Northeastern America
Astroland and Coney Island - Brooklyn, New York
Astroland, which is in Coney Island, is located in the very southern part of Brooklyn in New York City. One of the first amusement parks, the park still offers traditional seaside entertainment, but has not kept up with the bigger, faster parks. Some believe that it is still home to a couple classic attractions, including one of the world's greatest roller coaster - the Cyclone. The coaster opened in 1927, and it offers an 85-foot drop at a 60-degree incline into a twisted track, including more turns and drops. The park also has more interesting rides including the Jumbo Jet, which has a spiral ascent followed by a series of quick drops. The Wonder Wheel has stationary gondalas and 16 swinging gondalas that travel up to a 150 feet height. Finally, there's the B+B Carousel, which is the oldest ride at Coney. It is this circa-1920 three-row Charles Carmel carousel, with a grand Gebruder band organ with a ring dispenser.
To find out more information about the park, contact Astroland/Coney Island at 1000 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11224, or call (718) 265-2100.
As a 335-acre family entertainment park, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay offers an array of fascinating attractions based on an adventurous theme of the African continent. A unique blend of thrilling rides, it's one of the country's premier zoos featuring more than 2,700 animals, live shows, restaurants, shops and games.
The park provides adventure and festivity for guests of every age. There's Busch Gardens Adventures into 1998 with Akbar's Adventure Tours, a hilarious motion simulator journey through Egypt starring tour guide Akbar, played by actor/comedian Martin Short. Also taking flight this year is Lory Landing, an interactive aviary featuring brilliantly-colored birds including animated lorikeets that can be fed by guests.
Contact Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for more information at 3605 Bougainvillea Avenue, Tampa, FL 33612, or call (813) 987-5082.
Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom is spread across 200 acres in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and it features over 100 rides and attractions, including 11 waterslides and four world-class coasters. Several of the original attractions still exist in the park, and the shady groves from over 130 years ago can still be found.
Some of Dorney Park's most popular rides and attractions include White Water Landing, Hercules, ThunderHawk, Thunder Canyon, Skyscraper, Cedar Creek Cannonball, Berenstain Bear Country, the antique Dentzel Carousel and Steel Force, a 200 foot mega-coaster that takes its passengers on a three minute ride of a lifetime. New for 1998 is Hang Time, an unusual thrill ride.
