Photo TR: Coney has it!

[Gordon Bombay]

I first went to Kings Island when I was 7 years old. When I got home I remember asking my parents \"how come you never told me about this place?\" I loved it, and ever since then have loved Amusement Parks. In about 2005 was when I really got into visiting them, experiencing new parks, and riding rides as well as when I finally started to really get into photography. However, I always took for granted the little gem of a park just down 275 called Coney Island. I had been there for concerts at Riverbend and knew they had the Pepsi Python coaster, but never thought much about going. Until today I had not been to Coney since I was about 10 years old. I decided it was time for a visit so myself and some fellow KIC members met up to go check out Coney. Myself, CoastersRZ, CaptainNemo, and Mr. 3000 decided to meet up around 4 o clock for a visit to Coney. I figured there wasn\'t much to do there and with a day off would want to sleep in, so Mr. 3000 and I decided to meet up for lunch first and go to Coney after 4 so we could pay the cheaper twighlight admission. Two pieces of advice:

-Don\'t underestimate Coney, there is a lot to do there and I wish we would have gone earlier in the day, having more time.

-Do NOT eat Penn Station before going on Coney\'s Rides, many of which spin . . .

I know my way around Cincinnati pretty well, but hadn\'t been out by Coney in years, there was some confusion getting off 71 near Red Bank. Eventually we got to Coney...

Now, if Robbie Knievel came to Coney Island, he could probably jump the entire rides side of the park. However, don\'t let the size of Coney fool you, I really underestimated it. Our first ride was the parks only roller coaster; The Pepsi Python.

-This DPV rides coaster originally opened in New Jersey in 1996 before making its way to Coney for the 1999 season. The last row of seats is not open to guests and each train only loads six riders at a time, tonight lines were short and we were almost immediately on.

What is there to say about the Python? I guess you shouldn\'t expect too much from it, its just your typical classic portable carnival coaster. Not sure how it compares to Wildcat at CP as thats always broken when I go.

-As you can tell from the look on the riders faces, its not the best or most thrilling ride in the world, I didn\'t feel like riding it a second time, however...

-Captain Nemo thought the front seat was great and enjoyed the \"head chopping\" element a ride like this provides.

Up next was the Rock-O-Plane

-Relocated from the now defunct Americana/LeSourdsville Lake, this ride appears as a ferris wheel, but packs a hell of a punch. This ride is very enjoyable and intense, even watching it from the midway you underestimate exactly how intense it is, and once you figure out how to flip your car right it can be a really great ride.

One of three new attractions for Coney this season is the Eurobungee Dome. While each jump is 5 dollars (as long as you have a wristband), Mr. 3000 decided to try it out.

-Turned out to be quite fun and the dome certainly provides some nice escape from the heat.

By this time CoastersRZ met up with us. The other night he pointed out to me online that Coney has live entertainment, I was surprised, so tonight we made sure to catch Coney Beats.

-I\'d say the singing is right on par with Kings Island and other parks, however they kept singing Jimmy Buffet. I HATE Jimmy Buffet.

Next up we tried the other new attraction; River Runner. A swinging ship relocated from the now defunct Wild West World.

The River Runner appears small, and doesn\'t swing as high as KI\'s Viking Fury:

But....yes, once again I underestimated a Coney ride...

-The little pop of \"airtime\" gives you a nice feeling of weightlessness as it swings, and the cycle is long. In fact, it left my stomach feeling sick, I had to sit down afterwards.

-We passed by National City kids town, a miniature town for kids. . . . . yay? Not much to say about this considering I was too tall to participate in the attraction.

-We then played some of Coney\'s \"games of skill.\" Coney has a nice section dedicated to games of all types that is shaded and out of the way of the main midway, no loud barkers or music, just a quiet atmosphere and friendly employees.

The games are cheap too. . .

. . .for a dollar Jon (Mr. 3000) won this INCREDIBLY AWESOME photograph of Dale Earnhardt. Where can you win that at Kings Island or Cedar Point? Ha!

Inspired by the picture of Dale and his racing, Mr. 3000, Captain Nemo, and CoastersRZ decided to hold a race on Coney\'s Giant Slide. While the race didn\'t end like Dale Earnhardt\'s did, it certainly was a close call:

-They started off close Mr. 3000 in the left lane, CoastersRZ in the middle, and Nemo on the right lane. Mr. 3000 was off to a huge lead, thought he had the win when all of the sudden at the end . . . . Captain Nemo came back! It was Nemo by a hair and a photo finish...

Mr. 3000 demanded a rematch:

-Only to lose to Nemo...AGAIN.

We then took the time to ride some of Coney\'s classic and newer rides:

-The Grand Carousel.

We also rode The Trabant (same model as KI\'s former Wheel of Fortune ride) which moves you backward one cycle which was fun, then forwards the next. . . which made me sick. Once again, I found myself sitting on a bench trying to calm my stomach. Coney has a roundup ride which looked fun, but I couldn\'t even attempt it. . .

-Don\'t let the Scream Machine fool you, while it looks like one of those \"kiddy\" drop rides, its quite fun. The free fall effect is there and it drops you many, many times.

We strolled the serene picnic grove down to the parks Ohio River entrance:

To gaze at Kentucky and the lovely, muddy Ohio River.

Part 2 is in the next post since you can only have so many images per post. . .

[Gordon Bombay]

-Anyone recognize these light poles? You can find the same exact ones at Kings Island!

-A typical Coney midway, with a newly renovated LaRosa\'s.

-Bumper Cars at Coney are quite fun and fast. If you\'re not careful, they\'ll go in reverse.

I didn\'t get the chance to ride the Flying Bob\'s, but Nemo and 3000 reported that they were exciting, yet rough.

-Ryan \"Boddah1994\" Suhr once said that the tilta whirl at Beech Bend is \"all titla and no whirl.\" Same goes for Stricker\'s Grove, Camden Park, and the sub-par Turkey Whirl at Holiday World. However, the one at Coney is quite enjoyable.

At around 8 P.M. the park started to wind down with the closing of Sunlite Pool.

-We opted to just buy ride bracelets and skip the swimming, but a nice employee was kind enough to let me step through and take a photograph of the closed pool.

As the sun began to set we went to ride the Ferris Wheel.

-There was a topic here recently about Ferris Wheels and someone complaining Coney\'s \"sucked.\" That couldn\'t be further from the truth, the ferris wheel here is fast, and provides a great view of the park and Eastern Cincinnati.

-Looking out over Coney, that giant golfball looking thing is the Eurobungee dome.

-Lake Como on the left and Coney on the right.

-The sun setting on Lake Como and the bumper boats.

-The Paddle Boats close earlier than the rest of the rides.

-Main vehicle entrance and Lake Como.

-We made one last lap around the park before making the Rock-O-Plane our last ride of the evening.

-While this picture is blurry you can see me and CoastersRZ flipping in the Rock-O-Plane. He showed me how to really get it spinning. The Rock O Plane is definitely the highlight of Coney\'s rides lineup, its intense and quite disorienting. I had to sit down and let my stomach rest again after the ride RZ gave me. Note that my hand is on top of the cage, RZ kept making me hit my head.

Now only if Coney would get a few more rides from the defunct Americana/Lesourdsville Lake. . .

-The park has a great atmosphere at night (and during the day), all the rides have neat light packages.

-Neat sign, dissapointing coaster, good soft drink.

-We made our way to our cars as the sun set. I really enjoyed my visit to Coney, next time I\'ll make sure to make it a longer one. For those of you who have not visited yet make sure you do. The park has a lot of classic flat rides you can\'t find at KI today (but could in the past), and if you have younger children, its a great place for them as well.

The park\'s slogan is \"Coney has it!\" I\'m not exactly sure what \"it\" is, but if it is good times, exciting rides, a great atmosphere, good prices, and rides that can make you whirl and (maybe) hurl. . . then Coney definitely \"has it!\" So if you haven\'t been, check it out soon!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. My body still feels like its spinning and my stomach is still bothering me, I\'ll take coasters any day, but I can only handle so much from spinning rides.

[fearfestrulz]

i LOVE the rock o plane!

its so much fun, i rode it three times during thomsons company picnic!

the first time i rode it, i was freaked out because our kept flipping out of control

later when i actually figure out how to control it, it got funner. although at the end of the ride (i guess they remembered me?) they saved my car (or whatever you wanna call it) for last. it flipped upside down when i was finally supposed to get off so they had to flip it for me.

such a fun day!

[CoastersRZ]

Most excellent pictures and trip report Ronny!

And for those of you who wish to know more about Coney Island, visit ConeyIslandCentral.com

[Captain Nemo]

The last time I ever went to Coney was in 1999.

It really went above my expectations. I was expecting more of a carnival that just happens to be fixed rides but Coney really knows how to play it off.

By far Rock-o-Planes were my fav! I loved the fact I had control over the spinning.

[Avatar]

Ronny – when I see a trip report and the author is Gordon Bombay I know before I open it up that it is going to well thought out, planed, written and most of all a fun entertaining read. You tend to add humor and insight that is easy to understand and instead of just saying nice trip report, I just wanted you to know what I was really thinking.

Nice Trip Report Ronny!

It seems that everyone (including myself) who end up venturing over to Coney Island say how pleasantly surprised they are with the park. Coney has charm and is a nice gem to have in a community.

[CoastersRZ]

And, I was able to share many little known insights about Coney with Gordon Bombay, Captain Nemo and Mr. 3000. Now in my seventh year at Coney, I`ve gathered quite a bit of information on the place!

[The Interpreter]

This is an absolutely gorgeous and well written report on a truly magical place.

Even better than visiting today's Coney Island would be to be able to go back and do it again in 1971. Or even back when Wildcat still stood. Oh, how I wish that were possible.

As for Cedar Point's Wildcat, that ride is far, far superior to the Pepsi Thingy at Coney Island of Ohio. It is, after all, a Schwarzkopf.

[Gordon Bombay]

Ronny – when I see a trip report and the author is Gordon Bombay I know before I open it up that it is going to well thought out, planed, written and most of all a fun entertaining read. You tend to add humor and insight that is easy to understand and instead of just saying nice trip report, I just wanted you to know what I was really thinking.

Nice Trip Report Ronny!

It seems that everyone (including myself) who end up venturing over to Coney Island say how pleasantly surprised they are with the park. Coney has charm and is a nice gem to have in a community.

Thanks for the kind words Avatar, I'm glad you like them. I plan on having a few more this summer as I have yet to hit up Cedar Point, Kentucky Kingdom, and eventually Canada's Wonderland.

And, I was able to share many little known insights about Coney with Gordon Bombay, Captain Nemo and Mr. 3000. Now in my seventh year at Coney, I`ve gathered quite a bit of information on the place!

Yes, you have, and it was a darn good time yesterday learning the ins and outs of Coney. Moonlight Gardens looks really nice.

This is an absolutely gorgeous and well written report on a truly magical place.

Even better than visiting today's Coney Island would be to be able to go back and do it again in 1971. Or even back when Wildcat still stood. Oh, how I wish that were possible.

As for Cedar Point's Wildcat, that ride is far, far superior to the Pepsi Thingy at Coney Island of Ohio. It is, after all, a Schwarzkopf.

I'll make sure to try the Wildcat when I venture up to CP again, hopefully next week!

[iChase]

Ronny, I always look forward to your photo trip reports. These pictures were great. I particularly liked the first picture of River Runner. Great work!

It looks like you guys had a great time. I've never been to Coney Island. It looks like I'll have to go some time.

[WooferBearATL]

Always love to look at your pics Ronny.

But I just can't get it out of my mind those folks watching the show.

Those are some Extra Plus Size Folk.

Man!

This is an absolutely gorgeous and well written report on a truly magical place.

Even better than visiting today's Coney Island would be to be able to go back and do it again in 1971. Or even back when Wildcat still stood. Oh, how I wish that were possible.

As for Cedar Point's Wildcat, that ride is far, far superior to the Pepsi Thingy at Coney Island of Ohio. It is, after all, a Schwarzkopf.

Yes, and we know that Norman Schwarzkopf is/was a Great General!

[iChase]

Always love to look at your pics Ronny.

But I just can't get it out of my mind those folks watching the show.

Those are some Extra Plus Size Folk.

Man!

I wasn't going to say anything, but...uh...wow.

[BavarianBeatle]

As of last Monday, Wildcat was up and running.