Trivia Contest! Win VIP Circus Tickets to Coney Island Illuscination

May 20, 2010 by Tricia

Would you like to win free tickets for the Coney Island circus’s opening weekend show? Skip down to the next graf! First off, we’re thrilled that Ringling Bros. Circus is coming back to Coney Island this summer after last year’s successful run of their Coney Island Boom-A-Ring, which entertained over 160,000 visitors and employed over 300 local residents. In 2009, the Coney Island circus made history by bringing “The Greatest Show On Earth” back under “The Big Top” for the first time since 1954.

The Big Top will be back at the Boardwalk and 15th Street from June 17 through September 6 with an exciting new show. Coney Island Illuscination stars master illusionist David DaVinci, the Kung Fu Kings from China, a trio of Italian clowns and more. ATZ is giving away two Family Four Paks –that’s 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 drinks– donated by the Ringling Circus. The tickets are VIP floor seats (!) good for all ages and are for Sunday, June 20. The winners can choose between the 1 pm or 5 pm performances.

Kung Fu King, Sun Junjie diving through hoops of razor-sharp sabers -- blindfolded! Photo courtesy of Ringling Coney Island

Instead of just picking a couple of names out of a hat, ATZ wanted to make it more interesting for our readers, so we’ve created a Coney Island history trivia contest. All you have to do to be eligible for the drawing for the circus tickets is send us one correct answer to one of the questions. The more correct answers you submit, the more chances you have to win. We’ll post the answers along with source links when the contest is over.

The deadline for submissions is either Thursday, May 27, or when we’re up to our eyeballs in hundreds of correct answers, whichever comes first! We’ll post an update here if it begins to look like the contest will conclude before the 27th. This is our first contest, so we’re winging it. Send your answers via email to hello[AT]triciavita[DOT]com.

Now for the questions….

1. Boyton’s Sea Lion Park, Steeplechase Park, Luna Park, Dreamland, and Astroland are the most famous of Coney Island’s historic amusement parks. Can you tell us the names of any other Coney Island parks from the past and their approximate dates of operation?

2. Tell us the name of a Coney Island attraction that was named after a member of the inventor’s family! Name of inventor and relationship to family member also required!

UPDATE June 5, 2010:

Congrats to our two winners –Bill F. of Old Bethpage, NY, and Jim A. of Smithtown, NY. Enjoy the show! Bill and Jim were among several people who correctly answered question # 2. The answers are revealed in “Ringling Circus Back in Coney Island, Congrats to Trivia Contest Winners!”