The New Coney Island and The Cyclone

By EricMesa

- 3 minutes read - 517 words

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Luna Park, the new section of Coney Island”] The New Luna Park[/caption]

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I went to NYC over Father’s Day weekend to see the Mermaid Parade. Well, as if that wasn’t crazy enough, I went BACK to Coney Island that night to photograph the new Luna Park. I have been documenting the changes to Coney Islan d and so I wanted to document the aftermath. I took both of the digital cameras I had used that afternoon and proceeded to take some low light photos. I would have preferred to have gone a little earlier in the evening to take the photos, but we thought it might have been a little crowded. By the time we went, it wasn’t too crowded, but there were still plenty of people still in their mermaid costumes hanging around.

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Some participants from the Mermaid Parade enjoy their time in Luna Park”] The Mermaid Parade isn’t over for her![/caption]

Most, though not all, of the rides were targeted towards young kids. Dino’s has more of the rides that can be ridden by adults as well as the arcade area. There were still some rides being built, but it looks to be mostly complete. I was surprised by how bright it was in the park. I was able to really lower my ISO a lot more than I thought I would be able to. That really excites me for the prospect of doing some low light photography with the Holga at Coney Island.

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Kids on the kiddie version of the spinning chair ride”] Explaining the Ride[/caption]

When we were finishing up, Danielle suggested I ride T he Cyclone. I’d been talking about riding it ever since I first saw it over seven years ago. To my recollection, I had never ridden a wooden rollercoaster and I knew this was one of the most famous. I wavered a bit over the price - $8 – but eventually decided to go for it.

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“There it stood, ready to be conquered.”] Astroland Cyclone[/caption]

The fact that it is wooden, combined with its track design, made it one of the most thrilling roller coasters I have ever ridden. (top honors goes to a coaster in Busch Gardens Williamsburg) The drops were great, the speed was perfect and it was done without any loops. The only complaint I had (and probably the reason I’ll never ride it again) is that the rickety nature of the wooden roller coaster left me with a headache. All the bouncing of the train along the tracks transferred up my spine to my neck and then head. The resulting headache was definitely not worth the trip. It may be possible that the headache was worsened by the fact that my neck muscles were probably spasmed from having had all those cameras around my neck all day long. But I’m definitely glad I got it out of the way. One less thing for my lifelong TODO list.

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“375” caption=“Never again will I wonder what it is like to ride The Cyclone”] My First Time on the Cyclone[/caption]