BY ROSE ADAMS
Coney Island’s amusement
park will get a massive new rollercoaster
next summer that’s
sure to thrill riders of all ages.
The Phoenix, a 68-foot-tall
coaster, will be built beside
the famous, 100-year-old ferris
wheel in Deno’s Wonder
Wheel Amusement Park — giving
thrills to young dare devils
without the intensity of the
Thunderbolt or the Cyclone,
said one of the park’s operators.
“We’re going for something
that teenagers will still
scream for, but kids won’t be
intimidated by,” said Deno
(DJ) Vourderis, whose family
has operated Deno’s Wonder
Wheel Amusement Park
for decades. “It’s going to be
more intense than any family
coaster ever built before it.”
The rollercoaster will go 34
miles per hour — compared to
the Cyclone’s 60 miles per hour
— and will take riders nearly
upside down and around
sharp turns, Vourderis said.
The ride aims to offer parkgoers
BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY
DRX9000TM
COURIER L 4 IFE, JANUARY 1-7, 2021
a more moderate rollercoaster
that fi ts nicely into the
kids-friendly park.
“We weren’t trying to be a
Cyclone or a Thunderbolt, but
a Deno’s family coaster,” Vourderis
said. The ride will have
a 39 inch height minimum —
approximately the height of a
four year old.
The Phoenix, which will
hopefully be assembled sometime
in 2021, is the fi rst custom
rollercoaster made by the
coaster company Vekoma in
the United States outside the
Disney amusement parks, and
is the amusement park’s largest
investment yet — even bigger
than the famous Wonder
Wheel, Vourderis said.
The addition comes at a
challenging time for amusement
parks, which had to
remain closed all summer
WILD RIDE: The Phoenix, a new rollercoaster well-suited for kids and teens, is the newest ride to come to
Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park. Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park
because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vourderis said that
the new ride is a symbol of the
park’s rebirth.
“The reason we named it
the Phoenix is because of the
whole symbolism of the Phoenix
rising,” he said.
The family fi rst planned to
build the rollercoaster in 2018,
and purchased a run-down
corner of the amusement district
adjacent to their park.
And though the COVID-19
pandemic has strained the
amusement park’s fi nances,
the Vourderis family took out a
loan to build the coaster before
the pandemic hit and plans to
start building after ironing
out some technicalities.
The Vourderis family and
the owners of Luna Park have
repeatedly called on Gov. Andrew
Cuomo to issue reopening
guidelines for outdoor
amusement parks and grant
some fi nancial relief, but the
governor hasn’t issued any reopening
criteria yet.
What can locals do to ensure
the amusement park can
reopen? Wear a mask and stop
the spread of COVID-19, Vourderis
advised.
“Ask not what your country
can do for you, ask what
wearing a mask can do for
your country,” he said.
The rollercoaster has been
able to move forward in the
permitting process with help
of Councilman Mark Treyger,
state Sen. Diane Savino, the
New York City Economic Development
Corporation, and
the Department of City Planning,
Vourderis said.
New thrills!
New rollercoaster slated
for Deno’s in Coney Island
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S f i d 3
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