Well Coney was a lot different than I expected, I expected an amusement pier, It is that but also there are rides intermixed int he town businesses. It is funny to be driving past some restaurants and shops and see things like Auto Skooter amongst them. It gave a real tourist trap atmoshpere. We drive alongside coney Island, past the Cyclone, and soon find an open parking meter. Get out of the car and proceed to insert 4 quarters for 2 hours parking. We walk past the Cyclone but we need to walk that drive out of our system before hopping on the Cyclone, so we take a walking tour of Astroland. Notice the otrageous prices on the rides ($3.00 was the norm for a flat ride), we note the POP booths but we do not plan to be at Astroland long enough to make them worth it. (In reality POP is $12.95, and I spent only $10.00 at Astroland in ride tickets) We needed a bathroom bad after those glasses of orange juice th big breakfast and the laong drive through traffic. Warning using the toilet at Coney Island WILL cost you 25 cents. After the bathroom, and noticing the Big Apple coaster go DDM with passengers we were a bit apprehensive. But we made our way back over to the Cyclone, which is actually accross the street from Astroland. We walk up to the dark ticket booth. The ride op comes over to a strategic place on the loading platfrom, "Do you want to ride the Cyclone?" Well I am a coaster enthusiast, so whadya think!. Ok I really did not smart off, I replied Yes for Eric and I, and he told us to come up the exit ramp, to an empty and waiting train in the unload brake. "I would not reccomend the back seat for your <user's butt hits back seat> very first ride!" The train is advanced to the load brake, and the operaotrs attempt to lock our lapbar. Well with Eric and I both in the back seat, they say they can not seat us both together, but we could switch and re-ride afterwards for only $3.00 each. So Eric moves to seat 11, and the operator comes around collecting out $4 for the first ride, locks the lapbars succesfully, (Why don;t you collect money before locking the lapbars!!!???!! So I can actually reach my wallet.) Interesting lock mechanism on the lapbar. There is on at least one end of the bar, a round hole, the lines us with a round hole on the train side, they push the lock bar lever and a bolt shoots up through the hole to lock it. We were soon dispatched via the manual brake lever, and head up the lift for the Coney Island Cyclone (#97)!!!!! The Cyclone is everything I was promised. I got thrown from side to side, hit the lap bar mech on one ride and got a nice bruise. Cyclone wounds and proud of it! Of course me not holding on to the lapbar and riding hands up may have had something to do with that. The airtime in the backseat however was negated by the lapbar. Now come on y'all said these trains were roomy and comfortable. Y'all lied. The seats are 1.5 adults wide, the lap bars lock tight. Still though, wild not my number 1 wood (That is STILL Raven!) Yes folks I rate Raven higher than the coney Island Cyclone and the Great Escape Comet. Then again I rate Rolling Thunder higher than the GE Comet. <FLAME shield activated>
Get back to station hand in $3, move to seat 11, Eric moved to back seat as promised, re-ride! Get back to station Eric decides he has had enough Cyclone and that Eric claims to be unimpressed by it. I pay my $3, and ask "Can I move to the front seat?" Sure, go right ahead. I start to get out of the train, am standing up when they pull the lever to move it from unload to load. Ok, does this count as riding the Cyclone standing up? After they stop the train, I move to the lfront seat, the lap bar is locked Oh my god, I am the only person on the train! I ask about when they were gonna dispatach. "We need X number of riders to run the Cyclone, please wait" About 5 minutes later they got their minimum complement. Oh darn a good solo ride opportunity spoiled by some safety reg! Well soon I am off on my front seat ride, I notice I am in the green trim train. The only train operating this morning. The front seat is where I scored my war wound. I came flying into that lap bar mech, OUCH! Yes! I will love the Cyclone forever for what it is, it may not be top 5 material, but I love it. We pull into the brake tunnel and I notice that as soon as you come out of the tunnel the lapbars release. Makes for a fast exit when my bar was released before the train stopped. Oh, and did I notice no queue gates, no headrests, no seat dividers (Yes I get to ride int he middle of the seat!), no seatbelts, brake levers, and a very accomodating, friendly coaster crew? I was oon heading back down the exit ramp.
Well I was on a tight time schedule the Cyclone opens at noon and I had a 5:00 flight to catch, meaning I had to be at the airport at 4:00, in White Plains.
But I can't run away from Coney without experiencing Deno's Wonder Wheel. Deno;s Wonder Wheel is in what else Deno's Wonder Wheel Park. Dead center. I buy my ticket (as does Eric) for $3.00 and board the wonder wheel, in a swinging car. This is certainly the most unique Ferris Wheel I have been on. You 'drop and swing' twice on each revolution. A bit unsettling but fun. The onyl drawback is the ride is only 1 revolution. (Ok you get one loading revolutuion at slow speed, and one ride revolution at a slightly faster speed) so you get to drop and swing 4 times. The ride is too slow to make this thrilling, just novel. Come on we are the only people on the whole ride can';t you runit longer, geesh!, we soon exit to the unload side, head back to our car, even though we only spent an hour. We hit the two rides we wanted to ride, and quite frankly considering where Coney Island is in New York City we were not in a lingering mood.