Coney Island's Luna Park Amusement Park Opens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The sun may have been hiding behind clouds, but people didn't let that put a damper on their day in Brooklyn as Coney's Island Luna Park opened Friday for the season.
An opening day ceremony will be held Saturday, when the first 100 guests will get to ride the historic Cyclone roller coaster for free. The park will also be open Easter Sunday from noon to 11 p.m.
Luna Park will be open on weekends and school holidays until Memorial Day weekend, when it opens daily for the summer.
Tricia Sassaye from Marlboro is returning to her Brooklyn roots at the park. She considers herself a roller coaster junkie, so she had no problem handling the Thunderbolt's 12-story plunge at a 90-degree angle straight down, WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported. Her niece, Claire Meso, wasn't so brave. She screamed the whole way down.
Last year, the 88-year-old Cyclone got stuck about 10 feet from the top, just before the first big drop, during its first public ride of the season. Riders stranded in their seats waited for 15 minutes before having to walk down the backslope on foot with the help of park staff.
There were no injuries reported.
Coney Island has been a destination for thrill seekers since the 1880s.
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America's first roller coaster made its debut at Coney Island in 1884. The coaster, called the Switchback Railway, was 600 feet long and ran a mere 6 mph, according to the Coney Island History Project. The fare was just a nickel.
