Martin's Fantasy Island (Niagara Falls, NY)

Does anyone know anything about this park? I went for the first time during a quick roller coaster trip through Pennsylvania and New York last week and was surprised at how much of a dump it was. Has it always been like this?

They dropped the Martin’s from the name a few years ago when Apex (also owns Indiana Beach) bought the park.

I can’t say if it’s ALWAYS been a dump but I live about 90 minutes away and have been there exactly ONCE because it was, well, a dump. That was in 2013.

I've been there twice (2004 and 2012). The entry area into the park with the Chance Carousel and the section with the paddle your own canoe ride makes you think that this is going to be a nice park. Then you get to the rides section and it is really just a glorified carnival. The flat ride selection isn't bad (Wisdom Gravitron, Bertazzon Music Express, Giant Slide, Zamperla Disko, Chance Giant Wheel, ARM Full Tilt, Zamperla Swing Tower, and the crazy Technical Park Mind Warp), and there are two coasters (Zamperla Crazy Mouse and CCI Silver Comet wooden coaster). Silver Comet is a very good ride. However...

My memories of Fantasy Island are mostly negative though. The Silver Comet ride ops rank as some of the nastiest I have ever encountered. They literally yell at guests not to pull down the lapbars. "If ANYONE pulls down the lap bar, we will all sit here for 5 minutes until I decide we should check them again. This will repeat EVERY time someone even TOUCHES the lap bar". Didn't really make a positive impression on me when it STILL took over 7 minutes from the time I sat down to the time the train was dispatched... and no one touched the lapbars! :)

I also was "single-shamed" by the Swing Tower operator. Having ridden several Star Flyer-style rides prior, I did not know the ride had a "No Single Riders" rule. When I got to the entrance, the lady rudely asked if I could read. And then she continued with "Who comes to an amusement park by themselves anyways?" I wanted to tell her that quite a few people do, but instead I hung my head in shame and walked away.

So, in summary, I'll agree with the other assessments of "dump"!

RayP1970 said:

I also was "single-shamed" by the Swing Tower operator. Having ridden several Star Flyer-style rides prior, I did not know the ride had a "No Single Riders" rule. When I got to the entrance, the lady rudely asked if I could read. And then she continued with "Who comes to an amusement park by themselves anyways?" I wanted to tell her that quite a few people do, but instead I hung my head in shame and walked away.

What's the reasoning behind this rule anyway?

I dont know if its the same rule here but I recently took a group of school children to a park in the UK and they were enforcing the no single riders rule due to the wind conditions. Something to do with weight distribution in the seat, given that I would be at least as heavy as a couple of my pupils together!

Dump.

I had fond memories of going there when I was a child, on a family trip to Niagara Falls. My dad was an amusement park fan and approved of my hobby. On one of the last days of his life we were reminiscing and he said “Remember that horrible park we went to in Niagara? They let us put the dog on the rides? I think I asked for our money back.” Well, that wasn’t my memory at all and just a few years ago my husband and I stopped in for a visit. Dad was right.

And to be fair, I’ll agree the flat rides were ok, but akin to any state fair midway. There were a couple of abandoned rides, too. And they had some vintage kiddie flats and cute structures left over from the time when it was more of a storybook park for children. So at least I could groove on that and try to harken back to some old memories.

(The part about the dog was true. We had home movies of Missy with us on the Herschell merry go round and helicopters.)

The GM of the park (Chris) is a friend of ours and at least a few more of us on here. I went there last year with my son and another Coastertool friend as part of an area trip. We only stayed a few hours, because, yeah, it's not a huge park, but we had a good time.

Our friend told us that they are aware of the parks image and are trying to improve upon it. They just opened a new and improved kiddie area last summer. And yes, Silver Comet is an excellent CCI that seems to have aged rather well. It reminds me a little bit of Twister at Knoebels for some reason, but I'm sure most would tell me I'm wrong. The downside was that the ops were incredibly slow and I can't understand the dual checking procedure when no other park does that for similar trains.

Overall, if you can justify the entry fee for 1 good coaster 1 unique flat, then by all means do it. But if you are doing an area coaster trip,(Seabreeze, Darien, Marineland, Fantasy Island) which is what we did last year, and found yourself needing to cut a park out of the itinerary, this would probably be the one. (I just can't tell anyone not to ride Dragon Mountain at Marineland!)

I went for the first time in May and really enjoyed it. Yeah, it was a little more than I wanted to pay to get in, but Silver Comet was worth it. It was clean while I was there and, while nothing special on the rides midway, I found it charming.

https://cebeavers.wordpress.com/2019/05/04/canada-2019-day-1/

for whatever it's worth, I found Silver Comet to be "adequate."

tallguy said:

I dont know if its the same rule here but I recently took a group of school children to a park in the UK and they were enforcing the no single riders rule due to the wind conditions. Something to do with weight distribution in the seat, given that I would be at least as heavy as a couple of my pupils together!

Then group single riders together, or put them with odd-number groups. There's almost always a place for a single rider on a train. Maybe, for once, a single rider might have to wait a train or two, but I guarantee there'll be a spot (or another single-rider for 2-across rows) soon enough.

I went there for the first time a few weeks ago and, despite having to fight some rainy and cold weather, found it charming. I enjoyed the wild west show with its silly and clearly partly improvised script, and the other "fairy tale" type show I watched was fun for something aimed at kids. I didn't get any bad vibes from ride ops and had only one bad experience with really slow service at a food stand. Otherwise I had a nice time. At one point the rides supervisor walked up because he saw us studying the map and when he saw our coaster shirts he started talking with great pride about the Silver Comet and its history. He made us feel very welcome. I was just sad they closed the gift shop so fast (they had a somewhat early closure due to the weather) that I wasn't able to get the Silver Comet shirt I wanted. I loved Silver Comet. Anyway, my tolerance for less-than-polished parks is very high, and in fact I like places that look a little worn, since it gives me a feeling of their history.

Edited to add: oh yeah, and we really liked playing "I Got It!", as it's a sort of low-tech Fascination that has that fun group competition vibe.

Ha! I’ve played I Got It at various state fairs around the country. It’s fun, cheap, and I have yet to yell “I Got It”, but my Bingo luck is terrible.