TR: ARN&R Coney Con 5/15/05

Quickie TR: Coney Island ARN&R ConeyCon1

Hung out with:
Adam 'lonnol' Sandy, Dave 'Flare' Fraser, Ed 'Chillforce' McInerney, Rob Ascough, Martha 'Stilleto' Andrews and the annoymous forces behind ARN&R with their bounty of bodyguards

Rides (with highlights):
Cyclone - 6 rides - Cyclone is still running very smooth this year (except for hill 5) and while I felt it was a little sluggish early in the day it definitely picked up some speed as the day progressed.

TopSpin2 - 2 rides - TS2 was truly the hit of the day for me - the Astroland operators have really improved their skills on this manually operated masterpiece of German maniacalism. I took two rides back to back, which left me a little shaky - but it really is an amazing ride.

Astroland Bumper Cars - 1 ride

Dante's Inferno - 1 ride

Zipper - 1 ride - It took a while for them to get it going as one of the drive tires had a flat and had to be repaired - thus Flare never got his ride, as he had to exit early. My Zipper ride was nowhere near as intense as my very first ride a few weeks ago, but nonetheless enjoyable and insane (not to mention the falling debris from the ride).

B&B Carousel - 1 ride - great as always - always relieved to see it open

El Dorado - 2 rides - bump, bump, bump your ass off - I consider this to be one of Coney's secret gems that people never seem to get to. Great bumper
cars!

Saturn 6 - 1 ride - was running well and very enjoyable - I like the fact that it's more about the airtime and less about the laterals. I'm glad that I was able to convince people to ride it with me.

Wonder Wheel - 1 ride

Spook-A-Rama - 1 ride - seemed to have a few new stunts, but it's still in sad shape - considering that it's 50 years old this year I was hoping Deno's would put a little effort into it (but I should know better).

Subway - took Ed and Adam on a quickie F train ride from the Stillwell station to the 8th street station so they could get a good look at the almost-complete Stillwell station - For 2 bucks it's probably the cheapest ride at Coney and most impressive ride station to boot!

Ate: Sausage hero and Corn on the Cob from Pete's Clam house

What can I say the weather held out and a truly great day was had. It was great to be around a bunch of enthusiasts who were just as happy to ride great flats as they are to ride a great coaster.

Long Live the Saturn 6!

Jim 'jimvid' McDonnell *** Edited 5/16/2005 1:58:31 PM UTC by jimvid*** *** Edited 5/16/2005 1:59:21 PM UTC by jimvid*** *** Edited 5/16/2005 1:59:55 PM UTC by jimvid***

Thanks for the TR Jim....now I'm even more bummed I couldn't attend...;)

"German maniacalism"? I have GOT to ride that!

Sorry to hear Dave missed the Zipper, just *spectating* while he flips the car again and again, and again, is a trip in itself...

Agreed re: El Dorado, the ops really know how to launch you into an accid....er, wreck....not really an accideent when it's on purpose, LOL...:)

bill, too sure that Sppok-A-Rama could use a little love from our *DAFE* friends...

P.S. No mention of a Nathan's original? For shame!

*** Edited 5/16/2005 2:50:35 PM UTC by rollergator***

Gator,

Nothing against Nathans, and it's a must if you've never been there...BUT Pete's Clam House and Paul & Gregorys are just as good, never as busy, half the price PLUS good service - I'll save my money for more rides!

Long Live the Saturn 6!

Jim 'jimvid' McDonnell

Jim - please stop posting your Coney TRs. With each one I get more and more jealous of how close you live to the area ;)

mOOSH [relax, people...he knows I'm kidding]

Sorry to rub salt into the wound but I agree that yesterday was a lot of fun. Despite the fact that I was there a few weeks ago, yesterday was a day of many "firsts" for me: Saturn 6 (too much fun to put into words), Astroland's Top Spin 2 (too sick to put into words) and a Zipper (too strange to put into words). The weather was gorgeous and I can't think of a better group of people to have spent the afternoon with. I was going to write a TR but Jim pretty much said it all!

Besides Moosh, what are you jealous of? We may have Coney Island but you have Magic Mountain! ;)

*** Edited 5/16/2005 8:13:57 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***

Rob sez: "We may have Coney Island but you have Magic Mountain!"

Now THAT is rubbing salt into the wound, Rob! ;)

Wow, I really wan't sure wheather or not there really was a ARN&R Con or someone like me would show up and be badly fooled.