Associated parks:
None
The weather was HOT and humid - even the nice breeze off of the sound was not enough to make it better. Myself and friend Martha left NYC at around
8:30 arriving in Rye at 9:20 and seeing no taxis around and being too early for the bus we decided to make the one mile walk to the park as we had the
time. It's actually a very pleasant and beautiful walk and by the time we almost made it to the park we were thankfully given a ride by the wonderful
Adam Revesz and lovely Ellen the rest of the way - the heat had definitely become more opressive (and I had forgotten my sunscreen - yikes!)
We got to the park just around 10 and signed up and paid our $3 for the event (can you beat that????) They opened the park to us around 11am and
ERT was on the kiddie coaster (Darling Kiddie wood 1928), the new for this year Super Flight (Zamperla Volare), and the last years new addition Crazy
Mouse (Zamperla Zig Zag Coaster - Mouse). I decided to take one spin on the kiddie wood although I had thought that I might skip as I've already had
the opportunity and many others hadn't. It's definitely a classic but there really isn't all that much to it. We then made the trek over to SuperFlight - based on the many TR's I'd already heard about this one, Elitch's and PCWo's - I really wasn't looking forward to this. My opinion - well it's better than the departed Hurricane which it replaced but
it's simply not a fun ride. It hurt - it handles transitions badly - it's car needs a massive rethink for the head restraints - I don't know if changing the restraints would make it a better experience but it couldn't hurt. I think that ride itself is a really cool idea but the actual delivery leaves a lot to be desired.
On the other hand - Crazy Mouse - which I never got the opportunity to ride last year completely floored me - best coaster in the park IMHO - wow!!! -
Morey's take note - you're not supposed to use the brakes on this!!!!! (they are just there for safety) - WOW - a completely unbraked 'modern' mouse - It
was a true joy!!! and top of that a lot of fun especially the second to last turn on the long switchbacks - definitely a winner! I'm going to have
ride Hershey's again soon to decide which is the better of the 'modern' mice.
Also got rides on The Whip, Flying Witch, Zombie Castle, and Old Mill. The Flying Witch has had even more stunts added and was great. Zombie Castle is
still as gross as ever. They fixed car 10 on the Whip (damn) but it still delivered a great ride regardless - it's probably my favorite one out there (of the handful that are still operating). The other new attraction this year is Twister. It looks and operates much like a top spin except that the arms operate freely allowing the gondala the ability to tilt. The restraints are far more comfortable then a Top Spin and unlike the excessive amount of hang time on a Top Spin this is primarily about flipping. Who makes this???? I definitely think this a winner and really enjoyed it.
We played a pathetic round of mini-golf in which Adam won. Took a number of spins on the Dragon coaster as part of the marathon team and then decided to call it a day as I had things to attend to back in the city.
Sunday was again a hot and oppressive day - but Coney was calling my name and I made the trek for the 10th time this year in an unbelievably fast 30 minute subway ride. Turnout for ACE day was pretty light and so were the crowds. The Cyclone was running VERY well but it was definitively rougher than from the beginning of the season. I have 2 very nice pronounced bruises across the top of my thighs from two very intense back seat rides - sigh - it's all about the love. Also rode the flume and bumper cars. The TopSpin was unforunately down and even worse according to one Astroland person I spoke with may not reopen for the rest of the year! Had my regular corn on the cob at Pete's Clam House and called it a day. Got a total of 10 rides in on Cyclone.
Hope you enjoyed!
Jim 'jimvid' McDonnell
- still to come - I PROMISE - my year end wrap up of Coney *** Edited 8/31/2004 2:12:38 PM UTC by jimvid*** *** Edited 8/31/2004 2:13:08 PM UTC by jimvid***
Even worst is that since a good month, they only ever run 3 on it at once... Good ride, but a capacity nightmare!
You must be logged in to post