Coney Island’s New Thunderbolt Roller Coaster Opens This Friday
Coney Island has weathered many storms these last few years–both manmade and natural–but the community is more than determined to hold on. This year, the neighborhood’s classic amusement park is working overtime to attract more parkgoers, and they’ve outdone themselves with the impending opening of the park’s first loop roller coaster in 104 years, the Thunderbolt II.
After months of anticipation and a handful of weather-related delays, the 11-story, half-mile coaster is set to open to the public this Friday, June 6, according to Brooklyn Views. Thunderbolt II is designed to hold 27 people at a time, jetting along the track at 55 miles per hour and moving through five inversions, one of them a 10-story loop. Here’s a heart-stopping description of the ride from the Times:
The Thunderbolt will send riders up a 90-degree vertical ascent 115 feet, then plunge them through a gantlet of lightning-quick moves, including a 100-foot loop, a zero-gravity roll and a corkscrew, as well as dives and hills.
A two-minute ride on the coaster will set visitors back $10, and since each row contains three seats, larger groups should bank on being split up. Watch a video rendering of the ride below, or head to the park this Friday to try it out yourself.
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