Astroland

History

Astroland was first built as a "space-age" theme park when it opened in 1962, although in later years "a visit [was] more like stepping into the past than the future." Some of the later rides were similar to regular carnival rides, but others offered a kitsch experience that was lacking in modern amusement parks.

In 1955, Dewey Albert and his friends Nathan Handwerker, Herman Rapps, Sidney Robbins and Paul Yampo formed a corporation called Coney Island Enterprises. In 1957, Rapps and Albert announced they would build Wonderland. Through a series of acquisitions, together they built what is today known as Astroland, with rides including the Tower to the Stars or Astrotower gyro tower, the Cape Canaveral Satellite Jet emulating a trip to the Moon, the Mercury Capsule Skyride carrying patrons in bubble cars across the park to the boardwalk, and the Neptune Diving Bells, a duplicate of an Atlantic City ride that took patrons 30 feet down into a tank to watch porpoises and fish. In June 1975 Astroland was chosen to be the new operator of the Cyclone, the famous wooden roller coaster, which stood on Parks Department land. On July 12, 1975, an early-morning fire wiped out much of the park, but they were able to rebuild.

Closure

On November 28, 2006, Astroland was sold by the Albert family for US $30 million to Thor Equities, which announced plans to redevelop the area as a $1.5 billion year-round resort, although the plans never came to fruition."Vacant Lots, Dummy Arcades"Amusing the Zillions, Oct 17, 2013 Under the agreement, the Alberts would continue to operate the Cyclone. At the time, the Alberts hoped to relocate attractions like the water flume and the Astrotower to another part of the neighborhood. After the sale, opposition to the relocation plan emerged. Efforts supporting the extension of Astroland's existence for the 2008 summer season were established. Astroland celebrated the 45th anniversary of its opening on April 1, 2007.

It was announced on October 24, 2007, that the Albert family and Thor had reached a deal, and that Astroland would re-open March 16, 2008. However, after a few months when no agreement between the two parties could be reached, Astroland closed on September 7, 2008. It was replaced in 2009 by a new park called Dreamland. A new amusement park called Luna Park, named after Brooklyn's original, well-known Luna Park and other Luna Parks from the early twentieth century, opened for the 2010 season on May 29, 2010, at the former site of Astroland.

On July 2, 2013, Luna Park was evacuated as a precaution due to a problem with the Astrotower swaying. The Fire Department of New York responded to the park after concerns regarding the structural integrity of the former operational ride, which was situated in the center of the amusement area. Because of the potential risk to other rides in the area of the tower, those attractions were closed on the Fourth of July. An initial portion of the Astrotower was taken down beginning the night of July 3, 2013. Demolition crews worked through the night into the morning of July 4 to remove part of the Astrotower, and Luna Park reopened to visitors at 3 P.M. (EDT). By July 6, 2013, the Astrotower had been reduced to a four foot high stump, and the pieces were sold to a local junkyard for scrap.

The former Astroland Rocket was brought back to the site of this amusement park, installed as a historical monument inside Luna Park. Signs posted in front of the rocket by the Coney Island History Project explain its history.

Rides and attractions

Adult rides

• Musik Express (MONAE) (operated in 2008 only) (travel in USA)
• Power Surge (until mid-2006) (sold went Australia)
• Top Spin 2 (sold to Funtown Pier and later sold to travel unknown)
• Coney Island Cyclone
• Water Flume (An Arrow Dynamics Log Flume)
• Pirate Ship (storage in Parque Diversiones)
• Bumper Cars (currently operates at the neighboring Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park)
• Dante's Inferno
• Break Dance relocated from Lincoln Park in Massachusetts. Reopened in 1988 (storage in Parque Diversiones and sold to UK)
• Astrotower gyro tower (unused after 2010)
• Tilt-A-Whirl (relocated to Parque Diversiones)
• Scrambler (relocated to neighbor at Deno's Wonder Wheel in 2015 and later sold)
• Enter Prise (replace for Top Spin added)
• Super Himalaya (Mack) (replace for Power Surge added)
• Wave Swinger (replace for Pirate Ship added)
• Rainbow (replace for Break Dance added)
• Bayern Kurve (replace for Super Himalaya added)
• Round Up (old Astroland)
• Paratrooper (old Astroland)
• Satellite Jet (old Astroland)
• Diving Bells (old Astroland)
• Mercury Capsule Skyride (old Astroland)
• Astroland Rocket (old Astroland) (currently on display at neighboring Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park)
• Apollo 11

Source:

Kiddie rides

• Pirate Jet
• Mini Tea Cups
• Frog Hopper
• Motorcycle Jump
• Super
• Himalaya
• Fire Engines
• Big Apple Coaster
• Mini Trucks
• Convoy
• Popeye Boats
• Circuit 2000
• Carousel
• Kiddie Roller Coaster (replace for Big Apple Coaster)
• Dune Buggy Jump

Other attractions

• More than ten games of skill
• Three arcades
• Two Coney Island-style restaurants

References

The music video by Counting Crows - Big Yellow Taxi was partly done at Astroland

The official music video by Air Supply - Even the Nights Are Better was mostly done at Astroland

References

1. link. (June 13, 2007 at the Internet Archive.)
2. Jeffrey Stanton, [http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/astroland.htm Coney Island - Astroland], 1998.
3. Associated Press, [https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2006-11-28-coney-island_x.htm "Coney Island's Astroland Amusement Park sold to developer"], ''[[USA Today]]'', November 28, 2006.
4. [http://www.saveastroland.com Local petition to extend Astroland through the summer 2008 season], [https://web.archive.org/web/20090502044714/http://www.saveastroland.com/ archived on May 2, 2009] at the Internet Archive.
5. Mike McLaughlin, [http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/36/31_36_mm_astroland.html "Astroland is Truly Dead"], ''The Brooklyn Paper'', September 5, 2008.
6. Jotham Sederstrom , [http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/04/08/2009-04-08_dreamland_amusement_park_to_take_place_o.html "Dreamland amusement park to take place of Astroland at Coney Island"], ''[[Daily News (New York). Daily News]]'', April 8, 2009.
7. (2 July 2013). "Coney Island's Luna Park Evacuated Due To Stability Worries At Astrotower". CBS New New York.
8. "Astrotower to be partially dismantled, some closures on the Fourth". WABC TV.
9. "Luna Park To Begin Removing Portion Of Astrotower Wednesday". NY1.
10. "Luna Park to reopen after Astrotower demolition". WABC TV.
11. Kadinsky, Sergey. (2025-10-20). "Inside Astroland's Rocket".
12. [http://www.astroland.com/famous-astroland-rides-and-attractions Famous Astroland Rides and Attractions], Astroland.com, updated 2012, retrieved January 15, 2013.
13. Island), Deno's Wonder Wheel Park (Coney. (2013-06-21). "Deno's Wonder Wheel and Largest Bumper Cars in NYC".
14. Musumeci, Natalie. (4 June 2014). "Iconic Astroland Rocket touches down in Coney Island once again".