Before starting this part of the TR I must say that this trip was made MUCH easier by “Surf Dance” Chris (http://members.aol.com/surfdancec).  He spent time looking up info. for another enthusiast he had never met and made my trip immeasurably easier.  A big thank you!  There are few things I like better than visiting a park for the first time, especially when it is a traditional park.  As readers of my TRs know by now I am a lover of tradition at heart.  Naturally I was excited at the prospect of visiting Long Island Adventureland, kind of a “new” traditional park.  Since it opened in 1962 it is hard to lump this place in with parks like Compounce or Conneaut, but it does not fit in with other parks of the era like SFOT or Disneyland.  

          Since this was my, and my two friends, first visit to Long Island we were a bit taken aback when we stepped off the L.I.R.R. train in Farmingdale.  It felt like small town America, not a few train stops from the Penn Station we had boarded roughly an hour before.  All that was missing was a child’s lemonade stand or some hot apple pie for a step back in time.  We hopped in a cab at the station and paid $8 for the three of us to go to LIA, not bad.  Once at the park we each purchased POP armbands for $20 (and for those interested I believe the park has free parking for those who drive). 

          After entering we saw one of the rides I had come for and immediately hopped in.  It was a Huss Ranger, here called the Looping Star, and was my first experience on Huss’ interpretation of the classic looping pirate ship ride.  I had heard good things about it and just looking at the ride I knew it would be an enjoyable one.  Huss knows their mechanics as they put a large, powerful motor in the middle of the boom and have an ample counterweight at the other end.  Therefore, it has smooth, powerful arks as opposed to the jerky motion I found in the A.R.M. Skymaster that I experienced at Miracle Strip just last March.  The pod is enclosed with lapbars only which were more comfortable on the venerable male nether region than Huss’s Top Spin contraption. On the first swing we were at the highest point of your typical pirate ship and on the second we were thrown completely upside down.  The Ranger did three spins in each direction at good speed then sadly the ride was over.  I wish the park had a longer cycle on, but overall it was better than all of my other looping boat rides (A.R.M. Skymasters & Intamin’s Looping Starships).

          Next door were some bumper boats.  Although I am not a huge fan of them one of my friends always enjoys a chance to be overly violent, so we waited around 10 minutes for your typical bumper boat experience.  We then worked down to the Hurricane, a 1991  S.D.C. version of the coaster found at many parks (such as Rye Playland, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, etc.)  My first ride was in the second seat in the front car.  The train had a little too much side-to-side shaking, but overall it was a much more pleasant experience than my first trip on the S&MC interpretation found at Rye.  Also unlike Rye the crew always had two trains going and there was no mid-course tire so the coaster fully delivered the full force of “the drop” which is advertised as an 80-degree falling turn.  For a coaster this size the Hurricane definitely packs a punch.  Did this park used to have a Schwarzkopf coaster?  I only ask this because the lighting apparatus near the Hurricane’s entrance looks suspiciously like the bottom half of the “adornments” Anton used to put in the middle of his coasters (especially the Doppel loopers) such as shown at: http://schwarzkopf.coaster.net/OKdoppelloopingGF.htm.

          Now, Gladiator’s Gauntlet at Busch Gardens was one of my favorite rides, perhaps simply because it was so unique.  I think if there is a flat ride that comes close to (and one-ups) the sensation of G.G. is Mondial’s Super Nova.  At LIA it is called the Surf Dance and was the first version in the U.S.  Mondial has recently gotten a lot of attention for their unique inverting rides like the Top Scan and Splashover at PCW, Lagoon and fairs like the Meadowlands.  This ride is a little older (and, like many of LIA’s rides, transportable) and although it does not go upside down the swinging sensation is quite good.  Our first ride was towards the front where we had to adjust to the Mondial lapbars.  For safety’s sake they keep constant pressure on you, so if you suck in your gut they move in a little closer.  From a safety standpoint this is important for little kids, but a bit of a nuisance for older, larger riders.  The ride itself takes a few turns for the arms to gain enough momentum, but after that it is non-stop fun.  The arm’s turn independently of each other so that the tub has a unique (yet obviously calculated) speed and angles as it goes through the motions.  When this thing moves the tub falls at super angles (seemingly on its side) and has some severe side-to-side motions, but, as we have come to expect from Mondial, is not jerky in the least. 

          As we moved down the walkway I saw two skeletons floating back and forth across the midway, one utilizing an old swing chair as a seat.  This helped usher us into the park’s haunted house area.  The name of the park’s dark ride is 1313 Cemetery Way.  The park recently rehabbed the ride and bought cars from Sally Corp.  After a short wait we hopped on an experienced the ride and it was fun, but there were a few tiny things I would fix if I were the park.  I think the lights that shine on the stunts need to be a bit brighter as on both of my trips I had a bit of trouble seeing them.  True, it was a very sunny day out, but I think brighter lights would help up the thrill and sight factors a bit.  It, like Canobie Lake, had a mummy and I still do not understand how these Egyptian mummies have wandered into haunted houses (or in the case of Canobie a haunted mine).  I don’t usually nitpick, but one little thing I think should always be attempted at a park is realism.  In other words, if you don’t believe in something you present, then your customers won’t.  The only that that “bothered” me about one of the stunts was the one which showed the chains being rattled against a fence.  Granted this is small, but we started laughing when we realized the ancient spooks had chosen Master Locks to scare us with.  I know probably no one cares about this but me, but I think it would cost probably $.50 or a dollar to paint these a flat gray or black, or perhaps put some uv lights in and paint it with uv paint ala Le Cacheot (sp?).  Sorry for the randomness of that thought.  This attraction was fun and something that the whole family could go on, as opposed to some dark rides like at Knoebels where I think little ones would be scared on certain parts. 

Long Island Adventureland Page 2

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Adam Sandy, Copyright 2001.