Roar! This Memorial Day weekend was the grand opening of the new Luna Park down at Coney Island. The original Luna Park was one of the first amusement parks and it opened in 1903. It had some really amazing rides and was the playground for both celebrities and chimps alike. It unfortunately burned down in 1944 and was never rebuilt. Eventually new amusement park were built in the area. Astroland was the most recent amusement park to sit on the property but that went out of business 3 years ago. Now they've opened a new Luna Park which has 14 new rides, many of which are throwbacks to the original rides that once resided there. It should be a fun trip!
Here I am out side the gates to the new Luna Park. I can't wait to go inside! Roar!
Here I am in front of the Tickler, a remake of one of the original roller coasters that used to be housed here.
The Electro Spin is another classic inspired ride. It looks so shocking! I'm sure I'll get a real charge out of riding it! Roar!
Glad to see the classic Teacups made a return! Next time I'll be sure to bring plenty of milk and sugar!
There were a lot of other cool rides including an homage to the Parachute Drop from the 1939 Worlds Fair, a sweet surfing ride, and let's not forget the Happy Swing! Roar!
Not everything was finished for the opening weekend and there were a number of rides still under construction. These included the Log Flume ride inspired by the original Shoot the Chutes ride, which was a real shame because that was one of the ones I was looking forward to riding!
Not all of the rides at Coney Island are part of Luna Park. The Wonder Wheel which has been around forever is park of Deno's Amusement Park, a much smaller, and more child oriented park.
Then, of course, there is the Coney Island Cyclone! This is a classic roller coaster that has been around since the original Luna Park days. It was built in 1925 and designed by Vernon Keenan
. To me the Cyclone represents the pinnacle of classic wooden coaster design. It is an absolute must ride! Roar!
Hanging out at the park was fun, but I decided to head over and check out the beach and walk on the board walk.
Here I am over on the boardwalk. You can see how busy it is here above the boardwalk, but I wonder what is going on underneath it? In the background you can see the original Parachute Drop from the 1939 Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. It was moved to Coney Island when they renovated the park for the 1964 Worlds Fair. Roar!
The beach was so crowded! It wasn't at all like that when I came down here to visit the aquarium back in January.
Here is the Coney Island Museum, it's a really cool place. They are having an amazing science fiction film festival this summer. I definitely plan on attending at least of few of the movies they are showing! Roar!
I was getting hungry so I headed over to the famous Nathan's for some famous hot dogs. Nathan's has been around for almost a hundred years and has some of the best hot dogs in the city. The stand opened in 1916 and is the second hot dog stand in the United States.
Today was a pretty fun trip to Coney Island! It was great to see the new Luna Park and check out the all the great rides. But next time I come back I'll make sure its a weekday so it isn't so crowded. Roar!
No comments:
Post a Comment