Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Apollo's Chariot
Boulder Dash
Cyclone
Desperado
El Toro
Ghost Rider
Incredible Hulk
Millennium Force
Raven
Superman: Ride of Steel
The Cyclone {#5 Wooden}


Start Over

Facts about Cyclone
  • Location: Coney Island, Coney Island, NY
  • Type: Wood
  • Status: Open (seasonally)
  • Opened: June 26, 1927
  • Manufacturer: Harry C. Baker
  • Designer: Vernon Keenan
  • Track layout: Cyclone
  • Lift/launch system: Chain-lift
  • Height: 85 ft (26 m)
  • Length: 2,640 ft (800 m)
  • Max speed: 60 mph (26.8 m/s)
  • Inversions: none
  • Duration: 1:50 minutes
  • Max vertical angle: 58°
    • Description of this Ride:
    The Cyclone in many ways embodies the stereotypical Brooklynite: it is very rough and tumble, it can recall the "good old days" and it will kick your butt in the back seat given the chance. But, this ferocious coaster has a soft side. The story behind (arguably) America's most famous coaster is nothing short of awe-inspiring and serves as a constant reminder that, as George Tilyou said, "Coney Island, between June and September, is the world."
    Experience on this Ride:
    The ride debuted on June 26, 1927 (several weeks late) and exceeded expectations. The drop off the 86-foot lift hill was, as George Plimpton wrote, "a vertigo-inducing drop," at fifty-three degrees. After that the cars flew into a fan turn where the coaster seemed to stop (yet threw people into fellow riders) and the train got yanked down and up into a large airtime hill that ran parallel to the first hill, into another fan turn above Surf Avenue. After that the coaster turned to an out and back layout, flying over the hills and slamming into the curves. Finally, riders screamed into the station as the skid brakes grabbed the trains. The ride was so intense that it made Charles Lindbergh say that, "A ride on the Cyclone is greater than flying an airplane at top speed."
    Accidents on Cyclone:
    On July 31, 2007, a 53-year old man broke several vertebrae while riding the cyclone and died 4 days later.

    Home
    Contact Me
    Great Coasters
    History of Roller Coasters
    Riding Experiences