roller coaster | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘roller coaster’

Coney Island 2010? Carnival Gambles on Roller Coaster

Posted in amusement park, Amusement ride, tagged Coney Island, Geren Rides, rides, roller coaster, Schwartzkopf, Thor Equities, Wildcat on August 8, 2009| 5 Comments »

On location in Coney Island: Reverchon Himalaya recently purchased by Geren Rides from Cumberland Valley Shows. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

In anticipation of a third season on Thor Equities property in Coney Island, carnival operator Glenn Geren recently purchased a Schwarzkopf Wildcat Coaster, Reverchon Himalaya, Watkins Swinger and Tempest, and Bumper Cars from Cumberland Valley Shows through usedrides.com. For the past two summers, Geren Rides of Valdosta, Georgia, has operated 10 rides in “Dreamland,” the temporary amusement park on Thor Equities vacant lots in Coney Island.

The news that real estate speculator and Thor CEO Joe Sitt is close to selling his Coney Island property to the City doesn’t worry Geren. Does the carnival operator know something we don’t know? “I’ve just got an assurance is all I have,” says Geren, who admits he doesn’t have a contract with Thor. “I was told if we don’t set up on this side of Coney Island, we’d set up on the other side of Coney Island. I’ve been testing the waters and I’ve already made a pretty good investment for next year.”

The five rides were purchased from Cumberland Valley Shows of Lebanon, Tenn., which had the equipment in storage at their winter quarters for several years. Jeremy Floyd of CVS confirmed that the coaster purchased by Geren was a Wildcat owned by his family’s carnival. A coaster website had previously listed CVS’s portable coaster as a Pinfari Zyklon. The first steel coaster made by famed roller coaster designer Anton Schwarzkopf, Wildcat coasters can be found at Washington State’s Puyallup Fair and the Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Ocean City, Md.

Wildcat at Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Ocean City, Maryland. Photo © www.CanobieFan.com via flickr

Schwarzkopf Wildcat Coaster at Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Ocean City, Maryland. Photo © http://www.CanobieFan.com via flickr

photo via Canobie Fan, flickr

Early this season, the Coney Island Rumor Mill was sayin’ a Zyklon was coming to Dreamland. Thor Equities CEO Joe Sitt promised “two dozen rides” in a statement in Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s summer newsletter and Sitt’s spokesman kept insisting the rides were on the way! It turns out Geren had expected to close on the rides before the Fourth of July, but financing was delayed. When can we expect the Wildcat in Coney Island? “I’m gonna see if I can get it here for Labor Day but if not it’ll be for sure Easter of next year,” says Geren. “Actually it would probably be better if the park were closed to set up because it takes 7 semis to haul it.”

ATZ talked with Geren after his Wisdom Himalaya packed up last week and Coney ride fans began to ask if this year would be a repeat of last. In 2008, Thor Equities much-hyped Dreamland Park on Stillwell Avenue was supposed to run through Labor Day, but Geren’s Himalaya left Coney Island in mid-July for a Tennessee fair and the rest of his rides soon followed. Thor’s so-called “Dreamland” disintegrated into empty lots while the rest of Coney Island’s amusement rides and attractions remained open through September.

This year Dreamland will remain open, Geren says. The Wisdom Himalaya left Coney Island for Tennessee’s Putnam County Fair and the Spin Out will follow, but the rest of his rides—the Ring of Fire, Scrambler, Trabant and kiddie rides will stay for the rest of the season. “I’ve got other rides coming in. Actually I’ve already got my Bumper Cars here parked behind Nathan’s and there’s two more trailer loads of Himalaya parked over there too.” The Reverchon Himalaya, which takes three trailers, is currently on site being sanded and painted in preparation for set up. If you’re planning a visit to Coney, don’t let that dissuade you because Coney Island currently has 56 rides and 30 more days of summer!

Just Arrived... Bumper Cars & Himalaya Parked Behind Nathan's. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

With only 30 days left till Labor Day, the question is will Dreamland’s replacement rides be set up and ready to open before the season is over? Geren hopes to have the rides up and running within a couple of weeks. As for whether the season will be extended through September, Geren says “I’m kind of in uncharted waters here.”

In fact, all of Coney Island is uncharted waters since the City’s Rezoning passed in the City Council. But Geren’s certainty that he’ll be back in Coney in 2010 doesn’t surprise us in the least. As a reporter for the trade publication Amusement Business, I’d interviewed Geren and found him to be a risk taker. The show owner made waves in the fair industry in 2003 when he bought 13 fair and festival contracts for $114,010 plus 15% of ride grosses at the bankruptcy proceedings of United Shows. He’s kept some of these spots, but he’s also lost some. “I’m either a gambler or a fool,” Geren says with a laugh.

The biggest gambler or fool may turn out to be the City for going ahead and passing the Coney rezoning before a deal was in place with Thor Equities. Now that Sitt’s land has been upzoned, it’s going to be vastly more expensive to purchase and the City has lost bargaining power. Is Sitt under any obligation to sell to the City? What’s stopping him from flipping it to another developer just as he did with Washington Baths and Albee Square Mall? As Joe Sitt famously said last month, “I’m the guy who controls this – it’s my sandbox.” Nice spot for a Schwarzkopf.

Coney Island 2010 Update: The Contenders from A to Z: Coney Island Amusement Operator RFP

Happy Birthday to Coney Island’s Cyclone Roller Coaster!

Posted in Amusement ride, Events, tagged anniversary, birthday, Coney Island, Cyclone, roller coaster, Switchback on June 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Cyclone Roller Coaster, View #3. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

We’re going to a birthday party today in Coney Island. The Cyclone Roller Coaster, which gave its first ride on June 26, 1927, is 82 years young. As Gerry Menditto, the operations manager for the coaster told the Daily News, “I’ve been here 34 years, and we’ve probably rebuilt this entire ride while I’ve been here. While most of the steel has been around since the beginning, the wood gets replaced regularly.” This season we started taking photos (like the one above) that highlight the architectural beauty of the National Register-listed New York City landmark.

According to the official history of the Cyclone:

Brothers Jack and Irving Rosenthal commissioned the legendary Vernan Keenan to design, and Harry C. Baker to construct, the preeminent wooden-tracked roller coaster. The design had to be exceptionally tight and steep because of the relatively small ground space that was available for the attraction. The construction of this masterpiece began on a historical site which was significant in the world of roller coasters — the Cyclone graces the place which contained the world’s very first roller coaster, LaMarcus A. Thompson’s Switchback Railway.

Thompson’s “Roller Coasting Structure,” the first coaster to be designed as a U.S. amusement ride, opened in June 1884. National Geographic is celebrating the 125th anniversary with pictures of the Switchback Railway, the Cyclone and other notable coasters.

Today’s birthday celebration begins at 11 am. On its 82nd birthday the first 100 people in line get to ride the Cyclone for free. The coaster opens at 12 noon but the line is expected to start forming early. Miss Cyclone Angie Pontani will be there to meet, greet, and dance with visitors. From 11 am to 1 pm, the Cranky DJ will spin 78rpm records on his 1923 Brunswick phonograph and 1921 Victor Victrola.

“These songs are from a very special time in the history of recorded music<” says the Michael Haar aka The Cranky DJ. Some of the selections that will be played at the Cyclone Roller Coaster’s birthday party are Irving Berlin’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and “Everybody’s Doing It” from 1911 and 1912, “The Sidewalks of New York,” singing sensations Al Jolson and Nora Bayes, and the vocal comedian Billy Murray. The party takes place at the Coney Island History Project’sexhibition center on Surf Ave under the Cyclone.

AUG. 28 UPDATE: Due to the ongoing Coney Island redevelopment hoopla, ATZ is getting more than the usual number of queries that ask: Will the Cyclone be open in 2010? The answer is YES, THE CYCLONE WILL BE OPEN IN 2010 and for many years to come. The roller coaster’s designation as an official New York City Landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1988 is one of the strongest possible safeguards. The Cyclone is owned by the City, which leases it out to the Albert family (former owners of Astroland Park) to operate. The Cyclone is open daily, noon to closing, until September 7. Then it will be open weekends only through September 27.

How Sweet It Is: Wedding Party at Cyclone Roller Coaster

Posted in Amusement ride, Photo of the Day, tagged bride, Coney Island, Cyclone, roller coaster, wedding, wedding party, wedding photography on June 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The newlyweds stopped traffic on 10th Street while they kissed. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

photo via me-myself-i, flickr

On Saturday this bride and groom drove up in their convertible and posed for photos at Surf and West 10th against the backdrop of the Cyclone’s iconic sign. I was able to stand alongside their official photographer and take a few photos for my flickr set.

Throughout the year wedding parties come to Coney Island to take photos on the Boardwalk and in front of Coney’s landmarks. The limos often park at the bus stop on Surf in front of the Cyclone. Some of them make arrangements for a photo shoot sitting in the roller coaster’s train. Others actually go for a celebratory ride! It’s a great photo op. Contact Cyclone Coasters for details.