Coney Vid: Sneak Peek At The New Luna Park Coming To Coney Island

The New Luna Park Sneak Peek

Correction: Astroland 2.0 To Be Luna Park 2.0

What looked like a newer version of Astroland is now intended to be a newer version of the original Luna Park in Coney Island.  According to an article in the New York Daily News, the new amusement park coming to Coney Island by Zamperla, the Italian company, will be molded after the original park that existed in Coney Island from 1903 to 1944.  The company promises a new gleaming amusement part to rise from the dirt rubble that still exists today on the former Astroland site.  Valerio Ferrari, president of Central Amusement International is said to have been closely studying Charles Denson's book: "Coney Island: Lost & Found".

The NY Daily News reports:

Visitors will find 19 new rides, with highlights that include a spinning roller coaster dubbed the Tickler, an airplane ride that will have thrill-seekers "doing corkscrews in jets," a giant swinging pendulum and a log flume with a steep, watery plunge.

There'll be teacups, swings, hot air balloon rides and the Disc-O, which spins passengers up and down a 60-foot rail. Look for a smaller coaster, a flume ride for kids and the Beach Shack, a surfboard ride where the brave are buffeted by simulated winds.

"There will be more edgy rides, and we're going to bring in new rides every year," Ferrari said.

And there's more coming to the new Luna Park according to the article.  There is also a animated video offered, which shows a large roller coaster towards the end of the clip, which sits away from Luna Park.  This is what was talked about as having its footing along the structures that now rest along the boardwalk. Thus, it was also indicated that the fate of Ruby's Bar and Grill and Lola Star's Boutique, for the long run, is still uncertain.  Though, for this year they will stay. 

More Summer Of Zamperla: The 'New' Future Of Coney Island

Hail to the city for saving Coney Island with the help of an Italian amusement ride company for shoving off Thor Equities to the side and showing them how to better remake Coney Island with a new renaissance full of better designed carnival rides over a fresh coat of asphalt!

They claim this is just the beginning. Let's hope they mean it.
Rememember this?...
They [Thor Equities] promised us the future of Coney Island but instead hauled in old carnival rides, swindled some sideshow operators, carted in the portable crank shows, and left us rotting tents still wreaking from a useless flea market.

We're putting our hopes up for Zamperla, but we'll smile broader when the original attractions designed for Coney are presented. In the meantime, with 94 days of this posting for the grand opening we hope they don't start late like their predecessor. You can keep abreast of updates on their LunaBlog and for those in need of employment - you can apply under their 'job opportunities' page. Hiring for the future Luna Park are positions for: ride operators, park services, retail, game operators, tickets, food & beverage and more.

Summer Of Zamperla For Carnival Coney

Thor Equities is no longer able to bring us shams like a squatted flea market which left its decaying skin behind to rot in the winter winds on the dirt lot it killed. The City has come in to save the summer...at least this summer...and with better carnival rides. Think of it, if you will, as a new version of Astroland. Though the nostalgia for Astroland will be missed it was time for something new. With Zampera, the winner of the RFP (Request for Proposals) to bring amusements to the City of New York (into the recently purchased 6.9 acres in Coney Island), we are promised lots of good quality generic carnival rides from this Italian amusement ride manufacturer.

Though this would help keep Coney alive, it still simply brings in rides people can ride anywhere else. I was on many Zamperla rides down in Miami's Santa's Enchanted Forest. Though these new generic rides would be un upgrade to Astroland's old rides, I took a nice short snooze on some of them. In fact, I've seen a bunch of Zamperla's rides in five fairs in South Florida during the winter months.

Santas Enchanted Forest



And in always knocking Thor Equities, I do reserve the jeers for their original ideas with Thinkwell back in 2007.


Excperpt from a KC post of June 27, 2007:

The presentation took us through many renderings and video clips of some of the new rides in action. At one of the forefronts, would be an emporium which will house a museum of Coney Island which will actually be a dark ride through the history of Coney Island. The emporium will be a greeting station and pit stop for all your needs from digital media gear and supplies, tickets to shows, strollers, etc. Down Stillwell Avenue will stand high, the Freakenspiele Tower (or Freak & Spiel) which pays homage to the Dreamland tower. The Freakenspiele will be a ride, launching passengers into the air at rocket speeds. Along Stillwell will be added attractions like stunt shows, street performers, and the indoor water park which seem to be a major staple in their plans.

One upgraded old ride would be the new Steeplechase ride which will be a morph between the Steeplechase horses and motorcylces. This would be a faster speed Steeplechase which would at one point go through the water park and then hover high over visitors.

This kind of thinking is more like what Coney needs, but done by professional amusement operators. With a contract to be signed between the city and Zamperla for up to ten years, and with this first step sounding like a temporary one for the next couple of summers, hopefully Zamperla will include, as their main attractions of the small Coney amusement core, some original thinking for the new Coney Island.