The first thing you notice when you get in are those great cars.  I have been hard-pressed to find who made them (I am guessing in-house of some sort), but they definitely help take you back to the time when this untamed beast opened.  They are exactly how a coaster car should be: padded (Gerstlauter take note), lapbar only, no seat dividers or headrests (corporate themers take note) and they track like they were Prior & Church articulating cars.  After the hand brake is released, the skids fall away and you take that gentle curve to the lift hill, which felt like one of the faster ones out there.  For four-bench cars, these things hug amazingly well and, much like the Phoenix, the cars feel like they are merely an extension of the track.  As you speed up the lift you notice that the anti-rollbacks are on the left side by the rail, not in the center by the lift chain…another thing which makes the Cyclone so unique (does anyone else know of coasters that have this feature?).

          The Cyclone’s height is deceiving, as you think, “That first drop can’t be that bad.”  But, oh how Vernon Keenan makes you change your mind, as you peer over that first drop the track appears to fall straight down into a viper’s pit of track.  I have no idea how the man did it, but this first drop has always intimidated me ever since I saw it in George Plimpton’s article for Popular Mechanics in the late eighties.  In it, he reviewed 5 coasters, one of which was the Cyclone.  There were not a lot of pictures, and I think the only one of the Cyclone was a small photo looking down the first drop with a caption that read something like, “the vertigo inducing first drop of the Coney Island Cyclone”-I have been petrified ever since. 

          As I was saying, the track dropped out from under me and I was thrown down, the ride letting up only inches above Surf Avenue.  Then it was up and around the curve, I flew from one side of the train to the other and was yanked down again…then back up and over that long airtime hill and met the other side of the car with my ribs as I joyfully slid into it…then down an amazingly steep drop…more airtime as I flew along…into the side of the car again on the curve...another great drop with a little airtime hill…the last corner curve…diving through the structure onto the famous last turn and into the tunnel.  Wow.

          Two things amazed me about the Cyclone.  The first was how smooth the coaster ran.  I have heard horror story after horror story about how rough the Cyclone is.  It seemed like a very violent ride, but, to me, the cars never ran rough or tracked badly.  I was amazed that this thing ran so well and have only had better quality rides at places like Holiday World or Knoebels, places known for wooden coaster expertise.  But, for a coaster run by the city of New York, it tracked better than I ever thought possible…and was $4 I had no trouble parting with.

          The second thing that amazed me was the steepness and number of drops found on the Cyclone.  Even the small drops off the turns (towards the end of the ride) were quite severe and required that you not forget where you were.  The sensation was a little like the Phoenix in that the ride is still fun throughout the entire ride, it is just that the hills get a touch smaller.  If there is one ride the Cyclone reminded me of, it is the Cyclone (before it was neutered for the 2001 season) at Six Flags New England .  The rides are both quite violent and hair-raising, but I thought the PTC’s did a lot more shuffling on Cobb’s ride than the cars on the Cyclone.  The pacing is quite similar in that things will get fast & furious, the train will lose speed, but even on the slower part of the curves it still manages to pack quite a punch.  For some reason most designers never found that unique combination of a ride which can produce some of the most bone-jarring sensations while traveling at a pretty low speed…Keenan & Baker had some sort of gift. 

          But, the Cyclone was only one of three reasons I made my pilgrimage to the worn-out Mecca of amusements.  Sadly, the B&B Carousell is one of those rides I hear very few people talk about, yet I see just as important as the Cyclone or the Wonder Wheel.  The first few times I had passed the building the doors were still drawn shut, but as the Cyclone’s lights danced behind us the Mike was starting his day.

          If it were not for this ride (and a kiddie whip I saw stashed away in a jumble of rides), you would never know that William F. Mangels once resided here and turned out some of the best flat rides in the country.  The Whip, the Tickler, the mechanism for many carousels (including the recently re-opened Whalom Park ride) and the Ziz coaster, which ran at Feltman's, were only a few of his many creations.  Mangels was quite proud of his carousel mechanisms and said that they created a unique motion; very different from the ones put out by his competitors.  My father & I each paid $2.50 to the attendant who looked a bit mad we were there.  But, to my surprise he was very friendly and happily turned off the stereo, engaged the organ and the big table slowly began to turn.  We got a ride that was easily five minutes long (when I expected the ride to last about 30 seconds), which afforded me time to gaze around and take in every nuance of the ride.  I saw that there were many dark ride boats stacked in the back, but overall the structure which housed the carousel looked to be in fine condition.  I must say that even though the carousel is not in museum condition, for being at Coney for so long, it looks great and I am sure the owner does all he can on the budget he has to work with.  Although I am no carousel historian, the Gebruder organ looked and sounded great, a testament to the craftsmanship of the time.

         If you are at Coney, DO NOT pass up the B & B Carousell, as it still gives the joyful ride for which it was designed.  Pay Mr. Mangels tribute, although his office on West 5^th is gone, the countless innovations he made in the industry are still felt today.

          I convinced my dad to join me in the front of the Cyclone and he relented.  I promised him a ride in the front would be smoother, but the rain and humidity were already beginning to make the coaster run faster than my first trip in the morning.  I am glad he did go, because I have always seen riding the Cyclone as some sort of right of passage in life…I know I hope to do it with my children.

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Adam Sandy, Copyright 2001.