they get a Chance Hyper, that would be great, but I wonder if height and size would come into play given the park's close proximity to neighborhood houses? I would expect complaints from nearby neighbors if they propose to build a big hyper-coaster at the park, but then again, they probably already complain about the noise from the park anyway. lol

 

And I apologize in that I forgot that the park already had a Wild Mouse. I recall looking at it during our visit, but we didn't ride it.

It isn't a hyper, it would be something around the size of Lightening Run.

^^ I read your post as well, but although the evidence adds up, you didn't "prove" anything. This plan still has to be approved. The Chance under construction could be going anywhere.

Using the word proof might just be a language error from KingRCT since I think English is not his native language.

However, since Standard Amusement has not even renewed their contract to run Rye Playland I can't see them contracting a big expenditure beforehand.

^Agreed. Like I said, the coaster layout on the plans and the Chance layout that KingRCT found do certainly add up, but I can't imagine that Standard jumped the gun on this when the plans are still pending a vote.

Looks awesome! Getting married on "the mall" this summer. What about the dark rides? The map seems to show the Flying Witch but not Zombie Castle.

The proposed Chance Coaster is located in the back of the park by the water according to the rendering map which means it would be as far away from neighborhood houses. Add this to the fact that a Chance "Hyper" like Lightning Run would only be around 100 feet tall and I don't think there would be an issue in regards to noise complaints. The Dragon Coaster is also 80 feet tall so the proposed Chance coaster wouldn't be an eye-sore either in terms of height.

Looks awesome! Getting married on "the mall" this summer. What about the dark rides? The map seems to show the Flying Witch but not Zombie Castle.

No idea why it wouldn't be on there. There has been no official word yet on these new plans and the park hasn't said anything about Zombie Castle.

^^ I read your post as well, but although the evidence adds up, you didn't "prove" anything. This plan still has to be approved. The Chance under construction could be going anywhere.

 

Using the word proof might just be a language error from KingRCT since I think English is not his native language.

Yes, thank you, that's exactly it. I used proof for a lack of a better word. My point was that we have this clue, plus this clue, plus this clue, all leading toward an hypothesis (rather than a proof ) that I think is quite probable. Then again, plans might change.

Sorry for the fuss!

Zombie Castle is terrible and should have been removed 20 years ago.

^ Yes I could careless what happens to that thing. As longs they don't touch the Derby ride, Log Flume or Double Shot...I don't care what happens to anything else.

^ Basically this... the Old Mill used to be good but I imagine they've let it go to hell.