Coney Island

Flew from Milwaukee to Rome on Delta, which got me a layover at JFK for 7 hours. I had never been to New York city or state before, so I found the closest coasters and said fuck it! Round trip Uber was around $100 but really worth it to break up the flights.

Parks

So there are two parks in Coney Island. Luna Park NYC, owned by Zamperla, which runs the historic Cyclone along with the majority of the rides near the boardwalk. This park had a $62 all you can ride (in 4 hours) wristband which was absolutely perfect for me. All of the rides were walk on (once they opened), and looked nice for the most part. Cyclone has a bit of a cramped queue, and a few of the rides like Thunderbolt and Circus Coaster could use a new coat of paint, but I never felt unsafe on any of the rides, and had a great time overall. The “old time” theme looks awesome though and I applaud Zamperla for keeping and showcasing the history of the area!

Deno’s Wonderwheel Park is situated on a lot sandwiched inside Luna Park, which confuses lots of patrons. There was a pretty good distinction between the two, but if you aren’t paying attention, they could blend together. I bought $20 worth of tickets for a single ride on their 3 coasters, but if you don’t care about credits, just ride Phoenix twice for the same money! I thought Deno’s was a little cleaner and more colorful than Luna park, but it was a much smaller park. There’s also a huge lot north of Phoenix that was just cleared, hopefully for Deno’s to expand?

Coasters

Overall there is a fantastic coaster collection here. IMO there are 4 must rides, but the rest were fun as well. I write them out worst to best, and give them a ranking out of 10.

Skyflyer (Deno’s)

SBF Micro Coaster. Kinda ok laterals in the station? Barely a coaster. Second one I’ve ridden! 1/10

Mini Mouse (Luna)

Second mini mouse this month. Does it’s thing. This one only had two laps, and didn’t have a fast lap like Fiesta Expres. 1.5/10

Circus Coaster (Luna)

Kind of a supersized kiddy coaster. A little violent on the transitions and the chain engagement. Not bad I guess but also not good. Just kinda there. 3/10

Sea Serpent (Deno’s)

Fun little Miler. Very emotive layout, no forces though. Good step up from last three coasters. 3.5/10

The Tickler (Luna)

Zamperla Spinner with a pin that opens after the lift hill. Was only person in the car so got decent spinning, but got stopped on a block section after a car in front of me didn’t re-lock in the station, which killed the end of the ride. 5/10 as is, probably would have been 5.5 without harsh stop

Soarin’ Eagle (Luna)

My first Volare! Sat (laid?) on an edge and that was a mistake. No headbanging, but rough transitions and I kept landing on my wallet and passport in my zipper pocket (not leaving that in some random bin in NYC). I think a middle row and no loose items would have bumed this up a point or more. 6/10

Steeplechase (Luna)

What a surprise. Got a zen ride, but the launch actually got MORE forceful as the ride went on! Super fun. The rest of the layout was smooth and actually made me feel like I was on a horse / motorcycle. Comfortable restraints too. Really solid ride. 8/10

Phoenix (Deno’s)

What an awesome little coaster! Perfectly smooth, small pops of airtime and some force. I feel like it could have used a corkscrew for that perfect step up into big boy coasters, like many Schwarzkopfs and Arrows do now, but the overbank came close so idk. This was my first new gen Vekoma SFC and there is no wonder why these things are becoming so popular. Awesome ride! 9/10

Thunderbolt (Luna)

Holey wow. Trains are tight to get into, had same issues with wallet and passport as Eagle, and some of those track pieces are not aligned, but what the hell that layout is insane. Incredible first drop (didn’t feel trims at all), hangtime on the loop, floaty and whippy zero g roll, crazy sidewinder, and some insane ejector on the way back. What an insane ride. If those new 4 wide trains are a little improved to space out the rear seats some more and they have solved the track alignment issues, this should be a ride on every park’s to-get list. 9/10, plus probably half a point if it weren’t for walley

Coney Island Cyclone (Luna)

I grew up with Viper so I know this layout well. But holey SHIT this was insane. I rode alone, so I shot from one side of the train to the other on every turnaround, and all the hills gave solid floater. I only got to ride in rows 3 and 4, so I can’t even fathom a front or back row ride. 9.5+/10 as is, probably a 10/10 in the back or front. Incredible ride deserving of its legendary status

Food

Got a Nathan’s hotdog and shake on the way out. Cheap ish in terms of theme park food and very scrumptious. Use the self service terminals, way faster than a line! 10/10

Wrapup

Overall in 2.5 hours, I managed to get one ride on every coaster, with a second ride on Cyclone while waiting on my Uber. I also got on the NebulaZ, Super Air Race, and Endeavor, which were all really solid rides, for airtime, hangtime and positives respectively. I really enjoyed my experience here, and could tell both parks are doing big things to keep on improving! Can’t wait to be back and see everything that has changed. Thank you for the great layover, Coney Island!