The New Coney Island and The Cyclone


The New Luna Park
Luna Park, the new section of Coney Island

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 Island 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.

The Mermaid Parade isn't over for her!
Some participants from the Mermaid Parade enjoy their time in Luna Park

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.

Explaining the Ride
Kids on the kiddie version of the spinning chair ride

When we were finishing up, Danielle suggested I ride The 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.

Astroland Cyclone
There it stood, ready to be conquered.

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.

My First Time on the Cyclone
Never again will I wonder what it is like to ride The Cyclone

2 responses to “The New Coney Island and The Cyclone”

  1. Are the rides all individually priced in Coney Island? Be thankful you didn’t spend $10 (or was it $20?) like David and I did in Tokyo.

    I’m not a fan of wooden coasters, you can’t do loops or anything interesting with them. The bumpiness doesn’t really add to the enjoyment for me either.

    • Not sure, I’ve never had a hunkering for ride any of the other rides. The Cyclone used to be a part of Astroland which, I’m pretty sure, no longer exists. In fact, I think it’s where Luna Park was built.